Isaiah 1:8

“And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in the vineyard, &c.] The Targum is, “after they have got in the vintage.” A cottage in the vineyard was a booth, as the wordf29 signifies, which was erected in the middle of the vineyard for the keeper of the vineyard to watch in night and day, that the fruit might not be hurt by birds, or stolen by thieves, and was a very, lonely place; and when the clusters of the vine were gathered, this cottage or booth was left by the keeper himself: and such it is suggested Jerusalem should be, not only stand alone, the cities all around being destroyed by the besiegers, but empty of inhabitants itself, when taken. As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers: the…”

“daughter of Zion--the city (Psa 9:14), Jerusalem and its inhabitants (Kg2 19:21): "daughter" (feminine, singular being used as a neuter collective noun), equivalent to sons (Isa 12:6, Margin) [MAURER]. Metropolis or "mother-city" is the corresponding term. The idea of youthful beauty is included in "daughter." left--as a remnant escaping the general destruction. cottage--a hut, made to give temporary shelter to the caretaker of the vineyard. lodge--not permanent. besieged--rather, as "left," and Isa 1:9 require, preserved, namely, from the desolation all round [MAURER].”

“And the daughter of Zion - Zion, or Sion, was the name of one of the hills on which the city of Jerusalem was built. On this hill formerly stood the city of the Jebusites, and when David took it from them he transferred to it his court, and it was called the city of David, or the holy hill. It was in the southern part of the city. As Zion became the residence of the court, and was the most important part of the city, the name was often used to denote the city itself, and is often applied to the whole of Jerusalem. The phrase ‘daughter of Zion’ here means Zion itself, or Jerusalem. The name daughter is given to it by a personification in accordance with a common custom in Eastern writers, by…”

“Is left - Is left solitary, all the neighbouring villages and country round about it being laid waste. Isaiah 1:10”

“1:8 Beautiful Jerusalem (Hebrew The daughter of Zion): Zion, one of the hills on which Jerusalem stands, often served as a synonym for Jerusalem. Zion carried with it the notion of God’s presence (Ps 46), his protection of his people, and Jerusalem’s resistance to enemy forces. Now, however, the opposite was true. Jerusalem had become weak, like a helpless city under siege and like an abandoned . . . shelter or lean-to.”

“daughter: Isa 4:4, Isa 10:32, Isa 37:22, Isa 62:11; Psa 9:14; Lam 2:1; Zac 2:10, Zac 9:9; Joh 12:15 cottage: Job 27:18; Lam 2:6 besieged: Isa 8:8, Isa 10:32; Jer 4:17; Luk 19:43, Luk 19:44 Isaiah 1:9”

“"And the daughter of Zion remains lie a hut in a vineyard; like a hammock in a cucumber field." The vineyard and cucumber field (mikshah, from kisshu, a cucumber, Cucumis, not a gourd, Cucurbita; at least not the true round gourd, whose Hebrew name, dalâth, does not occur in the Old Testament) are pictured by the prophet in their condition before the harvest (not after, as the Targums render it), when it is necessary that they should be watched. The point of comparison therefore is, that in the vineyard and cucumber field not a human being is to be seen in any direction; and there is nothing but the cottage and the night barrack or hammock (cf., Job 27:18) to show that there are any human…”