A sharp and miraculous transformation sweeps across the landscape of the Land of Israel, where deep, long-standing ruin gives way to renewed blooming and strong settlement. Passersby who witness this dramatic shift will be struck with amazement and declare their wonder out loud. They will look at this specific land [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ], which was once entirely desolate, and marvel at how it has become as beautiful and fertile as the Garden of Eden [רש"י, צאינה וראינה]. At the same time, the formerly ruined cities are now filled with people, standing strong and protected by walls and towers [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].
The specific memory of the cities as ruined, desolate, and shattered is not random; it highlights the varying degrees of past devastation. Desolation is a harsher state than mere ruin, as a ruined place might still hold some inhabitants, while being completely shattered and torn down represents an even deeper level of destruction [מלבי"ם, מצודת ציון]. The profound amazement of the onlookers stems from the realization that this recovery is not a natural historical process. The renewed building of the land is a miracle performed by God, echoing the very creation of the world brought about by His word [מלבי"ם]. Consequently, it is the nations of the world who will voice this astonishment once the land is fully resettled [רד"ק].
Beyond the physical restoration, this transition addresses a deeper ideological and legal debate. Given the history of idolatry in the Land of Israel, a claim could arise that Jerusalem and the surrounding cities were judged under the strict biblical law of a condemned city. By law, a condemned city is forbidden from ever being rebuilt, though one legal opinion permits transforming the area into gardens and orchards. If the onlookers only noted that the land had become like the Garden of Eden, it might create the false impression that the cities were indeed condemned and only permitted to grow vegetation. To completely reject this idea, the immediate presence of rebuilt, populated, and fortified cities serves as undeniable proof. It demonstrates that the law of the condemned city was never applied to them, and they are now settled more robustly than before [צוארי שלל, חומת אנך].
However, the specific detail that the people now live in fortified cities rather than open, unwalled towns carries an alternative meaning for some. This need for physical protection suggests that their return to the proper path will come about through hardship and against their will. Because their repentance is forced rather than entirely willing, they will lack the sufficient spiritual merit to live in complete safety without the physical defense of walls and fortresses to protect them [אהבת יהונתן].