The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle. All your rulers fled away together. They were bound by the archers. All who were found by you were bound together. They fled far away. Therefore I said, “Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don’t labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, in the valley of vision, a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains.” Elam carried his quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield. Your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate. He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armor in the house of the forest. You saw the breaches of David’s city, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn’t look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who planed it long ago.
In that day, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, called to weeping, to mourning, to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth; and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.” Yahweh of Armies revealed himself in my ears, “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 Meaning, Judea, which was compassed about with mountains, and…
Meaning, Judea, which was compassed about with mountains, and was called the valley of visions, because of the Prophets, which were always there, whom they named Seers.
He speaketh to Jerusalem, whose inhabitants were fled up to the housetops for fear of their enemies.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–14 Isa 22:1 The burden of the valley of vision.…
Isa 22:1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?
Ver. 1. The burden.] See Isa 13:1.
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Of the valley of vision,] i.e., Of Zion or Jerusalem, as the Septuagint express it, which is called first a valley, though set upon a knoll - first, Because environed with mountains; {Psa 125:2} secondly, Because shortly to be laid low and levelled with the ground - ita ut vallis aut vorago dici posset.
Of vision.] So Jerusalem is called - first, Because there was God’s visible or aspectable presence; secondly, Because it was a seminary of seers, as Jerome elegantly termeth it, not without some allusion, as it is thought, to Mount Moriah, whereon stood the temple, which signifieth vision; q.d., O Zion, thou wast Moriah, but now thou art Marah; thou wast the mountain of vision, but now thou art a valley of tears and of darkness; thou wast the temple of God, but now thou art a den of thieves.
What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the house tops?] Luctus et salutis causa, saith Scultetus; there to lament thy distress, or else for safeguard in this distraction. Shouldst thou not rather go out to fight, than go up thus wholly and fully to the tops of thy terraces?
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–14 Of the valley of vision; of Judah; and especially…
Of the valley of vision; of Judah; and especially of the City of Jerusalem, as the next verse showeth; which is called a valley, because a great part of it stood in a valley, and comparatively to those higher mountains wherewith it was encompassed; of which see Psa 121:1; 125:2; Isa 52:7; and the valley of vision, because of the many and clear visions or revelations of God’s mind in that place, above all other parts of the world. As the prophets are called seers, 1Sa 9:9, so prophecy is frequently called vision, as 1Sa 3:1; Isa 1:1; Eze 7:13,26.
Gone up to the housetops, as they used to do in times of great confusion and consternation, that they might mourn, and look, and cry to Heaven for help. Compare Isa 15:3; Jer 48:38.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 8 The title of this prophecy is very observable. It…
The title of this prophecy is very observable. It is the burden of the valley of vision, of Judah and Jerusalem; so all agree. Fitly enough is Jerusalem called a valley, for the mountains were round about it, and the land of Judah abounded with fruitful valleys; and by the judgments of God, though they had been as a towering mountain, they should be brought low, sunk and depressed, and become dark and dirty, as a valley. But most emphatically is it called a valley of vision because there God was known and his name was great, there the prophets were made acquainted with his mind by visions, and there the people saw the goings of their God and King in his sanctuary. Babylon, being a stranger to God, though rich and great, was called the desert of the sea; but Jerusalem, being entrusted with his oracles, is a valley of vision. Blessed are their eyes, for they see, and they have seers by office among them. Where Bibles and ministers are there is a valley of vision, from which is expected fruit accordingly; but here is a burden of the valley of vision, and a heavy burden it is. Note, Church privileges, if they be not improved, will not secure men from the judgments of God. You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore will I punish you. The valley of vision has a particular burden. Thou Capernaum, Mat 11:23. The higher any are lifted up in means and mercies the heavier will their doom be if they abuse them.
Now the burden of the valley of vision here is that which will not quite ruin it, but only frighten it; for it refers not to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, but to the attempt made upon it by Sennacherib, which we had the prophecy of, ch. 10, and shall meet with the history of, ch. 36. It is here again prophesied of, because the desolations of many of the neighbouring countries, which were foretold in the foregoing chapters, were to be brought to pass by the Assyrian army. Now let Jerusalem know that when the cup is going round it will be put into her hand; and, although it will not be to her a fatal cup, yet it will be a cup of trembling. Here is foretold,
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I. The consternation that the city should be in upon the approach of Sennacherib's army. It used to be full of stirs, a city of great trade, people hurrying to and fro about their business, a tumultuous city, populous and noisy. Where there is great trade there is great tumult. It used to be a joyous revelling city. What with the busy part and what with the merry part of mankind, places of concourse are places of noise. "But what ails thee now, that the shops are quitted, and there is no more walking in the streets and exchange, but thou hast wholly gone up to the house-tops (Isa 22:1), to bemoan thyself in silence and solitude, or to secure thyself from the enemy, or to look abroad and see if any succours come to thy relief, or which way the enemies' motions are." Let both men of business and sportsmen rejoice as though they rejoiced not, for something may happen quickly, which they little think of, that will be a damp to their mirth and a stop to their business, and send them to watch as a sparrow alone upon the house-top, Psa 102:7. But why is Jerusalem in such a fright? Her slain men are not slain with the sword (Isa 22:2), but, 1. Slain with famine (so some); for Sennacherib's army having laid the country waste, and destroyed the fruits of the earth, provisions must needs be very scarce and dear in the city, which would be the death of many of the poorer sort of people, who would be constrained to feed on that which was unwholesome. 2. Slain with fear. They were put into this fright though they had not a man killed, but so disheartened themselves that they seemed as effectually stabbed with fear as if they had been run through with a sword.
II. The inglorious flight of the rulers of Judah, who fled from far, from all parts of the country, to Jerusalem (Isa 22:3), fled together, as it were by consent, and were found in Jerusalem, having left their respective cities, which they should have taken care of, to be a prey to the Assyrian army, which, meeting with no opposition, when it came up against all the defenced cities of Judah easily took them, Isa 36:1. These rulers were bound from the bow (so the word is); they not only quitted their own cities like cowards, but, when they came to Jerusalem, were of no service there, but were as if their hands were tied from the use of the bow, by the extreme distraction and confusion they were in; they trembled, so that they could not draw a bow. See how easily God can dispirit men, and how certainly fear will dispirit them, when the tyranny of it is yielded to.
III. The great grief which this should occasion to all serious sensible people among them, which is represented by the prophet's laying the thing to heart himself; he lived to see it, and was resolved to share with the children of his people in their sorrows, Isa 22:4, Isa 22:5. He is not willing to proclaim his sorrow, and therefore bids those about him to look away from him; he will abandon himself to grief, and indulge himself in it, will weep secretly, but weep bitterly, and will have none go about to comfort him, for his grief is obstinate and he is pleased with his pain. But what is the occasion of his grief? A poor prophet had little to lose, and had been inured to hardship, when he walked naked and barefoot; but it is for the spoiling of the daughter of his people. It is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity. Our enemies trouble us and tread us down, and our friends are perplexed and know not what course to take to do us a kindness. The Lord God of hosts is now contending with the valley of vision; the enemies with their battering rams are breaking down the walls, and we are in vain crying to the mountains (to keep off the enemy, or to fall on us and cover us) or looking for help to come to us over the mountains, or appealing, as God does, to the mountains, to hear our controversy (Mic 6:1) and to judge between us and our injurious neighbours.
IV. The great numbers and strength of the enemy, that should invade their country and besiege their city, Isa 22:6, Isa 22:7. Elam (that is, the Persians) come with their quiver full of arrows, and with chariots of fighting men, and horsemen. Kir (that is, the Medes) muster up their arms, unsheath the sword, and uncover the shield, and get every thing ready for battle, every thing ready for the besieging of Jerusalem. Then the choice valleys about Jerusalem, that used to be clothed with flocks and covered over with corn, shall be full of chariots of war, and at the gate of the city the horsemen shall set themselves in array, to cut off all provisions from going in, and to force their way in. What a condition must the city be in that was beset on all sides with such an army!
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–14 The burden of the valley of vision,.... A prophecy…
The burden of the valley of vision,.... A prophecy concerning Jerusalem, so called, because it lay in a valley, encompassed about with mountains, and which was the habitation of the prophets or seers, and the seat of vision and prophecy; and perhaps there is an allusion to its name, which signifies the vision of peace, or they shall see peace. The Septuagint version calls it, "the word of the valley of Sion"; and the Arabic version,
"a prophecy concerning the inhabitants of the valley of Sion, to wit, the fields which are about Jerusalem.''
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The Targum is,
"the burden of the prophecy concerning the city which dwells in the valley, of which the prophets prophesied;''
by all which it appears, that not the whole land of Judea is thought to be meant, only the city of Jerusalem, so called, not from its low estate into which it would fall, through the wickedness of the people, and so rather to be called a valley than a mountain, as Kimchi; but from its situation, it being, as Josephus (h) says, fortified with three walls, except on that side at which it was encircled with inaccessible valleys; and hence it may be, that one of its gates is called the valley gate, Neh 2:13 and besides, there was a valley in it, between the mountains of Zion and Acra, which divided the upper and lower city, as he also elsewhere says (i). The burden of it is a heavy prophecy of calamities that should come upon it, or at least of a fright it should be put into, not in the times of Nebuchadnezzar, when it was taken and destroyed, as Jarchi and Kimchi, and another Jew Jerom makes mention of; nor in the times of Titus Vespasian, according to Eusebius, as the said Jerom relates; but in the times of Hezekiah, when Judea was invaded, and Jerusalem besieged by Sennacherib:
what aileth thee now? or, "what to thee now?" (k) what is come to thee? what is the matter with thee now? how comes this strange and sudden change?
that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? not to burn incense to the queen of heaven, which was sometimes done, and is the sense of some mentioned by Aben Ezra; but either for safety, to secure themselves from their enemies; or to take a view of them, and observe their motions, and cast from thence their arrows and darts at them; or to look out for help, or to mourn over their distresses, and implore help of the Lord; see Isa 15:2 and this was the case, not only of some, but of them all; so that there was scarce a man to be seen in the streets, or in the lower parts of their houses, but were all gone up to the tops of them, which were built with flat roofs and battlements about them, Deu 22:8.
(h) De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 1. (i) Ib. l. 6. c. 6. (k) "quid tibi accidit?" Vatablus; "quid tibi nunc est?" Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1–14 The anguish of Judah, the prophet much grieved, ver.…
The anguish of Judah, the prophet much grieved, ver. 1-5. By the Persians, Medes, and Assyrians, ver. 6, 7. He reproves their human wisdom, ver. 8-11. And profane joy, ver. 12, 13. Which God would certainly punish, ver. 14. Shebnah's deprivation for his pride, ver. 15-19. Eliakim put in his place, his glory, ver. 20-25.
The valley - Of Judah; and especially of Jerusalem, called a valley, because great part of it flood in a valley; and the valley of vision, because of the many and clear visions or Revelations of God's mind, in that place. House-tops - As they used to do in times of great consternation, that they might look, to and cry to heaven for help.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14 Prophecy concerning Jerusalem, 1-14.
CHAPTER XXII
Prophecy concerning Jerusalem, 1-14.
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Sentence against Shebna, who was over the household, 15-19.
Prophecy concerning Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, 20, 21.
From Eliakim, Isaiah, (agreeably to the mode universally
adopted in the prophetical writings, of making the things then
present, or which were shortly to be accomplished, types or
representations of things to be fulfilled upon a larger scale
in distant futurity,) makes a transition to the Messiah, of
whom Eliakim was a type, to whom the words will best apply,
and to whom some passages in the prophecy must be solely
restrained, 20-24.
The sentence against Shebna again confirmed, 25.
This prophecy, ending with the fourteenth verse of this chapter, is entitled, "The oracle concerning the valley of vision," by which is meant Jerusalem, because, says Sal. ben Melech, it was the place of prophecy. Jerusalem, according to Josephus, was built upon two opposite hills Sion and Acra, separated by a valley in the midst. He speaks of another broad valley between Acra and Moriah, Bell. Jud. v. 13; vi. 6. It was the seat of Divine revelation; the place where chiefly prophetic vision was given, and where God manifested himself visibly in the holy place. The prophecy foretells the invasion of Jerusalem by the Assyrians under Sennacherib; or by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar. Vitringa is of opinion that the prophet has both in view: that of the Chaldeans in the first part, Isa 22:1-5, which he thinks relates to the flight of Zedekiah, 2Kg 25:4-5; and that of the Assyrians in the latter part, which agrees with the circumstances of that time, and particularly describes the preparations made by Hezekiah for the defence of the city, Isa 22:8-11. Compare 2Ch Isa 32:2-5. - L.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXII
Verse 1. Art - gone up to the house-tops - "Are gone up to the house-tops"] The houses in the east were in ancient times, as they are still, generally, built in one and the same uniform manner. The roof or top of the house is always flat, covered with broad stones, or a strong plaster of terrace, and guarded on every side with a low parapet wall; see De 22:8. The terrace is frequented as much as any part of the house. On this, as the season favours, they walk, they eat, they sleep, they transact business, (1Sa 9:25, see also the Septuagint in that place,) they perform their devotions Ac 10:9. The house is built with a court within, into which chiefly the windows open: those that open to the street are so obstructed with lattice-work that no one either without or within can see through them. Whenever, therefore, any thing is to be seen or heard in the streets, any public spectacle, any alarm of a public nature, every one immediately goes up to the house-top to satisfy his curiosity. In the same manner, when any one has occasion to make any thing public, the readiest and most effectual way of doing it is to proclaim it from the house-tops to the people in the streets. "What ye hear in the ear, that publish ye on the house-top," saith our Saviour, Mt 10:27. The people running all to the tops of their houses gives a lively image of a sudden general alarm. Sir John Chardin's MS. note on this place is as follows: "Dans les festes pour voir passer quelque chose, et dans les maladies pour les annoncer aux voisins en allumant des lumieres, le peuple monte sur les terrasses." "In festivals, in order to see what is going forward, and in times of sickness, in order to indicate them to neighbours by lighting of candles, the people go up to the house-tops."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 6, 8, 12 Isa 22:1-3. The burden of the valley of vision…
Isa 22:1-3. The burden of the valley of vision — Of Judah, and especially of Jerusalem, called a valley, because a great part of it stood in a valley between the opposite hills of Zion and Acra, and between Acra and Moriah; (see Josephus’s Jewish War, 5:13; and 6:6;) and the valley of vision, because it was the seat of divine revelation, the place where chiefly prophetic visions were given, and where God manifested himself visibly in the most holy place. The reader will observe this is the seventh discourse of the second part; and relates to the calamity brought on Jerusalem by the invasion of the Assyrians or Chaldeans, or both, and to the fall of Shebna.
What aileth thee now? — The prophet refers here to the commotion into which the city was, or, he foresaw, would be, thrown upon the report of the approach of the hostile army to besiege it, and to the perturbation of the people’s minds and the general confusion. That thou art wholly gone up to the house-tops — Either to reconnoitre the approaching enemy, or to consult for thine own safety. Thou that art — Or rather, wast, full of stirs — Of great trade, people hurrying to and fro about their business; a tumultuous city — Populous and noisy; a joyous city — Full of revelling and jollity. What ails thee now that the shops and mercantile houses are quitted, and there is no more walking in the streets, but thou art to be seen crowding the housetops? — “The houses in the East were, in ancient times, as they are still generally, built in one and the same uniform manner. The roof, or top of the house, is always flat, covered with broad stones, or a strong plaster of terrace, and guarded on every side with a low parapet wall. The terrace is frequented as much as any part of the house. On this, as the season favours, they walk, they eat, they sleep, they transact business, they perform their devotions. The house is built with a court within, into which chiefly the windows open; those that are open to the street are so obstructed with lattice-work that no one either without or within can see through them. Whenever, therefore, any thing is to be seen or heard in the streets, any public spectacle, any alarm of a public nature, every one immediately goes up to the housetops to satisfy his curiosity. In the same manner, when any one had occasion to make any thing public, the readiest and most effectual way of doing it was, to proclaim it from the house-tops to the people in the streets.” — Bishop Lowth.
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Thy slain men are not slain with the sword — But either by famine or pestilence in the siege. Sennacherib’s army having laid the country waste, and destroyed the fruits of the earth, provisions must needs be very scarce and dear in the city, which would be the death of many of the poorer sort of people, who would be constrained to feed on what was unwholesome. But this prediction, with that contained in the next verse, was more eminently fulfilled when the city was besieged by the Chaldeans. See Jer 14:18; Jer 38:2. And Vitringa is of opinion, that the prophet has that calamity in view, as well as the affliction suffered under the Assyrian invasion. All thy rulers are fled together — Zedekiah and his chief commanders, whose flight he foretels. See Jer 39:3-4. They are bound by the archers — Bishop Lowth renders this clause, they are fled from the bow, that is, from the bows and arrows of the Assyrian archers: or, as others translate this former part of the verse, All thy captains are fled together with a wandering flight from the bow. That is, they are fled far and wide; they are bound — Namely, those who could not flee away fast enough to escape the Chaldeans. All that are found in thee — Namely, in the city, with Zedekiah, during the siege; for those who had fled to the Chaldeans saved their lives and liberties. Or, as the words, כל נמצאיךְ, may be rendered, All that are found of thee, or belonging to thee; which have fled from far — Or, have fled a great way off, namely, who fled from Jerusalem, but were pursued and overtaken by the enemy, 2Ki 25:4-7, and Jer 52:8-11.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–14 The burden - (see the note at Isa 13:1).…
The burden - (see the note at Isa 13:1). “The valley” גיא gay'. Septuagint, Φάραγγος Pharangos - ‘Valley.’ Chaldee, ‘The burden of the prophecy respecting the city which dwells (that is, is built) in the valley, which the prophets have prophesied concerning it.’ There can be no doubt that Jerusalem is intended (see Isa 22:9-10). It is not usual to call it “a valley,” but it may be so called, either
(1) because there were several valleys “within” the city and adjacent to it, as the vale between mount Zion and Moriah; the vale between mount Moriah and mount Ophel; between these and mount Bezetha; and the valley of Jehoshaphat, without the walls of the city; or
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(2) more probably it was called “a valley” in reference to its being “encompassed with hills,” rising to a considerable elevation above the city.
Thus mount Olivet was on the east, and overlooked the city. Jerusalem is also called a “valley,” and a “plain,” in Jer 21:13 : ‘Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the Lord.’ Thus it is described in Reland’s “Palestine:” - ‘The city was in the mountain region of Judea, in an elevated place, yet so that in respect to the mountains by which it was surrounded, it seemed to be situated in a humble place, because mount Olivet, and other mountains surrounding it, were more elevated.’ So Phocas says, ‘The holy city is placed in the midst of various valleys and hills, and this is wonderful (Θαυμαστόν Thaumaston) in it, that at the same time the city seems to be elevated and depressed, for it is elevated in respect to the region of Judea, and depressed in respect to the hills around it.’ (Reland’s “Palestine,” iii. 802, in Ugolini’s “Thesaurus,” vi.) It was common with Isaiah and the other prophets to designate Jerusalem and other places, not by their proper names, but by some appellation that would be descriptive (see Isa 21:1; Isa 29:1).
Of vision - (see the note at Isa 1:1). The word here means that Jerusalem was eminently the place where God made known his will to the prophets, and manifested himself to his people by “visions.”
What aileth thee now? - What is the cause of the commotion and tumult that exists in the city? The prophets throws himself at once into the midst of the excitement; sees the agitation and tumult, and the preparations for defense which were made, and asks the “cause” of all this confusion.
That thou art wholly gone up to the house-tops - That all classes of the people had fled to the house-tops, so much that it might be said that all the city had gone up. Houses in the East were built in a uniform manner in ancient times, and are so to this day. (See a description of the mode of building in the notes at Mat 9:1 ff.) The roofs were always flat, and were made either of earth that was trodden hard, or with large flat stones. This roof was surrounded with a balustrade Deu 22:8, and furnished a convenient place for walking, or even for eating and sleeping. Whenever, therefore, anything was to be seen in the street, or at a distance; or when there was any cause of alarm, they would naturally resort to the roof of the house. When there was a tower in the city, the inhabitants fled to that, and took refuge on its top (see Jdg 9:50-53). The image here is, therefore, one of consternation and alarm, as if on the sudden approach of an enemy.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14 The valley of vision: Jerusalem. The temple of Jerusalem…
The valley of vision: Jerusalem. The temple of Jerusalem was built upon Mount Moria, or on the mountain of vision. But the city is here called, the valley of vision, either because it was lower than the temple, or because of the low condition to which it was to be reduced, (Challoner) during the captivity. (Worthington) --- Vision. Septuagint, "Sion." (Haydock) --- This prophecy regards the devastation caused by Sennacherib, (St. Jerome) Nabuchodonosor, (Sanctius) the Romans, (Eusebius) or by Assaradon, when he took Manasses, 2 Paralipomenon xxxiii. 11., and 4 Kings xxi. 10. --- Tops, to weep.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On vv1, 8 Isaiah 22
D.—AGAINST THE HAUGHTY AND DEFIANT SPIRIT OF JERUSALEM AND ITS MAGNATES
Isaiah 22
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This chapter interrupts the series of prophecies against foreign nations. On account of its emblematic superscription, it is incorporated in the little book (סֵפֶר) that is distinguished by such superscriptions (21 and 22). Hence its present place. It contains two parts of almost equal length. In both, presumption is rebuked; in Isa_22:1-7, the presumption of the secure and reckless Jerusalem; in Isa_22:8-14, its incorrigible obstinacy, which even a perception of danger cannot overcome. In the second part of the chapter (Isa_22:15-25) the Prophet declares the punishment of the haughtiness of Shebna, the steward of the palace, involving his deposition and the calling of a worthier successor, who, however, would be likewise in danger of abusing his high office. Touching the time of the composition of the first part, we have to observe that it forms a whole. But in Isa_22:8-14 the Prophet sets the wicked obstinacy of the present time in opposition to the inconsideration of an earlier. The time referred to (Isa_22:8-12) is ascertained without difficulty from a study of these verses. It was the period of Hezekiah, and just when the Assyrians were threatening the city (xxxvi. and xxxvii.), which was by no means secured against all danger by the measures which Hezekiah took for its defence (2Ch_32:2 sqq. 30). There must have been then in Jerusalem persons, who in opposition to the blind, thoughtless presumption of former times (Isa_22:1-7), saw clearly the danger, yet in their wicked obstinacy would not seek the Lord, but desired only to satisfy their low carnal passions. The second part of the chapter belongs to the same time. It is directed against Shebna, the proud steward of the palace. In consequence of the divine displeasure here declared, he was actually deprived of his high office, and Eliakim, the person indicated by Isaiah, was appointed his successor. In chapters 36 and 37 we find Eliakim acting as steward of the palace and Shebna only a scribe. The latter had, it is clear, repented and submitted to the judgment of God. Therefore the punishment with which he was threatened was mitigated. But since Eliakim appears in 36 and 37 as already steward of the palace, this prophecy must belong to a somewhat earlier time.
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1. AGAINST JERUSALEM’S BLIND PRESUMPTION AND DEFIANCE IN SIGHT OF DANGER
Isa_22:1-14
a) The punishment of blind presumption
Isa_22:1-7
1 The burden of the valley of vision.
What aileth thee now,
That thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?
2 Thou that art full of stirs,
A tumultuous city,
A joyous city;
Thy slain men are not slain with the sword,
Nor dead in battle.
3 All thy rulers are fled together,
They are bound12 by the archers;
All that are found in thee are bound together,
Which have fled3 from far.
4 Therefore said I, Look away from me;
4 I will weep bitterly,
Labour not to comfort me,
Because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.
5 For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity
By the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision,
Breaking down the walls,
And of crying to the mountains.
6 And Elam bare the quiver
With chariots of men and horsemen,
And Kir5 uncovered the shield.
7 And it shall come to pass,
That6 thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots,
And the horsemen shall set themselves in array7 at the gate.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_22:1. The question מה־לד (comp. Isa_22:16 and on Isa_3:15) is intensified by אֵפוֹא (Isa_19:12). כֻּלָּדְ for כֻּלֵּדְ comp. Mic_2:12.
Isa_22:2. In תשׁאיִת מלאה (apposition to כלך) the accusative stands first for the sake of emphasis.
Isa_22:3. On מרחוק, i.e., far off, comp. on Isa_17:13.
Isa_22:4. אמרר בבכי properly: I will with weeping bring forth what is bitter. The Piel (in Isaiah only here, comp. Gen_49:23; Exo_1:14) is here, as often, employed like Hiphil in the causative sense. In this sense the Hiphil actually occurs Zec_12:10. הֵאִיץ (comp. Gen_19:15) insistere is found only here in Isaiah.
Isa_22:5. מהומה, tumultus, perturbatio, Deu_7:23; Deu_28:20; in Isaiah only here. מבוסה, conculcatio, besides only Isa_18:2; Isa_18:7. מבוכה implicatio, entangling, confusion, besides only Mic_7:4. Notice the assonance in these three words.——מקרקר is to be taken neither as verb. denominativum, nor as substantive (demolition) nor as apposition to יוֹם. It is the participle Pilpel from קוּר fodere, effodere, of which the Kal occurs Isa_37:25 and the perf. Pilpel, Num_24:17. As to its construction it is in apposition to לַאדֹנָי י׳. Grammar does not require the repetition of the preposition. Notice here how the sound is an echo to the sense.——שׁוֹעַ is clamor, vociferatio, especially a cry for help. The word occurs only here.
Isa_22:6. אשׁפה quiver, in Isaiah besides Isa_49:2. The בְּ before רכב is the בְּ of concomitance = with. רכב אדם are chariots equipped with men—manned chariots in opposition to wagons for lading (עֲגָלוֹת). פרשׁים (comp. on Isa_21:7) stands ἀσυνδέτως, but yet is governed by בְּ. The meaning, therefore, is: Elam has seized the quiver in the midst of chariots and horsemen, i. e., has furnished an army of bowmen together with chariots and horsemen.
Isa_22:7. שִׁית without object = aciem struere , Psa_3:7. Comp. Isa_49:15. Notice, too, the alliteration.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. In this first half of the discourse directed to the whole of Jerusalem, the Prophet assails the presumption with which the inhabitants formerly witnessed the approach of the enemy on an occasion not more closely specified. He asks the meaning of their going up to the roofs of the houses. It was plainly in order to see the approaching foe, although the Prophet does not expressly say this (Isa_22:1). But the noise which prevailed in the streets, and the universal gaiety prove that the enemy was not regarded with apprehension, but with proud defiance (Isa_22:2). In contrast with this presumption stands the result which the Prophet proceeds to depict. He sees the slain and prisoners of all ranks who fell into the hands of the enemy, not in manly conflict, but in cowardly flight (Isa_22:3). A second contrast to that insolent gaiety, is formed by the profound sorrow which the Prophet Himself now feels as he looks upon the ruin of the daughter of his people (Isa_22:4). For the Lord Himself brings the day of destruction on Jerusalem, while he employs as His instruments for this purpose distant nations terribly equipped for war, as whose representatives only Elam and Kir are named (Isa_22:6-7).
2. The burden—fled from far.
Isa_22:1-3. The expression “the valley of vision” is taken from Isa_22:5. Consult the Commentary on that verse for further particulars. That the title is formed after the analogy of the superscriptions, Isa_21:1; Isa_21:11; Isa_21:13, and that the prophecy is placed here for that reason is self-evident. A hostile army advances against Jerusalem. But the inhabitants of Jerusalem are not afraid of the enemy. They ascend the roofs of the houses to see the foe. This is in itself quite natural. But yet the Prophet asks in a tone of displeasure, What is the matter with thee that thou in a body goest upon the roofs? The party addressed is plainly the personified Jerusalem. It is no good sign that all Jerusalem goes up on the house-tops. For this looks as if the coming of the enemy was regarded in Jerusalem as a spectacle for the amusement of all the people. It is yet worse that the accustomed noise prevails in the streets, and this noise is a joyous one. The city is called עַלִּיזָה which epithet includes the idea of haughtiness as well as joy, as we see from Isa_13:3; Zep_3:11. (Comp. Isa_23:12; Psa_94:3; Jer_50:11; Jer_51:39; 2Sa_1:20). It is uncertain to what particular occasion the Prophet here alludes. He cannot have in view what is related 2Ki_16:5; Isa_7:1; for great despondency then reigned. This can be said too of chapter 36; 2Ch_28:20 is too doubtful. (Comp.Ewald,History III. p. 667 note). It was probably some event of less importance, perhaps the appearance of a predatory troop. The indignation of the Prophet would befit such an occurrence. The insolence at sight of a seemingly slight danger annoyed him, inasmuch as the appearance before Jerusalem of a single soldier belonging to the army of a power aiming at universal sovereignty, should have made them sensible of the danger threatening them from that quarter. This danger passes into fact before the Prophet’s eye. He sees a hostile army before the walls of Jerusalem. It is of course a different one from that whose appearance so little discomposed the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Now things take quite another turn. Insolence is changed into its opposite, into base cowardice; security, into the greatest distress. The Prophet sees the ground covered with dead bodies of his people. They have perished miserably, have died an inglorious death. And those very rulers (קצינים comp. Isa_1:10; Isa_3:6 sq.), who, on the occasion referred to in Isa_22:1-2, had doubtless set the example of proud defiance, are now found to be the most cowardly. They flee all together, and are, without the drawing of a bow on their part or on that of the enemy (on מִן in the signification “without” see on Isa_14:19) taken and bound. But not only the chief men behaved with cowardice. All the Jews who fell into the power of the enemy (נמצאיך “thy found ones” not “those found in thee) were taken in their flight. They fled afar, not from far (comp. Isa_17:13). They had sought in their timidity to flee far away, for they thought themselves safe only at the farthest possible distance from their endangered home. We here readily call to mind what is related 2Ki_25:4 sqq.; Jer_39:4 sqq. Comp. Lam_4:17-20 of the flight of king Zedekiah and all his soldiers.
3. Therefore said I—my people.
Isa_22:4. In opposition to that blind presumption (Isa_22:2) the Prophet, who clearly perceives what will be hereafter, experiences profound grief. His sorrow is unintelligible to the people. They seek to comfort him. He refuses to be comforted, and asks only to be permitted to give vent to his grief. “Look away from me,” recalls vividly to mind Job_7:19; Job_14:6; Ps. 39:14; but in these places the Lord is entreated to turn away His holy, and, therefore, judging eye from sinful men. The expression, “the daughter of my people” first occurs here. It is not to be taken as the partitive genitive, but as the genitive of apposition, or more accurately, the genitive of identity. The daughter of my people is a daughter, i. e., a female who is my people in so far as she represents, or personifies my people. The expression, as the analogous one “daughter of Zion,” corresponds to our expressions, Germany, Prussia, Bavaria, etc. These expressions with us likewise denote the personified unity of a people under the representation of a female. Observe further how the Prophet depicts the punishment of their presumption in words which afterwards served as a model for the lamentation over Jerusalem’s destruction by the Chaldaeans (Lam_2:11; Lam_3:48).
4. For it is a day——the gate.
Isa_22:5-7. The conduct of the Prophet is determined by the procedure of the Lord. As He has decreed a day of destruction on Jerusalem, the sorrow of the Prophet is not without a cause. The expression יוֹם לַאדֹנָי is peculiar to Isaiah. It occurs Isa_2:12 (Isa_34:8). What it means is learnt from Isa_63:4 where it is called “a day of vengeance in my heart.” The expression in a somewhat modified form is used by Jeremiah (Isa_46:10) and Ezekiel (Isa_30:3). The scene of this act of judgment is to be “the valley of vision.” That Jerusalem is thus denoted is most clearly determined by the context. Knobel’s view that the expression does not mark the city itself, but only one of the valleys surrounding it, is very strange. Not to speak of other things, how would a judgment falling on only one of the valleys surrounding Jerusalem, correspond to the words of Isa_22:2? I believe that light is thrown on the expression “the valley of vision” by Joe_3:12 sqq. The expression “the day of the Lord” is found first in Joel. While then Isaiah speaks of “a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity” which the Lord has, he is led to think on the place which, according to Joel, should be the scene of “the day of the Lord.” This place is “the valley of Jehoshaphat,” or, as it is termed a little after, (Joe_3:14) “the valley of decision.” The place of judgment is thus denoted in Joel by symbolical names. He speaks of the judgment on the heathen which does not touch Israel. Isaiah speaks of the judgment on Jerusalem alone, and therefore does not call the place of judgment “the valley of decision,” but chooses instead of it another symbolical name. He calls it “the valley of vision.” Too much stress has been laid on the representation of a “valley,” both here and in Joe_3:12; Joe_3:14. The valley of Jehoshaphat is not the valley of Kidron, which from this passage was afterwards called the valley of Jehoshaphat; but it is an ideal plain spread out at the foot of mount Zion, not called a valley from its lying between two mountains (compare also the valley, plain of Jezreel Jos_17:16; Jdg_6:33; Hos_1:5), but in opposition to the lofty height from which Jehovah descends. We have then neither to think on the situation of Jerusalem between mountains (Psa_125:2), nor on the low street in a valley in which the Prophet is supposed to have dwelt. But Jerusalem is called a valley as being on this lower earth in opposition to the heavenly height from which the Judge comes. There are, besides, not wanting traces of the use of גיא in the wider signification of planities, plain. (Comp. 2Sa_8:13; Psa_60:2; Num_21:2). But why “the valley of vision?” To me it seems that we must not overlook the fact, that in Isa_22:1-14 seeing is so much spoken of. The inhabitants of Jerusalem go up on the roofs to see (Isa_22:1). But they do not see as they ought. Then the Lord removes partially the covering from their eyes, and they look to their armory (Isa_22:8). They look also to the breaches in their walls (Isa_22:9), and to the lower pool; but alas! they do not look to Him who formed all this long ago (Isa_22:11). The Prophet, on the other hand, whose eye the Lord had entirely opened, sees accurately (Isa_22:14). Might not then Jerusalem be called the valley of (prophetic) vision, because in it the true God-imparted seeing has its place, in opposition to the defective and often quite perverse seeing? The Prophet would therefore mean: In the place where the divine seeing has indeed its home, but on account of false human seeing is not regarded, the Lord will appear to hold judgment. The breaking down of the wall took place at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans (Jer_39:2). Crying to the mountain.—It seems to me to suit the context better, if we (with Ewald, Drechsler) under ההר understand not the neighboring mountain sides, but the mountain on which the Lord dwells, whence He, according to Joe_3:16 sq., roars and utters His judgment, and to which the prayers of the suppliants are directed (Psa_2:6; Psa_3:5; Psa_99:9; Psa_121:1; Isa_2:3; Isa_8:18; Isa_10:12; Isa_10:32; Isa_11:9, etc.). Isa_22:6-7 explain what is said in Isa_22:5. The general, indefinite “and” before Elam involves in this connection the notion “and truly, namely.” (Comp. Gesen.Thes. p. 394 c). Elam (comp. Isa_11:11; Isa_21:2) is the Persian Uvaja, i. e., the Susiana of the Greeks (Schrader,Cuneif. Inscr. p. 31). That the Elamites were renowned as archers appears from Jer_49:30 (comp. Herzog,R. Encycl. III. p. 748). Kir is described by Amos (Isa_9:7) as the earlier dwelling of the Syrians. He also predicts that the Syrians should be brought back thither (Isa_1:5), a prophecy whose fulfilment is attested 2Ki_16:9. It has been almost universally assumed since J. D. Michaelis (opposed to this view are Knobel,Voelkertafel (Ethnological Table) p. 151. Keil on 2Ki_16:9; Vaihinger in Herzog,R. Encycl. XV., p. 394) that this Kir is the region near the river Κῦρος, a tributary of the Araxes, which falls into the Caspian Sea (comp. Ewald,Hist. III., p. 638). Delitzsch properly observes that the river Κῦρος is written not with ק but with כ. The name has not yet been found in the Assyrian inscriptions. That the Prophet named Elam and Kir as representatives of the Assyrian host is certainly possible. Only we must understand the matter thus: For the Prophet who always beheld Assyria in the foreground of his field of vision, Assyria signifies the worldly power in general, for which reason he elsewhere includes even Babylon under the name of Assyria (Isa_7:20; Isa_8:7). He mentions Elam and Kir, because they were remote and unknown nations. For the prophets frequently render their announcements of judgment more dreadful, by the threatening that distant people, entirely unknown, and therefore quite reckless and pitiless, should be the instrument of the judgment (comp. Deu_28:49; Isa_33:19; Jer_5:15). The uncovering of the shield (comp. Cœsar Bell. Gall., 11, 21) is proper for infantry, so that all the constituents of an army—archers, chariots of war, cavalry, infantry, will be represented. In Isa_22:7 the exact rendering is “And it came to pass; thy best valleys were full,” etc. But the past tense is not to be understood absolutely. The Prophet does not pass suddenly from the description of future things to depict what had already taken place. He is to be understood relatively. He marks only a progress in the picture of the future which he beholds. He sees the chariots and horsemen (Isa_22:6) not merely at rest. He sees them in motion, he marks how they fill the environs of Jerusalem. This movement which belongs to the future, he describes as if it took place before his eyes. Thy choicest valleys, lit., the choice of thy valleys, thy best, most fruitful valleys, chief of these the valley of Rephaim (Isa_17:5), are filled and overrun with chariots and horsemen, they are so numerous. But they not merely threaten from a distance. They approach close to Jerusalem. The horsemen have taken their stand right before the gate in order to make a dash the moment they are required.
Footnotes:
[1]Heb. of the bow.
[2]without bow.
[3]afar.
[4]Heb. I will be bitter in weeping.
[5]Heb. made naked.
[6]Heb. the choice of thy valleys.
[7]Or. toward.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–13 art--rather, "wert"; for it could not now be said…
art--rather, "wert"; for it could not now be said to be "a joyous city" (Isa 32:13). The cause of their joy (Isa 22:13) may have been because Sennacherib had accepted Hezekiah's offer to renew the payment of tribute, and they were glad to have peace on any terms, however humiliating (Kg2 18:14-16), or on account of the alliance with Egypt. If the reference be to Zedekiah's time, the joy and feasting are not inapplicable, for this recklessness was a general characteristic of the unbelieving Jews (Isa 56:12).
not slain with the sword--but with the famine and pestilence about to be caused by the coming siege (Lam 4:9). MAURER refers this to the plague by which he thinks Sennacherib's army was destroyed, and Hezekiah was made sick (Isa 37:36; Isa 38:1). But there is no authority for supposing that the Jews in the city suffered such extremities of plague at this time, when God destroyed their foes. BARNES refers it to those slain in flight, not in open honorable "battle"; Isa 22:3 favors this.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12 1. Valley of vision — Jerusalem itself, the seat…
1. Valley of vision — Jerusalem itself, the seat of prophecy, the residence of Isaiah and his school of disciples. It is called a “valley” because, though on hills, it is surrounded by hills higher than itself; and because on three sides valleys steeply sloping to the city run into one running to the Dead Sea eastward.
What aileth thee — A question occasioned by revelry resounding from all the housetops in a time of real peril, and this, from a daring, defiant sense of security. The question is a rebuke. The housetops were flat, and used as places of resort.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–14 1. The burden of the valley of vision] Or,…
1. The burden of the valley of vision] Or, The Oracle “Valley of Vision.” The heading (prefixed by an editor) is taken from a phrase in Isa_22:5 (see the note).
What aileth thee now] Better: What meanest thou, I wonder (cf. ch. Isa_3:15).
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gone up to the housetops] cf. ch. Isa_15:3; Jdg_16:27; Neh_8:16. The flat roofs of the houses are thronged by excited citizens keeping holiday, perhaps watching some public spectacle. The prophet, wandering disconsolate through the streets, ironically inquires the reason of this unseasonable demonstration.
1–4. The joy of the people and the sorrow of the prophet.
Ch. Isa_22:1-14. The inexpiable sin of Jerusalem
The key to this passage—the most lurid and minatory of all Isaiah’s prophecies—is the irreconcileable antagonism between the mood of the prophet and the state of public feeling around him. In a time of universal mirth and festivity he alone is overwhelmed with grief and refuses to be comforted. In the rejoicings of the populace he reads the evidence of their hopeless impenitence and insensibility, and he concludes his discourse by expressing the conviction that at last they have sinned beyond the possibility of pardon. The circumstances recall our Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem on the day of His triumphal entry (Luk_19:41 ff.).
It may be regarded as certain that the prophecy belongs to the period of Sennacherib’s invasion (701), although it is difficult to select a moment when all the elements of the highly complex situation with which it deals might have been combined. There is just one incident that seems to meet the requirements of the case, viz., the raising of the blockade of Jerusalem, in consequence of Hezekiah’s ignominious submission to the terms of Sennacherib (see General Introd., pp. xxxviii f.) It must be noted that this was not the last episode in that memorable campaign. The real crisis came a little later when the Assyrian king endeavoured by threats to extort the entire surrender of the capital. It was only at that juncture that Hezekiah unreservedly accepted the policy of implicit trust in Jehovah which Isaiah had all along urged on him; and it was then that the prophet stepped to the front with an absolute and unconditional assurance that Jerusalem should not be violated. That the earlier deliverance should have caused an outbreak of popular joy is intelligible enough; as it is also intelligible that Isaiah should have kept his eye fixed on the dangers yet ahead. The allusions to the recent blockade are amply accounted for, and the prophet’s expectation of a terrible disaster yet in store is obviously based on his view of the continued and aggravated impenitence of his countrymen.
The following analysis of the prophecy is partly influenced by this reading of the historical setting, and it is right to say that at one or two points the view adopted is somewhat tentative.
i. Isa_22:1-4. While the city abandons itself to demonstrations of frantic gaiety, in spite of the disgrace that has overtaken the country, Isaiah shuts himself up in solitary and inconsolable anguish.
ii. Isa_22:5-7. He sees in vision a great day of calamity approaching, when the Assyrian shall again thunder at the gates of Jerusalem; and although the picture is not completed it leaves the impression that the city’s day of doom has arrived.
iii. Isa_22:8-11. At this point (although the transition is extremely abrupt) the prophet seems to go back to the past, in order to trace the evidence of the people’s unbelief. In the height of the danger they had paid minute attention to human measures of defence, but with never a thought of Him whose strange work then appealed so closely to their conscience.
iv. Isa_22:12-14. And this spirit of unbelief remains with them still. It has caused them to misread the providential lesson of their escape, and to find an occasion of thoughtless revelry and merriment in what was so obviously a call to serious reflection and penitence. For such a sin Isaiah has only a “fearful looking-for of judgment” to announce.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–14 (1) The burden of the valley of vision.—The “valley…
XXII.
(1) The burden of the valley of vision.—The “valley of vision” is Jerusalem, lying as it did (Jer_21:13) in a valley, as compared with the hills round about it (Psa_125:2). If we think of the prophet’s dwelling as being in the lower city, in the valley of Tyropœon, the epithet becomes still more appropriate. That valley would be to him in very deed a “valley of vision,” where he saw things present and to come. Possibly the name became more characteristic from the impulse given to the prophetic dreams of all who claimed to be seers. The prophet looks out, and sees the people in a state of excitement, caused probably by the near approach of the Assyrian armies. They are “on the house-tops,” the flat roofs of which were a customary place of concourse (Jdg_16:27; Neh_8:16), keeping their revels, as those do who meet the approach of danger with a reckless despair (Isa_22:13). By some commentators (Birks, Kay,) the “valley of vision” has been identified with Samaria.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–14 Vers. 1-14. A PROPHECY AGAINST JERUSALEM. The prophet, present…
Vers. 1-14. A PROPHECY AGAINST JERUSALEM. The prophet, present in Jerusalem, either actually, or at any rate in spirit, sees the inhabitants crowded together upon the housetops, in a state of boisterous merriment (vers. 1, 2). Outside the walls is a foreign army threatening the town (vers. 5-7). Preparations have been made for resistance, which are described (vers. 8-11); but there has been no turning to God. On the contrary, the danger has but made the bulk of the people reckless. Instead of humbling themselves and putting on sackcloth, and weeping, and appealing to God"s mercy, they have determined to drown care in drink and sensual enjoyment (vers. 12, 13). Therefore the prophet is bidden to denounce woe upon them, and threaten that Jehovah will not forgive their recklessness until their death (ver. 14). There is nothing to mark very distinctly the nationality of the foreign army; but it is certainly represented as made up of contingents from many nations. Delitzsch holds that the Assyrian armies were never so made up, or, at any rate, that the nations here mentioned never served in its ranks ("Site of Paradise," p. 237); but this is, perhaps, assuming that our knowledge on the subject is more complete and exact than is really the case. It is almost impossible to imagine any other army than the Assyrian besieging Jerusalem in Isaiah"s time. Moreover, the particulars concerning the preparations made against the enemy (vers. 9-11) agree with those mentioned in 2Ch_32:3-5 and 30 as made by Hezekiah against Sennacherib. And the second section of the chapter has certainly reference to this period. It seems, therefore, reasonable to regard the siege intended as that conducted by Sennacherib in his fourth year (B.C. 701), of which we have a brief account in his annals (G. Smith, "Eponym Canon," p. 135, 11. 15-18).
The burden of the valley of vision. "The valley of vision" is only mentioned here and in ver. 5. It must have been one of the deep depressions near Jerusalem troll which there is a good view of the town. The LXX render, "the burden of the valley of Zion." What aileth thee now? Jerusalem is addressed by the prophet, who assumes the role of a spectator, surprised at what he sees, and asks an explanation. That thou art wholly gone up to the housetops. Partly, no doubt, they went to watch the enemy anti his movements, as Rosenm says; but still more for feasting and revelry. (Jud_1:16:27 Neh_8:16) The flat roofs of Oriental houses are often used as places of recreation and entertainment, especially in the evening (Shaw, "Travels," p. 211; Chardin, "Voyages en Perse," vol. 4. p. 116; Layard, "Nineveh," vol. 1. p. 177, etc.).
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HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-14. Judgment upon Jerusalem.
I THE PROPHET AS SPECTATOR. The valley of vision seems to mean Jerusalem as a whole, round about which are mountains; (Psa_125:2) the city is spoken of, when compared with the surrounding mountains, as the "inhabitant of the valley," otherwise as the "rock of the plain". (Jer_21:13; comp. Jer_17:3) If Isaiah is gazing from his house in the lower town, the city would appear as in a valley in relation to the mountains inside as much as those outside (Delitzsch). He sees the whole population crowded together on the house-tops, and the air is filled with the uproar of merriment. The house-tops were places of resort at festival-Jdg_16:27; Neh_8:16).
II THE MIRTH OF DESPAIR. It was famine and pestilence which, forcing the people into despair, had brought about this mad rebound of hollow merriment. The slain of the city had not been slain upon the field; but the crowding in of fugitives from the country had occasioned the plague. The description reminds us of Zephaniah"s picture of Nineveh: "This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me". (Zep_2:15) And again we think of scenes in connection with the plagues in the Italian cities of the Middle Ages, when revelry and story-telling are said to have gone on amongst groups who had withdrawn themselves from the horrors around them. How terrible the contrast between the dark background of calamity and this hollow feverish exhibition of merriment in the foreground! "I said of laughter, What is it?" Let us thank God for the precious gift of humor. Its light, lambently playing upon the sternest and most awful scenes and imagery of the mind, was given to relieve the tragedy of life. In melancholy minds the source of humor is deeply seated. But how different the cheerfulness which springs from the sense that the scheme of things is sound and right, that Gods in his heaven, all"s right with the world," and that which confronts a hopeless future with mad defiance! There is something lurid, ominous, in the latter, full of foreboding; and the scene in Jerusalem may be dwelt upon as typical of the ill-timed mirth of the sinner when danger is impending, soon to be quenched in silence and night. The rulers have fled away from the devoted city; in the face of the enemy they have flung down their bows and yielded themselves prisoners. All is lost.
III THE FORECAST OF DOOM.
1. The grief of type prophet. In warm patriotism he identifies himself with his city and his people, and gives way to bitter tears; a prototype of Jesus in later days, looking on the doomed city, perhaps, from some similar point of view. We are reminded also of Jeremiah, whose heart "fainted" under a similar sense of the miseries of the people, and who exclaims, "Oh that my head were full of waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might bewail the slain of my people!". (Jer_4:31 Jer_9:1) These are living examples of compassion, and of true patriotic feeling, including a true Church feeling. "We are altogether unworthy of being reckoned in the number of the children of God, and added to the holy Church, if we do not dedicate ourselves and all that we have to the Church in such a manner that we are not separate from it in any respect. Especially the ministers of the Word ought to be moved by this feeling of grief, because, being appointed to keep watch and to look at a distance, they ought also to groan when they perceive the tokens of approaching ruin" (Calvin).
2. The siege and capture. "We seem to see and hear the last hurrying stages of the siege and capture" (Cheyne). In one of the valleys the hosts of the enemy are seen thickly trampling and spreading dismay and confusion all around. As the undermining of the walls by the siege artillery goes on, cries of woe beat against the surrounding hills, and are echoed back again. The terrible famed bowmen of Elam (comp. Jer_49:35) and the people of Kir, together forming, as it would seem, the vanguard of Assyria, are seen advancing. The valleys about the city, all teeming with associations of the past Kedron, Gihon, Rephaim, Hinnom are ploughed by hoofs of horses and wheels of chariots; and the foe is drawn up in column, ready to enter the "great gate," so soon as it shall be broken down by the battering-rams.
3. The state of the inhabitants. Jehovah draws aside the curtain from Judah. This may mean
1. he exposes their weakness to the enemy; or
2. he takes away the blindness of the people to their danger.
Probably the former. In either case the hand of an overruling Providence is recognized. The "forest house," or arsenal built by Solomon on Zion, is examined. (1Ki_7:2 1Ki_10:17; cf. Isa_39:2) The "city of David," i.e. the fortress on Mount Zion, is inspected by the leading men, and the numerous breaches in the walls are observed. They survey the houses, and take material from them to repair the wall. They concentrate the water-supply in one reservoir the "lower pool," and form a basin between the two walls. These preparations may be compared with those of Hezekiah. (2Ch_32:2-5)
IV FATAL FORGETFULNESS. All these precautions would be too late! A dreadful word! And why?
1. The Divine counsel has been forgotten. "Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass". (Isa_37:26) These harpers, and violinists, and tabret-players, and feasters have not "regarded the work of Jehovah, nor considered the operation of his hands". (Isa_5:12) Self-reliance may be religious, or it may mean an attempt to be independent of God, and so end in alienation from God. How feeble and how foolish policy must become if from the first it ignores the Divine will, and at the last only comes to acknowledge a destiny above human might and human calculation! The idea of all that will be exists in the mind of God; we may know something of his meaning by constantly consulting the "living oracles," by truthful thinking, by loyal acting in a word, by communion with the living God. What can attention to ramparts and ditches and reservoirs avail, if men have not found their defense in God? If he be trusted, what is there to fear? If he be denied, what can shield from calamity? "The fate of Jerusalem is said to have been fashioned long ago in God, But Jerusalem might have averted its realization, for it was no absolute decree. It Jerusalem repented, that realization would be averted" (Delitzsch).
2. Divine warnings have been neglected. God had called in that day; at every critical time. By many ways he speaks by the living and passionate tones of prophet and brother man, by the general course of events, by the touch of sorrow, by the hints of personal experience. There is a time for everything under the sun; to know our opportunity makes the wisdom of the world; to know the "time of our visitation" is the wisdom of heaven. But, alas! the Jews knew it not; "rushing to the banquet-table with despair in their hearts, and wasting the provisions which ought to have been husbanded for the siege." "Let us cat and drink; for tomorrow we die." The sensualism of despair (Cheyne). When the light of life, bright faith and hope toward God, dies out, what remains but to counterfeit its glow by some artificial illumination, kindled from the tow of physical excitement? A love of life which scoffs at death (Delitzsch). "Tis dangerous to scoff; to scoff at the great scoffer Death, what is this but the last extreme of self-abandonment? And does not despair imply the last sin we can commit? And is not recklessness its evidence? And follows there not upon all this the shadow of a state unforgiven, a mind eternally unreconciled? Who can but tremble as he meditates on these things? "Probably if the real feeling of the great mass of worldly men were expressed, they could not be better expressed than in the language of Isaiah: "We must soon die, at all events; we cannot avoid that it is the common doom of all. And since we have been sent into a dying world; since we have had no agency in being placed here; since it is impossible to prevent this doom, we may as well enjoy life while it lasts, and give ourselves to pleasure and revelry. While we can, we will take our comfort, and, when death comes, we will submit to it, because we cannot avoid it (Barnes). But such argumentation cannot really satisfy the conscience. Blessed the Word which evermore, in the mercy of the Eternal, calls to repentance, and reminds us that "now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation! J.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-14. "The sorrow of the world.
We have here a striking picture of that which, in distinction from "godly sorrow," Paul calls "the sorrow of the world.
I THAT GOD SENDS SORROW TO HUMAN SOULS. These national distresses were to be of his sending; it was to be "a day of trouble... by the Lord of hosts" (ver. 5). The human instrumentality would be visible enough, and both those who inflicted the blow and those who endured it their enemies and themselves might fail to discern any Divine hand at work; nevertheless, it was a chastisement that came from heaven, it was sent of God. And to whatever second causes we may trace our troubles in the day of our "treading down and of perplexity," or in the day of our loss, or suffering, or bereavement, we may always go beyond the instrumentality to him "of whom are all things," and feel that what has happened to us is "by the Lord of hosts.
II THAT HIS PURPOSE THEREIN IS OUR SPIRITUAL AMENDMENT. "In that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping," etc. (ver. 12). God would then invite to a general humiliation he would draw their minds to a view of their guilt, and lead them to repentance and so to restoration and life. This is always the Divine purpose in adversity. God seeks our spiritual amendment. Other methods of instruction failing, he lays his hand upon us so that we must feel his touch; he speaks to us in tones it is difficult to disregard; and we know that the thing from which he calls us is sin sin in one or other (or in some) of its many forms; we know also that the thing to which he summons us is rectitude rightness of heart and life.
III THAT THIS HIS DIVINE END IS SOMETIMES ENTIRELY DEFEATED. "Behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep," etc. (ver. 13). Both national history and the biography of individual men prove to us that affliction may produce the very opposite result to that for which it is sent. Never has the city been so abandoned to vice as when the plague was raging and the dead lay unburied in the streets. Many a man allows adversity to drive him to dissolute enjoyments or to ruinous crimes, instead of letting it allure him to a Divine Deliverer. Trouble that was intended to lead to heavenly wisdom and to the service of God only too often hardens a stony heart, makes still ungodlier the man who has forsaken the sanctuary, fastens the fetters of some enslaving vice on the limbs of its wretched victim.
IV THAT UNSANCTIFIED SORROW LEADS TOWN TO SPIRITUAL DEATH. This iniquity would not be purged until they died (ver. 14). It would end, not only with, but in death. Death is the penalty of unsanctified sorrow: "The sorrow of the world worketh death". (2Co_7:10) It leads down inevitably to that utter estrangement from God, that unlikeness to God, and that condemnation by God, in which spiritual death is found here; it leads on to that final banishment from his presence and glory in which it will be found hereafter. C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Vers. 1, 2. Ill-timed joy.
The "valley of vision" is, without doubt, Jerusalem, though Mr. Birks thinks Samaria may be meant. The Prophet Isaiah speaks thus poetically of it as the place where he had his visions. Now he sees the people hurrying, in great excitement, on to the fiat roofs of the city, to watch the gathering hosts of Sennacherib"s army. The attitude of the people surprised him. At such a time, when pestilence decimated the inhabitants, the leading citizens had fled to secure their personal safety, and the enemy was at the very door, he looked for humiliation before God, or at least the calmness of a noble courage; but alas! even in such an hour it was a "tumultuous city, a joyous city.
I JOY IS ILL-TIMED WHEN IT EXPRESSES SELF-SECURITY. Foolish notions of the impregnability of their city possessed the Jews, in spite of the fact that it had been taken. Self-reliance blinded them to the elements of weakness in themselves, and to the strength and energy of their foes. We have heard many a man laugh at threatened danger, and say, "I am safe," and show, as Jerusalem did, the folly of joy with no better basis than self-security.
II JOY IS ILL TIMED WHEN IT EXPRESSES THE RECKLESSNESS OF DESPAIR. Some think that was rather the spirit of Jerusalem at this time the spirit which says, "Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die" (see vers. 12, 13). Self-restraint is very dependent on hope. Illustrate by the wild excitement and foolish things done when shipwreck is imminent; or by the riotings of the man who knows he is within an hour of bankruptcy. "I said of laughter, It is mad." There is an old saying which explains such reckless, heartless joy: "Whom the gods would destroy they first dement." All such joy is foolish and perilous, especially because it keeps men from the duty of the hour, the doing of which might be the means of delivering them from the danger.
III JOY IS ILL TIMED WHENEVER IT HAS NO ROOTAGE OF RELIANCE ON GOD. Joy in God is the foundation of all joy. We can rejoice in what we possess; for it is God-given. We can rejoice in what we lose; for the Lord taketh away. We can rejoice in the future; for "the Lord doth provide." We can rejoice in the darkness and peril; for "he that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 11, 12 The burden of the valley of vision
Isa_22:1
The burden of the valley of vision
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The valley of vision
This expression is applied to Jerusalem, where Jehovah was pleased to give visions concerning His will to His servants.
(B. Blake, B. D.)
The valley of vision
It is quite in place, in so far as round Jerusalem there are mountains, and the very city, which in relation to the country occupied an elevated position, in relation to the mountains of the immediate neighbourhood appeared to stand on a low level. Because of this two-fold aspect Jerusalem is called (Jer_21:13) the inhabitant of the valley, and immediately on the back of this the rock of the plain, and (Jer_17:3) the mountain in the fields, whereas Zep_1:11) not all Jerusalem, but a part of it (probably the ravine of the Tyropaeum) is called the mortar, or as we say, basin. If we add to this that Isaiahs house was situated in the lower city, and that therefore the point of view from which the epithet was applied was there, the expression is perfectly appropriate. (F. Delitzsch.)
Jerusalem, the valley of vision
Furthermore, the epithet is intended to be more than geographical. A valley is a lonely, quiet depression, shut in and cut off by mountains. Similarly is Jerusalem the sheltered, peaceful place, closed against the world, which Jehovah has chosen in order to show there to His prophets the secrets of His government of the world. (F. Delitzsch.)
The valley of vision spiritualised
Where Bibles and ministers are, there is a valley of vision, from which is expected fruit accordingly. (M. Henry.)
The inexpiable sin of Jerusalem
The key to this passage (Isa_22:1-14)--the most lurid and minatory of all Isaiahs prophecies--is theirreconcilable antagonism between the mood of the prophet and the state of public feeling around him. In a time of universal mirth and festivity he alone is overwhelmed with grief and refuses to be comforted. In the rejoicings of the populace he reads the evidence of their hopeless impenitence and insensibility, and he concludes his discourse by expressing the conviction that at last they have sinned beyond the possibility of pardon. The circumstances recall our Lords lamentation over Jerusalem on the day of His triumphal entry. (J. Skinner, D. D.)
The historical allusion
It may be regarded as certain that the prophecy belongs to the period of Sennacheribs invasion (701), although it is difficult to select a moment when all the elements of the highly complex situation with which it deals might have been combined. There is just one incident that seems to meet the requirements of the case, namely, the raising of the blockade of Jerusalem, in consequence of Hezekiahs ignominious submission to the terms of Sennacherib. It must be noted that this was not the last episode in that memorable campaign. The real crisis came a little later when the Assyrian king endeavoured by threats to extort the entire surrender of the capital. It was only at that juncture that Hezekiah unreservedly accepted the policy of implicit trust in Jehovah which Isaiah had all along urged on him; and it was then that the prophet stepped to the front with an absolute and unconditional assurance that Jerusalem should not be violated. That the earlier deliverance should have caused an outbreak of popular joy is intelligible enough; as it is also intelligible that Isaiah should have kept his eye fixed on the dangers yet ahead. The allusions to the recent blockade are amply accounted for, and the prophets expectation of a terrible disaster yet in store is obviously based on his view of the continued and aggravated impenitence of his countrymen. (J. Skinner, D. D.)
What aileth thee now?--
A mad holiday
In these words we can hear the old man addressing his fickle child, whose changefulness by this time he knew so well. We see him standing at his door watching this ghastly holiday. What are you rejoicing at in such an hour as this, when you have not even the bravery of your soldiers to celebrate, when you are without that pride which has brought songs from the lips of a defeated people as they learned that their sons had fallen with their faces to the foe, and has made even the wounds of the dead borne through the gate lips of triumph, calling to festival? (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
A new years question
I. It specially designates THEE. There is an identity in human experience. But there is at the same time an intense personality in each one of us, secrets in our experience--secret struggles, failures, motives, emotions.
II. A SPECIFIC TIME--NOW. Not the past--or the future--but the present.
III. THE AILMENT.
IV. THE QUERY is suggestive, as though the prophets inquiries were made with a view to a remedy. What is the specific for the ailment? Wealth, etc.? No! personal salvation. (Preachers Magazine.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1
CHAPTER XX
THE TURN OF THE TIDE: MORAL EFFECTS OF FORGIVENESS
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701 B.C.
Isaiah 22 Contrasted With 33
THE collapse of Jewish faith and patriotism in the face of the enemy was complete. Final and absolute did Isaiahs sentence ring out: "Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith Jehovah of hosts." So we learn from chapter 22, written, as we conceive, in 701, when the Assyrian armies had at last invested Jerusalem. But in chapter 33, which critics unite in placing a few months later in the same year, Isaiahs tone is entirely changed. He hurls the woe of the Lord upon the Assyrians; confidently announces their immediate destruction; turns, while the whole citys faith hangs upon him, in supplication to the Lord; and announces the stability of Jerusalem, her peace, her glory, and the forgiveness of all her sins. It is this great moral difference between chapters 22 and 33-prophecies that must have been delivered within a few months of each other-which this chapter seeks to expound.
In spite of her collapse, as pictured in chapter 22, Jerusalem was not taken. Her rulers fled; her people, as if death were certain, betook themselves to dissipation; and yet the city did not fall into the hands of the Assyrian. Sennacherib himself does not pretend to have taken Jerusalem. He tells us how closely he invested Jerusalem, but he does not add that he took it, a silence which is the more significant that he records the capture of every other town which his armies attempted. He says that "Hezekiah offered him tribute, and details the amount he received." He adds that the tribute was not paid at Jerusalem (as it would have been had Jerusalem been conquered), but that for "the payment of the tribute and the performance of homage" Hezekiah "despatched his envoy" to him when he was at some distance from Jerusalem. All this agrees with the Bible narrative. In the book of Kings we are told how Hezekiah sent to the King of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have offended; return from me; that which thou puttest upon me I will bear. And the King of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah, King of Judah, three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of Jehovah and in the treasures of the kings house. At the same time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and from the pillars which Hezekiah, King of Judah, had overlaid, and gave it to the King of Assyria." It was indeed a sore submission, when even the Temple of the Lord had to be stripped of its gold. But it purchased the relief of the city, and no price was too high to pay for that at such a moment as the present, when the populace was demoralised. We may even see Isaiahs hand in the submission. The integrity of Jerusalem was the one fact on which the word of the Lord had been pledged, on which the promised remnant would be rallied. The Assyrian must not be able to say that he has made Zions God like the gods of the heathen; and her people must see that even when they have given her up Jehovah can hold her for Himself, though in holding He tear and wound. {Isa_31:4} The Temple is greater than the gold of the Temple; let even the latter be stripped off and sold to the heathen if it can purchase the integrity of the former. So Jerusalem remained inviolate; she was still "the virgin, the daughter of Zion."
And now upon the redeemed city Isaiah could proceed to rebuild the shattered faith and morals of her people. He could say to them, "Everything has turned out as, by the word of the Lord, I said it should. The Assyrian has come down; Egypt has failed you. Your politicians, with their scorn of religion and their confidence in their cleverness, have deserted you. I told you that your numberless sacrifices and pomp of unreal religion would avail you nothing in your day of disaster, and lo when this came, your religion collapsed. Your abounding wickedness, I said, could only close in your ruin and desertion by God. But one promise I kept steadfast: that Jerusalem would not fall; and to your penitence, whenever it should be real, I assured forgiveness. Jerusalem stands today, according to my word; and I repeat my gospel. History has vindicated my word, but Come now, let us bring our reasoning to a close, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow: though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. I call upon you to build again on your redeemed city, and by the grace of this pardon, the fallen ruins of your life."
Some such sermon-if indeed not actually part of chapter 1-we must conceive Isaiah to have delivered to the people when Hezekiah had bought off Sennacherib, for we find the state of Jerusalem suddenly altered. Instead of the panic, which imagined the daily capture of the city, and rushed in hectic holiday to the housetops, crying, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die," we see the citizens back upon the walls, trembling yet trusting. Instead of sweeping past Isaiah in their revelry and leaving him to feel that after forty years of travail he had lost all his influence with them, we see them gathering round about him, as their single hope and confidence (chapter 37). King and people look to Isaiah as their counsellor, and cannot answer the enemy without consulting him. What a change from the days of the Egyptian alliance, embassies sent off against his remonstrance, and intrigues developed without his knowledge; when Ahaz insulted him, and the drunken magnates mimicked him, and, in order to rouse an indolent people, he had to walk about the streets of Jerusalem for three years, stripped like a captive! Truly this was the day of Isaiahs triumph, when God by events vindicated his prophecy, and all the people acknowledged his leadership.
It was the hour of the prophets triumph, but the nation had as yet only trials before it. God has not done with nations or men when He has forgiven them. This people, whom of His grace, and in spite of themselves, God had saved from destruction, stood on the brink of another trial. God had given them a new lease of life, but it was immediately to pass through the furnace. They had bought off Sennacherib, but Sennacherib came back.
When Sennacherib got the tribute, he repented of the treaty he had made with Hezekiah. He may have felt that it was a mistake to leave in his rear so powerful a fortress, while he had still to complete the overthrow of the Egyptians. So, in spite of the tribute, he sent a force back to Jerusalem to demand her surrender. We can imagine the moral effect upon King Hezekiah and his people. It was enough to sting the most demoralised into courage. Sennacherib had doubtless expected so pliant a king and so crushed a people to yield at once. But we may confidently picture the joy of Isaiah, as he felt the return of the Assyrians to be the very thing required to restore spirit to his demoralised countrymen. Here was a foe, whom they could face with a sense of justice, and not, as they had met him before, in carnal confidence and the pride of their own cleverness. Now was to be a war not, like former wars, undertaken merely for party glory, but with the purest feelings of patriotism and the firmest sanctions of religion, a campaign to be entered upon, not with Pharaohs support and the strength of Egyptian chariots, but with God Himself as an ally-of which it could be said to Judah, "Thy righteousness shall go before thee. and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward."
On what free, exultant wings the spirit of Isaiah must have risen to the sublime occasion! We know him as by nature an ardent patriot and passionate lover of his city, but through circumstance her pitiless critic and unsparing judge. In all the literature of patriotism there are no finer odes and orations than those which it owes to him; from no lips came stronger songs of war, and no heart rejoiced more in the valour that turns the battle from the gate. But till now Isaiahs patriotism had been chiefly a conscience of his countrys sins, his passionate love for Jerusalem repressed by as stern a loyalty to righteousness, and all his eloquence and courage spent in holding his people from war and persuading them to returning and rest. At last this conflict is at an end. The stubbornness of Judah, which has divided like some rock the current of her prophets energies, and forced it back writhing and eddying upon itself, is removed. Isaiahs faith and his patriotism run free with the force of twin-tides in one channel, and we hear the fulness of their roar as they leap together upon the enemies of God and the fatherland. "Woe to thee, thou spoiler, and thou wast not spoiled, thou treacherous dealer, and. they did not deal treacherously with thee! Whenever thou ceasest to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and whenever thou hast made an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. O Jehovah, be gracious unto us; for Thee have we waited: be Thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. From the noise of a surging the peoples have fled; from the lifting up of Thyself the nations are scattered. And gathered is your spoil, the gathering of the caterpillar; like the leaping of locusts, they are leaping upon it. Exalted is Jehovah; yea, He dwelleth on high: He hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness. And there shall be stability of thy times, wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the fear of Jehovah, it shall be his treasure". {Isa_33:1-6}
Thus, then, do we propose to bridge the gulf which lies between chapters 1 and 22 on the one hand and chapter 33, on the other. If they are all to be dated from the year 701, some such bridge is necessary. And the one we have traced is both morally sufficient and in harmony with what we know to have been the course of events.
What do we learn from it all? We learn a great deal upon that truth which chapter 33 closes by announcing-the truth of Divine forgiveness.
The forgiveness of God is the foundation of every bridge from a hopeless past to a courageous present. That God can make the past be for guilt as though it had not been is always to Isaiah the assurance of the future. An old Greek miniature represents him with Night behind him, veiled and sullen and holding a reversed torch. But before him stands Dawn and Innocence, a little child, with bright face and forward step and torch erect and burning. From above a hand pours light upon the face of the prophet, turned upwards. It is the message of a Divine pardon. Never did prophet more wearily feel the moral continuity of the generations, the lingering and ineradicable effects of crime. Only faith in a pardoning God could have enabled him, with such conviction of the inseparableness of yesterday and tomorrow, to make divorce between them, and turning his back on the past, as this miniature represents, hail the future as Immanuel, a child of infinite promise.
From exposing and scourging the past, from proving it corrupt and pregnant with poison for all the future, Isaiah will turn on a single verse, and give us a future without war, sorrow, or fraud. His pivot is ever the pardon of God. But nowhere is his faith in this so powerful, his turning upon it so swift, as at this period of Jerusalems collapse, when, having sentenced the people to death for their iniquity-"It was revealed in mine ears by Jehovah of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts" {Isa_22:14} -he swings round on his promise of a little before-"Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow"-and to the peoples penitence pronounces in the last verse of chapter 33, a final absolution: "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell therein are forgiven their iniquity." If chapter 33 be, as many think, Isaiahs latest oracle, then we have the literal crown of all his prophesying in these two words: forgiven iniquity. It is as he put it early that same year: "Come now, let us bring our reasoning to a close; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." If man is to have a future, this must be the conclusion of all his past.
But the absoluteness of Gods pardon, making the past as though it had not been, is not the only lesson which the spiritual experience of Jerusalem in that awful year of 701 has for us. Isaiahs gospel of forgiveness is nothing less than this: that when God gives pardon He gives himself. The name of the blessed future, which is entered through pardon-as in that miniature, a child-is Immanuel: God-with-us. And if it be correct that we owe the forty-sixth Psalm to these months when the Assyrian came back upon Jerusalem, then we see how the city, that had abandoned God, is yet able to sing when she is pardoned, "God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in the midst of troubles." And this gospel of forgiveness is not only Isaiahs. According to the whole Bible, there is but one thing which separates man from God-that is sin, and when sin is done away with, God cannot be kept from man. In giving pardon to man, God gives back to man Himself. How gloriously evident this truth becomes in the New Testament! Christ, who is set before us as the Lamb of God, who beareth the sins of the world, is also Immanuel-God-with-us. The Sacrament, which most plainly seals to the believer the value of the One Sacrifice for sin, is the Sacrament in which the believer feeds upon Christ and appropriates Him. The sinner, who comes to Christ, not only receives pardon for Christs sake, but receives Christ. Forgiveness means nothing less than this: that in giving pardon God gives Himself.
But if forgiveness mean all this, then the objections frequently brought against a conveyance of it so unconditioned as that of Isaiah fall to the ground. Forgiveness of such a kind cannot be either unjust or demoralising. On the contrary, we see Jerusalem permoralised by it. At first, it is true, the sense of weakness and fear abounds, as we learn from the narrative in chapters 36 and 37. But where there was vanity, recklessness, and despair, giving way to dissipation, there is now humility, discipline, and a leaning upon God, that are led up to confidence and exultation. Jerusalems experience is just another proof that any moral results are possible to so great a process as the return of God to the soul. Awful is the responsibility of them who receive such a Gift and such a Guest; but the sense of that awfulness is the atmosphere, in which obedience and holiness and the courage that is born of both love best to grow. One can understand men scoffing at messages of pardon so unconditioned as Isaiahs, who think they "mean no more than a clean slate." Taken in this sense, the gospel of forgiveness must prove a savour of death unto death. But just as Jerusalem interpreted the message of her pardon to mean that "God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved," and straightway obedience was in all her hearts, and courage upon all her walls, so neither to us can be futile the New Testament form of the same gospel, which makes our pardoned soul the friend of God, accepted in the Beloved, and our body His holy temple.
Upon one other point connected with the forgiveness of sins we get instruction from the experience of Jerusalem. A man has difficulty in squaring his sense of forgiveness with the return on the back of it of his old temptations and trials, with the hostility of fortune and with the inexorableness of nature. Grace has spoken to his heart, but Providence bears more hard upon him than ever. Pardon does not change the outside of life; it does not immediately modify the movements of history, or suspend the laws of nature. Although God has forgiven Jerusalem, Assyria comes back to besiege her. Although the penitent be truly reconciled to God, the constitutional results of his fall remain: the frequency of temptation, the power of habit, the bias and facility downwards, the physical and social consequences. Pardon changes none of these things. It does not keep off the Assyrians.
But if pardon means the return of God to the soul, then in this we have the secret of the return of the foe. Men could not try nor develop a sense of the former except by their experience of the latter. We have seen why Isaiah must have welcomed the perfidious re-appearance of the Assyrians after he had helped to buy them off. Nothing could better test the sincerity of Jerusalems repentance, or rally her dissipated forces. Had the Assyrians not returned, the Jews would have had no experimental proof of Gods restored presence, and the great miracle would never have happened that rang through human history for evermore-a trumpet-call to faith in the God of Israel. And so still "the Lord scourgeth every son whom He receiveth," because He would put our penitence to the test; because He would discipline our disorganised affections, and give conscience and will a chance of wiping out defeat by victory; because He would baptise us with the most powerful baptism possible-the sense of being trusted once more to face the enemy upon the fields of our disgrace.
That is why the Assyrians came back to Jerusalem, and that is why temptations and penalties still pursue the penitent and forgiven.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Jerusalem Rebuked
Jerusalem Rebuked
A severe rebuke of the conduct of the people of Jerusalem in a time of calamity. The crisis refered to cannot be certainly identified. The difficulty in assigning the passage to Sennacherib's invasion (701 b.c.) is that other prophecies relating to it are marked by encouragement, not, as here, by a tone of rebuke. Perhaps the present prophecy should be dated 711, the time of Sargon's invasion.
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1-7. The unworthy behaviour of the people of Jerusalem when attack is imminent.
8-11. Every measure is taken for defence except to turn to Jehovah.
12-14. Instead of mourning, they give themselves to reckless revelry. Such conduct must bring destruction as its punishment.
1. Valley of vision] This expression in the title is evidently taken from Isa_22:5. It is generally understood to signify Jerusalem.
Housetops] the natural place of concourse (Jdg_16:27). The city is apparently en fete (Isa_22:13).
2. The joy is the forced gaiety of despair (Isa_22:13). Slain] It is implied that they have died through famine.
3. Which. . far] RV 'they fled afar off.'
4. Daughter] poetical personification of the people (Isa_10:32).
5. By the Lord] RV 'from the Lord.' Valley of vision] Jerusalem may be so designated as being the home of prophetic vision.
6. Elam.. Kir] peoples who furnished auxiliaries to the Assyrian army. Uncovered] took off its case in preparation for battle.
7. Shall be.. shall set] RV 'were.. set.'
S. Discovered, etc.] RV 'took away the covering,' which concealed the danger from the people's eyes. Thou didst look] The people of Judah are addressed. Instead of looking to Jehovah for help, they rely wholly on their material resources. House of the forest] i.e. the house of the forest of Lebanon (1Ki_7:2; 1Ki_10:17), part of Solomon's palace, used as an armoury.
9. Seen] i.e. inspected. Isa_22:9-10 refer to hasty measures taken for defence.
Gathered together, etc.] to secure a supply during the siege.
10. Numbered] to see what material could be spared for strengthening the fortifications.
11. Ditch] RV 'reservoir.'
The old pool] probably the pool of Siloam.
The maker thereof] RV 'him that hath done this,' i.e. God who has brought this trouble upon them.
12. Weeping] the outward tokens of national repentance.
13. The reckless enjoyment of the despairing people, who urged the shortness of the time that remained to them as an excuse for their excesses. Let us eat, etc.] the argument of men who believed in no hereafter (1Co_15:32).
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v1 See note 1, (See Scofield "Isa 13:1").
burden
See note 1, (See Scofield "Isa 13:1").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 The Burden of the Valley of Vision (Jerusalem)
CHAPTER 22
The Burden of the Valley of Vision (Jerusalem)
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1. Jerusalem’s deplorable state (Isa 22:1-4) 2. The invading armies (Isa 22:5-7) 3. The siege and the calamity (Isa 22:8-14) 4. Shebna (Isa 22:15-19) 5. Eliakim (Isa 22:20-25)This is another intensely interesting prophecy. Jerusalem has passed through many sieges and at last in part the prophecy has been fulfilled. But there is another siege of Jerusalem impending. It will come after the message of the fall of the final Babylon. See Zec 14:1-21. Still more interesting are Shebna and Eliakim, mentioned in this chapter. Shebna, the proud one, is the usurper, the type of the Antichrist. Eliakim is the type of Christ, He whose right it is to reign. It is Christ displacing Antichrist, which is seen in Isa 22:15-25. Compare Isa 22:22 with Rev 3:7.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 The Oracle of the Valley of Vision
The Oracle of the Valley of Vision
v. 1. The burden of the Valley of Vision, literally, "of the Valley of Visions," that is, Jerusalem, where God vouchsafed revelations and visions in larger number than elsewhere, for which reason Jerome called the city the nursery of prophets: What aileth thee now, the people of Jerusalem being addressed here collectively, as one person, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? the former insolence of the inhabitants having been changed to terror and panic.
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v. 2. Thou that art, rather, "wert," full of stirs, of noisy and joyful tumult and excitement, a tumultuous city, a joyous city, a fortress filled with jubilating people, thy slain men are not slain with the sword, in open and honorable warfare, nor dead in battle, rather by the famine and pestilence caused by the siege of the city which the prophet sees before the eyes of his mind. The reference is probably to the time of Sennacherib, when the Assyrians overran the country and a secret understanding with Egypt was being prepared.
v. 3. All thy rulers, the officers of the Jewish army, are fled together, they are bound by the archers, taken captive with ease, because they are without weapons, they do not even draw a bow to defend themselves; all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far, having come a long distance to find security in the capital, but sadly disappointed in their hopes. All this fills the prophet with deep grief.
v. 4. Therefore said I, Look away from me, leaving him alone in his deep mourning; I will weep bitterly, literally, "that I may be bitter in my weeping. " Labor not to comfort me, such attempts being resented by him, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people, since Jerusalem, the daughter of Zion, is so deeply humiliated by the enemy.
v. 5. For it is a day of trouble, of noisy tumult, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord God of hosts In the Valley of Vision, in the entire city of Jerusalem, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains, the mournful cries re-echoing among the hills.
v. 6. And Elam, the warriors of the country east of the lower Tigris, later a province of Persia, bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, as a part of the Assyrian army, and Kir, another country subject to Assyria, between the Caspian and the Black Sea, uncovered the shield, by taking off its leather covering in preparation for the battle. Thus the coming of Israel’s enemies is described.
v. 7. And it shall come to pass that thy choicest valleys, the most fruitful sections of Judah, shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate, ready to storm the city. Meanwhile the people of the city are aroused to the danger which is threatening them.
v. 8. And He, the Lord God, discovered the covering of Judah, taking from the inhabitants of the country the veil which caused their blindness, and thou, Judah, didst look in that day to the armor of the house of the forest, examining the weapons stored in the great armory built by Solomon, 1Ki 7:2; 1Ki 10:17-21.
v. 9. Ye have seen also the breaches of the City of David, where the fortifications were in poor condition, that they are many; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool, getting ready to withstand a siege. Cf 2Ki 20:20; 2Ch 32:3-5.
v. 10. And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, examining them for purposes of defense, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall, repairing the breaches of the walls with the stones from the houses razed with that object in mind.
v. 11. Ye made also a ditch between the two walls, those of the city proper and of the fortress, for the water of the old pool, also known as the upper pool, west of the city, thus making careful provisions for all emergencies, as they thought; but ye have not looked unto the Maker thereof, neither had respect unto Him that fashioned it long ago; in their calculations and plans they disregarded the Lord altogether, although it was He at whose command the defenses were originally made and who caused the fountains to flow; it was He also who was preparing a severe punishment upon Jerusalem.
v. 12. And in that day did the Lord God of hosts, the mighty Commander of the heavenly armies, call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, the artificial baldness which was a sign of grief, and to girding with sackcloth, urging the people to give evidence of the sorrow and grief of their hearts in this manner;
v. 13. and, behold, instead of such repentance and mourning, joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine, in obstinate and reckless revelry: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die, such being the invitation with which the sinful Jews urged one another to a shameful disregard of the Lord’s call through His faithful prophets.
v. 14. And It was revealed In mine ears by the Lord of hosts, who, in His word to the prophet, makes Himself known, reveals His will, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, death being the sentence of God upon the willful sinner, saith the Lord God of hosts. The idea of death, eternal death, as a form of punishment, is by no means found only in the New Testament, but is plainly shown in the Old Testament as well.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 A declaration
A declaration
"This is what Yahweh declares" or "This is Yahweh's message"
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about the Valley of Vision
Here "Valley" refers to those who live in the valley, that is, Jerusalem. AT: "about those who live in the Valley of Vision" or "about those who live in Jerusalem" (See: Metonymy)
What is the reason that you have all gone up to the housetops?
Isaiah uses a question to scold the people of Judah. AT: "You should not go and stand on the tops of your houses." (See: Rhetorical Question)
a town full of revelry
"a town full of people celebrating"
Your dead were not killed with the sword
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Enemy soldiers did not kill your people" (See: Active or Passive)
with the sword
Here "sword" represents the soldiers who fight in battle. (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
declare
vision
sword
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14 22:1-25 This message addresses the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem…
22:1-25 This message addresses the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem in 701 BC (see chs 36–37; 2 Kgs 18:17–19:37) and perhaps the people’s preparation for the subsequent Babylonian siege in 588–586 BC.
22:1-4 The prophet rebukes the people for their excitement over the Assyrian retreat (701 BC). They did not foresee that the Babylonian army would later (in 586 BC) complete what the Assyrians failed to do, namely, the destruction of Jerusalem.
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22:1 concerning Jerusalem—the Valley of Vision: The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain. Assuming that it refers to Jerusalem (see 22:5), it is ironic: Jerusalem sits atop a hill, and visions were not typically thought to originate in a valley. Similarly, Jerusalem was proud of its self-perceived religious vision, but its inhabitants were spiritually blind (see 6:10; 42:18).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.