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.
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Isaiah 22:9-11 sits inside this longer paragraph.
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.
Parallel Translations
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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.
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Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.
Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.
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And ye saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
And ye numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and ye broke down the houses to fortify the wall;
ye made also a basin between the two walls for the water of the old pool — but ye looked not unto Him that had done this, neither had ye respect unto Him that fashioned it long ago.
Cross-references (17)
- Jeremiah 33:2-3 (v11) “Yahweh who does it, Yahweh who forms it to establish it—Yahweh is his name, says: ‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you…
- Micah 7:7 (v11) But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
- 2 Kings 20:20 (vv9, 11) Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, aren’t…
- 2 Kings 25:4 (v11) Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the…
- Isaiah 17:7 (v11) In that day, people will look to their Maker, and their eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
Show all 15 cross-references
- Isaiah 31:1 (v11) Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they…
- Nehemiah 3:16 (vv9, 11) After him, Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, the ruler of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs to the place opposite the tombs of David,…
- 2 Chronicles 6:6 (v11) but now I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’
- 2 Chronicles 16:7-9 (v11) At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied…
- 2 Chronicles 32:1-6 (v9) After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, entered into Judah, and encamped against the fortified cities,…
- 2 Chronicles 32:3-4 (v11) he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the springs which were outside of the city, and they helped him.…
- 2 Chronicles 32:30 (v9) This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of David’s city.…
- Isaiah 8:17 (v11) I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
- Isaiah 37:26 (v11) “ ‘Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours…
- Jeremiah 39:4 (v11) When Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled, and went out of the city by night, by the way of the…
15 distinct cross-references across this passage (17 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Ye forfeited the ruinous places which were neglected in…
Ye forfeited the ruinous places which were neglected in times of peace: meaning, the whole City, and the City of David, which was within the compass of the other.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Isa 22:9 Ye have seen also the breaches of…
Isa 22:9 Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
Ver. 9. Ye have seen also … and ye gathered together, &c.] This they did when in distress, to prevent the enemy and provide for their own safety; and this they might well have done, had not God been neglected; this of all things he can least endure. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psa 9:17; see Isa 30:1).
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 vv9–11 Ye have seen, i.e. observed or considered, as this…
Ye have seen, i.e. observed or considered, as this word is used, Exo 32:9, and elsewhere, in order to the reparation of them, and to fortify the city, as the next words manifest.
Ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool, that you might both deprive the enemy of water, and supply the city with it; of which see on 2Ch 32:4,5.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Ye have seen also the breaches of the city…
Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many,.... Not Jerusalem in general, but that part of it which was called the stronghold of Zion, and in particular had the name of the city of David, Sa2 5:7 the fortifications of which, in times of peace, had gone to decay; and which they had seen before, but took no notice of, being in safety; but now besieged, and in great danger, they looked upon them in good earnest, in order to repair them, and secure themselves from the irruption of the enemy; for this is not to be understood of breaches now made by the Assyrian army, but of old ones, which had lain neglected; see Ch2 32:5,
and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool: not to make mortar with, to be used in repairing the breaches, as Kimchi; but either that they might be as a wall round about the place, as Aben Ezra; or rather to deprive the enemy of them, and cut off all communications from him, and to supply the inhabitants of the city with them; see Ch2 32:3. The Septuagint version is, "and he turned the water of the old pool into the city": but the old pool was another pool hereafter mentioned, and was without the city, the same with the upper pool; whereas this was the lower, and was in the city. The Targum is,
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"and ye gathered the people to the waters of the lower pool.''
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 vv9–11 Seen - That is, observed in order to the…
Seen - That is, observed in order to the reparation of them. The waters - That you might both deprive the enemy of water, and supply the city with it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9, 11 Verse 9. Ye gathered together the waters - "And…
Verse 9. Ye gathered together the waters - "And ye shall collect the waters"] There were two pools in or near Jerusalem, supplied by springs: the upper pool, or the old pool, supplied by the spring called Gihon, 2Ch 32:30, towards the higher part of the city, near Sion, or the city of David, and the lower pool, probably supplied by Siloam, towards the lower part. When Hezekiah was threatened with a siege by Sennacherib, he stopped up all the waters of the fountains without the city; and brought them into the city by a conduit, or subterranean passage cut through the rock; those of the old pool, to the place where he had a double wall, so that the pool was between the two walls. This he did in order to distress the enemy, and to supply the city during the siege. This was so great a work that not only the historians have made particular mention of it, 2Kg 20:20; 2Ch 32:2-3; 2Ch 32:5; 2Ch 32:30; but the son of Sirach also has celebrated it in his encomium on Hezekiah. "Hezekiah fortified his city, and brought in water into the midst thereof: he digged the hard rock with iron, and made wells for water," Ecclus. xlviii.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Ye have seen also the breaches - You who…
Ye have seen also the breaches - You who are inhabitants of the city. That such breaches were actually made, see 2Ch 32:5.
Of the city of David - Of Jerusalem, so called because it was the royal residence of David. Zion was usually called the city of David, but the name was given also to the entire city.
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And ye gathered together ... - That is, Hezekiah and the people of the city collected those waters.
Of the lower pool - (For a description of the upper and lower pool, see the notes at Isa 7:3). The superfluous waters of the lower pool usually flowed into the valley of Hinnom, and thence, into the valley of Jehoshaphat, mingling with the waters of the brook Kedron. It would seem from the passage here that those waters were not usually retained for the use of the city, though it was possible to retain them in case of a drought or a siege. At present, the lower pool is without the walls, but Hezekiah appears to have extended a temporary wall around it so as to enclose it (see the note at Isa 22:11). This he did, probably for two purposes;
(1) to cut off the Assyrians from the supply of water; and
(2) to retain “all” the water in the city to supply the inhabitants during the siege; see 2Ch 32:4, where it is expressly declared that Hezekiah took this measure to distress the Assyrians.
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 vv9, 11 Many, but you have neglected them, (Calmet) till it…
Many, but you have neglected them, (Calmet) till it be too late. (Haydock) --- Pool, communicating with Gehon on the west.
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9–11 Ye have seen--rather, "Ye shall see."
Ye have seen--rather, "Ye shall see."
city of David--the upper city, on Zion, the south side of Jerusalem (Sa2 5:7, Sa2 5:9; Kg1 8:1); surrounded by a wall of its own; but even in it there shall be "breaches." Hezekiah's preparations for defense accord with this (Ch2 32:5).
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ye gathered--rather, "ye shall gather."
lower pool--(See on Isa 22:11). Ye shall bring together into the city by subterranean passages cut in the rock of Zion, the fountain from which the lower pool (only mentioned here) is supplied. See on Isa 7:3; Kg2 20:20; Ch2 32:3-5, represent Hezekiah as having stopped the fountains to prevent the Assyrians getting water. But this is consistent with the passage here. The superfluous waters of the lower pool usually flowed into Hinnom valley, and so through that of Jehoshaphat to the brook Kedron. Hezekiah built a wall round it, stopped the outflowing of its waters to debar the foe from the use of them, and turned them into the city.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–11 9. The first half reads Ye saw (i.e. examined)…
9. The first half reads Ye saw (i.e. examined) the breaches of the city of David (the citadel of Zion, 2Sa_5:7; 2Sa_5:9) for they were many. Jerusalem was evidently quite unfit to stand a siege. The water supply was still defective, as it had been 34 years before (see ch. Isa_7:3). The lower pool is not elsewhere mentioned, although its existence is implied by ch. Isa_7:3. It was obviously within the walls, and probably lay near the mouth of the Tyropœon Valley.
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 vv9–11 (9) Ye have seen also the breaches . .…
(9) Ye have seen also the breaches . . .—The prophet paints the hasty preparations for defence. So in 2Ch_32:5 : “Hezekiah built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers,” and added an outer line of defence. The “city of David” is, of course, the fortress of Zion.
The waters of the lower pool.—This was the Lower Gihon, now the Birket-es-Sultan. The operation is described more fully in 2Ch_32:3-4. Its object was to stop the outflow of the streams, and gather them into a reservoir, partly, of course, for the supply of the inhabitants during the siege, but still more that the Assyrian armies might find little or no water in the immediate neighbourhood of the city. Sargon, in his inscriptions, describes like preparations at Ashdod (Smith, Assyr. Discov., p. 291).
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 vv9–11 Ye have seen also.... are many; rather, ye saw…
Ye have seen also.... are many; rather, ye saw also were many. The breaches of the city of David. "The city of David" may be here a name for Jerusalem generally, as "the city where David dwelt", (Isa_29:1) or it may designate the eastern hill, where David fixed his residence. (2Sa_5:7 Neh_3:15, Neh_3:16, 25 12:37) In 2Ch_32:5 we read that Hezekiah at this time "built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Mille in the city of David," where a particular part of Jerusalem seems certainly to be meant. Ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool. The arrangements made by Hezekiah with respect to the water-supply at the time of Sennacherib"s invasion, seem to have been the following: He found on the north of the city, where the Assyrian attack was certain to be delivered, in the vicinity of the Damascus gate, a pool or reservoir, (Isa_7:3) fed by a conduit from some natural source, which lay open and patent to view. The superfluous water ran off from it by a "brook", (2Ch_32:4) which passed down the Tyropoeon valley, and joined the Kedron to the southeast of Ophel. His first step was to cover over and conceal the open reservoir, and also the" brook" which ran from it, at least as far as the northern city wall, to prevent their use by the Assyrians. He then further made a conduit underground (2Ch_32:30) within the city, along the Tyropoeon depression, to a second reservoir, or "pool," also within the city, which could be freely used by the inhabitants (see ver. 11; and comp. Ecc 48:17). Further, it is probable that he carried a conduit from this second pool, under the temple area, to the" fount of the Virgin" on the eastern side of Ophel, and thence further conveyed the water by a tunnel through Ophel to the "pool of Siloam." (This last may be the work here alluded to.) The inscription recently discovered at this peel is probably of Hezekiah"s time (see "Quarterly Statement" of Palest. Expl. Fund for April, 1881, p. 70).
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 v11 Ye have not looked unto the Maker thereof
Isa_22:11
Ye have not looked unto the Maker thereof
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A godless prudence
They take measures to supply the city with water during its siege, and to cut it off, if possible, from the besiegers.
Why, as it is written in the history which gives us the fulfilment of this prophecy, should the kings of Assyria come and find much water? Where this fails everything fails, for water, next to the air we breathe, is the first necessity of human life. There are, it seems, certain streams or pools of water fed with springs outside the city, and these they manage to divert, so that they flow now away from the besiegers and in favour of the besieged. The city has two watts, and between these two--the inner and the outer--a ditch or trench is dug, and the water of the old pool made to flow into it, forming at once as a moat some kind of protection for the inner wall, should the outer be broken down, and also a supply for the use of the inhabitants. All this was right and reasonable, and no blame could be laid upon the authorities for taking these precautions. But there is blame in this, that notwithstanding they are the Lords chosen people, and have ever been taught that they owe all they have to Him, yet they do not recognise Him as the bountiful Lord and gracious Giver. (J. W. Lance.)
Mans use of Gods gifts
We have here a kind of type and pattern of the infirmity so common to human nature, namely, forgetfulness of God in the use and appropriation of those things which He has provided for us.
I. Look, e.g., at the Divine provisions in THE GREAT STOREHOUSES OF NATURE. See how by invention and discovery we turn these to account, perceiving in some instances forces which, though old, are new to us, and in others ingeniously applying old and well-known forces to new purposes in the advancement of civilisation and for the comfort and convenience of life. It is written concerning man in the Book of Psalms, Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands.
II. Let us take up the more familiar theme of DAILY PROVIDENCE. We can see God in clouds, we can hear Him in the wind; He is sometimes near to us in the earthquake and the fire, as well as in the still small voice; but we often fail to see Him in those common mercies which are yet new every morning and fresh every evening. Consider that loaf of bread on your table. It should be to you a revelation; and that it may be so, find out its genesis. It was flour yesterday or the day before, and it came, perhaps, from France, or Spain, or America, where it was grown as wheat--came to you across the ocean, Gods own highway in the wilderness of waters. Long ago He fashioned those grains of wheat, and put into them such force of life that a handful or less, found in an Egyptian mummy three thousand years old, when planted in English soil, have grown and brought forth thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold. Givens this day our daily bread, simplest of all prayers as it seems, is really asking that natures forces may continue to be filled and sustained by Him who made them; and that the industries of life may go on working harmoniously with the gracious providence of God, for without these links human and Divine in the great golden chain, our daily bread would cease.
III. IN RELIGION, too, we may see how the Divine gifts have been used, and, alas! too often abused, in blind forgetfulness of the Divine Giver. Man is a creature who can no more do without religion than he can do without money, without clothing, without houses, or without food. But though naturally religious, it does not follow that he is godly. We may make to ourselves a religion without God. One of the charges brought by the apostle Paul against those who had formed the most elaborate and complex religious systems was, that they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. The religious faculty, God-given, in some sort they exercised, but they lost sight of Him the Giver. They lost His unity among their myriad gods and goddesses, and so Israels mission was to declare, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. They lost sight, too, of His justice; for though they said, The gods are just, yet when we read the story of their lives, their vices, and their crimes, every idea of justice is shocked and revolted; and as to these gods, they that make them are like unto them. It may be, too, that in our own theologies we have not been in this respect free from fault. Even in Christian theology the Theos, the personal God, may have been too much lost sight of. It may ye, as is sometimes charged upon us, that we think of God as a bundle of attributes, rather than as a living Father revealed to us in the Christ.
IV. IN CHRISTIAN ORDINANCES let us always see the Giver. Unless we do so, use in them there is none. (J. W. Lance.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v10 General Information:
General Information:
Isaiah continues to describe a time in the future when an army will attack the people of Jerusalem. (See: Predictive Past)
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You counted the houses
Here "counted" means they inspected the houses to find material to help them rebuild the city wall.
You made a reservoir
"You made a storage place"
between the two walls
It is unclear what two walls Isaiah meant. The main point is that they built the reservoir within the city walls.
the city's maker
This refers to Yahweh.
translationWords
house
Jerusalem
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 v9 22:9 Jerusalem (literally the city of David): Calling Jerusalem…
22:9 Jerusalem (literally the city of David): Calling Jerusalem “the city of David” evokes memories of Israel’s greatest king and God’s blessing upon him and the nation (see also 60:14). • You store up water in the lower pool: Hezekiah expended great energy in ensuring a constant supply of water (see 22:11; 2 Kgs 20:20).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.