Proclamation Against Jerusalem
What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,
A tumultuous city, aa joyous city?
Your slain men are not slain with the sword,
Nor dead in battle.
They are captured by the archers.
All who are found in you are bound together;
They have fled from afar.
aI will weep bitterly;
Do not labor to comfort me
Because of the plundering of the daughter of my people.”
bBy the Lord God of hosts
In the Valley of Vision—
Breaking down the walls
And of crying to the mountain.
Shall be full of chariots,
And the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
You looked in that day to the armor bof the House of the Forest;
That it was great;
And you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
For the water of the old bpool.
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago.
aCalled for weeping and for mourning,
bFor baldness and for girding with sackcloth.
Slaying oxen and killing sheep,
Eating meat and adrinking wine:
b“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
“Surely for this iniquity there bwill be no atonement for you,
Even to your death,” says the Lord God of hosts.
The Judgment on Shebna
“Go, proceed to this steward,
To aShebna, who is over the house, and say:
| << Isaiah 21:17 | Isaiah 22:2 >> |
Isaiah 22:1
The burden - (see the note at Isaiah 13:1). "The valley" gay' . Septuagint, ́ 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 Isaiah 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
(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 Jeremiah 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 ( ́ 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 Isaiah 21:1; Isaiah 29:1).
Of vision - (see the note at Isaiah 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 Matthew 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 Deuteronomy 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 Judges 9:50-53). The image here is, therefore, one of consternation and alarm, as if on the sudden approach of an enemy.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Isaiah 22:1:
Isaiah 1:1
Isaiah 13:1
Isaiah 22:5
| << Isaiah 21:17 | Isaiah 22:2 >> |
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