1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?
Behold, I am against thee, inhabitress of the valley, the rock of the plain, saith Jehovah; ye that say, Who shall come down against us, or who shall enter into our dwellings?
Jerusalem! -- mountains are round about her, and Jehovah is round about his people, from henceforth and for evermore.
Let the nations rouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.
In their streets they are girded with sackcloth; on their roofs, and in their broadways, every one howleth, melted into tears.
who are Israelites; whose [is] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the law-giving, and the service, and the promises; whose [are] the fathers; and of whom, as according to flesh, [is] the Christ, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Much every way: and first, indeed, that to them were entrusted the oracles of God.
It is wholly lamentation upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the public places thereof; for I have broken Moab, like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith Jehovah.
And God heard the voice of the lad. And the Angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her, What [aileth] thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad there, where he is.
He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt thus with any nation; and as for [his] judgments, they have not known them. Hallelujah!
What ailed thee, thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou turnedst back?
And the king said to her, What aileth thee? And she said, I am indeed a widow woman, and my husband is dead.
And behold, Saul came after the oxen from the field; and Saul said, What [aileth] the people that they weep? And they related to him the words of the men of Jabesh.
And they shouted to the Danites, who turned round and said to Micah, "What ails you that you come with such a company?"
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 22
Commentary on Isaiah 22 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 22
We have now come nearer home, for this chapter is "the burden of the valley of vision,' Jerusalem; other places had their burden for the sake of their being concerned in some way or other with Jerusalem, and were reckoned with either as spiteful enemies or deceitful friends to the people of God; but now let Jerusalem hear her own doom. This chapter concerns,
Isa 22:1-7
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, Mt. 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,
Isa 22:8-14
What is meant by the covering of Judah, which in the beginning of this paragraph is said to be discovered, is not agreed. The fenced cities of Judah were a covering to the country; but these, being taken by the army of the Assyrians, ceased to be a shelter, so that the whole country lay exposed to be plundered. The weakness of Judah, its nakedness, and inability to keep itself, now appeared more than ever; and thus the covering of Judah was discovered. Its magazines and stores, which had been locked up, were now laid open for the public use. Dr. Lightfoot gives another sense of it, that by this distress into which Judah should be brought God would discover their covering (that is, uncloak their hypocrisy), would show all that was in their heart, as is said of Hezekiah upon another occasion, 2 Chr. 32:31. Now they discovered both their carnal confidence (v. 9) and their carnal security, v. 13. Thus, by one means or other, the iniquity of Ephraim will be discovered and the sin of Samaria, Hos. 7:1.
They were now in a great fright, and in this fright they manifested two things much amiss:-
Isa 22:15-25
We have here a prophecy concerning the displacing of Shebna, a great officer at court, and the preferring of Eliakim to the post of honour and trust that he was in. Such changes are common in the courts of princes; it is therefore strange that so much notice should be taken of it by the prophet here; but by the accomplishment of what was foretold concerning these particular persons God designed to confirm his word in the mouth of Isaiah concerning other and greater events; and it is likewise to show that, as God has burdens in store for those nations and kingdoms abroad that are open enemies to his church and people, so he has for those particular persons at home that are false friends to them and betray them. It is likewise a confirmation in general of the hand of divine Providence in all events of this kind, which to us seem contingent and to depend upon the wills and fancies of princes. Promotion comes not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south; but God is the Judge, Ps. 75:6, 7. It is probable that this prophecy was delivered at the same time with that in the former part of the chapter, and began to be fulfilled before Sennacherib's invasion; for now Shebna was over the house, but then Eliakim was (ch. 36:3); and Shebna, coming down gradually, was only scribe. Here is,