Isaiah 22 King James Version (KJV)
22 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, joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.
3 All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers: all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far.
4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; 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 Kir uncovered the shield.
7 And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
8 And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest.
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.
10 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.
11 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.
12 And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts.
15 Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say,
16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?
17 Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.
18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord’s house.
19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:
21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.
24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.
25 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the Lord hath spoken it.
Commentary
Jerusalem besieged (22:1-25)
In Judah, the land where the prophet had his visions of judgment on other nations, he recalls one of God’s judgments on Judah, namely, the Assyrians’ siege of Jerusalem. On that occasion the city was saved only through the faith of Hezekiah and Isaiah (2 Kings 18:13-19:37).
Ignoring the gracious intervention of God that had miraculously saved them, the people celebrate as if they had won the victory themselves. Isaiah is disgusted at the light-hearted attitude of the people, particularly when he recalls their cowardly behaviour during the siege. The city’s leading officials fled the doomed city, only to be killed or captured by the enemy (22:1-4).
The prophet describes the scene during the siege. Outside Jerusalem enemy forces spread across the countryside, while battering rams try to smash the city walls. Soldiers hired from various countries are eager to start fighting (5-8a). Inside Jerusalem soldiers rush to the army headquarters for weapons, and there is much activity to save the city’s water supply. Where the city wall is crumbling under the enemy attacks, the Jerusalemites desperately build it up, even demolishing their houses to obtain bricks for the work. But they do not turn to God for help (8b-11).
Other citizens, however, feel sure that Jerusalem will fall. They do nothing to help, but enjoy themselves as much as they can while they can. They show no repentance for the sins that have brought this disaster upon them (12-14).
Shebna, Hezekiah’s chief official, is condemned for using his position for the benefit of himself instead of for the benefit of the people. He loved the honour of a procession of chariots preceding him
wherever he went, but now he will be shamefully removed from office. Instead of having a magnificent funeral, he will be buried in disgrace (15-19). His position, which was the top decision-making position in the land after the king, will be taken by Eliakim (20-23). But Eliakim will be used by his relatives and friends for their own advantage, and this will eventually be the cause of his downfall (24-25). (By the time of the siege, Eliakim had already been promoted and Shebna demoted; see 2 Kings 18:18.)