Isaiah 22:2

2 thou full of cry, a city of much people, a city full out joying? (O city full of noise, a city of many people, a city of great rejoicing!) thy slain men were not slain by sword, neither thy dead men were dead in battle.

Isaiah 22:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 22:2

Thou art full of stirs
Or, "wast full of stirs"; through the multitude of people walking about in it, and the vast hurry of business done in it; but now all hush and quiet, the streets clear of people, and the shops shut up, and all got up to the housetops for shelter; or, "full of noises" ^F12, as a populous trading city is. The word signifies shoutings and acclamations, and is used for joyful ones, ( Zechariah 4:7 ) and may be so taken here, and may design such as were expressed at their festivals, and on other occasions; unless it is to be understood of doleful ones, on account of the invasion and siege: a tumultuous city;
through the throng of people, and the noise of thorn: a joyous city;
some on business, others on pleasure; some hurrying from place to place about their trade and commerce, and others amusing themselves with pastime, mirth, and jollity; which is commonly the case of populous cities in prosperity. This had been Jerusalem's case, but now it was otherwise: thy slain [men] are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle;
for Sennacherib never entered into it, nor put any of its inhabitants to the sword; nor was there any battle fought between them, nor was he suffered so much as to shoot an arrow into it, ( Isaiah 37:33 ) wherefore those that died in it died either through the fright and consternation they were put into, or through the famine his army had caused, in laying the country round about them desolate.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 (halm tavt) "plena strepitibus", Munster; "tumultuationibus", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius; "fragoribus", Piscator.

Isaiah 22:2 In-Context

1 The burden of the valley of vision. What also is to thee, for and all thou ascendedest into [the] roofs, (The burden of the Valley of Vision. What is it with thee, for thou all have ascended onto the roofs,)

2 thou full of cry, a city of much people, a city full out joying? (O city full of noise, a city of many people, a city of great rejoicing!) thy slain men were not slain by sword, neither thy dead men were dead in battle.

3 All thy princes fled together, and were bound hard; all that were found, were bound together, (though) they fled far. (All thy leaders fled away together, and were bound up by the archers; all who were found, were bound up together, though they had fled far away.)

4 Therefore I said (And so I said), Go ye away from me, I shall weep bitterly; do not ye be busy to comfort me on the destroying of the daughter of my people.

5 For why a day of slaying, and of defouling, and of weepings, is ordained of the Lord God of hosts, in the valley of vision; and he searcheth the wall, and is worshipful on the hill. (For a day of killing, and of defiling, and of weeping, is ordained by the Lord God of hosts, in the Valley of Vision; and the walls be broken down, and cries for help sound across the mountains.)