Isaiah 22:10

10 And you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.

Isaiah 22:10 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 22:10

And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem
To know what number of men were in them, and how many could be spared to do duty, either as watchmen or soldiers; or to know how to levy the tax, and what money they would be able to raise, to defray the charge of the defence of the city; or to see what provisions they had, and so make a computation how long they could hold out the siege; or else to observe what houses might be annoyed by the enemy, and what stood in the way of the repair of the walls, or were proper to pull down, that with the stones and timber of them they might make up the breaches of the wall, and that the stronger, as follows: and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall;
either such as were without the wall, which, had they let them stand, would either have been destroyed by the enemy, or have been a harbour for them; or those upon it, and near it within, which stood in the way of the repair, and were easily beat down by the enemy; or might be a means of communication between them and such as were inclined to be treacherous; with the stones and timber of which houses, when broken down, they strengthened the wall, and so served a better purpose than if they had stood.

Isaiah 22:10 In-Context

8 And he uncovered the covering of Judah. And you looked, on that day, to the weapons of the House of the Forest,

9 and you saw that the breaches in the walls of the city of David were many, and you gathered the waters of the lower pool.

10 And you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.

11 And you made a reservoir between the walls for the waters of the old pool, but you did not look to its maker, and you did not see {the one who created it long ago}.

12 And the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, called on that day for weeping and mourning, and for baldness and girding {with} sackcloth.