Isaiah 22:1-15

A Prophecy About Jerusalem

1 A prophecy against the Valley of Vision: What troubles you now, that you have all gone up on the roofs,

2 you town so full of commotion, you city of tumult and revelry? Your slain were not killed by the sword, nor did they die in battle.

3 All your leaders have fled together; they have been captured without using the bow. All you who were caught were taken prisoner together, having fled while the enemy was still far away.

4 Therefore I said, “Turn away from me; let me weep bitterly. Do not try to console me over the destruction of my people.”

5 The Lord, the LORD Almighty, has a day of tumult and trampling and terror in the Valley of Vision, a day of battering down walls and of crying out to the mountains.

6 Elam takes up the quiver, with her charioteers and horses; Kir uncovers the shield.

7 Your choicest valleys are full of chariots, and horsemen are posted at the city gates.

8 The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah, and you looked in that day to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest.

9 You saw that the walls of the City of David were broken through in many places; you stored up water in the Lower Pool.

10 You counted the buildings in Jerusalem and tore down houses to strengthen the wall.

11 You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago.

12 The Lord, the LORD Almighty, called you on that day to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.

13 But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! “Let us eat and drink,” you say, “for tomorrow we die!”

14 The LORD Almighty has revealed this in my hearing: “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for,” says the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

15 This is what the Lord, the LORD Almighty, says: “Go, say to this steward, to Shebna the palace administrator:

Isaiah 22:1-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 22

This chapter contains two prophecies, one concerning the invasion of Judah and Jerusalem, not by the Medes and Persians, but by the Assyrian army, under which they served; and the other of the removal of Shebna, an officer in Hezekiah's court, and of the placing of Eliakim in his stead. After the title of the former of these prophecies, the distress of the people, through the invasion, is described, by their getting up to the housetops, Isa 22:1 by the stillness of the city, having left both trade and mirth; by the slain in it, not by the sword, but through fear or famine, Isa 22:2 by the flight of the rulers, and by the lamentation of the prophet, Isa 22:3-5 the instruments of which distress were the Persians and Medes serving under Sennacherib, who are described by their quivers and shields, their chariots and horsemen, Isa 22:6,7 the methods the Jews took to defend themselves, and their vain confidence, are exposed; for which, with their disrespect to the Lord, and his admonitions, their carnal security and luxury, they are threatened with death, Isa 22:8-14 then follows the prophecy of the deposition of Shebna, who is described by his name and office, Isa 22:15 whose pride is exposed as the cause of his fall, Isa 22:16 and he is threatened not only to be driven from his station, but to be carried captive into another country, suddenly and violently, and with great shame and disgrace, Isa 22:17-19 and another put in his place, who is mentioned by name, Isa 22:20 and who should be invested with his office and power, and have all the ensigns of it, Isa 22:21,22 and should continue long in it, to great honour and usefulness to his family, Isa 22:23,24 yet not always, Isa 22:25.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 13:1
• 2. Psalms 125:2; Jeremiah 21:13; Joel 3:2,12,14
• 3. S Isaiah 1:1
• 4. S Joshua 2:8; Jeremiah 48:38
• 5. Ezekiel 22:5
• 6. S Isaiah 5:14; S Isaiah 21:5; Isaiah 32:13
• 7. S Isaiah 10:4
• 8. S 2 Kings 25:3
• 9. S Isaiah 13:14
• 10. S 2 Kings 25:6
• 11. S Isaiah 15:3; S Lamentations 1:16; Ezekiel 21:6; Luke 19:41
• 12. Jeremiah 9:1
• 13. S Isaiah 2:12
• 14. S Job 40:12; S Psalms 108:13
• 15. S 2 Samuel 22:43; Isaiah 13:3; Jeremiah 30:7; Lamentations 1:5; Ezekiel 8:17-18; Ezekiel 9:9-10; Joel 2:31; Amos 5:18-20; Zephaniah 1:15
• 16. S Isaiah 1:1
• 17. Nehemiah 6:15; S Psalms 89:40; Isaiah 5:5; Jeremiah 39:8; Ezekiel 13:14
• 18. S Isaiah 21:2
• 19. Psalms 46:9; Jeremiah 49:35; Jeremiah 51:56
• 20. S 2 Kings 16:9
• 21. Joshua 15:8
• 22. S 2 Chronicles 32:1-2
• 23. S Isaiah 2:12
• 24. S 2 Chronicles 32:5
• 25. S 1 Kings 7:2
• 26. S Nehemiah 1:3
• 27. S 2 Kings 18:17; S 2 Chronicles 32:4
• 28. Jeremiah 33:4
• 29. S 2 Chronicles 32:5
• 30. 2 Kings 25:4; 2 Chronicles 32:5; Jeremiah 39:4
• 31. S 2 Chronicles 32:4
• 32. S 1 Samuel 12:24
• 33. 2 Kings 19:25
• 34. S Isaiah 2:12
• 35. Joel 1:9; Joel 2:17
• 36. S Leviticus 13:40; Micah 1:16
• 37. S Isaiah 3:24; Joel 1:13
• 38. S Isaiah 21:5
• 39. S 1 Samuel 25:36; Ecclesiastes 8:15; Isaiah 5:22; Isaiah 28:7-8; Isaiah 56:12; Luke 17:26-29
• 40. 1 Corinthians 15:32*
• 41. Isaiah 5:9
• 42. S 1 Samuel 2:25; Isaiah 13:11; Isaiah 26:21; Isaiah 30:13-14; Ezekiel 24:13
• 43. S 2 Kings 6:30; S 2 Kings 18:18; Isaiah 36:3
• 44. ver 21
• 45. S Genesis 41:40