Isaiah 22:4

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.

Isaiah 22:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 22:4

Therefore said I
Not God to the ministering angels, as Jarchi; but the prophet to those that were about him, his relations, friends, and acquaintance: look away from me;
turn away from me, look another way; cease from me, let me alone; leave me to myself, that I may weep in secret, take my fill of sorrow, and give full vent to it: I will weep bitterly;
or, "I will be bitter", or, "bitter myself in weeping" ^F14; it denotes the vehemence of his grief, the greatness of his sorrow, and the strength of his passion: labour not to comfort me;
make use of no arguments to persuade me to lay aside my mourning; do not be urgent and importunate with me to receive consolation, for my soul refuses to be comforted: because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people;
his countrymen, which were as dear to him as a daughter to a tender parent, now spoiled, plundered, and made desolate by the ravages of the enemy, in many cities of Judea.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 (ykbb rrma) "amarificabo me in fletu", Montanus; "amaritudine afficiam me in isto fletu", Junius & Tremellius.

Isaiah 22:4 In-Context

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.)

6 And Elam took an arrow-case, or a quiver, and the chariot of an horseman; and the shield made naked the wall (and Kir uncovered, or made ready, its shield).