Chapter Twenty-Two
1–14. A prophecy concerning Jerusalem. 15–25. A prophecy concerning the palace officials Shebna and Eliakim.
Isa 22:1-14. The prophet announces to Jerusalem a terrible judgment of God. The city has no one to guard it – the Judean army is defeated and enemies threaten the capital of the kingdom of Judah. The inhabitants of Jerusalem, however, organize the defense of the city, unwilling to turn to the Almighty for help, who actually sent this terrible trial upon them. Yet others have completely despaired of any salvation and spend their time in mad feasting. This hardening of the Judeans will not be forgiven them by the Lord!
Isaiah 22:1. A prophecy concerning the valley of vision. What is wrong with you, that you have all gone up to the roofs? “The valley of vision.” As is evident from verses 9 and 10, by this the prophet means Jerusalem. It is called a valley (or more precisely: a depression) because it is surrounded by high mountains (Ps 124:2; cf. Jer 21:13). “Of vision.” This word designates Jerusalem as a place where the prophet had visions or revelations from God. “Gone up to the roofs.” Evidently at the time the prophet has in mind, detachments of enemy (Assyrian) forces were already appearing on the mountains near Jerusalem, heading toward southern Judea (2 Sam 18:13).
Isaiah 22:2. Noisy city, full of tumult, your city of revelry! Your slain were not killed by the sword, nor did they die in battle; Isaiah 22:3. All your leaders fled together, but were captured without using the bow; all your warriors were bound together, though they had fled far away. “Revelry” – in translation from the Hebrew: “full of frenzied clamor.” This points to the panic that seized the inhabitants of Jerusalem. “Nor did they die in battle” – that is, they did not fall with honor on the field of battle, but, as is evident from verse 3, they fled from the battlefield and were captured by the enemy, who subjected them to cruel execution. “The bow” – in translation from the Hebrew: “without the help of a bow,” that is, the enemies did not even need to use weapons when capturing the fleeing Judeans – they were so stricken with terror! “Those found” – it is more correct to translate, as in the LXX, as “your warriors.”
Isaiah 22:4. Therefore I said: Leave me alone, let me weep bitterly; do not try to comfort me regarding the ruin of my people. Isaiah 22:5. For the Lord God of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the valley of vision, a day of breaking down walls and crying to the mountains. “The daughter of my people” – that is, my countrymen, the inhabitants of various cities of Judea. “Breaking down the wall” – evidently by the inhabitants of Jerusalem themselves, so that, in places, they could erect new walls to replace those that had decayed. “To the mountains” – according to Condamin’s reading – to the mountain. The Jerusalem wall stretched below the mountain on which the temple stood. Now the cries of those working below the city are so loud that they reach the summit of Mount Zion and disturb the worship in the temple.
Isaiah 22:6. And Elam carried the quiver; men came in chariots and horsemen, and Kir bared the shield. Isaiah 21:3. “Elam” – the inhabitants of an Assyrian region; see Isaiah 21:2. “Kir” is also a region belonging to the Assyrian kingdom (cf. Amos 1:5; Amos 9:7), not the Armenian region on the river Kir, because the Caucasus and Armenia were not subject to Assyria. “Bares the shield” – draws it out of the special sheath (cf. Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic Wars II, 21).
Isaiah 22:7. And your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen took their stand at the gates, Isaiah 22:8. And he removed the covering of Judah; and in that day you looked to the weapons stored in the House of the Forest; “The covering of Judah” – the protections, the fortifications that protected Jerusalem, the fortresses in which Hebrew garrisons were stationed (2 Chr 17:12; 2 Chr 27:4). “And you” – Jerusalem. “The House of the Forest” – a storehouse or arsenal where weapons were kept from the days of David (1 Sam 2 and cf. 1 Sam 10:17).
Isaiah 22:9. And you saw that there were many breaches in the wall of the city of David, and you collected water in the lower pool; Isaiah 22:10. and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to strengthen the wall; Isaiah 22:11. and you made a reservoir between the two walls for the waters of the old pool. But you did not look to Him who did this, and you did not consider Him who planned this long ago. “But” – more correctly: “and.” “You saw” – that is, you paid special attention to the disorders in the defense of the city, whereas – the prophet continues – this should not trouble you most of all, but rather something else – namely, seeking forgiveness and protection from the Lord. “The city of David” – the fortress of Zion, located on the southern slope of the eastern hill of Mount Zion. “The lower pool.” Jerusalem’s location was very advantageous in general, but a shortage of water presented great difficulty. At present, near Jerusalem there is only one spring – Gihon (1 Sam 1:33), called the Spring of Mary, but it is located in the valley of Kidron, outside the city walls. Its water had long been conveyed inside the walls through an underground channel to the Siloam pool (cf. John 9). Otherwise the city would have had to rely only on rainwater, which was constantly stored in special basins. Besides this pool, which by its location was called the upper (Isa 7:3), there existed in Jerusalem another pool, now called the Sultan’s pool. This pool now represents a huge reservoir, 245 feet wide at its upper part and 275 feet wide at its lower part. Its length is 592 feet and its depth is about 40 feet. In summer the bottom of the pool serves as an excellent threshing floor, as the grass that covers its stony surface in spring is completely burned by the sun. Water in it is almost never present, but in ancient times it undoubtedly contained about a million buckets of water. This Sultan’s pool is located outside the city wall. Some (for example, Robinson) consider this pool to be the lower pool mentioned in verse 9, but this is hardly likely. According to Isaiah, the besieged Jerusalem inhabitants collect water for themselves, and therefore in such a place that was within the city walls, while the Sultan’s pool is located outside the Jerusalem wall. It is therefore more correct to understand by the lower pool the so-called Hezekiah’s pool, lying between the first and second walls. Into this pool, which in verse 11 the prophet calls a reservoir for the waters of the old pool, water actually flowed from the upper or old Siloam pool. This pool is located on the western side of Jerusalem, while the upper pool is on the eastern side. “You counted and broke down” – to obtain bricks and stones necessary for repairing the walls.
Isaiah 22:12. And in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping and mourning, to pulling out your hair and putting on sackcloth; Isaiah 22:13. But instead, behold joy and gladness! Slaughtering cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die! Isaiah 22:14. But the Lord of hosts revealed this in my hearing: “Surely this sin will not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord, the Lord of hosts. Isaiah 3:25. “To weep.” Regarding the customs observed by those who repented, see Isaiah 3:25. “Let us eat and drink” – words full of despair and impossible for someone who still retains any faith in the Lord. If the Judeans, however, speak like this, it means they have completely lost faith in God (cf. 1 Cor 15:32) and must surely be subjected to punishment by the hand of the Almighty. Isa 22:15-25. To Shebna, the steward of the palace of King Hezekiah, the prophet announces captivity in Mesopotamia. In place of Shebna there will be appointed the God-fearing man Eliakim, who will be a support for the king and for his own family.
Isaiah 22:15. Thus says the Lord, the Lord of hosts: Go, go to this steward, to Shebna, the steward of the palace, and say: “This” – an expression with a tone of contempt. “Steward of the palace” – that is, palace minister, the man closest to the king (Isa 36:3; Isa 37:2; cf. 1 Sam 4:6; 1 Sam 18 and 2 Chr 26:21).
Isaiah 22:16. What are you doing here, and who are you here, that you are hewing out a tomb for yourself here? – He is hewing out a tomb on the height, carving a dwelling for himself in the rock. Shebna, as some conclude from his name, which is not Hebrew, was a foreigner and it was not proper for him to have a tomb hewn for himself in the rocks near Jerusalem, where perhaps the tombs of the kings were located (to the west of Jerusalem).
Isaiah 22:17. Behold, the Lord will hurl you down headlong, O man of might. Isaiah 22:18. He will surely seize you and wrap you up as a ball and toss you into a wide land. There you will die, and there will be your splendid chariots, the shame of your master’s house. Isaiah 22:19. And I will push you down from your place, and you will be cast down from your station. “As one throws a strong man” – in translation from the Hebrew: “without mercy, O mighty man!...” Here there is irony directed at Shebna, who considered himself particularly strong and secure in his important position. “As a sword” – it is more correct to read: “as a ball.” “A wide land” – probably Mesopotamia. “Chariots.” After the mention of death it is strange to mention Shebna’s property. Therefore the supposition of Condamin is very likely that here in the Hebrew text the word “chever” (tomb) was originally placed, while in the present text stands the word “rechev” (chariot). In that case, the second half of verse 18 could be translated as follows: “There you will die, there will be your splendid (an irony!) tomb, O shame of your master’s house!”
Isaiah 22:20. And in that day I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Isaiah 22:21. and I will clothe him with your robe, and bind your sash upon him, and commit your authority to his hands; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Isaiah 22:22. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open and no one shall shut; and he shall shut and no one shall open. Isaiah 22:23. And I will fasten him as a peg in a firm place; and he shall become a seat of honor to his father’s house. Isaiah 22:24. And they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house: the descendants and offspring, all the least of the vessels, from the bowls to all the jars. “Eliakim” (cf. Isa 36:3; Isa 37:2). From the fact that the prophet calls Eliakim God’s servant, it is evident that he was a God-fearing man and probably a friend of the prophet. “Your robe and sash” – signs of his high office. “Shall be a father” – he will care for the true well-being of the people, whereas Shebna was more concerned with himself (cutting out a tomb). “Keys” – a symbol of power, by virtue of which he alone has the right to allow petitioners to approach the king (these words served as the basis for the image found also in the New Testament (cf. Matt 16:19 and Rev 3:7)). “As a peg.” This expression is explained in verse 24. “A seat of honor” – that is, he will bring glory to all his family and open it to important positions. “All the vessels” – in translation from the Hebrew: all the small vessels, beginning with cups and ending with broad bowls,
Isaiah 22:25. In that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will be removed and fall, and the burden that was upon it will be cut off; for the Lord has spoken. “In that day.” This conclusion speaks again of Shebna’s fate. Special remarks. Even the most rigorous critics see no serious grounds to doubt the authenticity of the entire prophecy of chapter 22. Only verse 25, which does not form part of the stanzas, is considered an addition made in a later period. As for the time of origin of the first half of the chapter, the majority of critics refer it to the time of the beginning of Assyrian King Sennacherib’s conquest of Palestine. From the historical books (2 Sam 20:20; 2 Chr 32:23) we see that Hezekiah, in view of Sennacherib’s invasion, was concerned with water supply for his capital city and in the book of Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach there is praise for him for constructing a basin (Sir 48:19). These hydraulic structures (cf. Commentary on the Bible, vol. 2), mentioned both in the historical books and by Isaiah in chapter 22, give reason to think that our prophecy was spoken around 701 BCE. The prophecy concerning Shebna and Eliakim, however, was spoken somewhat earlier than 701 BCE, as critics of the book of Isaiah unanimously state. Indeed, before Sennacherib’s invasion, which occurred in 701 BCE, Eliakim already occupied Shebna’s place (see Isa 36:3; Isa 37:2), who was demoted to secretary. The stanzas of the prophecy are arranged in this order: 1st stanza – verses 1–3 – (2, 3) 2nd stanza – verses 4–5 – (2, 3) 3rd stanza – verses 6–7 and 8a) 1st stanza – verses 8b)-11 – (2, 3) 2nd stanza – verses 12–14 – (2, 3) 1st stanza – verses 15–19 – (3, 2, 2) 2nd stanza – verses 20–24 – (2, 2, 3) * * *
Isaiah 22:3. reads: “All your princes fled, and those taken captive were bound with cruel bonds, and the mighty ones in you fled far away.” [Translator’s note]