Isaiah 22
22
The Valley of Vision
1Oracle on the Valley of Vision:#The title “oracle on the valley of vision,” like the other oracle headings in chaps. 13–23, was supplied by an editor and is taken from v. 5. In all probability it relates to the events of 701, the lifting of Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem. The death of the Assyrian king Sargon II in 705 occasioned the revolt of many of the vassal nations subject to Assyria, a revolt in which Hezekiah joined, over Isaiah’s bitter opposition. The biblical and other data concerning the outcome of this adventure are conflicting and confusing. While 2 Kgs 19 (Is 37) tells of a miraculous deliverance of the city after the siege had been renewed, Assyrian documents and 2 Kgs 18:13–16 report that Sennacherib, Sargon II’s successor, devastated Judah (the destruction of forty-six cities is mentioned in Assyrian records); Hezekiah had to surrender and paid Sennacherib a heavy indemnity, taken from the Temple treasury and adornments. The inhabitants of Jerusalem apparently took the lifting of the siege as occasion for great rejoicing, a response that Isaiah condemns. They should be mourning the dead and learning that their confidence in allies rather than in the Lord leads to disaster. #Is 21:2.
What is the matter with you now, that you have gone up,
all of you, to the housetops,
2#The retreat of Judah’s soldiers is a further reason that rejoicing is not in order. You who were full of noise,
tumultuous city,
exultant town?#Is 32:13.
Your slain are not slain with the sword,
nor killed in battle.
3All your leaders fled away together,
they were captured without use of bow;
All who were found were captured together,
though they had fled afar off.
4That is why I say: Turn away from me,
let me weep bitterly;
Do not try to comfort me
for the ruin of the daughter of my people.#Jer 6:26; 9:1; 14:17.
5It is a day of panic, rout and confusion,
from the Lord, the God of hosts, in the Valley of Vision#Valley of Vision: frequently identified as the Hinnom Valley, west of Jerusalem.
Walls crash;
a cry for help to the mountains.
6Elam takes up the quiver,
Aram mounts the horses
and Kir#Elam…Kir: the Assyrian forces presumably included auxiliary troops from various places. uncovers the shields.
7Your choice valleys are filled with chariots,
horses are posted at the gates—
8and shelter over Judah is removed.#Shelter over Judah is removed: the reference is obscure; it has been suggested that Judah’s protection was Jerusalem itself, and with the fall of the city the country was exposed. House of the Forest: an armory built by Solomon; its columns of wood suggested the trees of a forest; cf. 1 Kgs 7:2; 10:17.
On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest; 9#Frenetic efforts made to fortify the city before the impending siege; cf. 2 Kgs 20:20; 2 Chr 32:3–4, 30. Some suggest that the description of these preparations comes from the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s assault on Jerusalem in 588. You did not look to the city’s Maker: Isaiah here makes the crucial point. Jerusalem’s safety lay not in military forces nor in alliances with other nations nor in playing power politics but in the Lord, here presented as the creator and founder of the city. Isaiah may be alluding to the belief that the city was inviolable. you saw that the breaches in the City of David were many; you collected the water of the lower pool. 10You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, tearing some down to strengthen the wall; 11you made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to the city’s Maker, nor consider the one who fashioned it long ago.
12On that day the Lord,
the God of hosts, called
For weeping and mourning,
for shaving the head and wearing sackcloth.
13But look! instead, there was celebration and joy,
slaughtering cattle and butchering sheep,
Eating meat and drinking wine:
“Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”#Is 56:12; Wis 2:6; 1 Cor 15:32.
14This message was revealed in my hearing from the Lord of hosts:
This iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,
says the Lord, the God of hosts.
Shebna and Eliakim
15Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:
Up, go to that official,
Shebna,#Shebna: by the time of the siege of Jerusalem in 36:3, Shebna, the scribe, no longer held the office of master of the palace. master of the palace,
16#What is probably Shebna’s inscribed tomb has been discovered in the village of Silwan on the eastern slope of Jerusalem. “What have you here? Whom have you here,
that you have hewn for yourself a tomb here,
Hewing a tomb on high,
carving a resting place in the rock?”
17The Lord shall hurl you down headlong, mortal man!
He shall grip you firmly,
18And roll you up and toss you like a ball
into a broad land.
There you will die, there with the chariots you glory in,
you disgrace to your master’s house!
19I will thrust you from your office
and pull you down from your station.
20On that day I will summon my servant
Eliakim,#Eliakim: by the time of the events described in 36:3, Eliakim had replaced Shebna as master of the palace. son of Hilkiah;#2 Kgs 18:18, 37.
21I will clothe him with your robe,
gird him with your sash,
confer on him your authority.
He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and to the house of Judah.#Jb 29:16.
22I will place the key#Key: symbol of authority; cf. Mt 16:19; Rev 3:7. of the House of David on his shoulder;
what he opens, no one will shut,
what he shuts, no one will open.#Rev 3:7.
23I will fix him as a peg in a firm place,
a seat of honor for his ancestral house;
24On him shall hang all the glory of his ancestral house:#Apparently Eliakim proved to be a disappointment, so an oracle of judgment was added to the originally positive oracle to Eliakim.
descendants and offspring,
all the little dishes, from bowls to jugs.
25On that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg fixed in a firm place shall give way, break off and fall, and the weight that hung on it shall be done away with; for the Lord has spoken.
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Isaiah 22
22
Trouble in Vision Valley
1This is a message about Vision Valley:#22.1 Vision Valley: The exact location is not known. In Hebrew the name sounds something like “Hinnom Valley,” where the people of Jerusalem sometimes offered human sacrifices to the gods of Canaan.
Why are you celebrating
on the flat roofs#22.1 flat roofs: In Palestine the houses usually had a flat roof. Stairs on the outside led up to the roof, which was made of beams and boards covered with packed earth.
of your houses?
2Your city is filled
with noisy shouts.
Those who lie drunk
in your streets
were not killed in battle.
3Your leaders ran away,
but they were captured
without a fight.
No matter how far they ran,
they were found and caught.#22.3 No matter … caught: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
4Then I said, “Leave me alone!
Let me cry bitter tears.
My people have been destroyed,
so don't try to comfort me.”
5The Lord All-Powerful
had chosen a time
for noisy shouts and confusion
to fill Vision Valley,
and for everyone to beg
the mountains for help.#22.5 and for … help: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
6The people of Elam and Kir#22.6 Elam and Kir: Regions in the Iranian highlands.
attacked with chariots#22.6 chariots: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
and carried shields.
7Your most beautiful valleys
were covered with chariots;
your cities were surrounded
by cavalry troops.
8Judah was left defenseless.
At that time you trusted in the weapons you had stored in Forest Palace.#22.8 Forest Palace: Built by Solomon (1 Kings 7.2) and used as a place for storing weapons. 9You saw the holes in the outer wall of Jerusalem, and you brought water from the lower pool.#22.9 the lower pool: Mentioned only here; probably in the southern part of the Central Valley (Tyropoean Valley) of Jerusalem. 10You counted the houses in Jerusalem and tore down some of them, so you could get stones to repair the city wall. 11Then you built a large tank between the walls#22.11 between the walls: Some cities had two walls with a space between them. If the enemy broke through the outer wall, the city was still protected by the inner wall. The houses that were torn down to repair the outer wall were probably squatters' huts that had been built between the two walls. to store the water. But you refused to trust the God who planned this long ago and made it happen.
A Time To Weep
12When all of this happened,
the Lord All-Powerful told you
to weep and mourn,
to shave your heads,
and wear sackcloth.
13 #
1 Co 15.32. But instead, you celebrated
by feasting on beef and lamb
and by drinking wine,
because you said,
“Let's eat and drink today!
Tomorrow we may die.”
14The Lord All-Powerful
has spoken to me
this solemn promise:
“I won't forgive them for this,
not as long as they live.”
Selfish Officials Are Doomed
15The Lord All-Powerful is sending me with this message for Shebna, the prime minister:
16Shebna, what gives you the right to have a tomb carved out of rock in this burial place of royalty? None of your relatives are buried here. 17You may be powerful, but the Lord is about to snatch you up and throw you away. 18He will roll you into a ball and throw you into a wide open country, where you will die and your chariots will be destroyed. You're a disgrace to those you serve.
19The Lord is going to take away your job! 20-21He will give your official robes and your authority to his servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.
Eliakim will be like a father to the people of Jerusalem and to the royal family of Judah. 22#Rev 3.7. The Lord will put him in charge of the key that belongs to King David's family. No one will be able to unlock what he locks, and no one will be able to lock what he unlocks. 23The Lord will make him as firm in his position as a tent peg hammered in the ground, and Eliakim will bring honor to his family.
24His children and relatives will be supported by him, like pans hanging from a peg on the wall. 25That peg is fastened firmly now, but someday it will be shaken loose and fall down. Then everything that was hanging on it will be destroyed. This is what the Lord All-Powerful has promised.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
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