Isaiah 22:4 Kommentar

We have now come nearer home, for this chapter is "the burden of the valley of vision," Jerusalem; other places had their burden for the sake of their being concerned in some way or other with Jerusalem, and were reckoned with either as spiteful enemies or deceitful friends to the people of God; but now let Jerusalem hear her own doom. This chapter concerns, I. The city of Jerusalem itself and the neighbourhood depending upon it. Here is, 1. A prophecy of the grievous distress they should shortly be brought into by Sennacherib's invasion of the country and laying siege to the city (Isa 22:1-7). 2. A reproof given them for their misconduct in that distress, in two things: - (1.) Not having an eye to God in the use of the means of their preservation (Isa 22:8-11). (2.) Not humbling themselves under his mighty hand (Isa 22:12-14). II. The court of Hezekiah, and the officers of that court. 1. The displacing of Shebna, a bad man, and turning him out of the treasury (Isa 22:15-19, Isa 22:25). 2. The preferring of Eliakim, who should do his country better service, to his place (Isa 22:20-24).

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 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 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 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 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 and should continue long in it, to great honour and usefulness to his family, Isa 22:23 yet not always, Isa 22:25.

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

Remember the compassion of God, how he heals with olive oil and wine. Do not despair of salvation. Recall the memory of what has been written, how he that falls rises again, and he that is turned away turns again, he that has been smitten is healed, he that is caught by wild beasts escapes, and he that confesses is not rejected. The Lord does not wish the death of the sinner, but that he return and live. Be not contemptuous as one who has fallen into the depths of sins.There is still time for patience, time for forbearance, time for healing, time for amendment. Have you slipped? Rise up. Have you sinned? Cease. Do not stand in the way of sinners, but turn aside; for then you will be saved when turning back you bewail your sins. In fact, from labors there is health; for sweat, salvation. So take heed, lest, in wishing to keep your contracts with others, you transgress your covenants with God that you confessed before many witnesses. Do not, therefore, because of certain human considerations, hesitate to come to me. For, receiving my dead, I shall lament; I shall care for him, “I shall weep bitterly for the devastation of the daughter of my people.” All welcome you, all will aid you in your sufferings. Do not lose heart; be mindful of the days of old. There is salvation; there is amendment. Have courage; do not despair. There is no law that passes sentence of death without pity, but grace, exceeding the chastisement, awaits the amendment. Not yet have the doors been closed; the Bridegroom listens; sin is not the master. Again take up the struggle; do not draw back, but pity yourself and all of us in Jesus Christ, our Lord, to whom be glory and might, now and forever, for ages of ages. Amen.

Grief is often capable of refreshing distressed souls and of rendering a burdened conscience light: consider how often women, when they have lost their most beloved children, break their hearts and perish if they are forbidden to mourn and to shed tears. But if they do all which those who are sad are apt to do, they are relieved and receive consolation. And what wonder that this should be the case with women, when you may even see a prophet affected in a similar manner? Therefore he was continually saying, “Leave me alone. I will weep bitterly. Do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.” So oftentimes sadness is the bearer of consolation; and if it is so with regard to this world, much more with regard to spiritual things.

It is, after all, the practice of the prophets and the just to grieve not only for themselves but also for the rest of humankind.

(Verse 4.) Therefore I said, depart from me; I will weep bitterly: do not try to console me concerning the devastation of the daughter of my people. If the prophet weeps in the devastation of Babylon with great sorrow, and says: Anguish has taken hold of me, as the anguish of a woman in labor: I fell down when I heard it, I was troubled when I saw it, my heart became faint, darkness stunned me: Babylon, my beloved, has become a wonder to me, how much more now, in the ruin of her city, can she receive no consolation, surrendering herself entirely to mourning!

(Verse 4.) Therefore I said: Depart from me, I will weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for the devastation of the daughter of my people. LXX: Therefore I said: Let me alone, I will weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for the destruction of the daughter of my people. And Samuel wept for Saul (1 Samuel 15), and the Lord and Savior wept for Jerusalem (Luke 19; 2 Corinthians 12:21): and the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians: For if I cause you sorrow, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I would not be distressed by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy. For I wrote to you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you. (2 Corinthians 2:2-4). So with a compassionate affection, he speaks to others: Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? (2 Corinthians 11:29)? Therefore, seeing the people once climb the empty rooftops of vain visions, and being in turmoil; and all its leaders fleeing, and being bound by the chains of sins, the Prophet bursts into tears and dismisses the comforters, and with bitter weeping testifies that he weeps not for his sons, but for the daughter of his people, who has lost her dignity of manhood.

Second, he sets out the inconsolable compassion of the prophet: depart, you who console the prophet, labor not, in the manner of those who console: who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes that I may weep for the slain of my people (Jer 9:1).

This section of prophecy, extending to the end of the eighth verse of the next chapter, is addressed to the king of Judah and his people. It enjoins on them the practice of justice and equity, as they would hope to prosper, Jer 22:14; but threatens them, in case of disobedience, with utter destruction, Jer 22:5-9. The captivity of Shallum, the son of Josiah, is declared to be irreversible, Jer 22:10-12; and the miserable and unlamented end of Jeconiah, contemptuously called Coniah, is foretold, Jer 22:13-19. His family is threatened with the like captivity, and his seed declared to be for ever excluded from the throne, Jer 22:20-30.

PROPHECY AS TO AN ATTACK ON JERUSALEM. (Isa 22:1-14) of . . . valley of vision--rather, "respecting the valley of visions"; namely, Jerusalem, the seat of divine revelations and visions, "the nursery of prophets" [JEROME], (Isa 2:3; Isa 29:1; Eze 23:4, Margin; Luk 13:33). It lay in a "valley" surrounded by hills higher than Zion and Moriah (Psa 125:2; Jer 21:13). thee--the people of Jerusalem personified. housetops--Panic-struck, they went up on the flat balustraded roofs to look forth and see whether the enemy was near, and partly to defend themselves from the roofs (Jdg 9:51, &c.).

Look . . . from me--Deep grief seeks to be alone; while others feast joyously, Isaiah mourns in prospect of the disaster coming on Jerusalem (Mic 1:8-9). daughter, &c.--(see on Isa 1:8; Lam 2:11).

"Therefore I say, Look away from me, that I may weep bitterly; press me not with consolations for the destruction of the daughter of my people! For a day of noise, and of treading down, and of confusion, cometh from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision, breaking down walls; and a cry of woe echoes against the mountains." The note struck by Isaiah here is the note of the kinah that is continued in the Lamentations of Jeremiah. Jeremiah says sheber for shod (Lam 3:48), and bath-ammi (daughter of my people) is varied with batḣZion (daughter of Zion) and bath-yehudah (daughter of Judah). Mērēr babbeci (weep bitterly) is more than bâcâh mar (Isa 33:7): it signifies to give one's self thoroughly up to bitter weeping, to exhaust one's self with weeping. The two similar sounds which occur in Isa 22:5, in imitation of echoes, can hardly be translated. The day of divine judgment is called a day in which masses of men crowd together with great noise (mehūmâh), in which Jerusalem and its inhabitants are trodden down by foes (mebūsâh) and are thrown into wild confusion (mebūcâh). This is one play upon words. The other makes the crashing of the walls audible, as they are hurled down by the siege-artillery (mekarkar kir). Kirkēr is not a denom. of kı̄r, as Kimchi and Ewald suppose (unwalling walls), but is to be explained in accordance with Num 24:17, "he undermines," i.e., throws down by removing the supports, in other words, "to the very foundations" (kur, to dig, hence karkârâh, the bottom of a vessel, Kelim ii. 2; kurkoreth, the bottom of a net, ib. xxviii. 10, or of a cask, Ahaloth ix. 16). When this takes place, then a cry of woe echoes against the mountain (shōa‛, like shūa‛, sheva‛), i.e., strikes against the mountains that surround Jerusalem, and is echoed back again. Knobel understands it as signifying a cry for help addressed to the mountain where Jehovah dwells; but this feature is altogether unsuitable to the God - forgetting worldly state in which Jerusalem is found. It is also to be observed, in opposition to Knobel, that the description does not move on in the same natural and literal way as in a historical narrative. The prophet is not relating, but looking; and in Isa 22:5 he depicts the day of Jehovah according to both its ultimate intention and its ultimate result.