Jesaja 22:3 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.

All thy rulers are fled together,.... Either the rulers of Jerusalem, civil and ecclesiastical, that should have been at the head of the people, and have encouraged them, fled together to the housetops, or to the temple and strongholds; or the generals and officers of their militia, one and all of them fled, as if they had done it by joint consultation and consent; or the rulers of the several cities of Judea, which, when invaded by Sennacherib, stayed not to defend them, but left them and fled: they are bound by the archers; or, "from the bow" (m); from using it; were in such a consternation, and under such a panic, that they had no strength nor heart to draw the bow, but were as if they were bound, and held from it: or for fear of the bow, or the archers in the Assyrian army, and therefore fled from them, as the Tigurine version renders it, joining it to the preceding clause, "they fled from the bow, they are bound"; or, as Ben Melech, for fear of the bow, they delivered themselves up, and were bound; so Aben Ezra: all that are found in thee are bound together; that is, from the bow, as before; not only the princes, but the common people. These clauses have led many interpreters to conclude that this must be understood of the taking of the city by Nebuchadnezzar, when Zedekiah was bound in chains, and carried to Babylon, Jer 52:11, which have fled from far; from the furthest part of the land of Judea to Jerusalem, for shelter and safety. (m) "ab arcu", Vatablus.

(V. 3.) Your killed ones were not killed by the sword, nor dead in battle. All your princes fled together: and were severely bound. All those who were found, were bound together: they fled far away. If you refer to the times of Sennacherib, when the city was partly captured, it is rightly said that they were not defeated by the sword, nor killed in battle, but by treachery, while some fled from the city; others, whom the enemy oppressed, were bound in chains. But if we speak of the captivity in Babylon, which is truer: we shall say that they were overcome not by battle, but by siege. But if you wish to interpret it tropologically with respect to the coming of Christ, according to Eusebius: you will say that they were killed not by the sword, but by unfaithfulness, and that all their leaders have turned away from God and have been bound by the cords of sins, and that there was no Pharisee who was not bound by the snares of the devil.

(v. 3) All your leaders have fled together and have been harshly bound. In this place, we have followed the Septuagint interpretation, as it does not differ much in meaning from the Hebrew. However, in order to transfer the word from word from Hebrew, it is read among them as follows: All your leaders have migrated together, they have been bound by the bow. This edition has been followed by other interpreters as well. For indeed, all the leaders of the heretics have migrated to the synagogue of Satan from the Church of Christ, and they have passed by together in discord, united in perfidy, and have been bound by the bow, as it is written in the Psalm: Behold, the sinners have drawn the bow, they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart (Psalm 10:2), and to hurl the fiery darts of the devil, which would wound equally and bind together. Therefore they are firmly linked, because they have stopped up their ears like deaf adders, and stopping up their ears, they will not hear the voices of enchanters, nor the wise voices of the enchanters. For this reason, even the Apostle Paul commands that a heretic should be abandoned after one warning, because he is perverted and condemned by his own judgment. And indeed they have gone out from us, but they were not of our number. For if they had been of our number, they would surely have remained with us. Of these fugitive princes, he is the chief whom the same Isaiah calls the fleeing dragon, the twisted serpent, who, when he has whispered deadly words into the ears of the deceived, securely binds them and does not allow them to escape from his chains. About whom the saint rejoiced when he was delivered in the Psalm: My soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the hunters (Ps. CXXIII, 7). And in another place, rejoicing that he has escaped, he speaks; Thou art my protector, and my refuge. My God, I will hope in him. For he himself will deliver me from the snare of hunters, and from the harsh or turbulent word (Ps. 90:23), which specifically signifies the doctrine of heretics. All who were found in you, they were bound together, they fled far away. 70: And the strong ones fled far away from you. Yet the word of the Prophet is against the valley of Zion, whose inhabitants ascended to empty roofs and cried out with confused noise, and were wounded without battle. All its princes fled, and they were harshly bound, and those who were strong among them fled even further. For as much as one is wiser in heretical perversity, they recede farther from the Lord. But what it says according to the Hebrew: All have been found in you, we must note that even heretics claim to have found those whom they have deceived: but their finding is their destruction. In the end, let them be gathered together and flee far away. Nor do I approve of that explanation, that according to the diversity of heresies, there are different spaces for those who flee, since the holy Scripture says (Luke 11:23): all who are found with the heretics are gathered together and flee far away, with the Lord saying: Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Where it is said of Moses (Exod. XXIV), Moses alone approached God, but the others did not approach. For God is near to his holy ones, God who draws near, and not from afar, says the Lord.

As to fugitives, namely the princes who were taken and bound, as it says in Jeremiah 52; all the princes: her princes are become like rams that find no pastures (Lam 1:6); as to those taken in the city, who were similarly captured: all that were found, they are fled far off, led into captivity to a far off land: the Lord will bring you to a far off nation (Deut 28:49).

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.

All thy rulers - are bound by the archers "All thy leaders - are fled from the bow" - There seems to be somewhat of an inconsistency in the sense according to the present reading. If the leaders were bound, אסרו usseru, how could they flee away? for their being bound, according to the obvious construction and course of the sentence, is a circumstance prior to their flight. I therefore follow Houbigant, who reads הסרו huseru, remoti sunt, "they are gone off." גלו galu, transmigraverunt, Chaldee; which seems to confirm this emendation.

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.).

rulers--rather, "generals" (Jos 10:24; Jdg 11:6, Jdg 11:11). bound--rather, "are taken." by the archers--literally, "by the bow"; so Isa 21:17. Bowmen were the light troops, whose province it was to skirmish in front and (Kg2 6:22) pursue fugitives (Kg2 25:5); this verse applies better to the attack of Nebuchadnezzar than that of Sennacherib. all . . . in thee--all found in the city (Isa 13:15), not merely the "rulers" or generals. fled from far--those who had fled from distant parts to Jerusalem as a place of safety; rather, fled afar.