Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 22:6
And Elam bore the quiver with chariots of men [and] horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
6. Elam (see on Isa 21:2) and Kir (not identified: 2Ki 16:9; Amo 1:5; Amo 9:7) are mentioned as furnishing auxiliaries to the Assyrian army. There is force in Cheyne’s argument that some words may have fallen out before this verse, since it is difficult to understand the prominence given to these mercenary troops in the description of the siege. The “bow of Elam” is mentioned in Jer 49:35.
with chariots of men and horsemen ] a difficult expression. Perhaps “men on horseback among the chariots” (Dillm.).
uncovered the shield ] Shields when not in use were protected by a leather covering (Cs. de Bell. Gall. ii. 21).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And Elam – The southern part of Persia, perhaps used here to denote Persia in general (see the note at Isa 21:2). Elam, or Persia, was at this time subject to Assyria, and their forces were united doubtless in the invasion of Judea.
Bare the quiver – A quiver is a case in which arrows are carried. This was usually hung upon the shoulders, and thus borne by the soldier when he entered into battle. By the expression here, is meant that Elam was engaged in the siege, and was distinguished particularly for skill in shooting arrows. That the Elamites were thus distinguished for the use of the bow, is apparent from Eze 32:24, and Jer 49:35.
With chariots of men and horsemen – Lowth proposes, instead of men, to read ‘aram, Syria, instead of ‘adam, man, by the change of the single Hebrew letter (d) into the Hebrew letter (r). This mistake might have been easily made where the letters are so much alike, and it would suit the parallelism of the passage, but there is no authority of MSS. or versions for the change. The words chariots of men – horsemen, I understand here, as in Isa 21:7, to mean a troop or riding of men who were horsemen. Archers often rode in this manner. The Scythians usually fought on horseback with bows and arrows.
Kir – Kir was a city of Media, where the river Kyrus or Cyrus flows 2Ki 16:9; Amo 1:5; Amo 9:7. This was evidently then connected with the Assyrian monarchy, and was engaged with it in the invasion of Judea. Perhaps the name Kir was given to a region or province lying on the river Cyrus or Kyrus. This river unites with the Araxes, and falls into the Caspian Sea.
Uncovered the shield – (see the note at Isa 21:5). Shields were protected during a march, or when not in use, by a covering of cloth. Among the Greeks, the name of this covering was Sagma. Shields were made either of metal or of skin, and the object in covering them was to preserve the metal untarnished, or to keep the shield from injury. To uncover the shield, therefore, was to prepare for battle. The Medes were subject to the Assyrians in the time of Hezekiah 2Ki 16:9; 2Ki 17:6, and of course in the time of the invasion of Judea by Sennacherib.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. Chariots of men – “The Syriac”] It is not easy to say what recheb adam, a chariot of men, can mean. It seems by the form of the sentence, which consists of three members, the first and the third mentioning a particular people, that the second should do so likewise. Thus berecheb aram uparashim, “with chariots the Syrian, and with horsemen:” the similitude of the letters daleth and resh is so great, and the mistakes arising from it are so frequent, that I readily adopt the correction of Houbigant, aram, Syria, instead of adam, man; which seems to me extremely probable. The conjunction vau, and, prefixed to parashim, horsemen, seems necessary in whatever way the sentence may be taken; and it is confirmed by five MSS., (one ancient,) four of De Rossi’s, and two ancient of my own; one by correction of Dr. Kennicott’s, and three editions. Kir was a city belonging to the Medes. The Medes were subject to the Assyrians in Hezekiah’s time, (see 2Kg 16:9; 2Kg 17:6😉 and so perhaps might Elam (the Persians) likewise be, or auxiliaries to them.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Elam; the Persians, who now, and for a long time after. were subject to the Assyrian and Chaldean emperors, and were employed by them in their Wars.
Bare the quiver, being expert bow-men, as appears from Jer 49:35, and from Strabos testimony.
With chariots of men and horsemen; as some of them fought on foot, so others fought from chariots and horses. Kir; the Medes, so called by a synecdoche from Kir, an eminent city and region of Media, of which see 2Ki 16:9; Amo 1:5.
Uncovered; prepared it and themselves for the battle; for in times of peace arms were wrapt up and covered, to preserve them clean, and fit for use.
The shield; their defensive and offensive weapons.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. Elamthe country stretchingeast from the Lower Tigris, answering to what was afterwards calledPersia (see on Isa 21:2).Later, Elam was a province of Persia (Ezr4:9). In Sennacherib’s time, Elam was subject to Assyria (2Ki18:11), and so furnished a contingent to its invading armies.Famed for the bow (Isa 13:18;Jer 49:35), in which theEthiopians alone excelled them.
with chariots of men andhorsementhat is, they used the bow both in chariots andon horseback. “Chariots of men,” that is, chariots in whichmen are borne, war chariots (compare see on Isa21:7; Isa 21:9).
Kiranother peoplesubject to Assyria (2Ki 16:9);the region about the river Kur, between the Caspian and Black Seas.
uncoveredtook off forthe battle the leather covering of the shield, intended to protectthe embossed figures on it from dust or injury during the march. “Thequiver” and “the shield” express two classeslightand heavy armed troops.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men [and] horsemen,…. Or the Elamites, as the Targum and Septuagint, that is, the Persians, who were at this time subject to the Assyrians, and served in Sennacherib’s army, which consisted of many nations; see
Isa 29:7 these bore the quiver, a case for arrows, being expert in the use of the bow, which was the chief of their might, Jer 49:35 and so Strabo o reports, that the Elamites had many archers among them; and along with them went
chariots of men, full of men, of military men; these were chariots for war, and brought men to fight against Jerusalem;
[and] horsemen also, these were the cavalry, as those that carried bows and arrows seem to be the foot soldiers. The Targum is,
“and the Elamites bore arms in the chariot of a man, and with it a couple of horsemen;”
as in the vision or prophecy concerning Babylon, Isa 21:7:
and Kir uncovered the shield; this was a city in Media, and signifies the Medes, who were in subjection to the Assyrians, and fought under them; see 2Ki 16:9 though Ben Melech says it was a city belonging to the king of Assyria; these prepared for battle, uncased their shields, which before were covered to keep them clean, and preserve them from rust and dirt; or they polished them, made them bright, as the word in the Ethiopic language signifies, as De Dieu has observed; see Isa 21:5 these might be most expert in the use of the shield and sword, as the others were at the bow and arrow. Some render “Kir” a “wall”: so the Targum,
“and to the wall the shields stuck;”
and the Vulgate Latin version, “the shield made bare the wall”: but it is best to understand it as the proper name of a place.
o Geograph. l. 16. p. 512.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The advance of the besiegers, which leads to the destruction of the walls, is first described in Isa 22:6, Isa 22:7. “And Elam has taken the quiver, together with chariots with men, horsemen; and Kir has drawn out the shield. And then it comes to pass, that thy choicest valleys are filled with chariots, and the horsemen plant a firm foot towards the gate.” Of the nations composing the Assyrian army, the two mentioned are Elam, the Semitic nation of Susiana ( Chuzistan ), whose original settlements were the row of valleys between the Zagros chain and the chain of advanced mountains bounding the Assyrian plains on the east, and who were greatly dreaded as bowmen (Eze 32:24; Jer 49:35), and Kir, the inhabitants of the country of the Cyrus river, which was an Assyrian province, according to 2Ki 16:9 and Amo 1:5, and still retained its dependent position even in the time of the Achaemenides, when Armenia, at any rate, is expressly described in the arrowheaded writings as a Persian province, though a rebellious one. The readiness for battle of this people of Kur, who represent, in combination with Elam, the whole extent of the Assyrian empire from south to north,
(Note: The name Gurgistan (= Georgia) has nothing to do with the river Kur; and it is a suspicious fact that Kir has k a t the commencement, and i in the middle, whereas the name of the river which joins the Araxes, and flows into the Caspian sea, is pronounced Kur, and is written in Persian with k (answering to the Armenian and old Persian, in which Kuru is equivalent to ). Wetzstein considers Kir a portion of Mesopotamia.)
is attested by their “drawing out the shield” ( erah m agen ), which Caesar calls scutis tegimenta detrahere (bell. gall. ii. 21); for the Talmudic meaning applicare cannot be thought of for a moment (Buxtorf, lex. col. 1664). These nations that fought on foot were accompanied ( Beth , as in 1Ki 10:2) by chariots filled with men ( receb ‘ adam ), i.e., war-chariots (as distinguished from agaloth ), and, as is added , by parashim , riders (i.e., horsemen trained to arms). The historical tense is introduced with in Isa 22:7, but in a purely future sense. It is only for the sake of the favourite arrangement of the words that the passage does not proceed with Vav relat. . “Thy valleys” ( amakaik ) are the valleys by which Jerusalem was encircled on the east, the west, and the south, viz., the valley of Kidron on the east; the valley of Gihon on the west; the valley of Rephaim, stretching away from the road to Bethlehem, on the south-west (Isa 17:5); the valley of Hinnom, which joins the Tyropaeum, and then runs on into a south-eastern angle; and possibly also the valley of Jehoshaphat, which ran on the north-east of the city above the valley of Kidron. These valleys, more especially the finest of them towards the south, are now cut up by the wheels and hoofs of the enemies’ chariots and horses; and the enemies’ horsemen have already taken a firm position gatewards, ready to ride full speed against the gates at a given signal, and force their way into the city ( shth with a shoth to strengthen it, as in Psa 3:7; also sm in 1Ki 20:12, compare 1Sa 15:2).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
6. But Elam carrying the quiver. Here commentators think that the discourse proceeds without any interruption, and that he makes known to the Jews the same judgment which he formerly proclaimed. But when I examine the whole matter more closely, I am constrained to differ from them. I think that the Prophet reproaches the Jews for their obstinacy and rebellion, because, though the Lord had chastised them, they did not repent, and that he relates the history of a past transaction, in order to remind them how utterly they had failed to derive advantage from the Lord’s chastisements. Such then is the manner in which these statements ought to be separated from what came before. First, he foretold those things which would come on the Jews, and now he shews how justly they are punished, and how richly they deserve those sharp chastisements which the Lord inflicts on them; for the Lord had formerly called them to repentance, not only by words, but by deeds, and yet no reformation of life followed, though their riches were exhausted, and the kingdom weakened, but they obstinately persisted in their wickedness. Nothing therefore remained but that the Lord should miserably destroy them, since they were obstinate and refractory.
The copulative ו ( vau) I have translated But, which is the meaning that it frequently bears. Those who think that the Prophet threatens for a future period, preserve its ordinary meaning, as if the Prophet, after having mentioned God, named the executioners of his vengeance. But I have already given the exposition which I prefer, and the context will make it still more clear, that I had good reasons for being of that opinion.
When he speaks of the “Elamites” and the “Cyrenaeans,” this applies better, I think, to the Assyrians than to the Babylonians; for although those nations had never make war against the Jews by troops under their own command, yet it is probable that they were in the pay of the Assyrian king, and that they formed part of his army while he was besieging Jerusalem. We have already remarked that, taking a part for the whole, by the “Elamites” are meant the eastern nations.
And Kir making bare the shield (82) By Kir he undoubtedly means the inhabitants of Cyrenaica. (83) Because they were ( πελτασταὶ) shieldsmen, he says that they “laid bare the shield;” for when they enter the field of battle, they draw the shields out of their sheaths.
(82) Bogus footnote
(83) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) Elam . . . Kir . . .The two nations are named as the chief elements of the Assyrian army then invading Juda. Elam, previously named as the destroyer of Babylon (Isa. 21:2), was at this time, as the inscriptions of Sargon show, subject to Assyria (Records of the Past, vii. 29). As in later history (Herod. i. 73, iii. 21; Jer. 49:35), it was conspicuous chiefly for its archers. Kir, named in 2Ki. 16:11 as the region to which Tiglath-pileser carried off the people of Damascus, has been identified with the region near the river Kyros, the modern Georgia. There are, however, both linguistic and historical grounds against this identification, and we must be content to look on it as an otherwise unknown region of Mesopotamia. To uncover the shield was to draw it out of its leather case (comp. Scutis tegumenta detrahere; Cs. Bell. Gall. 2:21), and so to be prepared for battle.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6, 7. Elam Not Persia, as a whole, but a district within it, supplying soldiers that used the bow.
Kir A province in Assyria on the river Kuros, which furnished men with lances and shields, (shields were in cases when not used.) However, Rawlinson locates “Kir” near the mouths of the Euphrates and of the Tigris.
In either case, the siege of this chapter may be that of Nebuchadnezzar, B.C. 605, or it may cover the character of several sieges, then future to Isaiah.
Thy choicest valleys That is, those passable to chariots near Jerusalem. These were Rephaim on the south, and the plateau north.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 22:6-7. And Elam, &c. And Elam beareth the quiver; with chariots cometh the Syrian, and with horsemen; and Kir uncovereth the shield. Lowth. The second member of the first part of this prophesy begins here, setting forth the Assyrian calamity, which was the forerunner of the greater one described in the former verses: And the first distress here foretold is, that the Assyrians, Medes, and Elamites should enter into Judaea in great multitudes, and possess the valleys near to Jerusalem. See on ch. Isa 21:2 and Isa 15:1. There is no doubt that the Medes and Elamites were united with the Assyrians in the time of Sennacherib, but not in that of Nebuchadnezzar; so that this prophesy must certainly refer to the former.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 22:6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men [and] horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
Ver. 6. And Elam, ] i.e., The Persians (great archers, as Corabo testifieth, lib. xvi.), as Kir standeth here for the Medians, 2Ki 16:9 good at sword and buckler; called also Syromedians.
Uncovered the shield.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Elam. Kir. The south and north limits of the Chaldsean forces.
quiver. Hebrew. ‘ashpah. Occurs only here in “former” portion, and only in Isa 49:2 in the “latter” portion.
chariots. See note on Isa 21:7.
and. Some codices, with three early printed editions and Vulgate, read this “and “in the text.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Elam: Isa 21:2, Gen 10:22, Jer 49:35-39
Kir: Isa 15:1, 2Ki 16:9, Amo 1:5, Amo 9:7
uncovered: Heb. made naked
Reciprocal: Gen 14:1 – Elam 1Ch 1:17 – Elam 1Ch 19:17 – and set Jer 25:25 – Elam
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 22:6-7. And Elam bare the quiver This second member of the first part of this prophecy, which begins here, seems evidently to refer to the Assyrian invasion; for the Medes and Elamites, or Persians, were united with the Assyrians in the time of Sennacherib, but not of Nebuchadnezzar. The Persians were expert bowmen, as appears from Jer 49:35, and from Strabos testimony. With chariots of men and horsemen As some of them fought on foot, so others from chariots and horses. And Kir That is, the Medes, so called, from an eminent city and region of that name in Media, 2Ki 16:9; Amo 1:5; uncovered the shield Prepared their defensive and offensive weapons, and themselves, for the battle; for in times of peace arms were wrapped up and covered, to preserve them clean and fit for use. Thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots Valleys were the most proper places for the use of chariots; and the horsemen at the gate To assist and defend the footmen, while they made the assault, and to prevent those who endeavoured to escape.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
22:6 And Elam {i} bore the quiver with chariots of men [and] horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
(i) He reminds them how God delivered them once from Sennacherib, who brought the Persians and Syrians with him, that they might by returning to God avoid that great plague which they would suffer by Nebuchadnezzar.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The enemy would be Elam, an ally of Babylon’s to her east, and Kir, whose exact location is unknown but was the destination of some Israelites taken into Assyrian captivity (cf. 2Ki 16:9; Amo 1:5; Amo 9:7). It was also the place (city or land) from which the Arameans originated (cf. Amo 9:7). Isaiah did not identify the main enemy, Babylon herself, but only two of her allies here, perhaps to emphasize the size (by merism) and or distance of the foe.