Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 22:7
And it shall come to pass, [that] thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
7. And it shall come to pass ] strictly, And it came to pass, in the scene beheld by the prophet.
set themselves gate ] take up their station towards the gate.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thy choicest valleys – Hebrew, The choice of thy galleys; meaning the most fertile and most valued lands in the vicinity of the city. The rich and fertile vales around Jerusalem would be occupied by the armies of the Assyrian monarch. What occurs in this verse and the following verses to Isa 22:14, is a prophetic description of what is presented historically in Isa. 36, and 2 Chr. 32. The coincidence is so exact, that it leaves no room to doubt that the invasion here described was that which took place under Sennacherib.
Set themselves in array – Hebrew, Placing shall place themselves; that is, they shall be drawn up for battle; they shall besiege the city, and guard it from all ingress or egress. Rabshakeh, sent by Sennacherib to besiege the city, took his station at the upper pool, and was so near the city that he could converse with the people on the walls Isa 36:11-13.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots: valleys were the most proper places for the use of chariots: see Jos 17:16.
The horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate, to assist and defend the footmen whilst they made their assault, and withal to prevent and take those who endeavoured to escape.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. valleyseast, north, andsouth of Jerusalem: Hinnom on the south side was the richest valley.
in array at thegateRab-shakeh stood at the upper pool close to the city (Isa36:11-13).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it shall come to pass, [that] thy choicest valleys,…. The valleys that were near Jerusalem, that used to be covered with the choicest corn or vines, or with grass and flocks of sheep, and used to be exceeding delightful and pleasant:
shall be full of chariots; where they can be more easily driven than on mountains; these were chariots not for pleasure, but for war; chariots full of soldiers, to fight against and besiege Jerusalem:
and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate: to take them that come out of the city, and to force their way into it; as well as to protect and defend the foot, while they made the assault, and scaled the walls, and to be ready when the gates were opened to them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
7. And the choice of the valleys (84) was full of chariots. I do not find fault with the translation given by some interpreters, “in a chariot of horsemen,” but I have chosen rather to translate literally the words of the Prophet; for I think that he means “a military chariot.” At that time they made use of two kinds of chariots, one for carrying baggage, and another for the field of battle. Here he means those chariots in which the horsemen rode.
Had it been a threatening, it would have been proper to translate it in the future tense, “And it shall be;” but as the words which immediately follow are in the past tense, and as there is reason to believe that the Prophet is relating events which have already taken place, I have not hesitated to make this beginning agree with what follows. “The choice of the valleys” means “the choicest valleys.” He reminds the Jews of those straits to which they were reduced when the enemies were at their gates. They ought at that time to have sought help from God; but those wretched people became more strongly alienated from God, and more shamefully manifested their rebellion, which shewed them to be men utterly abandoned, and therefore he reproaches them with this hardened obstinacy.
(84) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) That thy choicest valleys . . .These were the valleys of Gibeon, Rephaim, Hinnom, and Jehoshaphat, which encircled Jerusalem on the west and south. They are painted as filled with the chariots and cavalry of the Assyrian army, ready to make their attack on the very gate of the city, the great gate named in Sennacheribs inscription (Records of the Past, i. 39).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 22:7 And it shall come to pass, [that] thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate.
Ver. 7. Thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots. ] Iron chariots armed with scythes. These were, saith Vegetius, first a terror, and then a scorn.
In array at the gate,
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
at = toward.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
thy choicest valleys: Heb. the choice of thy valleys
full: Isa 8:7, Isa 8:8, Isa 10:28-32, Isa 37:34, Jer 39:1-3
at: or, toward
Reciprocal: 1Ch 19:17 – and set Jer 1:15 – and they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
This enemy would conquer the countryside around Jerusalem and then set up a siege of the city outside her walls at her very gates.