hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the 33 hill of Jerusalem. Behold, the Lord Jehovah of hosts will lop the bough with terrible violence; and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty 34 shall be humbled. And he will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a -mighty one.

XXII.

1 THE BURDEN OF THE VALLEY OF VISIONS.

What aileth thee now [O Jerusalem], that thou art all 2 of thee gone up to the housetops? Thou that wast full of noises, a tumultuous town, a joyous city; thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in 3 battle. All thy rulers are fled together, they are taken

He shaketh his hand against Zion.] Thus on this occasion, Sennacherib does not delay his march by the siege of the fortified city.

No. 10. [Chap. xxii.]

A SECOND INVASION BY SENNACHERIB.

1 The Valley of Visions.] An unknown spot near Jerusalem, meaning probably a valley within sight of the city. What aileth thee now.] As the following verb is feminine we learn that the city of Jerusalem is here addressed.

Gone up to the house-tops.] To watch in anxiety the events of the siege.

3 All thy rulers are fled.] We read in Micah ii. 13 that the king passed out of the city gate and that Jehovah, or the ark borne by the priests, was among the fugitives. In Micah i. 15, the Glory of Israel is said to have gone to Adullam. This possibly may be a figurative name for a hiding-place. Hezekiah is not likely to have fled to the cave in which David hid himself (1 Sam. xxii. 1). We read also in Zech. ix. 9, of Hezekiah's safe return to the city when the danger was past. On this occasion may have been written Psalm xi. beginning:

"In Jehovah I put my trust. How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain ?"

captive by the archers. All of thee that are found are taken captive together, who fled afar off.

away

4

from me;

I will weep

Therefore I said, Look bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. For it is a day of 5 trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord Jehovah of hosts in the Valley of Visions. They break down the walls, and there is a cry for help unto the mountains. And Elam beareth the quiver with men riding, horsemen; and Kir uncovereth the shield. And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall 7 be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the city gate. And he shall remove the covering of Judah.

8

And thou shalt look in that day to the armoury of the House of the Forest. Ye shall see also the breaches 9

5 They break down the walls.] As is said in Micah ii. 13. This therefore is not the same occasion as that described in chap. x. 32, when Sennacherib contented himself with shaking his hand against Jerusalem; nor is it the same as when Rab-shakeh led the Assyrian army to the walls of Jerusalem, and shortly afterwards retreated.

6 Elam beareth the quiver.] The province of Elam, between Babylon and Persia, is now for the first time mentioned. Its people formed part of the Assyrian army. They afterwards belonged to Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, and then to Persia under Cyrus.

Kir uncovereth the shield.] A province of Georgia, on a river of that name which falls into the Caspian Sea.

The armoury of the House of the Forest.] The House of the Forest of Lebanon had been Solomon's armoury (1 Kings x. 17).

The breaches of the city of David.] As the Assyrians were thus able to break down a part of the walls, and to make the king and rulers take to flight, they may have been able to dictate terms to the Jews, and to enforce the payment of a tribute.

of the city of David, that they are many; and ye shall 10 gather up the waters of the Lower Pool. And ye shall number the houses of Jerusalem, and shall break down 11 the houses to fortify the wall. Ye shall make also a Cistern between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool. But ye look not to the Maker thereof, neither have respect to him that fashioned it long ago.

12

And in that day will the Lord Jehovah of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to 13 girding with sackcloth. But behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine; let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we shall 146 die.' And it was revealed in mine ears by Jehovah of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from 'you till ye die,' said the Lord Jehovah of hosts.

16

6

15 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah of hosts, Go, get thee to this favourite [of Hezekiah], even to Shebna, who is over the house [and say], 'What hast thou here? and 'whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed for thee a 'sepulchre here? They are hewing his sepulchre on high, and cutting a habitation for him in a rock. Be'hold, Jehovah will overthrow thee with a mighty over184 throw, and will surely cover thee. He will surely 'twist thee about like a ball into a country large of

176

Gather up the waters of the Lower Pool.] Hezekiah, in preparation for a second siege, turned aside the overflow of the Upper Pool of Gihon, and brought it direct into his new cistern within the walls of the city, probably by an underground pipe. This is mentioned in Psalm xlvi. 4.

11 A cistern between the two walls.] Thus Hezekiah's new pool was not in Zion, but in the northern suburb; where it may yet be seen.

13 Behold joy and gladness.] This was the riot of thoughtless despair, when death was hanging over the besieged people.

15 Shebna, who is over the house.] He had been Hezekiah's chief adviser, and had probably advised submission to the conqueror.

And 19

space. There shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house. I will thrust thee off thy standing place, and he shall 'pull thee down from thy station.'

21

22

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call 20 my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah; and I will clothe him with thy undercoat, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of2 David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious seat for his father's house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's 24 house the offspring and the offshoots with all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of goblets, even to all the vessels of skins.

18 The chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house.] That is, Shebna's chariots are to disgrace king Hezekiah. The only clue to an explanation of this is in Micah i. 13, where a chariot at Lachish was a cause of Zion's sin. Sennacherib was at Lachish when Hezekiah sent his tribute to him, and also when, at a later time, he sent Rab-shakeh with an army against Jerusalem (2 Kings xviii. 14–17). He probably had a permanent camp there; and our passage may relate to Hezekiah's negotiations with Sennacherib about the tribute.

19 I will thrust thee off thy standing place.] He was removed, as it would seem, on Hezekiah's adopting a change of policy.

20 Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.] He seems to have been put in office with the full approval of Isaiah, and therefore we must suppose that he was for a policy of resistance, and that Shebna had advised submission to the Assyrians and the payment of the required tribute. For that a tribute would at one time have satisfied Sennacherib we learn from 2 Kings xviii. 14.

23

25

(In that day, Jehovah of hosts hath said it, shall the Nail [Eliakim] that had been fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off; for Jehovah hath spoken it.)

XXVIII.

2

1 WOE TO THE CROWN OF PRIDE, of the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which is at the head of the fruitful valley of them that are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one [the Assyrian], who as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast them down to the earth with his 3 hand. The crown of pride, of the drunkards of Ephraim, 4 shall be trodden under feet; and the glorious beauty, which is at the head of the fruitful valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the early fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he devoureth it.

5

In that day shall Jehovah of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of

25 The nail that had been fastened in a sure place.] This nail is Eliakim, as we learn from verse 23. He is to be removed out of his office, and Hezekiah is to return to the policy advised by Shebna. This verse is an after addition, and probably not by Isaiah.

No. 11. [Chap. xxviii.-xxxi.]

ON A THIRD INVASION BY SENNACHERIB.

1 The drunkards of Ephraim.] Though before this was written northern Israel had been carried into captivity by Shalnıanezer, yet a population was left behind large enough to trouble Judah by its continued enmity, as we have seen in chap. ix. 21.

2 A mighty and strong one.] Sennacherib, who is an instrument of Jehovah to punish northern Israel.

5 A diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people.] This would seem to have been written on some withdrawal of the Assyrian army after a treaty made between