The Meaning of Isaiah 22:1 Explained

Isaiah 22:1

KJV: The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?

YLT: The burden of the Valley of Vision. What -- to thee, now, that thou hast gone up, All of thee -- to the roofs?

Darby: The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?

ASV: The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The burden  of the valley  of vision.  What aileth thee now,  that thou art wholly gone up  to the housetops? 

What does Isaiah 22:1 Mean?

Study Notes

burden
See note 1, .
Babylon
The city, Babylon is not in view here, as the immediate context shows. It is important to note the significance of the name when used symbolically. "Babylon" is the Greek form: invariably in the O.T. Hebrew the word is simply Babel, the meaning of which is confusion, and in this sense the word is used symbolically.
(1) In the prophets, when the actual city is not meant, the reference is to the "confusion" into which the whole social order of the world has fallen under Gentile world-domination. (See "Times of the Gentiles," Luke 21:24 ; Revelation 16:14 ; Isaiah 13:4 gives the divine view of the welter of warring Gentile powers. The divine order is given in Isaiah 11. Israel in her own land, the centre of the divine government of the world and channel of the divine blessing; and the Gentiles blessed in association with Israel. Anything else is, politically, mere "babel."
(2) In Revelation 14:8-11 ; Revelation 16:19 the Gentile world-system is in view in connection with Armageddon; Revelation 16:14 ; Revelation 19:21 while in Revelation 17. the reference is to apostate Christianity, destroyed by the nations Revelation 17:16 headed up under the Beast; Daniel 7:8 ; Revelation 19:20 and false prophet. In Isaiah the political Babylon is in view, literally as to the then existing city, and symbolically as to the times of the Gentiles. In the Revelation both the symbolical- political and symbolical-religious Babylon are in view, for there both are alike under the tyranny of the Beast. Religious Babylon is destroyed by political Babylon Revelation 17:16 political Babylon by the appearing of the Lord Revelation 19:19-21 . That Babylon the city is not to be rebuilt is clear from; Isaiah 13:19-22 ; Jeremiah 51:24-26 ; Jeremiah 51:62-64 . By political Babylon is meant the Gentile world-system. (See "World,"; John 7:7 ; Revelation 13:8 ) It may be added that, in Scripture symbolism, Egypt stands for the world as such; Babylon for the world of corrupt power and corrupted religion; Nineveh for the pride, the haughty glory of the world.
A "burden," Heb. massa= a heavy, weighty thing, is a message, or oracle concerning Babylon, Assyria, Jerusalem, etc. It is "heavy" because the wrath of God is in it, and grievous for the prophet to declare.
Babylon
The city, Babylon is not in view here, as the immediate context shows. It is important to note the significance of the name when used symbolically. "Babylon" is the Greek form: invariably in the O.T. Hebrew the word is simply Babel, the meaning of which is confusion, and in this sense the word is used symbolically.
(1) In the prophets, when the actual city is not meant, the reference is to the "confusion" into which the whole social order of the world has fallen under Gentile world-domination. (See "Times of the Gentiles," Luke 21:24 ; Revelation 16:14 ; Isaiah 13:4 gives the divine view of the welter of warring Gentile powers. The divine order is given in Isaiah 11. Israel in her own land, the centre of the divine government of the world and channel of the divine blessing; and the Gentiles blessed in association with Israel. Anything else is, politically, mere "babel."
(2) In Revelation 14:8-11 ; Revelation 16:19 the Gentile world-system is in view in connection with Armageddon; Revelation 16:14 ; Revelation 19:21 while in Revelation 17. the reference is to apostate Christianity, destroyed by the nations Revelation 17:16 headed up under the Beast; Daniel 7:8 ; Revelation 19:20 and false prophet. In Isaiah the political Babylon is in view, literally as to the then existing city, and symbolically as to the times of the Gentiles. In the Revelation both the symbolical- political and symbolical-religious Babylon are in view, for there both are alike under the tyranny of the Beast. Religious Babylon is destroyed by political Babylon Revelation 17:16 political Babylon by the appearing of the Lord Revelation 19:19-21 . That Babylon the city is not to be rebuilt is clear from; Isaiah 13:19-22 ; Jeremiah 51:24-26 ; Jeremiah 51:62-64 . By political Babylon is meant the Gentile world-system. (See "World,"; John 7:7 ; Revelation 13:8 ) It may be added that, in Scripture symbolism, Egypt stands for the world as such; Babylon for the world of corrupt power and corrupted religion; Nineveh for the pride, the haughty glory of the world.

Verse Meaning

The prophet employed another enigmatic title that implied a contrast with the actual condition of the place described to indicate the object of this oracle (cf. Isaiah 21:1). "Valley of vision" refers to Jerusalem (cf. Isaiah 22:5; Isaiah 22:9-10). Isaiah pictured it as the depressed place (cf. Psalm 125:2) where he received a depressing vision, namely, the inevitable judgment that would come on the city. In this valley there was a notable lack of vision among God"s people when it came to seeing things from His perspective. The mention of a valley suggests the valleys that surrounded Jerusalem on three sides, the Kidron Valley on the east and the Hinnom Valley on the west and south.
". . . Jerusalem was an enclosed place, hidden and shut off from the world, which Jehovah had chosen as the place in which to show to His prophets the mysteries of His government of the world." [1]
Isaiah thought the residents of Jerusalem had behaved inappropriately by going up on their flat housetops to rejoice. Some turn of events in his day had resulted in the people feeling very secure. Perhaps Sargon"s attack on Ashdod followed by his return to Assyria in711 B.C, or God"s deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib in701 B.C. (cf. Isaiah 37:36), was the historical occasion for their rejoicing.

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 22

1  The prophet laments the invasion of Jerusalem
8  He reproves their human wisdom and worldly joy
15  He prophesies Shebna's deprivation
20  And the substitution of Eliakim, prefiguring the kingdom of Christ

What do the individual words in Isaiah 22:1 mean?

The burden against the Valley of Vision What ails you now that you have gone up all to the housetops
מַשָּׂ֖א גֵּ֣יא חִזָּי֑וֹן מַה־ לָּ֣ךְ אֵפ֔וֹא כִּֽי־ עָלִ֥ית כֻּלָּ֖ךְ ؟ לַגַּגּֽוֹת

מַשָּׂ֖א  The  burden  against 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מַשָּׂא 
Sense: load, bearing, tribute, burden, lifting.
גֵּ֣יא  the  Valley 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct
Root: גַּיְא  
Sense: valley, a steep valley, narrow gorge.
חִזָּי֑וֹן  of  Vision 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חִזָּיׄון  
Sense: vision.
לָּ֣ךְ  ails  you 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular
אֵפ֔וֹא  now 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: אֵפֹוא  
Sense: then, now, so.
כִּֽי־  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
עָלִ֥ית  you  have  gone  up 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person feminine singular
Root: סָלַק 
Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.
؟ לַגַּגּֽוֹת  to  the  housetops 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: גָּג  
Sense: roof, top, housetop.