Isaiah 22:6
in Isaiah 22Elam takes up a quiver, with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovers the shield.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Elam bare the quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield.
KJV
And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.
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This verse in Isaiah 22
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 6.) Searching the wall, and magnificent upon the mountain: and Elam took the quiver, the chariot of a man on horseback, and uncovered the shield the shield stripped the wall. The army of Babylon is described as entering the city, occupying the temple, and proudly advancing through the streets with chariots. And the fact that it uncovered the golden posts and the walls adorned with marble crusts, the shield that is used to cover others, elegantly resonates in Hebrew, and the meaning is most beautiful, that it did not protect anyone, but uncovered.
This site's exposition
For it is a day of trouble
on Isaiah 22:5-8
The valley of vision becomes a valley of trouble and treading down, walls broken and the mountains themselves summoned to hear the crying, language the bench reads against the Assyrian siege of Sennacherib's day. Elam supplies archers and chariots and Kir uncovers the shield, foreign troops named specifically enough that Barnes and Delitzsch track them as auxiliaries in the Assyrian army rather than Judah's own forces. Judah's covering is stripped away, and in that day the people look not to the Lord but to the armour stored in the house of the forest, Solomon's old armory kept for emergencies. The city arms itself with everything but prayer.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he sets out the conquest by their enemies, and Elam, a Persian city, from which came warriors with Nabuchodonosor, who held the monarchy of the East; the shield, carried against Jerusalem, laid bare the wall, on which it was hung to adorn the house: …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen,....
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,
Dr. Lightfoot gives another sense of it, that by this distress into which Judah should be brought God would discover their covering (that is, uncloak their hypocrisy), would show all that was in their heart, as is said of Hezekiah upon another occasion, 2 Chron. xxxii. Thus, by one means or other, the iniquity of Ephraim will be discovered and the sin of Samaria, Hos. vii.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Chariots of men “The Syriac” - It is not easy to say what רכב אדם 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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
"Chariots of men," that is, chariots in which men are borne, war chariots (compare see on Isa 21:7; Kir--another people subject to Assyria (2Ki 16:9); the region about the river Kur, between the Caspian and Black Seas. uncovered--took off for the battle the leather covering of the shield, intended to protect the embossed figures on it from dust or injury during the march.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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 ארם 'ărâm, “Syria,” instead of אדם 'âdâm, “man,” by the change of the single Hebrew letter ד (d) into the Hebrew letter ר (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 Σάγμα Sagma. […]
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעֵילָם֙ | veeilam | and Elam | H5867 → | 28 times |
| נָשָׂ֣א | nasa' | it took up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אַשְׁפָּ֔ה | ʾashpah | a quiver | H827 → | |
| בְּרֶ֥כֶב | berekhev | with chariotry of | H7393 → | 119 times |
| אָדָ֖ם | ʾadam | a man | H120 → | 551 times |
| פָּֽרָשִׁ֑ים | parashim | horsemen | H6571 → | 57 times |
| וְקִ֥יר | vekir | and Kir | H7024 → | |
| עֵרָ֖ה | ʾerah | it uncovered | H6168 → | 15 times |
| מָגֵֽן׃ | magen | a shield | H4043 → | 63 times |
וְעֵילָם֙and Elam
veeilamH5867 →28 times
נָשָׂ֣אit took up
nasa'H5375 →656 times
אַשְׁפָּ֔הa quiver
ʾashpahH827 →
בְּרֶ֥כֶבwith chariotry of
berekhevH7393 →119 times
אָדָ֖םa man
ʾadamH120 →551 times
פָּֽרָשִׁ֑יםhorsemen
parashimH6571 →57 times
וְקִ֥ירand Kir
vekirH7024 →
עֵרָ֖הit uncovered
ʾerahH6168 →15 times
מָגֵֽן׃a shield
magenH4043 →63 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Amos 1:5I will break down the gates of Damascus; I will cut off the ruler of the Valley of Aven and the one who wields the scepter in Beth-eden. The people of Aram will be…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 16:9
So the king of Assyria responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Kir as captives and put Rezin to death.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Amos 9:7
“Are you not like the Cushites to Me, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 51:30
The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.
- 2 Kings 16:9
Through
Amos 9:7“Are you not like the Cushites to Me, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 47:4
For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every remaining ally. Indeed, the LORD is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts…
- Deuteronomy 2:23
And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, were destroyed by the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtor and settled in their place.)
- Jeremiah 9:25–26
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised yet uncircumcised:
- Jeremiah 47:4
Through
Isaiah 21:2A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 33:1
Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.
- Jeremiah 49:34
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.
- Isaiah 33:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.