Isaiah 22:7
in Isaiah 22Your choicest valleys are full of chariots, and horsemen are posted at the gates.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass, that thy choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.
KJV
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.
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 22
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verses 7-9.) And he took Elam, the quiver, the chariot of a man, and the shield uncovered the wall. And your chosen valleys will be full of chariots, and horsemen will set their seats at the gate. And the covering of Judah will be revealed, and on that day you will see the arsenal of the house of the forest. And you will see the breaches of the city of David, for they are multiplied. LXX: But the Elamites took quivers, climbers, men upon horses, and a gathering of fighters.
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 Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 7-9.) And your chosen valleys will be full of chariots, and the horsemen will set their seats at the gate. And the covering of Judah will be revealed, and on that day you will see the arsenal of the house of the forest, and the breaches of the city of David, for they have multiplied. It clearly describes the captivity that occurred in the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, of which Jeremiah also speaks: Behold, I will summon all the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord, and they will come and each one will set their throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and on all its surrounding walls (Jeremiah 1:15). So that what was predicted in word and not fulfilled in deed, Jeremiah also says the same: In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was opened, and all the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat in the middle gate (Jer. 39:2). Therefore, in the surrounding area of the city of Jerusalem, an innumerable army was spread out, and the Holy of Holies and the armory, which had been planted with groves, were opened due to hostile plundering, and the enemy entered through all parts of the city, divided by walls.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he sets out the infliction of damage as to four things. First, as to the destruction of their properties: your choice valleys shall be full of chariots of Babylon: why glory in the valleys? Your valley has flowed away, O delicate daughter (Jer 49:4). …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys,....
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
valleys--east, north, and south of Jerusalem: Hinnom on the south side was the richest valley. in array at the gate--Rab-shakeh stood at the upper pool close to the city (Isa 36:11-13).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֥י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מִבְחַר־ | mivchar- | [the] choicest of | H4005 → | |
| עֲמָקַ֖יִךְ | ʾamakayikh | valleys your | H6010 → | 69 times |
| מָ֣לְאוּ | malu | they were full | H4390 → | 249 times |
| רָ֑כֶב | rakhev | chariotry | H7393 → | 119 times |
| וְהַפָּ֣רָשִׁ֔ים | vehaparashim | and the horsemen | H6571 → | 57 times |
| שֹׁ֖ת | shot | certainly <to take a stand> | H7896 → | 83 times |
| שָׁ֥תוּ | shatu | they took a stand | H7896 → | 83 times |
| הַשָּֽׁעְרָה׃ | hashaerah | the gate towards | H8179 → | 374 times |
וַיְהִ֥יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
מִבְחַר־[the] choicest of
mivchar-H4005 →
עֲמָקַ֖יִךְvalleys your
ʾamakayikhH6010 →69 times
מָ֣לְאוּthey were full
maluH4390 →249 times
רָ֑כֶבchariotry
rakhevH7393 →119 times
וְהַפָּ֣רָשִׁ֔יםand the horsemen
vehaparashimH6571 →57 times
שֹׁ֖תcertainly <to take a stand>
shotH7896 →83 times
שָׁ֥תוּthey took a stand
shatuH7896 →83 times
הַשָּֽׁעְרָה׃the gate towards
hashaerahH8179 →374 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
2 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
Isaiah 37:34He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city,’ declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Isaiah 37:29
Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’
- Proverbs 21:30
There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- Isaiah 37:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on 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.