Isaiah 22:9
in Isaiah 22You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the City of David. You collected water from the lower pool.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And ye saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool;
KJV
Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
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This verse in Isaiah 22
Commentary
8 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
You saw that there were many breaches
on Isaiah 22:9-11
Seeing "many breaches in the walls of the City of David", the people "collected water from the lower pool". They "built a reservoir", works that match those of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32. Yet "you did not look to the One who made it".
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
And you have gathered together the waters. Here he sets out the pertinacity of their obstinacy. And first, he denounces the sin of obstinacy; second, he sets out the divine sentence against them: and the voice of the Lord of hosts was revealed (Isa 22:14). …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ye have seen also the breaches - You who are inhabitants of the city. That such breaches were actually made, see 2Ch 32:5. Of the city of David - Of Jerusalem, so called because it was the royal residence of David. Zion was usually called the city of David, but the name was given also to the entire city. And ye gathered together ... - That is, Hezekiah and the people of the city collected those waters. Of the lower pool - (For a description of the upper and lower pool, see the notes at Isa 7:3).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Ye shall bring together into the city by subterranean passages cut in the rock of Zion, the fountain from which the lower pool (only mentioned here) is supplied. 2Ch 32:3-5, represent Hezekiah as having stopped the fountains to prevent the Assyrians getting water. But this is consistent with the passage here.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Ye gathered together the waters “And ye shall collect the waters” - There were two pools in or near Jerusalem, supplied by springs: the upper pool, or the old pool, supplied by the spring called Gihon, 2Ch 32:30, towards the higher part of the city, near Sion, or the city of David, and the lower pool, probably supplied by Siloam, towards the lower part. When Hezekiah was threatened with a siege by Sennacherib, he stopped up all the waters of the fountains without the city; and brought them into the city by a conduit, or subterranean passage cut through the rock; those of the old pool, to the place where he had a double wall, so that the pool was between the two walls. This he did in order to distress the enemy, and to supply the city during the siege. This was so great a work that not only the historians have made particular mention of it, 2Ki 20:20;2Ch 32:2, 2Ch 32:3, 2Ch 32:5, 2Ch 32:30; but the son of Sirach also has celebrated it in his encomium on Hezekiah. “Hezekiah fortified his city, and brought in water into the midst thereof: he digged the hard rock with iron, and made wells for water,” Ecclesiasticus 48.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And the houses of Jerusalem you counted how many houses each one had, that they give of them proportionally, to take the stones and the wood to fortify the wall.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֵ֨ת | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּקִיעֵ֧י | bekiei | [the] breaches of | H1233 → | |
| עִיר־ | ʾir- | [the] city of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| דָּוִ֛ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| רְאִיתֶ֖ם | reitem | you saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רָ֑בּוּ | rabu | they were many | H7231 → | 21 times |
| וַֽתְּקַבְּצ֔וּ | vatekabetzu | and you gathered | H6908 → | 127 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֵ֥י | mei | [the] waters of | H4325 → | 581 times |
| הַבְּרֵכָ֖ה | haberekhah | the pool | H1295 → | 17 times |
| הַתַּחְתּוֹנָֽה׃ | hatachtonah | <the> lower | H8481 → |
וְאֵ֨תand <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בְּקִיעֵ֧י[the] breaches of
bekieiH1233 →
עִיר־[the] city of
ʾir-H5892 →1090 times
דָּוִ֛דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
רְאִיתֶ֖םyou saw
reitemH7200 →1300 times
כִּי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
רָ֑בּוּthey were many
rabuH7231 →21 times
וַֽתְּקַבְּצ֔וּand you gathered
vatekabetzuH6908 →127 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מֵ֥י[the] waters of
meiH4325 →581 times
הַבְּרֵכָ֖הthe pool
haberekhahH1295 →17 times
הַתַּחְתּוֹנָֽה׃<the> lower
hatachtonahH8481 →
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
Nehemiah 3:16Beyond him, Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of a half-district of Beth-zur, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 20:20
As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, along with all his might and how he constructed the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are they not written in…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 2:29
Brothers, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
- Nehemiah 3:12
And next to them, Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of the other half-district of Jerusalem, made repairs, with the help of his daughters.
- 2 Kings 20:20
Through
2 Kings 20:20As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, along with all his might and how he constructed the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are they not written in…
it leads to
- Nehemiah 3:16
Beyond him, Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of a half-district of Beth-zur, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the…
- 2 Chronicles 32:32
As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of loving devotion, they are indeed written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Book of the…
- 2 Chronicles 32:4
Many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said.
- Nehemiah 3:16
Through
2 Chronicles 32:30It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Spring of Gihon and channeled it down to the west side of the City of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 1:33
“Take my servants with you,” said the king. “Set my son Solomon on my own mule and take him down to Gihon.
- Isaiah 22:9–11
You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the City of David. You collected water from the lower pool.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 1:33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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); 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.