Isaiah 22:10
in Isaiah 22You counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore them down to strengthen the wall.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and ye numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and ye brake down the houses to fortify the wall;
KJV
And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.
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This verse in Isaiah 22
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem - That is, you have taken an estimate of their number so as to ascertain how many can be spared to be pulled down to repair the walls; or you have made an estimate of the amount of materials for repairing the walls, which would be furnished by pulling down the houses in Jerusalem. To fortify the wall - The houses in Jerusalem were built of stone, and therefore they would furnish appropriate materials for repairing the walls of the city.
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".
This site's exposition
You counted the houses of Jerusalem
2 Chronicles 32:5 records Hezekiah rebuilding the broken wall. The houses of Jerusalem were counted to choose which to tear down for stone. Aquinas takes them as the houses next to the wall, torn down so its defenders could move.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Vers. 10, 11.) And you gathered the waters of the lower pool, and you numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and you destroyed houses to build a wall. And you made a reservoir between two walls, and the water of the old pool. And you did not look to Him who made it, and the worker of it from afar you did not see. LXX: And they turned the water of the old pool into the city, and they destroyed the houses of Jerusalem to strengthen the city wall. And you made water between two walls within the old pool, and you did not look to Him who made it from the beginning, and you did not see its creator. You who know the divisions of the city of David, that is, the Church, will see or have seen, which have multiplied throughout the world; you who have gathered the waters of your pool and your doctrine, not of the higher, but of the lower, and have counted the houses of Jerusalem, whether you have destroyed them to fortify your wall, you have not dug wells that would have had life-giving and eternal water, but broken cisterns that cannot hold water. And you have made them between the two walls of the old and new covenant, and you have neglected the water of the old pool, and you have not considered the giver of the law, God, and you have completely neglected the operator of the world. This is according to the Hebrew. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, the heretics considered themselves many, and with this confidence, they turned the teaching of the old Testament away from the city of God, which is the Church, and destroyed the houses of Jerusalem, in order to build meeting places of the wicked; and while they reject the old Testament, they have not followed the new, because the new is confirmed by the testimonies of the old Testament. […]
(Vers. 10, 11.) And you gathered the waters of the lower pool, and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you destroyed houses to fortify the wall. And you made a reservoir between the two walls, and the water of the Old Pool. And you did not look to the One who made it, and you did not see the One who fashioned it from afar.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, that water may be dispensed by number and measure; and have broken down houses which were next to the wall, so that they wouldn't impede the defenders.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
numbered--rather, "ye shall number," namely, in order to see which of them may be pulled down with the least loss to the city, and with most advantage for the repair of the walls and rearing of towers (2Ch 32:5). have ye broken down--rather, "ye shall break down."
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And a ditch you made A pool of water, to be a defense (lit., strength) for the city.
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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בָּתֵּ֥י | batei | [the] houses of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| סְפַרְתֶּ֑ם | sefartem | you counted | H5608 → | 159 times |
| וַתִּתְֿצוּ֙ | vatittzev | and you pulled down | H5422 → | |
| הַבָּ֣תִּ֔ים | habatim | the houses | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| לְבַצֵּ֖ר | levatzer | to fortify | H1219 → | 37 times |
| הַחוֹמָֽה׃ | hachomah | the city wall | H2346 → | 133 times |
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בָּתֵּ֥י[the] houses of
bateiH1004 →2046 times
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֖םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
סְפַרְתֶּ֑םyou counted
sefartemH5608 →159 times
וַתִּתְֿצוּ֙and you pulled down
vatittzevH5422 →
הַבָּ֣תִּ֔יםthe houses
habatimH1004 →2046 times
לְבַצֵּ֖רto fortify
levatzerH1219 →37 times
הַחוֹמָֽה׃the city wall
hachomahH2346 →133 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
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 Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book 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.