Isaiah 22:2
in Isaiah 22O city of commotion, O town of revelry? Your slain did not die by the sword, nor were they killed in battle.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
O thou that art full of shoutings, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; thy slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.
KJV
Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.
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This verse in Isaiah 22
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Thou that art full of stirs - Of tumult, of commotion, of alarm. Or, perhaps, this whole description may mean that it was formerly a city distinguished for the hum of business, or for pleasure; a busy, active, enterprising city. The Hebrew will bear this, but I prefer the former interpretation, as indicating mingled alarm and consternation, and at the same time a disposition to engage in riot and revelry. A joyous city - A city exulting; rejoicing; given to pleasure, and to riot.
This site's exposition
the burden against the Valley of Vision
on Isaiah 22:1-2
Jerusalem is called "the Valley of Vision" because prophecy was given there, though it stands among hills. The prophet asks, "What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops", and Barnes and Delitzsch see citizens watching the enemy. Its slain "did not die by the sword".
This site's exposition
O city of commotion
Barnes hears in the city of commotion the hum of a busy town given to trade or to pleasure. The same Jerusalem is called the city of revelry at 32:13. Its revelry returns in the feast of verse 13.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Now is the time to utter aloud those words of the prophet who said, "Who will give water to my head and a fountain of tears to my eyes, and I will weep for the slain of the daughters of my people?" For, even if deep silence enfolds them and they lie dispossessed once and for all of their senses by the horrible deed (for by the deadly blow they have been deprived already of the very awareness of their condition), still we must not tearlessly disregard so great a fall. For, if Jeremiah judged those whose bodies were smitten in war worthy of innumerable laments, what should be said regarding so terrible a disaster to souls? "Your slain," it is said, "are not slain by the sword, and your dead are not dead in battle." But I bewail the sharp sting that causes real death, that is, grievous sin, and the fiery darts of the evil one, barbarously burning soul and body alike.
(Version 2.) Full of cries, a bustling city, a rejoicing community. The city is filled with those crying out, the bustling city is rejoicing. The teaching of the heretics is not in meaning, but in many words and clamor. Therefore, because of the multitude of the deceived, the city is called bustling and rejoicing, because of their pride. For they are inflated and boast that they have found more sacred things. Those who were killed were not killed by the sword, nor did they die in battle.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And the sin of strife: full of clamor, above: I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes (Isa 5:2). Second, to add to the weight of their sin, the twofold benefit of God is set out, namely, the multitude …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Slain with famine (so some); for Sennacherib's army having laid the country waste, and destroyed the fruits of the earth, provisions must needs be very scarce and dear in the city, which would be the death of many of the poorer sort of people, who would be constrained to feed on that which was unwholesome.
Thou art full of stirs,.... Or, "wast full of stirs"; through the multitude of people walking about in it, and the vast hurry of business done in it; but now all hush and quiet, the streets clear of people, and the shops shut up, and all got up to the housetops for shelter; or, "full of noises" (l), as a populous trading city is.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
MAURER refers this to the plague by which he thinks Sennacherib's army was destroyed, and Hezekiah was made sick (Isa 37:36; But there is no authority for supposing that the Jews in the city suffered such extremities of plague at this time, when God destroyed their foes. BARNES refers it to those slain in flight, not in open honorable "battle";
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
the Valley of Vision This is Jerusalem, the valley concerning which most prophecies were prophesied.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The Burden Of The Prophecy Concerning The City That Dwelleth In The Valley, Of Which The Prophets Prophesied. What aileth you here, that all of you are gone up to the house tops?
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
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תְּשֻׁא֣וֹת׀ | teshuot | noises | H8663 → | |
| מְלֵאָ֗ה | meleah | full | H4392 → | 64 times |
| עִ֚יר | ʾir | O city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הֽוֹמִיָּ֔ה | homiyah | turbulent | H1993 → | 34 times |
| קִרְיָ֖ה | kiryah | O town | H7151 → | 29 times |
| עַלִּיזָ֑ה | ʾalizah | jubilant | H5947 → | 7 times |
| חֲלָלַ֙יִךְ֙ | chalalayikh | slain [ones] your | H2491 → | 94 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| חַלְלֵי־ | chalei- | [are] slain of | H2491 → | 94 times |
| חֶ֔רֶב | cherev | a sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| וְלֹ֖א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מֵתֵ֥י | metei | [are] dead of | H4191 → | 839 times |
| מִלְחָמָֽה׃ | milchamah | battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
תְּשֻׁא֣וֹת׀noises
teshuotH8663 →
מְלֵאָ֗הfull
meleahH4392 →64 times
עִ֚ירO city
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
הֽוֹמִיָּ֔הturbulent
homiyahH1993 →34 times
קִרְיָ֖הO town
kiryahH7151 →29 times
עַלִּיזָ֑הjubilant
ʾalizahH5947 →7 times
חֲלָלַ֙יִךְ֙slain [ones] your
chalalayikhH2491 →94 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
חַלְלֵי־[are] slain of
chalei-H2491 →94 times
חֶ֔רֶבa sword
cherevH2719 →413 times
וְלֹ֖אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
מֵתֵ֥י[are] dead of
meteiH4191 →839 times
מִלְחָמָֽה׃battle
milchamahH4421 →320 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
Jeremiah 14:18If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 7:15
The sword is outside; plague and famine are within. Those in the country will die by the sword, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.
- Lamentations 1:20
See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.
- Jeremiah 8:10
Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all…
- Ezekiel 7:15
Through
Lamentations 2:20Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
it leads to
- Lamentations 4:10
The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Jeremiah 19:9
I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and distress inflicted on them by their enemies who seek their lives.’
- Psalms 78:64
His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.
- Lamentations 4:10
Through
Jeremiah 52:6By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 39:2
And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city was breached.
- Jeremiah 39:2
Through
Isaiah 32:13and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.
it leads to
- Hosea 9:6
For even if they flee destruction, Egypt will gather them and Memphis will bury them. Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles, and thorns will overrun their tents.
- Hosea 9:6
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 Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Basil of Caesarea, LETTER 46; 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.