Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 22:1
The burden - (see the note at Isaiah 13:1). “The valley” גיא gay'. Septuagint, Φάραγγος Pharangos - ‘Valley.’ Chaldee, ‘The burden of the prophecy respecting the city which dwells (that is, is built) in the valley, which the prophets have prophesied concerning it.’ There can be no doubt that Jerusalem is intended (see Isaiah 22:9-10). It is not usual to call it “a valley,” but it may be so called, either(1) because there were several valleys “within” the city and adjacent to it, as the vale... read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 22:2
The moral influence of pestilence. "Thy slain men are not slain with the sword." "The words imply something like a reproach of cowardice. Those who had perished had not died fighting bravely in battle, but by the pestilence which then, as at all times, was prevalent in the crowded streets of a besieged city? The law of epidemic disease is found to be this—the conditions which are peculiarly favorable to the development of vice and immorality are exactly the conditions most favorable to... read more