Isaiah 22:5 - Exposition

It is a day … By the Lord ; rather, there is a day to the Lord ; or, the Lord has a day . God has in reserve such a day; and it will assuredly arrive in due course. Hence the prophet's grief. In the valley of vision . We may suppose that Hezekiah, before he made the submission recorded in 2 Kings 18:14 and in the 'Cylinder of Sennacherib,' col. 4.11. 28, 29, tried the chances of battle against the Assyrians in this valley , and that Isaiah had a prophetic vision of the fight. Breaking down the walls ; rather, undermining . The Assyrian sculptures show numerous examples of this practice. Sometimes swords or spears are used to dislodge the stones of the wall, sometimes crow-bars or axes. Crying . Some regard this word, and also that translated "the walls" in the preceding clause, as proper names, and render the passage, "Kir undermineth, and Shoa is at the mount" (Ewald, Cheyne, Luzzatto). But it seems unlikely that "Kit" would be mentioned twice.