Isaiah 22:4

Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. LOOK AWAY FROM ME. Deep grief seeks to be alone; while others feast joyously, Isaiah mourns in prospect of the disaster coming on Jerusalem (Micah 1:8). DAUGHTER OF MY PEOPLE - (note, ; )....

4._Therefore I said. _Here the Prophet, in order to affect more deeply the hearts of the Jews, assumes the character of a mourner, and not only so, but bitterly bewails the distressed condition of the Church of God. This passage must not be explained in the same manner as some former passages, in which he described the grief and sorrow of foreign nations; but he speaks of the fallen condition of the Church of which he is a member, and therefore he sincerely bewails it, and invites others by his example to join in the lamentation. What has befallen the Church ought to affect us in the same manner as if it had befallen each of us individually; for otherwise what would become of that passage? “The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up.” (Psalms 69:9.) _I will be bitter in my weeping. _(78) He does not mourn in secret, or without witnesses; first

1-7 Why is Jerusalem in such terror? Her slain men are not slain with the sword, but with famine; or, slain with fear, disheartened. Their rulers fled, but were overtaken. The servants of God, who foresee and warn sinners of coming miseries, are affected by the prospect. But all the horrors of a city taken by storm, faintly shadow forth the terrors of the day of wrath....

LOOK AWAY FROM ME - Do not look upon me - an indication of deep grief, for sorrow seeks to be alone, and grief avoids publicity and exposure. I WILL WEEP BITTERLY - Hebrew, ‘I will be bitter in weeping.’ Thus we speak of “bitter” sorrow, indicating excessive grief (see the note at Isaiah 15:5; compare Jeremiah 13:17; Jeremiah 14:17; Lamentations 1:16; Lamentations 2:11; Micah 1:8)

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 22:1 A PROPHECY AGAINST JERUSALEM. The prophet, present in Jerusalem, either actually, or at any rate in spirit, _sees _the inhabitants crowded together upon the housetops, in a state of boisterous merriment (Isaiah 22:1, Isaiah 22:2). Outside the walls is a foreign army threatening the town (Isaiah 22:5). Preparations have been made for resistance, which are described (Isaiah 22:8); but there has been no turning to God. On the contrary, the dange

THEREFORE SAID I,.... Not God to the ministering angels, as Jarchi; but the prophet to those that were about him, his relations, friends, and acquaintance: LOOK AWAY FROM ME; turn away from me, look another way; cease from me, let me alone; leave me to myself, that I may weep in secret, take my fill of sorrow, and give full vent to it: I WILL WEEP BITTERLY; or, "I will be bitter", or, "bitter myself in weeping" n; it denotes the vehemence of his grief, the greatness of his sorrow, and the strength of his passion: LABOUR NOT TO COMFORT ME; make use of no arguments to persuade me to lay aside my mourning; do not be urgent and importunate with me to receive consolation, for my soul refuses to be comforted: BECAUSE OF THE SPOILING OF THE DAUGHTER OF MY PEOPLE; his countrymen, which were as dear to him as a daughter to a tender parent, now spoiled, plundered, and made desolate by the rava...

CHAPTER 22 The Burden of the Valley of Vision (Jerusalem) 1. _Jerusalem's deplorable state (Isaiah 22:1)_ 2. _The invading armies (Isaiah 22:5)_ 3. _The siege and the calamity (Isaiah 22:8)_ 4. _Shebna (Isaiah 22:15)_ 5. _Eliakim (Isaiah 22:20)_ This is another intensely interesting prophecy. Jerusalem has passed through many sieges and at last in part the prophecy has been fulfilled. But there is another siege of Jerusalem impending. It will come after the message of the fall of the final Babylon. See...

JERUSALEM'S INEXCUSABLE FRIVOLITY. The prophecy apparently belongs to the time of Sennacherib's invasion. Its menacing tone contrasts with that of some other prophecies of the time. The people had provoked Isaiah's sternest anger by giving themselves up to festivity. Probably this was after the siege had been raised, either temporarily or when Sennacherib's army had been withdrawn after the disaster recorded in Isaiah 37:36. In the reaction caused by this relief the inhabitants recklessly surrendered themselves to riotous merriment, recognising (Isaiah 22:13) that they might still be doomed to die. The valley of vision cannot be Jerusalem itself, for it was no valley, but must be some valley in the neighbourhood. It seems to mean the valley concerning which the vision was seen. The prophet is amazed a

The joy of the people and the sorrow of the prophet....

THEREFORE SAID I, LOOK AWAY— Behold the prophet here anticipating those lamentations which he was afterwards to pour forth, and which Jeremiah afterwards so pathetically poured forth, an eye-witness of this calamity. See his Lamentations. The expressions here are too strong to be applied to any other calamity than that great one, when the Jews were carried to Babylon. Who does not see, says Vitringa, in Isaiah thus weeping over Jerusalem, a type of Jesus weeping over the same city in its last extremity? See Luke 19:41....