Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 22:1

"The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?" — Isaiah 22:1 (ASV)

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 . 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, such as the vale between Mount Zion and Moriah; the vale between Mount Moriah and Mount Ophel; between these and Mount Bezetha; and the Valley of Jehoshaphat, outside the walls of the city; or

2. more probably it was called “a valley” in reference to its being “encompassed with hills,” rising to a considerable elevation above the city.

Thus Mount Olivet was on the east, and overlooked the city. Jerusalem is also called a “valley,” and a “plain,” in Jeremiah 21:13: Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the Lord.

Thus it is described in Reland’s “Palestine:” - ‘The city was in the mountain region of Judea, in an elevated place, yet so that in respect to the mountains by which it was surrounded, it seemed to be situated in a humble place, because Mount Olivet, and other mountains surrounding it, were more elevated.’

So Phocas says, ‘The holy city is placed in the midst of various valleys and hills, and this is wonderful (Θαυμαστόν Thaumaston) in it, that at the same time the city seems to be elevated and depressed, for it is elevated in respect to the region of Judea, and depressed in respect to the hills around it.’ (Reland’s “Palestine,” iii. 802, in Ugolini’s “Thesaurus,” vi.)

It was common for Isaiah and the other prophets to designate Jerusalem and other places, not by their proper names, but by some appellation that would be descriptive (Isaiah 29:1).

Of vision - (see the note at Isaiah 1:1). The word here means that Jerusalem was eminently the place where God made His will known to the prophets, and manifested Himself to His people by “visions.”

What ails you now? - What is the cause of the commotion and tumult that exists in the city? The prophet throws himself at once into the midst of the excitement, sees the agitation and tumult, and the preparations for defense that were made, and asks the “cause” of all this confusion.

That you are wholly gone up to the house-tops - That all classes of the people had fled to the house-tops, so much that it might be said that all the city had gone up.

Houses in the East were built in a uniform manner in ancient times, and are so to this day (see a description of the mode of building in the notes at Matthew 9:1 and following). The roofs were always flat and were made either of earth that was trodden hard, or with large flat stones. This roof was surrounded with a balustrade (Deuteronomy 22:8) and furnished a convenient place for walking, or even for eating and sleeping.

Whenever, therefore, anything was to be seen in the street, or at a distance, or when there was any cause of alarm, they would naturally resort to the roof of the house. When there was a tower in the city, the inhabitants fled to that and took refuge on its top . The image here is, therefore, one of consternation and alarm, as if on the sudden approach of an enemy.