John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 22:5

"For it is a day of discomfiture, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, in the valley of vision; a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains." — Isaiah 22:5 (ASV)

It is a day of trouble. He again declares that the Lord is the author of this calamity and, so that the Jews might not gaze around in all directions or wonder that their enemies prevail against them, he pronounces that they are fighting against God. Though this doctrine is frequently taught in Scripture, it is still not superfluous and cannot be so earnestly inculcated that it is not forgotten when we put it into practice. The consequence is that we are not humbled in the presence of our Judge, and we direct our eyes to outward remedies rather than to God, who alone could cure our distresses.

He uses the word day, as is usual in Scripture, to signify an appointed time. For when God overlooks the transgressions of men, He appears to make some concession regarding His rightful claims, which, however, He can be said to reclaim at the proper and appointed time.

In the valley of vision. It is not without good reason that he again calls it “the valley of vision,” for the Jews believed that they would be protected against every calamitous event, because the Lord shone on them by the word. But having ungratefully rejected His instruction, they vainly trusted that it would be of use to them. Indeed, the Lord punishes the unbelief of men, not only outside the Church, but within the Church itself. In fact, He begins His chastisement at the Church, so that we must not abuse the gifts of God, or vainly boast in His name (1 Peter 4:17).

And crying to the mountain. This may refer either to God, to the Babylonians, or even to the exiles themselves. Conquerors raise a cry to increase terror, and the conquered either utter what is intended to awaken compassion, or give vent to their grief by lamentation. The singular number may be taken for the plural, or it may rather denote that part of the city in which the temple was situated. Both meanings will agree well with the context, and it makes little difference whether we say that the enemies cried to Mount Zion to encourage each other, or that, while they were destroying and plundering the city, a cry was heard in the neighboring mountains, or that the citizens themselves caused their lamentations to resound to the mountains which surrounded the plain of Judea.