Isaiah 22:1

The Lord Will Judge Jerusalem

22:1 Here is a message about the Valley of Vision: ¹ 

What is the reason ² 

that all of you go up to the rooftops?

Isaiah 40:4

40:4 Every valley must be elevated,

and every mountain and hill leveled.

The rough terrain will become a level plain,

the rugged landscape a wide valley.

Isaiah 28:1

The Lord Will Judge Samaria

28:1 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed, ³ 

the withering flower, its beautiful splendor, ⁴ 

situated ⁵  at the head of a rich valley,

the crown of those overcome with wine. ⁶ 

Isaiah 28:4

28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,

situated at the head of a rich valley,

will be like an early fig before harvest –

as soon as someone notices it,

he grabs it and swallows it. ⁷ 

[22:1]  ¹ sn The following message pertains to Jerusalem. The significance of referring to the city as the Valley of Vision is uncertain. Perhaps the Hinnom Valley is in view, but why it is associated with a prophetic revelatory “vision” is not entirely clear. Maybe the Hinnom Valley is called this because the destruction that will take place there is the focal point of this prophetic message (see v. 5).

[22:1]  ² tn Heb “What to you, then?”

[28:1]  ³ tn Heb “Woe [to] the crown [or “wreath”] of the splendor [or “pride”] of the drunkards of Ephraim.” The “crown” is Samaria, the capital city of the northern kingdom (Ephraim). Priests and prophets are included among these drunkards in v. 7.

[28:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “the beauty of his splendor.” In the translation the masculine pronoun (“his”) has been replaced by “its” because the referent (the “crown”) is the city of Samaria.

[28:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “which [is].”

[28:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “ones overcome with wine.” The words “the crown of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The syntactical relationship of the final phrase to what precedes is uncertain. הֲלוּמֵי יָיִן (halume yayin, “ones overcome with wine”) seems to correspond to שִׁכֹּרֵי אֶפְרַיִם (shikkore ’efrayim, “drunkards of Ephraim”) in line 1. The translation assumes that the phrase “the splendid crown” is to be understood in the final line as well.

[28:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “which the one seeing sees, while still it is in his hand he swallows it.”