army, like mire in the streets, when their cities. were
taken by him: and of perplexity by the Lord of hosts
in the yalley of visidn ; in Jerusalem, besieged,, and
threatened with desolation; which threw the king and
his nobles, and all the inhabitants, into the utmost
perplexity? confusion, and distress; and all this was
not merely from men, nor was it by chance, but by
the permission and appointment of God, to humble his
people for their sins, and bring them to a sense and
acknowledgment of them: breaking down the walls: of
the fenced cities, with their battering-rams, at the time
they besieged and took them, 2 Kings xviii. 13: and
of crying to the mountains: looking and running to them
for help and suecoat, for shelter and protection; and
crying so loud, by reason of their distress, as that it
reached the distant mountains, and made them echo
with it.
Ver. 6. And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of.
men and horsemen, &c.]' Or the Elamites, as the
Targum and Septuagint, that is, the Persians, who
were at this time subject to the Assyrians, and served
in Sennacherib's army, which consisted of many na-
ú tions; see oh. xxix. 7. these bore the quiver, a case
for arrows, being expert in the use of the bow, which
was the chief of their: might, Jer. xlix. 35. anti so
Strabo ø reports, that the Elamites had many archers
among them; and along with them went chariots of
men, full of men, of military men; these were chariots
for war, and brought men to fight against Jerusalem;
and horsemen also, these were- the cavalry, as those that
carried bows and arrows seem to be the foot-soldiers.
The Targum is, "and the Elamites bore arms in the
"chariot of a man, and with it a couple of horsemen ;"
as in the vision or prophecy concerning Babylon, ch.
xxi. 7, 9: Kit uncovered the shield; this was a city in
Media, and signifies the Medes, who were in-subjection
to the Assyrians, and fought under them; see 2 Kings
xvi. 9- though Ben Melech says it was a city belong-
ing to the king of Assyria; these prepared for battle,
uncased their shields, which before were covered to
keep them clean, and preserve them from rust and
dirt; or they polished them, made them bright, as the
word in the Ethiopic language signifies, as De Dieu
has observed; see ch. xxi. 5. these might be most
expert in the use of the shield and sword, as the others
were at the bow and arrow. Some render Kit a wall:
so the Targum, "and to the wall the shields stuck ;"
and the Vulgate Latin version, the shield made bare the
wall: but it is best to understand it as the proper name
of a place.
Ver. 7. Anti it shall come to pass, that thy choicest
valleys, &c.] The valleys that were near Jerusalem,
that used to be covered with the choicest corn or vines,
or with grass and flocks of sheep, and used-to be ex-
ceeding delightful and pleasant: shall be fall of cha-
riots; where they can be more easily driven than on
mountains; these were chariots not for pleasure, but
for War; chariots fall of soldiers, to fight against and
.besiege Jerusalem: and the horsemen shall set themselves
in array. at the gate: to take them that come out of the
city, and to force their way into it; as well as to pro-
tect and defend the foot, whilst they made the assault,
and scaled the walls, and to be ready when the gates
were opened to them.
Ver. 8. And he disco,ered the covering of Judah, &c.]
Either God himself, who uncloaked them of their hy-
pocrisy, as Dr. Lightfoot; or took away his power and
presence from them, and his protection of them, and
discovered their weakness; or rather the enemy Sen-
nacherib: and then by the covering is meant, not
Jerusalem, nor the temple, as Jarchi and Kimchi, for
neither of them came into his hands; but the fenced
citiesofJudah, which were the strength and protection
of the country; these he took and dismantled, 2 Kings
xviii. 13. and when this was done, it was high ,time for
the Jews at Jerusalem to look about them, and provide
for their defence and safety: and thou, didst look in that
day to the armour of the house of the forest ; to see what
store of armour they had, in what condition it was,
and to take from hence, and furnish themselves and
soldiers with it, to annoy the enemy, and defend them-
selves. This house of the forest is the same with the
house of the forest of Lebanon; so called, not because
built in it, for it was in Jerusalem, but because it was
built of the wood of Lebanon; or because it was sur-
rounded with trees, and had walks and groves belong-
ing t9 it, resembling that forest. This was an armvary;
here Solomon put his two hundred targets, and three
hundred shields of beaten gold, 1 Kings vii. e. and
x. 16, 17. see also Cant. iv. 4.
Ver. 9. Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of
David, that they are many, &c.] Not Jerusalem in
general, but that part of it which was called the strong
hold of Zion, and in particular had the name of the
city of David, 2 Sam. v. 7. the fortifications of which,
in times of peace, had gone to decay; and which they
had seen before, but took no notice of, being in safety;
but now besieged, and in great danger, .they looked
upon them in good earnest, in order to repair them, and
secure themselves from the irruption of the enemy;
for this is not to be understood of !sreaches now made
by the Assvrian army, but of old ones, which had lain
neglected; see o. Chron. xxxii. 5: and ye gathered to.
gether the waters of the lower pool: not to make morter
with, to be used in repairing the breaches, as Kimchi;
but either that they might be as a wall round about
the place, as Aben Ezra; or rather to deprive the
enemy of them, and cut off all communications from
him, and to supply the inhabitants of the city with
them; see e Chron. xxxii. 3, 4. The Septuagint ver-
sion is, and he turned the water of the old pool into ,the
city: but the old pool was. another pool hereafter men-
tioned, and was without the city, the same with the
upper pool; whereas this was the lower, and was in
the city. The Targum is, "and ye gathered the peo-
"pie to the waters of the lower pool.
Ver. 10. And ye have numbered the houses of Jeru-
salem, &c.] To know what number of men were in
them, and how many could be spared to do duty, either
as watchmen or soldiers; or to know how to levy the
tax, and what money they would be able to raise, to
defray the charge of the defence of the city; or to see
what provisions they had, and so tnake a computation
how'long they could hold out the siege; or else to

{o} Geograph. l. 16. p. 512.