Discovery BoxIsaiah 22:6-8 
Context22:6 The Elamites picked up the quiver,
and came with chariots and horsemen; 1
the men of Kir 2 prepared 3 the shield. 4
22:7 Your very best valleys were full of chariots; 5
horsemen confidently took their positions 6 at the gate.
22:8 They 7 removed the defenses 8 of Judah.
At that time 9 you looked
for the weapons in the House of the Forest. 10
1 tn Heb “[with] the chariots of men, horsemen.”
2 sn A distant region in the direction of Mesopotamia; see Amos 1:5; 9:7.
3 tn Heb “Kir uncovers” (so NAB, NIV).
4 sn The Elamites and men of Kir may here symbolize a fierce army from a distant land. If this oracle anticipates a Babylonian conquest of the city (see 39:5-7), then the Elamites and men of Kir are perhaps viewed here as mercenaries in the Babylonian army. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:410.
5 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
6 tn Heb “taking a stand, take their stand.” The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. The translation attempts to bring out this emphasis with the adverb “confidently.”
7 tn Heb “he,” i.e., the enemy invader. NASB, by its capitalization of the pronoun, takes this to refer to the Lord.
8 tn Heb “covering.”
9 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV), likewise at the beginning of v. 12.
10 sn Perhaps this refers to a royal armory, or to Solomon’s “House of the Forest of Lebanon,” where weapons may have been kept (see 1 Kgs 10:16-17).
