The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?
The opening line begins a prophecy directed against Jerusalem. That setting is distinctive because the prophecy stands within the section of oracles against foreign nations. It is therefore to be distinguished from the surrounding prophecies against foreign nations by its Jerusalem direction.
It belongs with the prophecies in Isaiah 20, 21, and 22 concerning Assyria, the wilderness of the South, Idumea, and Israel. Its own prophecy concerns Israel. It introduces a judgment oracle concerning the valley of vision. That oracle stands alongside oracles against other lands and peoples.
The opening line begins a prophecy directed against Jerusalem. That setting is distinctive because the prophecy stands within the section of oracles against foreign nations. It is therefore to be distinguished from the surrounding prophecies against foreign nations by its Jerusalem direction.
It belongs with the prophecies in Isaiah 20, 21, and 22 concerning Assyria, the wilderness of the South, Idumea, and Israel. Its own prophecy concerns Israel. It introduces a judgment oracle concerning the valley of vision. That oracle stands alongside oracles against other lands and peoples.