In Isaiah, chapter twenty-two, verse one, “The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops?” The name refers to Jerusalem or to the valley near Jerusalem where God had revealed Himself in prophetic visions. God here rebukes the inhabitants of Jerusalem for their frivolous attitude in the midst of grave danger and apostasy.
The “valley of vision” is Jerusalem, lying as it did, as in Jeremiah twenty-one, verse thirteen, in a valley, as compared with the hills round about it, as in Psalm one hundred and twenty-five, verse two. Possibly the name became more characteristic from the impulse given to the prophetic dreams of all who claimed to be seers. The prophet looks out and sees the people in a state of excitement, caused probably by the near approach of the Assyrian armies. They are “on the house-tops,” the flat roofs of which were a customary place of concourse, like in Judges sixteen, verse twenty-seven, and Nehemiah eight, verse sixteen, keeping their revels, as those do who meet the approach of danger with a reckless despair.
What aileth thee now? The prophet refers here to the commotion into which the city was, or, he foresaw, would be, thrown upon the report of the approach of the hostile army to besiege it, and to the perturbation of the people’s minds and the general confusion. That thou art wholly gone up to the house-tops? Either to explore the approaching enemy, or to consult for thine own safety.
The houses in the East were, in ancient times, are still generally built uniformly. The roof, or top of the house, is always flat, covered with broad stones, or a strong plaster of terrace, and guarded on every side with a low parapet wall.