And thy choice valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horseman shall place themselves in the gate.

And it cometh to pass, The choice of thy valleys have been full of chariots, And the horsemen place themselves diligently at the gate.

And your most fertile valleys were full of war-carriages, and the horsemen took up their positions in front of the town.

And your elect valleys will be filled with chariots, and the horsemen will position themselves at the gates.

Et fuit ut electio vallium tuarum repleta sit curribus, et equites instruendo instruerent ad portam.

And the choice of the valleys [1] was full of chariots. I do not find fault with the translation given by some interpreters, "in a chariot of horsemen," but I have chosen rather to translate literally the words of the Prophet; for I think that he means "a military chariot." At that time they made use of two kinds of chariots, one for carrying baggage, and another for the field of battle. Here he means those chariots in which the horsemen rode. Had it been a threatening, it would have been proper to translate it in the future tense, "And it shall be;" but as the words which immediately follow are in the past tense, and as there is reason to believe that the Prophet is relating events which have already taken place, I have not hesitated to make this beginning agree with what follows. "The choice of the valleys" means "the choicest valleys." He reminds the Jews of those straits to which they were reduced when the enemies were at their gates. They ought at that time to have sought help from God; but those wretched people became more strongly alienated from God, and more shamefully manifested their rebellion, which shewed them to be men utterly abandoned, and therefore he reproaches them with this hardened obstinacy.

Footnotes

1 - "Thy choicest valleys, (Heb. the choice of thy valleys.)" -- Eng. Ver.

Thy choicest valleys - Hebrew, 'The choice of thy galleys;' meaning the most fertile and most valued lands in the vicinity of the city. The rich and fertile vales around Jerusalem would be occupied by the armies of the Assyrian monarch. What occurs in this verse and the following verses to Isaiah 22:14, is a prophetic description of what is presented historically in Isaiah. 36, and 2 Chr. 32. The coincidence is so exact, that it leaves no room to doubt that the invasion here described was that which took place under Sennacherib.
Set themselves in array - Hebrew, 'Placing shall place themselves;' that is, they shall be drawn up for battle; they shall besiege the city, and guard it from all ingress or egress. Rabshakeh, sent by Sennacherib to besiege the city, took his station at the upper pool, and was so near the city that he could converse with the people on the walls Isaiah 36:11-13.

And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys,.... 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 exceeding delightful and pleasant:
shall be full of chariots; where they can be more easily driven than on mountains; these were chariots not for pleasure, but for war; chariots full 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 protect and defend the foot, while they made the assault, and scaled the walls, and to be ready when the gates were opened to them.

valleys--east, north, and south of Jerusalem: Hinnom on the south side was the richest valley.
in array at the gate--Rab-shakeh stood at the upper pool close to the city (Isaiah 36:11-13).

Valleys - Valleys were the most proper places for the use of chariots. Gate - To assist the footmen while they made their assault, and to prevent those who endeavoured to escape.