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| 1 And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes,–and covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of Yahweh; |
King Hezektah – God himself was King of Israel, Hezekiah his representative upon the throne. R1358:4 Isaiah 37:7
A blast – Some have supposed that it was a simoon, or sandstorm, not uncommon in the vicinity of the Arabian desert. Jewish tradition ascribes the destruction to a pestilence. R2382:2
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| 2 and sent Eliakim who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth,–unto Isaiah the prophet, Son of Amoz; |
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| 3 and they said unto him, Thus, saith Hezekiah, A day of distress and rebuke and reviling, is this day,–For children are come to the birth, and, strength, is there none, to bring forth. |
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| 4 It may be, that Yahweh thy God will hear, the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his lord, hath sent, to reproach a Living God, and will rebuke the words, which Yahweh thy God hath heard,–Wherefore lift thou up a prayer, for the remnant that remaineth. |
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| 5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came unto Isaiah. |
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| 6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus, shall ye, surely say, unto your lord,–Thus, saith Yahweh–Be not thou afraid because of the words which thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled, Me. |
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| 7 Behold me! about to let go against him, a blast of alarm, and, when he heareth the report, then will he return to his own country,–and I will cause him to fall by the sword, in his own land. |
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| 8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria, warring against Libnah,–for he had heard, that he had broken up from Lachish. |
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| 9 And he heard it reported concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, saying, He hath come forth to fight with thee,–so, when he heard it, he sent messengers unto Hezekiah, saying: |
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| 10 Thus, shall ye surely speak unto Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom, thou, art trusting, beguile, thee, saying,–Jerusalem, shall not be given over, into the hand of the king of Assyria. |
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| 11 Lo! thou thyself, hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done, to all the lands, in devoting them to destruction,–and shalt, thou, be delivered? |
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| 12 Did the gods of the nations, deliver them, whom my fathers destroyed,–Gozan, and Haran,–and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who were in Telassar? |
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| 13 Where, are the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim,–of Hena, and Ivvah? |
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| 14 And, when Hezekiah had received the letter at the hand of the messengers, and had read it, then went he up to the house of Yahweh, and Hezekiah, spread it out, before Yahweh. |
Hezekiah – We may admire his sterling character; he was a great reformer in his day. R1358:6
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| 15 And Hezekiah prayed, unto Yahweh, saying: |
Hezekiah prayed – Because fear prevailed in Jerusalem. R4833:1
For deliverance, but this was not a precedent for other nations to follow. R1358:5
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| 16 O Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel–inhabiting the cherubim, Thou thyself, art GOD, even thou alone, for all the kingdoms of the earth: Thou, didst make, the heavens and the earth. |
God of Israel – Israel was under a special covenant with God; and Hezekiah was their sovereign and arbiter of their destiny. R4832:3
Between the cherubims – Between love and power, above a foundation of justice. T124
Always connected with the immediate presence or throne of God. R529:6*
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| 17 Bow down, O Yahweh, thine ear–and hear, Open, O Yahweh, thine eyes–and see,–Yea hear thou all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent–to reproach a Living God. |
Incline thine ear – The king and people sought the Lord in prayer. R4833:1
Sennacherib – Loudly proclaimed his victories, warning the people not to trust in their God. R4833:1
Violated his compact not to attack Jerusalem. R4832:6
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| 18 Of a truth, O Yahweh,–the kings of Assyria have devoted to destruction all the countries, and their land; |
Assyria – Threatened to become the first universal empire. R4832:3
Laid waste – Whole country filled with fear as nearly forty cities of Judah fell. R4832:6
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| 19 and have put their gods in the fire,–for, no-gods, were they, but the work of the hands of men-wood, and stone, and so they destroyed them. |
Gods into the fire – The gods of other peoples all failed before Sennacherib. R4833:1
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| 20 Now, therefore, O Yahweh our God, save us, out of his hand,–That all the kingdoms of the earth, may know, That, thou, art Yahweh, thou alone. |
Our God, save us – Fear prevailed in Jerusalem. R4833:1
Israel was God's peculiar people, under his special protection and care. R1358:3
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| 21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying,–Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel, In that thou hast prayed unto me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, |
Isaiah – Hezekiah's faithful friend and advisor, and supposed tutor in earlier years. R2381:3
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| 22 this, is the word which Yahweh hath spoken concerning him,–The virgin daughter of Zion, laugheth thee to scorn–mocketh thee, The daughter of Jerusalem, after thee, doth wag her head! |
This is the word – Evidently intended to be the answer which Hezekiah should send to Sennacherib through Rabshekah. R2381:5
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| 23 Whom, hast thou reproached, and insulted? And, against whom, hast thou lifted high thy voice? Yea thou hast proudly raised thine eyes, against the Holy One of Israel. |
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| 24 Through thy servants, thou hast reproached My Lord, and hast said,–With my multitude of chariots, have I, ascended, The height of the mountains, The recesses of Lebanon, That I may cut down, Its tallest cedars, Its choicest firs, That I may enter, Its highest summit, Its thick garden forest: |
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| 25 I, have digged, and drunk waters,–That I may dry up, with the soles of my feet, all the Nile-streams of Egypt. |
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| 26 Hast thou not heard–That, long ago, that, is what I appointed, And, from days of old, devised? Now, have I brought it to pass, That thou mightest serve to lay waste, in desolate ruins, fortified cities; |
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| 27 And, their inhabitants, being powerless, were overthrown, and put to shame–They became–Grass of the field, and, Young herbage, Grass on housetops, and, Seed parched before it came up. |
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| 28 Howbeit, thine abode, and thy coming out and thy going in, I know,–and thy raging, against me. |
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| 29 Because, thy raging against me, and thy contempt, have come up into mine ears, Therefore will I put, My ring in thy nose, and, My bit in thy lips, And will turn thee back, by the way by which thou camest. |
Hook...bridle – Figurative, representing the manner in which bullocks and horses are controlled--thus would the Lord control the Assyrian army. R2381:5
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| 30 And, this, unto thee, is the sign, Eating, this year, the growth of scattered seeds, And, in the second year, that which shooteth up of itself,–Then, in the third year, Sow ye–and reap, and, Plant ye vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. |
This shall be a sign – That the retreat of Sennacherib's army was not just temporary, and that he would not come upon them again. R2382:4
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| 31 Then shall the escaped of the house of Judah that remain, again, Take root downward,–And bear fruit upward. |
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| 32 For, out of Jerusalem, shall come forth a remnant, And that which hath escaped, out of Mount Zion,–The jealousy of Yahweh of hosts, will perform, this. |
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| 33 Therefore, thus, saith Yahweh, concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not enter this city, Nor shoot there, an arrow,–Nor attack it with shield, Nor cast up against it a mound: |
Thus saith the LORD – Israel's history shows how God actually did deal with them. R1358:6
He shall not come – God honored Hezekiah's prayer for deliverance. R1358:6
"The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth and delivereth them." (Psa. 34:17) R1358:6
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| 34 By the way that he came in, By the same, shall he return,–And, into this city, shall he not enter, Declareth Yahweh. |
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| 35 Thus will I throw a covering over this city, to save it,–For mine own sake, And for the sake of David my servant. |
I will defend – As long as they were obedient they had prosperity and no evil could befall them. R1358:4
The lesson for us is to note divine power which overrules, orders and directs that all things work together for good. R4833:4
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| 36 Then went forth the messenger of Yahweh, and smote–in the camp of the Assyrians–a hundred and eighty-five thousand,–and, when men arose early in the morning, lo! they were all, dead bodies! |
Angel of the LORD – Jehovah fought Israel's battles anciently without being seen. R286:3
Wind, fire or lightning may be the Lord's messengers or angels. R4833:2, R2382:2
Smote – The messenger of death may have been a malignant form of fever. R4833:2
Egyptian history records the departure of Sennacherib's army, ascribing its retreat to an invasion of field mice, gnawing the quivers, bowstrings and thongs--but perhaps figurative of the pestilence, represented in Egypt by the mouse. R2382:2
Assyrians – It was not the Lord's will that Assyria should become the first universal empire. R4833:4
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| 37 So Sennacherib the king of Assyria, brake up, and went his way, and returned,–and remained in Nineveh. |
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| 38 And it came to pass, as he, was bowing down in the house of Nisroch his god, that, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons, smote him with the sword, howbeit, they, escaped into the land of Ararat,–and, Esarhaddon his son, reigned, in his stead. |
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