Isaiah 37)
1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord (Yahaveh). (see Hezekiah's reference to his love for, and use of, the Temple in his "Songs of the Degrees". Pss. 122.1,9; 134:1,2. 2 Kings 20:8)
2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe (see 36:3), and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth (these now added to the embassy. Joah absent), to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And they said to him, "Thus has said Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of reproach (note the reference to this in Hezekiah's "Songs of the Degrees". Pss.120:2,3; 123:3,4): for the sons are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh (see "reproach" v.3), whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to revile the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord your God has heard: wherefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.' " (note the reference to Hezekiah's "Songs of the Degrees" in Pss. 120:1; 123:1-3; 130:1,2. Trust [36:4,7,15] leads to prayer)
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And Isaiah said to them (the message in vv.6,7 is shorter and calmer than the second), "Thus shall you all say to your master, 'Thus says the Lord, 'Be not afraid of the words that you have heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have reproached Me.
7 Behold, I will send a blast (ruach) upon him, and he shall hear a rumor (not that of vv.8,9, but that of v.36, on hearing which he returned to his own land [v.37]), and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.' ' " (see v.37)
8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. (having raised the siege. See 2 Kings 18:17; 19:8)
9 And he heard say (see "rumor, v.7) concerning Tirhakah (the Taracus of the inscriptions. The 3rd and last of Manetho's 26th dynasty. This reference to the Ethiopian dynasty in Isaiah's time is an "undesigned coincidence") king of Ethiopia (Judah's hope in Ethiopia was vain [see 20:1-6]), "He is come forth to make war with you." And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 "Thus shall you all speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, 'Let not your God, in Whom you confide, deceive you, saying, 'Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'
11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the earths (i.e. all such countries specially connected with Israel) by destroying them utterly; and shall you be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph (these places are all in Mesopotamia), and the sons of Eden which were in Telassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim (see notes on 36:19), Hena (now 'Anah, on the Euphrates), and Ivah?' " (now Hit, on the Euphrates)
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. (see "lift up", v.4)
15 And Hezekiah prayed to , saying,
16 "O the Lord of hosts (Yahaveh Sabaioth), God of Israel (see 29:23), that dwells (or, sits enthroned) between the cherubims, You are He the true God (cp. 1 Kings 18:39), even You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: You have made heaven and earth. (note the reference to this in Hezekiah's "Songs of the Degrees" in Pss. 121:1,2;123:1; 124:8; 134:3)
17 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words (see "reproach", v.3) of Sennacherib, which has sent to revile the living God. (in contrast with idols)
18 Of a truth, the Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, (fig., put for the people inhabiting the lands. Some codices read "nations, and their land")
19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of human hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
20 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us (some codices read "I [or, we] pray You". Cp. 2 Kings 19:19) from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord, even You only."
Cą y 21. Hezekiah. Prayer regarded.
z 22-29. King of Assyria. Apostrophe to.
y 30-32. Hezekiah. Sign given to.
z 33-38. King of Assyria. Destruction of.21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'Whereas you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria: (see "lift up", v.6)
22 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him; 'The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you, and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has wagged her head at you. (denoting derision and scorn)
23 Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? and against whom have you exalted your voice, and lifted up your eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. (see 1:4)
24 By thy servants have you reproached the Lord, and have said, 'By the multitude of my chariots have I scaled to the height of the mountains (cp. 36:10. These boast probably refer to the future as well as the past), to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. (cp. 2 Kings 19:23. Fulfilling 14:8. As Hannibal later scaled the Alps)
25 I have dug, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the arms (or, canals. Cp.19:6, and Mic. 7:12) of the besieged places.' (fig., put for Egypt)
26 Have you not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have purposed it? (cp. 10:5,15; 30:32) now have I brought it to pass, that you should be to lay waste defensed cities into ruinous heaps.
27 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field (note Hezekiah's reference to this in his "Songs of the Degrees", Pss.129:5-7), and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
28 But I know your sitting down, and your going out, and your coming in (fig., put for life in general), and your rage against Me.
29 Because your rage against Me, and your arrogance, is come up into My ears, therefore will I put My hook in your nose, and My bridle in your lips (Assyrian sculptures represent captives thus led. Yahaveh would treat them as they treated others), and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.' (see Hezekiah's reference to this, Ps.129:4,5)
30 And this shall be a sign to you (see 7:11), 'You all shall eat (&c. No seed would be sown on account of the foretold devastation wrought by the invasion. Hezekiah refers to this "sign" in his "Songs of the Degrees", Pss.126:5,6; 128:2) this year such as grows of itself (See Lev.25:5,11); and the second year that which shoots up of itself (or, from the roots): and in the third year sow you all, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: (Hezekiah refers to Yahaveh's repeated promises on which he relies, Cp. 2 Kings 19:30-34. See Pss. 121:2-8; 124:1-3,6; 125:2; 126:2,3; 127:1)
32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the jealousy of the Lord of hosts shall do this.' " (Cp. 9:7)
33 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, "He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city," says the Lord.
35 "For I will shield this city to save it for My own sake (see 31:5), and for My servant (three are so called in this Book: David [here]; Israel or Jacob [the nation, 41:8; 42:19; 43:10; 44:1; 45:4; 48:20; 49:3 and whole chapter]; and Messiah [42:1; 65:8]) David's sake" (see how Hezekiah refers to this in Ps.132:1,10)
36 Then the Angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand (cp. 2 Kings 19:35-37): and when they (i.e. the Israelites) arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. (fig., used to emphasize his departure and return, which leads up to what he returned for; also, that he did this without taking the city. Nebuchadnezzar makes no reference to this in his inscriptions)
38 And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. (see 2 Kings 19:37)