2 Kings 18:37

_THEN CAME ELIAKIM THE SON OF HILKIAH, WHICH WAS OVER THE HOUSEHOLD, AND SHEBNA THE SCRIBE, AND JOAH THE SON OF ASAPH THE RECORDER, TO HEZEKIAH WITH THEIR CLOTHES RENT, AND TOLD HIM THE WORDS OF RABSHAKEH._ Then came Eliakim ... to Hezekiah, with their clothes rent. The rending of a portion of the outer garment was a common and very significant token of grief and dismay among the Jews, as other Eastern people. On the present occasion the act was expressive of both these emotions-grief at the gravity of the national crisis, dismay at the daring blasphemies of the Assyrian....

17-37 Rabshakeh tries to convince the Jews, that it was to no purpose for them to stand it out. What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? It were well if sinners would submit to the force of this argument, in seeking peace with God. It is, therefore, our wisdom to yield to him, because it is in vain to contend with him: what confidence is that which those trust in who stand out against him? A great deal of art there is in this speech of Rabshakeh; but a great deal of pride, malice, falsehood, and blasphemy. Hezekiah's nobles held their peace. There is a time to keep silence, as well as a time to speak; and there are those to whom to offer any thing religious or rational, is to cast pearls before swine. Their silence made Rabshakeh yet more proud and secure. It is often best to leave such persons to rail and blaspheme; a decided expression of abhorrence is the best testimony against...

Verse 2 Kings 18:37. _THEN CAME ELIAKIM - AND SHEBNA - AND JOAH - TO HEZEKIAH WITH_ THEIR _CLOTHES RENT_] It was the custom of the Hebrews, when they heard any blasphemy, to rend their clothes, because this was the greatest of crimes, as it immediately affected the majesty of God, and it was right that a religious people should have in the utmost abhorrence every insult offered to the object of their religious worship. These three ambassadors lay the matter before the _king_ as God's _representative_; he lays it before the _prophet_, as God's _minister_; and the prophet lays it before God, as the people's _mediator_....

EXPOSITION 18-25 THE HISTORY OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH AFTER THE FALL OF SAMARIA. 2 KINGS 18:1 THE ACCESSION OF HEZEKIAH. HIS SUCCESSES. HIS WAR WITH SENNACHERIB. 2 KINGS 18:1 THE EARLY YEARS Or HEZEKIAH. From his narrative of the destruction of the kingdom of Samaria, the writer

2 Kings 18:17...

IV. THE REIGN OF HEZEKIAH, MANASSEH AND AMON 1. Hezekiah and Sennacherib's Invasion CHAPTER 18 _ 1. Hezekiah, King of Judah (2 Kings 18:1; 2 Kings 2 Chron. 29-32)_ 2. The Revival (2 Kings 18:4) 3. Victory over the Philistines (2 Kings 18:8) 4. Israel's captivity (2 Kings 18:9) 5. Sennacherib's invasion (2 Kings 18:13) 6. Sennacherib's messengers and message ...

_with_their _clothes rent_ See note on Chap. 2 Kings 5:7....

B. SENNACHERIB'S INITIAL SURRENDER DEMANDS 18:17-19:7 The Assyrian king was not satisfied with the tribute paid by Hezekiah. He wanted nothing less than the total surrender of Jerusalem. While he himself was engaged in military operations in the lowland region of Palestine, he sent an embassy to Jerusalem to demand capitulation (2 Kings 18:17-37). In response to the bombastic demands and blasphemous assertions of these pagans, Isaiah delivered an oracle promising deliverance for Judah (2 Kings 19:1-7). Whereas older commentators viewed the actions and words of the Assyrian envoys in this section as improbable, more recent scholars have been forced to concede the historical verisimilitude of 2 Kings 18:17

HEZEKIAH AND SENNACHERIB This chapter describes the reign of Hezekiah of Judah, his religious reforms, and the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib, king of Assyria, who sent one of his officers to demand the surrender of Jerusalem....

THE LAST KINGS OF *ISRAEL AND *JUDAH BOOK OF 2 KINGS _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 18 HEZEKIAH’S RULE AS KING OF *JUDAH V1 Hezekiah, Ahaz’s son, began to rule as king of *Judah. He did so in the 3rd year of Hoshea’s rule. Hoshea (Elah’s son) was king of *Israel. V2 Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became the king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. V3 Hezekiah did what pleased the *Lord. So Hezekiah was like his *ancestor, David. V4 Hezekiah removed the places where people *worshipped on the high hills. He broke the images that people had made out of stone. And he cut down the images of the female god called Asherah. He broke in pieces the snake that Moses had made of bronze (brown metal). [Its name was Nehushtan.]