And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. SACKCLOTH - (note, .) HOUSE OF THE LORD - the sure resort of God's people in distress (Psalms 73:16; ).... [ Continue Reading ]
And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. UNTO ISAIAH - implying the importance of the prophet's position at the time; the chief officers of the court are deputed to wait... [ Continue Reading ]
And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. A DAY ... OF REBUKE - i:e., the Lord's rebuke for His people's sins (). BLASPHEMY - blasphemous railing... [ Continue Reading ]
It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. HEAR - take cognizance of them (). REP... [ Continue Reading ]
_SO THE SERVANTS OF KING HEZEKIAH CAME TO ISAIAH._ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. SERVANTS OF THE KING OF ASSYRIA - literally, the youths, boys, mere lads, implying disparagement,... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. BLAST - or else, 'I will put a spirit (; ) into him; i:e., so influence his judgment that when he hears the report (, concerning Tirhakah), he s... [ Continue Reading ]
So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. SO RABSHAKEK RETURNED - to the camp of his master. LIBNAH - meaning whiteness, the Blanchegarde of the Crusaders (Stanley) Eusebius and Jerome place it more south, i... [ Continue Reading ]
And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, TIRHAKAH (see notes, Isaiah 17:12; Isaiah 18:1) - written in the hieroglyphics 'TEHARKA:' Taracus in Manetho. He succeeded Shebok II, and ru... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. THUS SHALL YE SPEAK TO HEZEKIAH. He tries to influence Hezekiah himself, as Rabshakeh had addressed the people.... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? ALL LANDS - (.) He does not dare to enumerate Egypt in the list.... [ Continue Reading ]
Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? GOZAN - in Mesopotamia, on the Chabour (; ). Gozan is the name of the district, Chabour of the river. HARAN - more to the west. Abraham... [ Continue Reading ]
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? HENA ... IVAH - in Babylonia. From Ava colonists had been brought to Samaria ().... [ Continue Reading ]
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. SPREAD IT BEFORE THE LORD - unrolled the scroll of writing. God 'knows our necessities before we ask Him,' but He delights in our unfoldi... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND HEZEKIAH PRAYED UNTO THE LORD, SAYING,_ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. O LORD OF HOSTS, GOD OF ISRAEL, THAT DWELLEST - the Shechinah, or fiery symbol of God's presence, dwelling in the temple with... [ Continue Reading ]
Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. INCLINE THINE EAR . . . OPEN THINE EYES - singular, plural. When we wish to hear a thing we lend one ear; when we wish to see a thing we open... [ Continue Reading ]
Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, KINGS OF ASSYRIA HAVE LAID WASTE - conceding the truth of the Assyrian's allegation (Isaiah 36:18), that the gods of the pagan kingdoms had not delivered them out of his hand; but adding the reason, "for... [ Continue Reading ]
And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. CAST THEIR GODS INTO THE FIRE. The policy of the Assyrians, in order to alienate the conquered peoples from their own countries, was both to deport them... [ Continue Reading ]
Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only. O LORD OUR GOD, SAVE US FROM HIS HAND ... The strongest argument to plead before God in prayer the honour of God, which requires to be vindicated before the w... [ Continue Reading ]
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria: WHEREAS THOU HAST PRAYED TO ME - i:e., hast not relied on thy own strength, but on me (cf. , "That which thou hast prayed to me against S... [ Continue Reading ]
This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.... [ Continue Reading ]
Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. WHOM HAST THOU REPROACHED? - Not an idol.... [ Continue Reading ]
By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, 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... [ Continue Reading ]
I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places. I HAVE DIGGED, AND DRUNK WATER. In 2 Kings 19:24, it is "strange waters." I have marched into foreign lands, where I had to dig wells for the supply of my armies; even the natural... [ Continue Reading ]
Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps. Reply of God to Sennacherib. HAST THOU NOT HEARD LONG AGO, (HOW) I HAVE DONE IT? - join, rather, w... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. THEREFORE - Not because of thy power, but because I made them unable to withst... [ Continue Reading ]
But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. I KNOW THY ABODE - rather, thy sitting down (); Hebrew, Shibhteka. THY GOING OUT, AND THY COMING IN. The expressions here describe a man's whole course of life (; ; ; ). There is also a special reference to Se... [ Continue Reading ]
Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. THY TUMULT - insolence. Properly the blustering insolence which tranquility or prosperity begets... [ Continue Reading ]
And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. Addressed to Hezekiah. THIS (SHALL BE) A SIGN - a token which, when... [ Continue Reading ]
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: THE REMNANT THAT IS ESCAPED OF THE HOUSE OF JUDAH. Judah remained after the ten tribes were carried away: also those of Judah who should survive Sennacherib's invasion are meant.... [ Continue Reading ]
_FOR OUT OF JERUSALEM SHALL GO FORTH A REMNANT, AND THEY THAT ESCAPE OUT OF MOUNT ZION: THE ZEAL OF THE LORD OF HOSTS SHALL DO THIS._ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore thus saith 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. HE SHALL NOT COME ... BEFORE IT WITH SHIELDS. He did come near it, but was not allowed to conduct a proper siege.... [ Continue Reading ]
By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. BY THE WAY THAT HE CAME ... - (see ; ; Isaiah 29:5.)... [ Continue Reading ]
For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. I WILL DEFEND THIS CITY. Notwithstanding Hezekiah's measures of defense (2 Chronicles 32:3), Yahweh was its true defender. FOR MINE OWN SAKE - since Yahweh's name was blasphemed by Sennacherib (). FOR... [ Continue Reading ]
Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. THEN THE ANGEL OF THE LORD WENT FORTH ... Some attribute the destruction to the agency of the plag... [ Continue Reading ]
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. SENNACHERIB ... DWELT IN NINEVEH - for about 18 or 20 years after his disaster, according to the inscriptions. The 22nd year of his reign has been found on them, and none subsequent. The canon of Ptolemy fixes h... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping 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. NISROCH - Nisr, in Semitic, means eagle, the termination och, means... [ Continue Reading ]