ISAIAH 36-39 AN HISTORICAL INTERLUDE. In the eyes of many interpreters these four Chapter s are an important interlude separating the book of Isaiah into two halves. They certainly ground all that Isaiah has been saying in the context of history, and reveal the might and arrogance of Assyria, demon... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And it came about in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.' Compare for this Isaiah 36: 2 Kings 18:13 where the verse precedes the description of the surrender of Hezekiah and the paying of tribute me... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the launderer's field' ‘The Rabshakeh.' This was probably the king's most powerful officer. It will be noted that he acted as spok... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then came out to him Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder.' ‘Came out' signifies that they came out on to the wall to speak to him from it. These names were popular names at the time and the names, though not necess... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah. Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this on which you now rely? I say your counsel and strength for war are but vain words. On whom do you trust now that you have rebelled against me?” ' ‘Hezekiah.' Note the lack o... [ Continue Reading ]
“See, you are trusting on the staff of this bruised reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man leans it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all who trust in him.” If they are trusting in Egypt let them consider how unreliable Egypt was. His words about Egypt would have... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But if you say to me, “We trust in Yahweh our God.' Is not this he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar?” ' But what if they claimed to trust in Yahweh? This was the second possibility. That they tr... [ Continue Reading ]
“Now therefore, I pray you, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able for your part to set two thousand riders on them.” Now he sought to emphasise Hezekiah's weakness by further derision. Let them simply compare the size of their caval... [ Continue Reading ]
“How can you then turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants? And do you put your trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?” His contempt is openly expressed. The cavalry position being what it was, how can they hope to turn away even the very lowest of the Assyrian... [ Continue Reading ]
“And am I now come up without Yahweh against this land to destroy it? It was Yahweh himself who said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.” But what about trusting in Yahweh? Let them now consider this. It is in fact at the behest of Yahweh that they have come, in order to teach this altar... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Speak I pray you to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it, and do not speak to us in the Judean language in the ears of the people on the wall.” ' The three were becoming concerned about the effect on the people of the Rabshakeh's w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not sent me to the men who sit on the wall, those who will shortly eat their own excrement and drink their own urine with you?” ' The Rabshakeh's reply is that it was in fact to these people that... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then the Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Judean language, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria, ‘Thus says the king, Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. Nor let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying, “Yahweh wil... [ Continue Reading ]
“Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria.” The contrast is again drawn out. On the one hand this nonentity Hezekiah, on the other the king of Assyria. Whose word are they going to listen to? Isaiah 36:16 “Make a blessing with me, and come out to me.” The blessing was a form... [ Continue Reading ]
“Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.” But he is offering a treaty and therefore recognises that he must lay out the terms fairly. If he did not do so it would rebound on the honour of his master, for treaties were trea... [ Continue Reading ]
“Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, ‘Yahweh will deliver us.' Have any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And have they (i.e. have their gods) delivered Samaria out of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But they held their peace and did not answer him a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him”.' Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words... [ Continue Reading ]