Isaiah 36:4,5

‘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 of title which expresses extreme disdain. He is being treated as not worthy to be called a king. In deliberate contrast the king of Assyria is called ‘the great king', (sharu rabu - a recognised royal title). He wants the people of Judah to recognise the contrast. Are they going to trust in this Hezekiah creature or in the Great King?

‘What confidence is this on which you now rely?' He is questioning the very basis on which Hezekiah's confidence is placed. It may well be that he is quoting words put together by Sennacherib's chief advisers.

‘I say your counsel and strength for war are but vain words (‘a word of lips').' He recognises all the discussions that will have gone on about purpose, strategy and arms assessment, and the decisions that have been reached, and dismisses them all as ‘vain words', a ‘word of lips'. That is, they are spoken but carry no power. They were just words. They were a waste of time because whatever they decided will prove useless. It may even be that spies had brought back the details to him of what had happened in those meetings.

‘On whom do you trust now that you have rebelled against me?' Let them contrast those on whom they are relying with his own great king. Note that he only recognised two possible rivals on whom they might be relying, the Pharaoh of Egypt or their God Yahweh. Hezekiah was dismissed as a possibility. Well, let them consider the facts about them both.