Hezekiah, like his officers, probably rent his clothes on account of Rab-shakeh’s blasphemies: and he put on sackcloth in self-humiliation and in grief. The only hope left was in Yahweh, for Egypt could not be trusted to effect anything of importance. Rab-shakeh’s boldness had told upon Hezekiah. He... [ Continue Reading ]
Isaiah is here for the first time introduced into the history. His own writings show us how active a part he had taken in it for many years previously. This was the fourth reign since he began his prophesyings; and during two reigns at least, those of Ahaz and Hezekiah, he had been a familiar counse... [ Continue Reading ]
The “trouble” consisted in rebuke” (rather, “chastisement,”) for sins at the hand of God, and “blasphemy” (rather, “reproach,”) at the hands of man. THE CHILDREN ... - i. e., “we are in a fearful extremity - at the last gasp - and lack the strength that might carry us through the danger.”... [ Continue Reading ]
WILL HEAR - i. e., “will show that he has heard - will notice and punish.” THE LIVING GOD - See 1 Samuel 17:26 note. AND WILL REPROVE THE WORDS - Rather, “will reprove him for the words.” THE REMNANT - i. e., for the kingdom of Judah, the only remnant of God’s people that was now left, after Gali... [ Continue Reading ]
WILL SEND A BLAST UPON HIM - Rather, “I will put a spirit in him “ - i. e., “I will take from him his present pride and will put in him a new spirit, a spirit of craven fear.” Men shall tell him of the destruction that has come upon his host 2 Kings 19:35, and he shall straightway return, etc.... [ Continue Reading ]
On Lachish and Libnah, see Joshua 10:3, note; Joshua 10:29, note. The phrase, “he was departed from Lachish” is suggestive of successful resistance.... [ Continue Reading ]
TIRHAKAH KING OF ETHIOPIA - The Tehrak or Teharka of the hieroglyphics. He was the last king of the 25th or Ethiopian dynasty, which commenced with Shebek or Sabaco, and he reigned upward of 26 years. The Assyrian inscriptions show that he still ruled in Egypt as late as 667 B.C., when Esarhaddon 2... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL LANDS - This boast is in strict accordance with the general tenor of the Assyrian inscriptions. Hyperbole is the general language of the East; but in this instance it was not so extreme as in some others. The Assyrians under Sargon and Sennacherib had enjoyed an uninterrupted series of military... [ Continue Reading ]
HARAN - Harran, the Carrhae of the Greeks and Romans Genesis 11:31, was among the earliest conquests of the Assyrians; being subject to them from the 12th century. Its conquest would have naturally followed that of Gozan (Gauzanitis, 2 Kings 17:6), which lay between it and Assyria proper. REZEPH -... [ Continue Reading ]
Compare the marginal reference 2 Kings 17:24. 2 Kings 19:12 refers to former Assyrian successes, 2 Kings 19:13 to comparatively recent ones.... [ Continue Reading ]
HEZEKIAH RECEIVED THE LETTER - The inscriptions show that scribes accompanied the Assyrian armies, with the materials of their craft, so that such a dispatch might be easily drawn up. As Hezekiah himself “read” it, we may presume that it was in the Hebrew tongue.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH DWELLEST BETWEEN THE CHERUBIMS - The reference is to the shechinah, or miraculous glory, which from time to time appeared above the mercy-seat from between the two cherubims, whose wings overshadowed the ark of the covenant (1 Kings 6:23; compare Exodus 25:22; Leviticus 16:2, etc.). THOU ART... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE CAST THEIR GODS INTO THE FIRE - In general the Assyrians carried off the images of the gods from the temples of the conquered nations, and deposited them in their own shrines, as at once trophies of victory and proof of the superiority of the Assyrian deities over those of their enemies. But so... [ Continue Reading ]
If the mighty army of the great Assyrian king were successfully defied by a petty monarch like Hezekiah, it would force the surrounding nations to confess that the escape was owing to the protecting hand of Yahweh. They would thus be taught, in spite of themselves, that He, and He alone, was the tru... [ Continue Reading ]
CONCERNING HIM - i. e., “concerning Sennacherib.” 2 Kings 19:21 are addressed to the great Assyrian monarch himself, and are God’s reply to his proud boastings. THE VIRGIN, THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, - Rather, holy eastern city, is here distinguished from Jerusalem, the western one, and is given the rema... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL - This is a favorite phrase with Isaiah, in whose prophecies it is found 27 times, while it occurs five times only in the rest of Scripture Psalms 71:22; Psalms 78:41; Psalms 89:18; Jeremiah 50:29; Jeremiah 51:5. Its occurrence here is a strong proof - one among many - of the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HAST SAID - Isaiah clothes in words the thoughts of Sennacherib’s heart - thoughts of the most extreme self-confidence. Compare Isaiah 10:7, where, probably at an earlier date, the same overweening pride is ascribed to this king. WITH THE MULTITUDE OF MY CHARIOTS - There are two readings here,... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE DIGGED AND DRUNK ... AND DRIED UP - The meaning seems to be - “Mountains do not stop me - I cross them even in my chariots. Deserts do not stop me - I dig wells there, and drink the water. Rivers do not stop me - I pass them as easily as if they were dry land.” THE RIVERS OF BESIEGED PLACES -... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU NOT HEARD LONG AGO ... - Rather, “Hast thou not heard, that from long ago I did this, from ancient times I fashioned it? etc.” The former part of the verse refers to the secret divine decrees, whereby the affairs of this world are determined and ordered from the very beginning of things. S... [ Continue Reading ]
The weakness of the nations exposed to the Assyrian attacks was as much owing to the divine decrees as was the strength of the Assyrians themselves. THE GRASS ON THE HOUSE TOPS - Compare the marginal reference. The vegetation on the flat roofs of Oriental houses is the first to spring up and the fi... [ Continue Reading ]
See 1 Kings 3:7 note.... [ Continue Reading ]
THY TUMULT - Rather, “thy arrogance.” I WILL PUT MY HOOK IN NOSE - Rather, “my ring.” The sculptures show that the kings of Babylon and Assyria were in the habit of actually passing a ring through the flesh of their more distinguished prisoners, of attaching a thong or a rope to it, and of thus lea... [ Continue Reading ]
The prophet now once more addresses Hezekiah, and gives him a “sign,” or token, whereby he and his may be assured that Sennacherib is indeed bridled, and will not trouble Judaea anymore. It was a sign of the continued freedom of the land from attack during the whole of the remainder of Sennacherib’s... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REMNANT THAT IS ESCAPED - Terrible ravages seem to have been committed in the first attack (2 Kings 18:13 note). And though the second invasion was comparatively harmless, yet it probably fell heavily on the cities of the west and the southwest. Thus the “escaped” were but “a remnant.” BEAR FRU... [ Continue Reading ]
NOR COME BEFORE IT WITH SHIELD - The “shields” of the Assyrians are very conspicuous in the sculptures, and were of great importance in a siege, since the assailing archers were in most instances defended, as they shot their weapons, by a comrade, who held before himself and his friend a shield of a... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THE WAY THAT HE CAME - i. e., through the low country of the Shephelah, thus avoiding not only Jerusalem, but even Judaea.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR MINE OWN SAKE - God’s honor was concerned to defend His own city against one who denied His power in direct terms, as did Sennacherib 2 Kings 18:35; 2 Kings 19:10. His faithfulness was also concerned to keep the promise made to David Psalms 132:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CAMP OF THE ASSYRIANS - Which was now moved to Pelusium, if we may trust Herodotus; or which, at any rate, was at some considerable distance from Jerusalem. WHEN THEY AROSE EARLY IN THE MORNING, BEHOLD ... - These words form the only trustworthy data that we possess for determining to any exten... [ Continue Reading ]
DWELT AT NINEVEH - The meaning is not that Sennacherib made no more expeditions at all, which would he untrue, for his annals show us that he warred in Armenia, Babylonia, Susiana, and Cilicia, during his later years; but that he confined himself to his own part of Asia, and did not invade Palestine... [ Continue Reading ]
The death of Sennacherib, which took place many years afterward (680 B.C.), is related here, as, from the divine point of view, the sequel to his Syrian expeditions. NISROCH HIS GOD - Nisroch has not been as yet identified with any known Assyrian deity. The word may not be the name of a god at all... [ Continue Reading ]