INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 37 In this chapter are contained Hezekiah's message to Isaiah, desiring his prayer for him and his people, in this time of sore distress, Isaiah 37:1, the comforting and encouraging answer returned by the prophet to him, Isaiah 37:6, the king of Assyria's letter to Hezekiah,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN KING HEZEKIAH HEARD IT,.... The report that his ministers made to him of the blasphemies and threatenings of Rabshakeh, the general of the Assyrian army: THAT HE RENT HIS CLOTHES, AND COVERED HIMSELF WITH SACKCLOTH; the one because of the blasphemies he heard; the other ca... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SENT ELIAKIM, WHO WAS OVER THE HOUSEHOLD, AND SHEBNA THE SCRIBE,.... Two of the commissioners sent to Rabshakeh, and who heard his insolence and blasphemy, and were capable of giving a full account of it, to Isaiah the prophet: AND THE ELDERS OF THE PRIESTS; as the chief of those that were c... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SAID UNTO HIM,.... The messengers to the prophet: THUS SAITH HEZEKIAH; this is the message he has sent us with; this is what he would have us lay before thee, and has given us in charge to say unto thee: THIS DAY IS A DAY OF TROUBLE, AND OF REBUKE, AND OF BLASPHEMY; it was a "day of troub... [ Continue Reading ]
IT MAY BE THE LORD THY GOD WILL HEAR THE WORDS OF RABSHAKEH,.... He had heard them; but the sense is, that it might be that he would take notice of them, and resent them in a public manner, and punish for them; and this is said, not as doubting and questioning whether he would or not, but as hoping... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THE SERVANTS OF KING HEZEKIAH CAME TO ISAIAH. And delivered the above message to him from the king: these servants are mentioned Isaiah 37:2. Musculus thinks that the third and fourth verses are the words of the king to the messengers, and not of the messengers to the prophet; and that the first... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ISAIAH SAID UNTO THEM, THUS SHALL YOU SAY UNTO YOUR MASTER,.... Or, "your lord" q; King Hezekiah, whose ministers and messengers they were: THUS SAITH THE LORD, BE NOT AFRAID OF THE WORDS THOU HAST HEARD; be not not terrified by them, they are but words, and no more, and will never become facts... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I WILL SEND A BLAST UPON HIM,.... The king of Assyria; a pestilential one, as he afterwards did, which destroyed his army: or, I WILL PUT A SPIRIT INTO HIM s; a spirit of fear and dread, which will oblige him to desist from his purposes, and flee; though some interpret it only of an inclina... [ Continue Reading ]
SO RABSHAKEH RETURNED,.... To the king of Assyria his master, to give him an account how things went at Jerusalem, and that he could get no direct answer from the king of Judah, and to consult with him what was proper to be done in the present situation of things; leaving the army before Jerusalem,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE HEARD SAY CONCERNING TIRHAKAH KING OF ETHIOPIA,.... Not Rabshakeh, but the king of Assyria heard a rumour of this Ethiopian king coming out to war against him: his name, in Josephus w, is Tharsices; in the Septuagint version it is Tharaca; and by Africanus x he is called Taracus; and is the s... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS SHALL YE SPEAK TO HEZEKIAH KING OF JUDAH, SAYING,.... This was the direction, and these the instructions he gave to his messengers, in which he gives Hezekiah the title of king, and owns him to be king of Judah; which was more than Rabshakeh his servant would do: LET NOT THY GOD, IN WHOM THOU... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THOU HAST HEARD WHAT THE KINGS OF ASSYRIA HAVE DONE TO ALL LANDS, BY DESTROYING THEM UTTERLY,.... He boasts of the achievements of himself and his ancestors, and of more than was true; and which, if it had been true, was more to their disgrace than honour, namely, utterly to destroy kingdoms... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE THE GODS OF THE NATIONS DELIVERED THEM WHICH MY FATHERS HAVE DESTROYED,.... They have not. But what then? is the God of Israel to be put upon a level with such dunghill gods? so Sennacherib reckoned him, as Rabshakeh before, in his name, Isaiah 36:18: AS GOZAN, AND HARAN, AND REZEPH, AND THE C... [ Continue Reading ]
WHERE IS THE KING OF HAMATH, AND THE KING OF ARPHAD, AND THE KING OF THE CITY OF SEPHARVAIM,.... The same, as some think, with the gods or idols of those places, Isaiah 36:19; though it may be the princes that ruled over those cities are meant, who were either slain, or become tributary to the king... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HEZEKIAH RECEIVED THE LETTER FROM THE HAND OF THE MESSENGERS, AND READ IT,.... Or books k, in which the above things were written; and everyone of these he read, as Kimchi interprets it; though the Targum is, "he took the letters from the hand of the messengers, and read one of them;'' that is... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HEZEKIAH PRAYED UNTO THE LORD, SAYING. He did not return railing for railing, but committed himself and his cause to him that judgeth righteously; he did not write an answer to the letter himself, but lays it before the Lord, and prays him to answer it, who was most principally reflected on in i... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD OF HOSTS, GOD OF ISRAEL, THAT DWELLEST BETWEEN THE CHERUBIM,.... Or, "the inhabitant of the cherubim" l; which were over the mercy seat, the residence of the Shechinah, or Majesty of God, the symbol of the divine Presence in the holy of holies; a title which the God of Israel, the Lord of arm... [ Continue Reading ]
INCLINE THINE EAR, O LORD, AND HEAR,.... The prayer which Hezekiah was now presenting to him, as also the reproach of the enemy: OPEN THINE EYES, O LORD, AND SEE; the letter he spread before him, and take notice of the blasphemies in it; and punish for them. Both these clauses are to be understood... [ Continue Reading ]
OF A TRUTH LORD,.... This is a truth and will be readily owned what the king of Assyria has said that his ancestors have destroyed all lands, or at least have endeavoured to do it, and have had it in their hearts to do it: THE KINGS OF ASSYRIA HAVE LAID WASTE ALL THE NATIONS, AND THEIR COUNTRIES: o... [ Continue Reading ]
AND, HAVE CAST THEIR GODS INTO THE FIRE..... And burnt them; and it may well be asked, where are they? Isaiah 36:19: FOR THEY WERE NO GODS, BUT THE WORKS OF MEN'S HANDS, WOOD AND STONE; they were made of wood or of stone, and therefore could not be called gods; nor could they save the nations that... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THEREFORE, O LORD OUR GOD, SAVE US FROM HIS HAND,.... The hand of the king of Assyria. The Lord had promised that he would and Hezekiah believed he would; but he knew that for this he would be inquired of by him, and he pleads covenant interest, in him, and entreats for salvation upon that accou... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN ISAIAH THE SON OF AMOZ SENT UNTO HEZEKIAH, SAYING,.... Isaiah, by a spirit of prophecy, was made acquainted by the Lord both with the prayer of Hezekiah, and the Lord's answer to it; and therefore immediately sent to the king, who was either at the temple praying, or was returned to the palace,... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS IS THE WORD WHICH THE LORD HATH SPOKEN CONCERNING HIM,.... The sentence he has pronounced upon him, the punishment he has determined to inflict on him, in answer to Hezekiah's prayer against him: THE VIRGIN, THE DAUGHTER OF ZION; HATH DESPISED THEE; AND LAUGHED THEE TO SCORN; that, is the inha... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOM HAST THOU REPROACHED AND BLASPHEMED?.... A creature like thyself? no, but a God, and not one like the gods of the nations, the idols of wood and stone, but the living God: AND AGAINST WHOM HAST THOU EXALTED THY VOICE? alluding to Rabshakeh's crying with a loud voice, Isaiah 36:13: AND LIFTED... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THY SERVANTS HAST THOU REPROACHED THE LORD,.... Particularly by Rabshakeh, and the other two that were with him, who, no doubt, assented to what he said; not content to reproach him himself, he set his servants to do it likewise; he made use of them as instruments, and even set them, as well as h... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE DIGGED, AND DRUNK WATER,.... In places where he came, and found no water for his army, he set his soldiers to work, to dig cisterns, as the Targum, or wells, so that they had water sufficient to drink; in 2 Kings 19:24, it is "strange waters", which were never known before: AND WITH THE SOLE... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU NOT HEARD LONG AGO?.... By report, by reading the history of ancient times, or by means of the prophets; these are the words of the Lord to Sennacherib. The Targum adds, "what I did to Pharaoh king of Egypt;'' it follows: HOW I HAVE DONE IT; AND OF ANCIENT TIMES THAT I HAVE FORMED IT? m... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE THEIR INHABITANTS WERE OF SMALL POWER,.... Or, "short of hand" u; it was not in the power of their hands to help themselves, because the Lord took away their strength, having determined that they should be destroyed for their sins; otherwise it would not have been in the power of Sennacher... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I KNOW THY ABODE, AND THY GOING OUT, AND THY COMING IN,.... Where he dwelt, what he did at home, his secret councils, cabals, contrivances, schemes and plans for the compassing of his ends, the subduing of kingdoms, and setting up an universal monarchy; and his going out of Babylon, his marches,... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE THY RAGE AGAINST ME, AND THY TUMULT IS COME UP INTO MINE EARS,..... The rage which Sennacherib expressed both by Rabshakeh, and in his letter against Hezekiah and his people, is taken by the Lord as against himself; so great was his care of them, and concern for them; and indeed there was a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THIS SHALL BE A SIGN UNTO THEE,.... Not to Sennacherib, but to Hezekiah; for here the Lord turns himself from the former, and directs his speech to the latter, in order to comfort him under the dreadful apprehensions he had of the Assyrian monarch, and his army; assuring him of deliverance; givi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE REMNANT THAT IS ESCAPED OF THE HOUSE OF JUDAH,.... The few that escaped out of the cities of Judah, upon Sennacherib's invasion of the land, and besieging and taking the fenced cities thereof, who fled to Jerusalem for safety; these were a type of the remnant, according to the election of gr... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR OUT OF JERUSALEM SHALL GO FORTH A REMNANT,.... The Targum is, "the rest of the righteous;'' the same as before; who, when the city should be free from the enemy, would go out of it, and return to their former settlements, in the several parts of Judea; a type of those who went out of Jerusalem... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD CONCERNING THE KING OF ASSYRIA,.... The issue of his expedition, and the fruitfulness of it; how vain his attempts would be, and how successless in this undertaking: HE SHALL NOT COME INTO THIS CITY; shall not enter into it, and take possession of it, though so sure of... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THE WAY THAT HE CAME, BY THE SAME SHALL HE RETURN,.... Without executing his designs on Jerusalem, or other places; he shall lose his labour, and make the best of his way to his own country, without turning to the right or left, in order to disturb other nations, and enlarge his kingdom, being qu... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I WILL DEFEND THIS CITY TO SAVE IT,.... Or, "shield it"; and if God will be the shield and protection of any place or people, they must needs be safe; who can hurt them? FOR MY OWN SAKE, AND FOR MY SERVANT DAVID'S SAKE; not for the merits of the inhabitants of it, but for the sake of his own na... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE ANGEL OF THE LORD WENT FORTH,.... From heaven, at the command of the Lord, being one of his ministering spirits, sent forth by him, as for the protection of his people, so for the destruction of their enemies; this was the same night, either in which the Assyrian army sat down before Jerusa... [ Continue Reading ]
SO SENNACHERIB KING OF ASSYRIA DEPARTED, AND WENT, AND RETURNED,.... Being informed of the destruction of his army in this miraculous manner, he departed from the place where he was in all haste, fearing lest he himself should be destroyed in like manner; and having no forces to pursue his designs,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS, AS HE WAS WORSHIPPING IN THE HOUSE OF NISROCH HIS GOD,.... Josephus says z, in his temple, called Arasce; but Nisroch was the name of his deity he worshipped; though who he was is not certain. Jarchi says, in one of their expositions it is said to be נסר, "neser", a plank of the... [ Continue Reading ]