Isaiah 37:26

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, with "I have done it." Thou dost boast that it is all by thy counsel and might; but it is I who, long ago, have ordered it so (); thou wast but the instrument in my hands (; ). This was the reason why 'the inhabitants were of small power before thee' () - namely, that I ordered it so; yet thou art in my hands, and I know thy ways ...

26._Hast thou not heard? _The greater part of commentators explain this verse as if the Lord declared that nothing was now done, or had formerly been done by this tyrant, which he had not foretold by the mouth of the Prophet, and thus affirmed that he was the author of those things. But I explain it in a different manner, which is, that Jerusalem will be preserved by the assistance of God, because he is the protector of it. _That I made it long ago. _For the sake of giving greater emphasis, he suppresses the name of the city, and employs the demonstrative pronoun _it, _as if all other cities had been of no value in the sight of God. (60) Others view the pronoun _it _as referring to the deliverance which depended on the secret decree of God; but whoever examines judiciously the design and words of the Prophet, will acknowledge that _it _rather denotes Jerusalem. God had complained tha

Verse Isaiah 37:26. _LAY WASTE DEFENDED CITIES INTO RUINOUS HEAPS_ - "Lay waste warlike nations; strong fenced cities."] גלים נצים _gallim_ _nitstsim_. It is not easy to give a satisfactory account of these two words, which have greatly embarrassed all the interpreters, ancient and modern. For גלים _gallim_ I read גוים _goyim_, as the _Septuagint_ do in this place, εθνη. The word נצים _netsim_ the _Vulgate_ renders in this place _compugnantium_; in the parallel place, 2 Kings 19:25, _pugnantium_; and the _Septuagint_ μαχιμων, _fighting, warlike_. This rendering is as well authorized as any other that I know of; and, with the reading of the _Septuagint_, perfectly clears up the construction. See the _margin_ on all the preceding verses...

HAST THOU NOT HEARD - This is evidently the language of God addressed to Sennacherib. It is designed to state to him that he was under his control; that this was the reason Isaiah 37:27 why the inhabitants of the nations had been unable to resist him; that he was entirely in his hands Isaiah 37:28; and that lie would control him as he pleased Isaiah 37:29. LONG AGO HOW I HAVE DONE IT - You boast that all this is by your own counsel and power. Yet I have done it; that is, I have purposed, planned, arranged it long ago (compare Isaiah 22:11)....

EXPOSITION This chapter is the sequel of the preceding, and is so closely connected with it that the two really constitute but one narrative. Isaiah 37:22 of Isaiah 36:1. is more closely connected with Isaiah 37:1, than with the position of the narrative to which it is attached. ISAIAH 37:1 WHEN KING HEZEKIAH HEARD IT; rather, _heard them_;_ i.e._ the "words of Rabshakeh," which his officials reported to him. HE RENT HIS CLOTHES. He did as they had done (Isaiah 36:22

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? meaning either the decree in his own breast from all eternity, and which he had published by his prophets, of raising up him, this wicked prince, to be the scourge of nations; or by the "it" are meant the people of the Jews, God's Israel, whom he had made, formed into a body politic, and into a church state, and had done great things for, in bringing them out of Egypt, leading them through the Red sea, providing for them, and protecting them in the wilderness, subduing nations under them, and settling them in the land of Canaan; now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay wast...

CHAPTER 37 Hezekiah in the House of the Lord and Sennacherib's Second Attempt 1. _Hezekiah's humiliation and Isaiah sent for (Isaiah 37:1)_ 2. _The message from the prophet (Isaiah 37:6)_ 3. _Rabshakeh's letter (Isaiah 37:8)_ 4. _Hezekiah's prayer (Isaiah 37:14)_ 5. _The prayer answered (Isaiah 37:21)_ 6. _The army of Sennacherib judged (Isaiah 37:36)_ 7. The judgment upon Sennacherib ...

ISAIAH 36-39. This section has been extracted from 2 Kings 18:13 to 2 Kings 20:19, and the Song of Hezekiah has been added. For an exposition see the notes on 2 K.; here we have simply to deal with the Song of Hezekiah. ISAIAH 38:10. THANKSGIVING FOR DELIVERANCE FROM IMMINENT DEATH. This is now generally regarded as a post-exilic psalm. Its absence in the parallel narratine in Kings is significant. Apparently it was inserted here by an editor who thought it suitable to Hezekiah's circumstances. If, as seems likely, it has been influenced by the Book of Job, it must be post-exilic. The title cannot, any more than the Psalm titles, weigh against internal evidence. Hezekiah's writing after his recov

FORMED. purposed. Compare Isaiah 10:5; Isaiah 10:15; Isaiah 30:32....

The answer to the prayer comes in the form of a message from Isaiah. The message as here given really consists of two distinct oracles: (1) a poem, on the pride and the approaching humiliation of Sennacherib (Isaiah 37:22); to which is appended a short passage in a different rhythm addressed to Hezekiah (Isaiah 37:30); (2) a definite prediction, in a less elevated style, of the deliverance of Jerusalem (Isaiah 37:33). The lyrical passage (Isaiah 37:22) appears to have been inserted in the narrative from some independent source. Although probably a genuine work of Isaiah, the recitation of a somewhat elaborate poem is hardly a natural form for a