Isaiah 37:1
_went_into _the house of the Lord_ See Isaiah 37:14. Cf. 1 Kings 8:33-34.... [ Continue Reading ]
_went_into _the house of the Lord_ See Isaiah 37:14. Cf. 1 Kings 8:33-34.... [ Continue Reading ]
The embassy consists of the two chief ministers, and the "elders of the priests." The appearance of Shebna on such an errand was a striking evidence of the completeness of Isaiah's moral victory (ch. Isaiah 22:15 ff.).... [ Continue Reading ]
_a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy_ Rather, of DISTRESS AND CHASTISEMENT AND REJECTION. The word for "blasphemy" (Nehemiah 9:18; Nehemiah 9:26; Ezekiel 35:12) is differently pointed from that here used, which occurs only here and in 2 Kings 19:3. The sense "rejection" suits the conte... [ Continue Reading ]
_It may be_ Or "Peradventure." The one hope is that Jehovah will take notice of the dishonour done to His name by the threats and blasphemies of the Assyrian king. _the Lord thy God_ See ch. Isaiah 7:13. The prophet stands nearer to God than other men. Jehovah is _the living God_, as opposed to the... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse is really subordinate to Isaiah 37:6, "And when the servants … came … Isaiah said," &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the servants_ Lit "the youths." Cf. 1 Kings 20:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
Isaiah's answer far exceeds the king's request. He does not need now to pray, for he is already in possession of the Divine message for this crisis.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will send a blast upon him_ Render as in R.V. I WILL PUT A SPIRIT IN HIM, i.e. a spirit of craven fear, depriving him of his natural courage and resourcefulness. How the spirit will work is stated in what follows: a mere rumour will drive him back to his own land, there to meet his death (cf. 2 K... [ Continue Reading ]
_Libnah_ another of the "defenced cities" of Judah (Joshua 10:29). Its situation is not known.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Tirhakah king of Ethiopia_is named only here in the O.T. See General Introduction, p. xvi.... [ Continue Reading ]
Sennacherib's letter to Hezekiah. It is in substance a repetition of the chief argument of the Rabshakeh, with the unimportant modification that Hezekiah is here regarded as deceived by his God, while the Rabshakeh chose to represent him as a deceiver of his people.... [ Continue Reading ]
_by destroying them utterly_ Lit. PUTTING THEM TO THE BAN, see on ch. Isaiah 34:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
_my fathers_here means "my predecessors"; for the dynasty to which Sennacherib belonged had been founded by his father Sargon. The place-names in this verse are all found on the Assyrian monuments. (See Schrader, _Cuneiform Inscriptions_, on 2 Kings 19:12.) _Gozan_(Assyr. _Guzana_) is one of the pla... [ Continue Reading ]
_HAMATH … ARPHAD … SEPHARVAIM_] See ch. Isaiah 36:19. _Hena and Ivah_(R.V. more correctly, _Ivvah_) are not known. The latter is probably the same as _Ava_or _Avva_(2 Kings 17:24).... [ Continue Reading ]
_spread it_(the letter) _before the Lord_ that Jehovah might take notice of the arrogance displayed by it. The act is symbolic. Similarly the Jews at the beginning of the Maccabee insurrection spread out in prayer a copy of the Law, defaced with idolatrous pictures, as a witness to the outrages perp... [ Continue Reading ]
Hezekiah's prayer in the Temple. Cheyne refers to a striking parallel in the Egyptian version of Sennacherib's overthrow. "On this the monarch (Sethos), greatly distressed, entered into the inner sanctuary, and before the image of the god (Ptah) bewailed the fate which impended over him. As he wept... [ Continue Reading ]
The prayer opens with a solemn invocation of Jehovah, first as God of Israel, and second as the only true God and Creator of all things. _that dwellest_between (or, ART ENTHRONED UPON) _the cherubims_ Cf. 1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 6:2; Psalms 80:1. The Cherubim may have been originally symbolic repres... [ Continue Reading ]
_open thine eyes … and see_ The Hebr. has "thine eye," which is probably a better reading than "thine eyes" in 2 Kings 19:16. So "who hath sent" is more correct than "who hath sent him" (the messenger). _to reproach the living God_ as in Isaiah 37:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
_all the nations, and their countries_ R.V., following the received text, has "all the countries (lit., lands) and their land." But the true reading is preserved in the corresponding verse of 2 Kings, which A.V. has rightly followed here. _have laid waste_ This verb is never used of nations, except... [ Continue Reading ]
_the work of men's hands_ Cf. ch. Isaiah 2:20; Isaiah 17:8; Isaiah 31:7. _wood and stone_ Deuteronomy 4:28; Deuteronomy 28:36; Deuteronomy 28:64; Deuteronomy 29:17; Ezekiel 20:32.... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore let Jehovah shew, in this crisis of religion, that He alone possesses true Godhead. _that thou_art _the Lord_, even _thou only_ Lit. "that thou art Jehovah alone," cf. Deuteronomy 6:4. But the easier, and perhaps the original, reading is given by 2 Kings "that thou Jehovah art God alone... [ Continue Reading ]
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 Heze... [ Continue Reading ]
The construction of the verse is entirely altered in 2 Kings 19:20 by the introduction of the words "I have heard." It then reads "That which thou hast prayed … I have heard." But the addition is unnecessary; and the text in Isaiah is to be preferred.... [ Continue Reading ]
The poem on Sennacherib is in substance a Taunt-song; but in form an elegy, written in the measure characteristic of the _qînâh_. The first two lines (Isaiah 37:22) read: SHE HATH DESPISED THEE, HATH MOCKED THEE THE VIRGIN DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHIND THEE HATH SHAKEN THE HEAD THE DAUGHTER OF JERUSA... [ Continue Reading ]
"What sort of being is He whom thou hast defied?" The first two sentences are rhetorical questions, and require no answer. The last sentence is to be read as an affirmation: YEA, THOU HAST LIFTED UP THINE EYES TO THE HEIGHT AGAINST THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. To "lift up the voice" means here to speak p... [ Continue Reading ]
For _servants_2 Kings has "messengers," as in Isaiah 37:9_; Isaiah 37:14_. _am I come up_ Better, I GO UP. The "I" is emphatic. _the sides of Lebanon_means its RECESSES (R.V. "innermost parts"). _the height of his border_ Render, ITS FURTHEST HEIGHT; or (changing the text in accordance with 2 Kin... [ Continue Reading ]
The king of Assyria is represented as boasting of the ease with which he triumphs over all natural obstacles in the pursuance of his plans; such language is blasphemy against Jehovah, the Lord of Nature; although the king himself may be hardly conscious of the sin he is committing. The tenses in the... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have digged … water_ I (again emphatic) DIG AND DRINK FOREIGN WATERS. The word "foreign" is to be supplied from 2 Kings 19:24. For the expression cf. Proverbs 9:17; Proverbs 5:15. _all the rivers of the besieged_places] Render with R.V. ALL THE RIVERS (lit. "Nile-streams") OF EGYPT. See on ch. I... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse reads, with a slight change of pointing: HAST THOU NOT HEARD? LONG AGO HAVE I MADE IT, FROM THE DAYS OF OLD HAVE I FORMED IT: NOW I BRING IT TO PASS, AND SO HAST THOU BEEN ( ABLE) TO LAY WASTE IN RUINED HEAPS DEFENCED CITIES. Cf. ch. Isaiah 22:11; Isaiah 44:7; Isaiah 46:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
In all his successes the Assyrian has been but the unconscious instrument of Jehovah's eternal purpose. Cf. ch. Isaiah 10:5-15.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore their inhabitants … confounded_ Better, AND THEIR INHABITANTS (BEING) OF SMALL POWER (lit. "short of hand") WERE TERRIFIED AND ASHAMED. _grass on the housetops_ See Psalms 129:6-8. _corn blasted before it be grown up_ The Hebr. text reads "a corn-field before it is in stalk" (see R.V.).... [ Continue Reading ]
All the acts of the Assyrian are under the strict surveillance of Jehovah, who will shew His power over him by dragging him back, like a wild beast, to his place. If the emendation of Wellhausen (see on Isaiah 37:27) be accepted, Isaiah 37:28 would read: BEFORE ME IS THY RISING UP AND THY SITTING DO... [ Continue Reading ]
For _tumult_render with R.V. marg. CARELESS EASE. "Raging" and "careless ease" form a contrast, like "rising up" and "sitting down" in the previous verse. _therefore will I put my hook in thy nose_ Cf. Ezekiel 19:4; Ezekiel 29:4; Ezekiel 38:4. _I will turn thee back_ See Isaiah 37:7_; Isaiah 37:34... [ Continue Reading ]
The "sign" of this verse is of the same nature as that of Exodus 3:12, and ch. Isaiah 7:14. It consists of a series of events, in themselves natural, which will attest the fact that all the circumstances of the deliverance had been foreordained by Jehovah, and foretold by His prophet. _such as grow... [ Continue Reading ]
A sign is given to Hezekiah of the fulfilment of the preceding prophecy. But beyond the brief period of hardship which must follow the invasion, the prophet announces the advent of a new age in which all his hopes for the future of Israel shall be realised.... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. ch. Isaiah 27:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the zeal of the Lord … this_ From ch. Isaiah 9:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore_probably attaches itself to "whereas" in Isaiah 37:21 (see the note on that verse).... [ Continue Reading ]
An assurance that Jehovah will protect Jerusalem, in answer to Hezekiah's prayer.... [ Continue Reading ]
Cf. Isaiah 37:7_; Isaiah 37:29_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will defend this city_ Cf. ch. Isaiah 31:5, where the same verb is used. _for my servant David's sake_ An expression of frequent occurrence in the books of Kings. See 1 Kings 11:13; 1 Kings 11:34; 1Ki 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
The miraculous destruction of Sennacherib's host. It is certainly remarkable that none of Isaiah's prophecies delivered at the time predict this appalling disaster, the clearest anticipation of it being in ch. Isaiah 17:12-14, an oracle delivered some time before. At the same time some such occurren... [ Continue Reading ]
The flight of Sennacherib, and his death at Nineveh. If the passage be a combination of two parallel narratives, the second ends with Isaiah 37:36, while Isaiah 37:37 form the conclusion of the first. In the Hebrew, the first words of Isaiah 37:37 would be the correct continuation of "and when he he... [ Continue Reading ]
The official account of Sennacherib's death as given in the Babylonian Chronicle (Col. 3:34 38) is as follows: "On 20 Tebet Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was killed by his son in a revolt. [23] years reigned Sennacherib in Assyria. From 20 Tebet to 2 Adar the revolt was maintained in Assyria. On 18... [ Continue Reading ]