Isaiah 36:22

To tear one’s clothes was a sign of great despair.

Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Assyrian ~ a person from the country called Assyria; or anything that has a relationship with the country called Assyria.
seize ~ to take a person’s possessions away from that person, either by law, or in a war. Or, to overcome a city or nation in order to rule it. Or, to take a person as a prisoner or a slave.
empire ~ a group of many countries that a powerful king has seized.
seize ~ to take a person’s possessions away from that person, either by law, or in a war. Or, to overcome a city or nation in order to rule it. Or, to take a person as a prisoner or a slave.
Babylonian ~ a person from the country called Babylon; or anything that has a relationship with the country called Babylon.
BC ~ years before Jesus Christ was born.
Rabshakeh ~ official name of an important member of the Assyrian government of a region.
Assyrian ~ a person from the country called Assyria; or anything that has a relationship with the country called Assyria.
aqueduct ~ channel that men make to allow water to flow from one place to another place.
messenger ~ someone who delivers a message.
Lord ~ God’s name in the Bible. In the original language, God’s name ‘Lord’ means ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.
altar ~ special stone where priests burned animals as gifts to God.
Temple ~ special building in Jerusalem where Jews praised God and offered him prayers and gifts.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Jews ~ people who belong to the countries called Judah and Israel; people who belong to the 12 tribes (large families) of Israel.
chariot ~ box (on wheels) that horses pull to carry soldiers into battle.
idol ~ home-made image of a god.
worship ~ to praise God and to pray to him; or, to praise and to pray to a false god.
threaten ~ to warn someone of pain if they do not obey.
grape ~ small sweet fruit of the vine; its juice makes wine.
vine ~ plant whose fruit makes wine.
wine ~ a drink that people make from grapes.
vine ~ plant whose fruit makes wine.
wine ~ a drink that people make from grapes.
grape ~ small sweet fruit of the vine; its juice makes wine.
vineyard ~ field where vines grow.
vine ~ plant whose fruit makes wine.
wine ~ a drink that people make from grapes.
grape ~ small sweet fruit of the vine; its juice makes wine.
wine ~ a drink that people make from grapes.
grape ~ small sweet fruit of the vine; its juice makes wine.
vine ~ plant whose fruit makes wine.
upset ~ sad and confused because of bad news.

Isaiah: New *Heavens and a New Earth

King Hezekiah

Isaiah Chapter s 34 to 40

Gordon Churchyard

The words in brackets, […], are not in the *Hebrew Bible. They make the book easier to understand in English. Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language.

Chapter 36

v1 King Hezekiah had ruled [Judah] for nearly 14 years. Then, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the cities in Judah that had high, strong walls. He defeated them and they became his.

v2 And the King of Assyria sent the chief commander [of his soldiers] from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The [commander brought] a large army with him. He stopped at the water *channel [that led] from the upper pool. It was on the road, near the place where people wash clothes.

v3 And these people came out to [meet] him.

• Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah; [he was] the chief [official] in the [king’s] palace.

• Shebna, [the king’s] minister.

• Joah, the son of Asaph; he kept [the king’s] records.

v4-5 And the commander [from Assyria] said this to them. ‘Now [please] say [this] to Hezekiah. This is what the Great King, the King of Assyria, asks.

• “What is the reason for your confidence?

• Can mere words give you the advice and power [that you need] for war? [v5]

• Who will help you to fight against me?

v6 Look! [I know that] you are depending on Egypt. [Egypt is like] a stick that people use to help them to walk. But it will break! If you lean on it, it will stick into your hand like a sharp piece of *reed. And it will hurt you. That happens to everybody that depends on Pharaoh, the King of Egypt.

v7 But you might say to me: ‘We are depending on the *LORD our God.’ [Then I will answer this:] He is the [God] whose high places and *altars Hezekiah removed! [Hezekiah] said to [the people in] Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must *worship [God] only at this [one] *altar.’ “

v8 And now, make an agreement today with my master, [who is] the King of Assyria,’ the commander from Assyria said. ‘I will give you 2000 horses, if you can put [2000] riders on them!

v9 How can you turn away [my offer? I am] the least important of my master’s officers. But you are [still] depending on Egypt for *chariots and horsemen.

v10 And [here is] something else. I have not come to attack and to destroy this country without help from the *LORD. The *LORD told me, “March against this country and destroy it.’

v11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah spoke to the commander. [They said], ‘Please, speak to your servants in *Aramaic, because we do understand it. Do not speak to us in *Hebrew. If you do, the people on the [city] wall may hear [you].’

v12 But the commander said this. ‘My master did not send me to say these things only to you and to your master. He also sent me to say them about the people that are sitting on the [city] wall. Like you, they will have to eat their own *dung and they will have to drink their own *urine.’

v13 Then the commander stood up. He shouted in a loud voice in *Hebrew. ‘Hear the words of the king. [They are what] the Great King of Assyria [is telling you].

v14 This is what the king [of Assyria] says [to you]. “Do not let Hezekiah *deceive you. Hezekiah cannot save you.

v15 And do not let Hezekiah persuade you. [He wants you] to trust in the *LORD. He tells you that the *LORD really will free you [from Assyria]. [He says that the *LORD] will not hand over this city to the king of Assyria.

v16 Do not hear [and obey] Hezekiah!” Because this is what the King of Assyria says [to you]. “Be at peace with me. Come out [of your city] to me. Then you will all eat [the *grapes] from your own *vines and [you will eat the figs (sweet fruits)] from your own fig trees. And you will all drink the water from your own wells.

v17 [Do that] until I come [to you]. Then I will take you away to a country that is like your own country. [It is] a country [that produces] grain and new wine. [It is] a country [where you will be able to bake your] bread and [to cultivate] *vineyards.

v18 Do not [hear and obey] Hezekiah. He will lead you the wrong [way]. He says that the *LORD will save you. No other nation’s god has saved his country from the power of the king of Assyria.

v19 Where are the gods of [the cities called] Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of [the city called] Sepharvaim? Did any [god] save Samaria from my power?

v20 Which of all of these national gods has saved his country from my power? Can the *LORD save Jerusalem from my power?” ‘

v21 But the people remained silent and they did not answer him [with even] one word. [They did this] because King [Hezekiah] had said, ‘Do not answer him’.

v22 Then [these officials] came to [King] Hezekiah. Eliakim the son of Hilkiah [was] the chief [official] in the [king’s] palace. And Shebna was the [king’s] minister. And Joah the son of Asaph kept the [king’s] records. They tore their clothes. And they told [King Hezekiah] all the words that the commander [had said].

Notes

Verse 1 Sennacherib was king of Assyria from 705 to 681 *B.C. *B.C. means ‘years Before Christ came to the earth’. His army landed at the port called Tyre. Tyre was by the Mediterranean Sea. They moved about 200 kilometres south along the coast as far as Lachish. They defeated and probably destroyed many towns and cities on the way to Lachish.

Verse 2 Lachish was about 40 kilometres south-west of Jerusalem. It was an important city. From Lachish, Sennacherib could easily attack many of the cities in Judah. This would include Jerusalem itself. Sennacherib sent one of his chief commanders to Jerusalem. The *Hebrew for ‘chief commander’ is *Rav Shakeh. It was not a personal name; it was his rank. Bible students are not sure what Shakeh really means. Many Bible students think that it means ‘the king’s winetaster’. That is, the palace official who tasted the king’s wine. He did this to make sure that there was no poison in the wine. So he was a man that the king really trusted. *Rav Shakeh met Eliakim, Shebna and Joah near the place where Isaiah had met Ahaz. Isaiah 7:3 reads: Then the *LORD said to Isaiah, ‘Go out and meet Ahaz. You and Shearjashub your son will meet him at the end of the *channel. [It is the *channel] that flows from the upper pool. [It flows] down to where people wash clothes.’ ‘*Channel’ here means the route by which the water went.

Verse 3 For ‘chief in the palace’ the *Hebrew Bible has ‘over the household’. The ‘household’ means ‘all the people and things in the house’. The house was the king’s house, that is, the palace. Eliakim had done that job since Isaiah 22:20-21. There we read, ‘And this is what will happen on that day. I will send for my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah. And I will put on him your (Shebna’s) special clothes on him and I will tie your *sash (long piece of material) round him. And I will give your authority to him. Then he (Eliakim) will become a father to everyone that lives in Jerusalem. And he will become a father to the [royal] family in Judah.’ So it seems that Eliakim was the most important minister (called the ‘prime minister’) in Jerusalem. So in that way he was like Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 41:40). Shebna had been the first minister, but he had lost his authority. He was now less important than Hilkiah. The *sash was a piece of material that he wore. It showed to everybody that he had authority.

Verse 4 *Rav Shakeh made a polite request. But he gave the King of Assyria his official rank: the Great King. *Rav Shakeh repeats several questions that Sennacherib had asked. The first was about confidence. He wants to know whom Hezekiah trusted. Was it Egypt, Isaiah or God?

Verse 5 Whose words gave Hezekiah the advice and strength that he needed? Again, was it Egypt, Isaiah or God? When he said ‘mere words’, Sennacherib really meant ‘words that are useless’. ‘Useless’ means that they would not help Hezekiah. The third question is much clearer: who is it? Is it Egypt, Isaiah or God? And in verse 6, Sennacherib answers it himself! Egypt. His three questions really mean this:

1) You have no reason for your confidence.

2) Nobody can give you the advice and strength that you need for a war.

3) If you expect help from Egypt, you will not get it.

Verses 6-7 Sennacherib says ‘look!’ in order to attract the people’s attention. Verses 6-7 contain an important part of his message to Hezekiah. Verse 6 says that Hezekiah will not get help from Egypt. Egypt is like a stick or *reed that will break. People depend on such a stick to support them as they walk. But its sharp points will damage the people that lean on it. Verse 7 says that God will not help either. This is because Hezekiah had closed some of God’s high places and *altars. The high places were probably in villages where people *worshipped the *LORD. The problem was that they *worshipped other false gods there as well. ‘*Worship the *LORD’ means ‘love the *LORD because he is wonderful’. The *altars were places where people burnt animals as gifts for the *LORD. But they probably did it for false gods also. Read the verses in something to do number 2. In verse 10, there is a third reason why Hezekiah will lose the war. Sennacherib said that God told him to defeat Judah. All these reasons seem impressive. But none of these was a good enough reason not to trust the *LORD.

Verse 8 The message from Sennacherib is over. *Rav Shakeh now speaks his own words. Bible students do not agree about what he said. Some students believe that *Rav Shakeh was laughing at Hezekiah’s officials. They could never find 2000 riders. Soon, Assyria would defeat Judah. Other students think that this was a genuine offer of peace. If they could find 2000 riders, Hezekiah and his men could join Sennacherib’s army. 1 Kings 4:26 tells us that Solomon had many horses in his army. After that, Judah and Israel had used horses in war. So perhaps Hezekiah did have 2000 horsemen. We do not know.

Verse 9 *Rav Shakeh thought that Hezekiah did not have many horsemen. This was why Hezekiah was depending on Egypt for help. A chariot was a cart that soldiers rode in. Horses pulled these *chariots. The first sentence is a question; it is difficult to understand. In the *Hebrew Bible, it says this. ‘How can you turn away the least of my master’s officers?’ The *table shows two ways to interpret this into English.

Type of Bible Student	What it means
One who believes that *Rav Shakeh was laughing at Hezekiah.	You cannot even fight and defeat the least important of the *Assyrian officers.
One who believes that *Rav Shakeh was making a genuine offer of peace.	You should not refuse my offer. It is the offer of a humble servant of the Great King.

This translation agrees with the second type of Bible student, but we cannot be certain. Perhaps it is possible for both to be true. If so, this is typical of the double meanings in many places in the Bible. Sometimes, we are not certain which meaning is the right one. It is important to know both meanings, because both can teach us something.

Verse 10 Sennacherib said that he had authority from the *LORD to destroy Judah. We are not sure whether he really believed that. But clearly, Isaiah believed that it could be true. Here are some words from Isaiah chapter 10:

v5 ‘There will be a sad [time] for [the people in] Assyria. [I will use them] as a stick because I am angry. They [will hit Israel] with a heavy stick, because of my very great anger.

v6 I will send [Assyria’s army] against [Israel, because the people in Israel] do not obey God. I will tell [Assyria’s army to attack Israel]. I am angry with the people [in Israel. The soldiers from Assyria] will take [those people’s] goods and [they (the soldiers) will] rob them of their things. Then they will walk all over them, as [if Israel’s people were] mud in the streets.

v7 But that is not what [Assyria’s king] intends. His plans are different. He wants to defeat very many countries and [he wants to] destroy [them].

v8 [The king of Assyria] proudly says, “All the leaders of my armies are kings!

v9 [The city called] Calno is like Carchemish [city]. Hamath [town] is like Arpad [town]. And Samaria [city] is like Damascus [city].

v10 My hand (my strong army) seized those places and [my hand seized] their *idols. They had more images than Jerusalem and Samaria [have].

v11 So, I will do [something] to Jerusalem and [I will do something to] its images. [It will be] what I did to Samaria and its *idols.” ’

The word list at the end explains the words with a star (*) by them. We do not know what the King of Assyria did with the *idols and images in verse 11. Perhaps he destroyed them, or perhaps he took them to his capital city, Nineveh. This may also be the answer to the questions in verse 19.

Verse 11 *Aramaic was the language that government officials used in Isaiah’s time. They spoke to the officials from other governments in *Aramaic. It was the official language of Syria. Later, in Assyria, Babylon and Persia, everybody spoke *Aramaic. After the return from the *exile, it became the official language of the *Jews. The *exile was between 586 and 538 *B.C., when the *Jews were in Babylon.

*Aramaic was a similar language to *Hebrew, but not the same. Hezekiah’s officials spoke *Aramaic, but the people probably did not. The officials did not want the people to understand *Rav Shakeh’s words. The people were sitting on the wall that went round the city. City walls were often very thick. They sometimes had rooms in them. People could easily walk or sit on top of them. Soldiers could defend a city from the walls.

Verse 12 *Rav Shakeh was speaking to Jerusalem’s chief officials. But *Rav Shakeh’s words were about all the people in Jerusalem. So *Rav Shakeh did not care that the people were listening. He wanted them to know that soon there would be no food or drink in the city. ‘*Dung’ is solid waste from the body. ‘*Urine’ is liquid waste from the body. The words that *Rav Shakeh used were not nice words. Today, some people use them to swear! *Rav Shakeh wanted to give Hezekiah and the people a shock. He wanted Hezekiah to hand over Jerusalem to Sennacherib.

Verse 13 Perhaps until now *Rav Shakeh had spoken quietly to the officials. The people had heard some of what he said. But now he stood up. He spoke in a loud voice. And he spoke *Hebrew, so that everybody could understand him. The *Hebrew word for ‘hear’ really means ‘hear and obey’. It does this also in verses 16 and 18. It means more than just ‘listen’.

Verse 14 ‘*Deceive you’ means: ‘to make you think that he is honest. But in fact he is not honest.’ This is the first among 4 messages to warn people about danger. The other 3 messages are in verses 15, 16 and 18.

Verse 15 In the *Hebrew Bible, ‘really will free you’ is ‘freeing you will free you’. In other words, *Rav Shakeh repeats the word ‘free’. It is how the *Jews emphasised their words. ‘Hand over this city’ is ‘give this city into the hand of’ in the *Hebrew Bible. ‘The hand of’ means ‘the power of’. That is a special *Hebrew way to say it. Our translation keeps the word ‘hand’ in the text because ‘hand’ is an important Bible word. In the *Old Testament, ‘the hand of the *LORD’ is often a name for God’s Holy Spirit. So here, ‘the hand’ is a picture of a battle between Sennacherib and God’s Holy Spirit. Chapter 37 will tell us which was the stronger! ‘This city’ is, of course, Jerusalem.

Verse 16 The usual word for peace in *Hebrew is ‘shalom’. *Jews still use it as a greeting. It means more than ‘no war’. It means that you have a good attitude to the people round you. They also have a good attitude to you. But *Rav Shakeh did not say ‘shalom’. He used a word that means ‘*blessings’. This word in *Hebrew meant ‘plenty’. For example, your plants had ‘plenty’ of fruits. Your animals had ‘plenty’ of young animals. And you had ‘plenty’ of children. ‘*Blessings’ means ‘plenty of material things’. It has nothing to do with attitudes. The *table helps us to see the difference in the *Old Testament:

peace (shalom)	a good attitude to other people (and to God) in our spirit
*blessings (berachah)	plenty of crops, animals and children

A grape was a fruit. From *grapes, people made wine. *Grapes grow on plants that are called ‘*vines’. A *vine farm is called a ‘vineyard’ (verse 17). A fig is also a fruit. It has many seeds. Notice the uses of the words ‘eat … drink’. Compare them with the same words in verse 12. This tells us what *Rav Shakeh was doing! He offered a good life (for a period of time; read verse 17!) instead of a very bad life.

Verse 17 The *Assyrian army was 40 kilometres away, at Lachish. But when it reached Jerusalem, it would take the *Jews away into *exile. ‘*Exile’ means ‘away from your own country’. The *Assyrians and the *Babylonians always did that. They took people from place A to place B. And they took some other people from B to C. Then they took still other people from C to A. So, in the end, all the people were living in different countries from the ones where their families had lived. And because they were living abroad, they could not still fight to defend their own countries. The result was that those people did not still continue to fight against Assyria, or Babylon. Sennacherib promised that there would still be ‘*blessings’ in another country. He said that there would still be plenty of food and wine. Again, notice that he emphasised material things, not things of the spirit.

Verse 18 This story is also in 2 Kings 18:17-37. But in that story, we can find a phrase that does not appear in Isaiah 36:18. It is ‘hear and obey’ (2 Kings 18:32). ‘Lead you the wrong way’ means ‘make you do the wrong thing’. The *Hebrew word for ‘nations’ does not mean ‘countries’ here. It means ‘*ethnic groups’. This means that they all come from the same family origin.

Verse 19 What are the answers to these questions? This *table may help us to find them:

Question	Answer
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad (both cities in Northern Syria)?	Perhaps Sargon the Second (Sennacherib’s father) destroyed the gods when he defeated Hamath. Perhaps he took them back to Assyria.
Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? (We do not know where this city was)	Perhaps Tiglath-Pileser the Third (Sargon’s father) destroyed the gods when he defeated both Arpad and Sepharvaim in 740 *B.C. Perhaps he took them back to Assyria.
Did any god save Samaria?	Assyria defeated Samaria in 721 *B.C. Samaria was the capital city of the Northern *Kingdom of Israel. The answer to the question therefore was ‘No!’

Although Samaria’s people *worshipped the *LORD God, the people there also *worshipped false gods, 2 Kings 18:11-12.

Verse 20 Sennacherib’s mistake was this. He thought that Judah’s God ‘Yahweh’ (or YHWH, which we translate ‘*LORD’) was the same as all the other (false) gods. ‘Can the *LORD save Jerusalem from my power?’ is a way to say ‘The *LORD can NOT save Jerusalem from my power.’ But if we read chapter 37, we find this. Yahweh did save Jerusalem! ‘My power’ each time is ‘my hand’ in the *Hebrew Bible. Again, as in verse 15, the *Hebrew word is important. It tells us that Sennacherib was saying, ‘I am stronger than Yahweh’.

Verse 21 ‘The people’ may be the people on the city wall, verses 11-12. But they are more likely to be the officials, Eliakim, Shebna and Joah.

Verse 22 The officials ‘tore their clothes’. People used to do this to show that they were very, very sad.

About the questions in this chapter

In verses 4, 5, 9, 10, 19 and 20 there are questions. Isaiah wrote them in this way for a special reason. The reason was this. A question of this type emphasises what the *questioner asks. Here is an example. In verse 4 we read, ‘What is the reason for your confidence?’ This means ‘there is really no reason for your confidence.’ Some of the questions may have two answers. Here is an example. In verse 19 we read, ‘Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?’ The answer may be ‘They are now in Assyria’, or ‘the *Assyrian army destroyed them’. We do not know which answer is correct. But both answers mean this. The gods of Sepharvaim could not save themselves or their city. So, questions were an important part of Isaiah’s technique. He used them to emphasise his words. heavens ~ another word for ‘skies’. It can also mean the place where God lives and the skies above us.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
channel ~ a route by which the water flows.
reed ~ plants that grow in water or by water.
LORD ~ LORD is a special name of God. In the Hebrew language it is YHWH. It may mean ‘always alive’. So LORD is a sign that the Hebrew word is YHWH.
lord ~ master. When it has a capital L (that is, ‘Lord’) it is a name for God.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
altar ~ a special metal table where people burnt animals and corn to please God (or false gods).
worship ~ to tell God (or a false god) that he is wonderful; and also, to tell him that you love him.
chariot ~ a cart that soldiers rode in.
Aramaic ~ the official language in Syria. It was the language that government officials used.
dung ~ solid waste from the body.
urine ~ liquid waste from the body.
deceive ~ to make you think that someone is honest. But in fact that person is not honest.
grape ~ a fruit that grows on a vine.
vine ~ grapes grow on vines. People make wine from grapes.
vine ~ grapes grow on vines. People make wine from grapes.
grape ~ a fruit that grows on a vine.
vineyard ~ a field where vines grow.
vine ~ grapes grow on vines. People make wine from grapes.
grape ~ a fruit that grows on a vine.'Rav Shakeh ~ the chief commander of Assyria’s army.
channel ~ a route by which the water flows.
sash ~ a long wide piece of material that people tie round their bodies.
worship ~ to tell God (or a false god) that he is wonderful; and also, to tell him that you love him.
table ~ a way to set out information in a series of boxes.
Assyrian ~ a person from the country called Assyria, or anything that has a relationship with that country.
idol ~ a false god that people made.
exile ~ a person whom enemies force to live away from his own home or country. Or, the place where that person has to live.
Jews ~ the people that lived in Judah (which sounds like ‘Jew-dah’) and Israel.
dung ~ solid waste from the body.
urine ~ liquid waste from the body.
deceive ~ to make you think that someone is honest. But in fact that person is not honest.'Old Testament ~ the earlier part of the Bible.
blessings ~ plenty of material things.
blessings ~ plenty of material things.
grape ~ a fruit that grows on a vine.
vine ~ grapes grow on vines. People make wine from grapes.
exile ~ a person whom enemies force to live away from his own home or country. Or, the place where that person has to live.
Babylonian ~ a person from the country called Babylonia, or anything that has a relationship with that country.
ethnic ~ from the same family origin.
kingdom ~ a country that a king rules.
questioner ~ a person who asks questions.