_A.M. 3294. B.C. 710._ Hezekiah sends to Isaiah to desire his prayers, 2 Kings 19:1; and receives from him an answer of peace, _2Ki 19:6, 2 Kings 19:7. Sennachcrib sends a threatening letter to Hezekiah, 2 Kings 19:8; who recommends his case to God, 2 Kings 19:14. God, by Isaiah, sends him a comfor... [ Continue Reading ]
_When Hezekiah heard it, he rent his clothes_ Good men were wont to do so, when they heard of any reproach cast on God's name; and great men must not think it any disparagement to them to sympathize with the injured honour of the great God.... [ Continue Reading ]
_This is a day of rebuke and blasphemy_ From the Assyrian, who reviles and reproaches us. _For the children_, &c. We are like a poor travailing woman in great extremity, having no strength left to help herself, and to bring forth her infant into the world. We have attempted to deliver ourselves from... [ Continue Reading ]
_It may be_, &c. He speaks doubtfully, because he knew not whether God would not deliver them all up into the hands of the Assyrians, as he knew he and his people deserved. That _the Lord thy God_ To whom thou art dear and precious, and who will regard thy petitions: _will hear all the words of Rab-... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will send a blast upon him_ Hebrew, a _wind_, a storm or tempest, by which name God's judgments are often called: that is, a violent, sudden, and terrible stroke; namely, that miraculous destruction of his army, recorded 2 Kings 19:35.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rab-shakeh returned_ To the king, to give him an account of what had been done, and to receive further orders; leaving behind him the army under the other commanders, mentioned 2 Kings 18:17. For it seems most probable, from the other threatening message here following, that the siege was not raise... [ Continue Reading ]
_He heard say of Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia_, &c. Probably of Ethiopia beyond Egypt. For Josephus affirms that the Egyptians (against whom, according to Herodotus and Berosus, this Sennacherib warred) and Ethiopians were confederates in this expedition. It is most likely he was the same with the Sab... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah_ That is, these things shall ye communicate; for they did not signify them by word of mouth, but in writing. _Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee_ Rab- shakeh had said to the people, _Let not Hezekiah deceive you._ Sennacherib writes to Hezekiah, _Le... [ Continue Reading ]
_Where is the king of Hamath_, &c. He may mean the gods of these places, calling them their _kings_, because the people looked upon them as their protectors and governors, which kings are or should be to their subjects: or rather, he means their kings, properly so called. And so, as before he compar... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord_ Into the outward court of the temple, for further he might not go, and at the entrance of the court of the priests, he looked toward the sanctuary, where God was peculiarly present, and spread the letter before him; which he did, not to acquaint God with... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hezekiah prayed and said, O Lord God of Israel_, &c. He calls him the God of _Israel_, because Israel was his peculiar people; and the God that dwelt between the cherubim, because there was the peculiar residence of his glory on earth; but he gives glory to him as the God of the whole earth, and no... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which hath sent him_ That is, the messenger who brought this railing letter; or rather Rab-shakeh, who is easily understood to be referred to from the contents of the former chapter, although he would not do him the honour to name him. _Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nati... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now therefore, save us out of his hand_ For if we be conquered, as other lands have been, they will say that thou art conquered, as the gods of those lands were; but, Lord, distinguish thyself by distinguishing us; and let all the world know, and be made to confess, that thou art the Lord, the self... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah_ Isaiah was informed, by the spirit of prophecy, that Hezekiah had represented his case to God in the temple, and he was commissioned to assure him his petition was granted.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The daughter of Zion_ That is, Jerusalem; which is called _the daughter of Zion_, say some, because the hill of Zion, as being the strongest and safest part, was first inhabited, and by the increase of inhabitants, Jerusalem arising around, as it were, sprang from it, and might therefore properly e... [ Continue Reading ]
_And lifted up thieve eyes on high_ As those do who have haughty thoughts, and look down on others with contempt and scorn. _Even against the Holy One of Israel_ Whose honour is dear to him, and who has power to vindicate it, which the gods of the heathen have not.... [ Continue Reading ]
_By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord_ Advancing hereby thy very servants above him. _And hast said, With the multitude of my chariots, I am come up_, &c. I have brought up my very chariots to those mountains, which were thought inaccessible by my army. _To the sides of Lebanon_ A high hi... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have digged and drunk strange waters_ That is, says Vitringa, “I have hitherto possessed all my desires; whatever I have vehemently thirsted after, I have attained.” Others understand this and the following clause more literally, thus: “I have marched through deserts, where it was expected my arm... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hast thou not heard long ago_, &c. Hast thou not long since learned that which some of thy philosophers could have taught thee; that there is a supreme and powerful God, by whose decree and providence all these wars and calamities are sent and ordered; whose mere instrument thou art; so that thou h... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore their inhabitants were of small power_ The people of Israel and Judah, and of other countries which thou hast conquered, because I had armed thee with my commission and strength, and had taken away their spirit and courage, and had withdrawn my help from them to give it to thee. _They wer... [ Continue Reading ]
_But I know thy abode_, &c. Though thou dost not know me, yet I thoroughly know thee, and all thy designs and actions, all thy secret contrivances in the place of _thy abode_, in thy own kingdom and court; and the execution of thy designs abroad, what thou intendest in _thy going out_, and with what... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy rage and thy tumult is come into mine ears_ That is, thy tumultuous noise, thy clamours and blasphemies, belched forth against me by thyself, and thy servants in thy name. _I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips_ The metaphor in the latter clause is plainly taken from a horse... [ Continue Reading ]
_This shall be a sign unto thee_ Of the certain accomplishment of the promises here made; that Zion shall triumph over this insulting enemy, 2 Kings 19:21; and that God will not only preserve the city from Sennacherib's present fury, but also will bless his people with durable prosperity, and a happ... [ Continue Reading ]
_The remnant that is escaped shall yet again bear fruit upward _ Shall increase and multiply greatly. It is a metaphor taken from plants. “The prophet passes from fields to men, and from the cultivation of land to the state of the church; for, having just said, that, being delivered from the Assyria... [ Continue Reading ]
_For out of Judah shall go forth a remnant_ That handful of Jews who were now gathered together, and shut up in Jerusalem, should go out to their several habitations, and, by God's singular blessing, increase exceedingly. _The zeal of the Lord shall do this_ Although, when you reflect upon yourselve... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus saith the Lord, He shall not come to this city_ The king of Assyria shall be so far from possessing himself of the city at this time, that he shall not shoot so much as an arrow into it, much less raise any bulwarks to besiege it. There is a gradation in the words, says Dr. Dodd, as is usual w... [ Continue Reading ]
_By the same shall he return_ Whereas he expected to devour the kingdom of Judah at one morsel, and then to proceed farther and conquer Egypt, and other neighbouring countries; and _to cut off nations not a few_, as is said of him concerning this very time and design, (Isaiah 10:7,) he shall meet wi... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it came to pass that night_, &c. Sometimes it was long before prophecies were accomplished, and promises performed, but here the word was no sooner spoken than the work was done. The night which immediately followed the sending of this message to Hezekiah, was the main body of the besieging arm... [ Continue Reading ]
_So Sennacherib departed_ Ashamed to see himself, after all his proud boasts, thus defeated, and disabled to pursue his conquests, or even to secure what he had gained, the flower of his army being cut off; nay, and continually afraid of falling under the like stroke himself. The manner of the expre... [ Continue Reading ]
_He was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god_ The God of Israel had done enough to convince him that he was the only true God, yet he persists in his idolatry: justly then is his blood mingled with his sacrifices, who will not be convinced, by so dear-bought a demonstration, of his folly in w... [ Continue Reading ]