2 Kings 19:23

The multitude. — The reading of the Hebrew margin, of many MSS., Isaiah, and all the versions. The Hebrew text has “with the chariotry of my chariotry” — obviously a scribe’s error.

I am come up ... mountains. — I (emphatic) have ascended lofty mountains. Such boasts are common in the Assyrian inscriptions.

To the sides of Lebanon. — Thenius explains: “the spurs of the Lebanon — i.e., the strongholds of Judæa, which Sennacherib had already captured.” “Lebanon, as the northern bulwark of the land of Israel, is used as a representative or symbol for the whole country (Zechariah 11:1)” (Cheyne). The language is similar in Isaiah 14:13.

And will cut down ... — Or, and I will fell the tallest cedars thereof, the choicest firs thereof. Cedars and firs in Isaiah’s language symbolise “kings, princes, and nobles, all that is highest and most stately” (Birks), or “the most puissant defenders” (Thenius). (See Isaiah 2:13; Isaiah 10:33.)

The lodgings of his borders. — Or, the furthest lodging thereof — i.e., Mount Zion or Jerusalem. Isaiah has height for lodging, either a scribe’s error or an editor’s correction.

Carmel — i.e., pleasure-garden or park (Isaiah 10:18). The royal palace and grounds appear to be meant. Thenius compares “the house of the forest of Lebanon” (1 Kings 7:2).