CHAPTER XIX _Hezekiah is greatly distressed, and sends to Isaiah to pray for_ _him_, 1-4. _Isaiah returns a comfortable answer, and predicts the_ _destruction of the king of Assyria and his army_, 5-8. _Sennacherib, hearing that his kingdom was invaded by the_ _Ethiopians, sends a terrible let... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:2. _TO ISAIAH THE PROPHET_] His fame and influence were at this time great in Israel; and it was well known that the word of the Lord was with him. Here both the Church and the state unite in fervent application to, and strong dependence upon, God; and behold how they succeed!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:3. _THE CHILDREN ARE COME TO THE BIRTH_] The Jewish state is here represented under the emblem of a woman in travail, who has been so long in the pangs of parturition, that her strength is now entirely exhausted, and her deliverance is hopeless, without a miracle. The image is very... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:4. _THE REMNANT THAT ARE LEFT_] That is, the _Jews_; the ten tribes having been already carried away captive by the kings of Assyria.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:7. _BEHOLD, I WILL SEND A BLAST - AND HE SHALL HEAR A RUMOUR_] The _rumour_ was, that Tirhakah had invaded Assyria. The _blast_ was that which slew _one hundred and eighty-five thousand_ of them in one night, see 2 Kings 19:35. _CAUSE HIM TO FALL BY THE SWORD_] Alluding to his deat... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:8. _LIBNAH - LACHISH._] These two places were not very distant from each other; they were in the mountains of Judah, southward of Jerusalem.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:10. _LET NOT THY GOD IN WHOM THOU TRUSTEST_] This letter is nearly the same with the speech delivered by Rab-shakeh. See 2 Kings 18:29.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:14. _SPREAD IT BEFORE THE LORD_] The temple was considered to be _God's dwelling-place_; and that whatever was there was peculiarly under his eye. Hezekiah spread the letter before the Lord, as he wished him to read the blasphemies spoken against himself.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:15. _THOU ART THE GOD, C._] Thou art not only God of Israel, but God also of Assyria, and of all the nations of the world.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:21. _THE VIRGIN THE DAUGHTER OF ZION HATH DESPISED THEE,_ _AND LAUGHED THEE TO SCORN; THE DAUGHTER OF JERUSALEM HATH SHAKEN_ _HER HEAD AT THEE._] "So truly contemptible is thy power, and empty thy boasts, that even the _young women_ of Jerusalem, under the guidance of Jehovah, shall... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:23. _THE TALL CEDAR TREES - THE CHOICE FIR TREES_] Probably meaning the _princes_ and _nobles_ of the country. _THE FOREST OF HIS CARMEL._] Better in the margin: _the forest_ and _his fruitful field_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:24. _I HAVE DIPPED AND DRUNK STRANGE WATERS_] I have conquered _strange countries_, in which I have digged wells for my army; or, I have gained the _wealth_ of strange countries. _WITH THE SOLE OF MY FEET_] My _infantry_ have been so numerous that they alone have been sufficient to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:25. _HAST THOU NOT HEARD_] Here _Jehovah_ speaks, and shows this boasting king that what he had done was done by the _Divine_ _appointment_, and that of his own counsel and might he could have done nothing. It was because God had appointed them to this civil destruction that he had... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 28. _I WILL PUT MY HOOK IN THY NOSE_] This seems to be an allusion to the method of _guiding a buffalo_; he has a sort of ring put into his nose, to which a cord or bridle is attached, by which he can be _turned_ to the _right_, or to the _left_, or _round about,_ according to the pleasure of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _THIS_ SHALL _BE A SIGN UNTO THEE_] To Hezekiah; for to him this part of the address is made. _YE SHALL EAT THIS YEAR_] Sennacherib had ravaged the country, and _seed-time_ was now over, yet God shows them that he would so bless the land, that what should _grow of itself that year_, woul... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _THE REMNANT - SHALL YET AGAIN TAKE ROOT_] As your _corn_ shall take root in the soil, and bring forth and abundantly _multiply_ itself, so shall the Jewish people; the population shall be greatly increased, and the desolations occasioned by the sword soon be forgotten.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _OUT OF JERUSALEM SHALL GO FORTH A REMNANT_] The Jews shall be so multiplied as not only to fill _Jerusalem_, but all the adjacent country. _AND THEY THAT ESCAPE OUT OF MOUNT ZION_] Some think that this refers to the going forth of the _apostles_ to the Gentile world, and converting the n... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 32. _HE SHALL NOT, C._] Here follow the fullest proofs that Jerusalem shall not be taken by the Assyrians. 1. _He shall not_ _come into this city_ 2. He shall not be able to get so near as to _shoot an arrow into it_; 3. He shall not be able to _bring an army_ before it, 4. Nor shall he be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. _BY THE WAY THAT HE CAME_] Though his army shall not return, yet _he_ shall return to Assyria; for because of his blasphemy he is reserved for a more ignominious death.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _THAT NIGHT_] The very night after the blasphemous message had been sent, and this comfortable prophecy delivered. _THE ANGEL OF THE LORD WENT OUT_] I believe this _angel_ or _messenger of the Lord_ was simply a _suffocating_ or _pestilential_ _WIND_; by which the Assyrian army was destr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 36. _DWELT AT NINEVEH._] This was the capital of the Assyrian empire.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 19:37. _NISROCH HIS GOD_] We know nothing of this deity; he is nowhere else mentioned. _SMOTE HIM WITH THE SWORD_] The rabbins say that his sons had learned that he intended to sacrifice them to this god, and that they could only prevent this by slaying _him_. The same writers add, t... [ Continue Reading ]