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2 Kings 19

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Hezekiah Seeks Counsel from Isaiah 1–7

1
And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah. ​
2
And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. ​
3
And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of contumely; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. ​
4
It may be Jehovah thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which Jehovah thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. ​
5
So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6
And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith Jehovah, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7
Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. ​

Sennacherib's Second Threat 8–13

8
So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. ​
9
And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee, he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying, ​
10
Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ​
11
Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?
12
Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar? ​
13
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?

Hezekiah’s Prayer 14–19

14
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah. ​
15
And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, that sittest above the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. ​
16
Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, wherewith he hath sent him to defy the living God.
17
Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands,
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and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. ​
19
Now therefore, O Jehovah our God, save thou us, I beseech thee, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou Jehovah art God alone. ​

God’s Prophetic Response through Isaiah 20–34

20
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard thee. ​
21
This is the word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. ​
22
Whom hast thou defied and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. ​
23
By thy messengers thou hast defied the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof; and I will enter into his farthest lodging-place, the forest of his fruitful field. ​
24
I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.
25
Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. ​
26
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as grain blasted before it is grown up.
27
But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me. ​
28
Because of thy raging against me, and because thine arrogancy is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. ​
29
And this shall be the sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. ​
30
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. ​
31
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape: the zeal of Jehovah shall perform this.
32
Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. ​
33
By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith Jehovah.
34
For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. ​

The Deliverance and Sennacherib's Death 35–37

35
And it came to pass that night, that the angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. ​
36
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. ​
37
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Kings 19

Verse 1

went into the house of the LORD — The three officers had come to Hezekiah 'with their clothes rent' (2 Kgs 18:37); the king does the same, covers himself with sackcloth (saq), and goes to the house of the LORD before he sends to Isaiah (v.2). Isa 37:1 gives the same sequence.

Verse 2

Eliakim… and Shebna the scribe — The two men who stood before the Rabshakeh (2 Kgs 18:18) are sent with the elders of the priests, all in sackcloth, to Isaiah 'the son of Amoz'. Eliakim 'over the household' is the man of whom the LORD said, 'I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah' (Isa 22:20).

Verse 3

not strength to bring forth — The picture is of labour that has come to the birth with no strength to deliver, and Isaiah also uses it of his people (Isa 26:17–18). Three words name the day: tsarah, trouble; tokechah, rebuke; ne'atsah, scorn, rendered 'blasphemy'. They stand again in Isa 37:3.

Verse 4

the living God — The Rabshakeh is sent 'to reproach' (charaph) the living God, the verb David used of Goliath: 'that he should defy the armies of the living God' (1 Sam 17:26). Hezekiah asks Isaiah to 'lift up thy prayer for the remnant' (she'erit), for the LORD has heard the words and 'will reprove' them.

Verse 7

a blast — Ruach, wind or spirit. The word has three parts, each carried out: a 'rumour' (shemuah) that he hears, which is the report of Tirhakah in v.9; his return (v.36); and a fall 'by the sword in his own land', which v.37 records.

Verse 8

Libnah — The king has moved from Lachish, from which he had sent the Rabshakeh to Hezekiah (2 Kgs 18:17), to Libnah. Both are towns of Judah (Josh 15:39, 42). 'Returned' is shuv, the verb that runs through the chapter: the king will 'return' (v.7), be 'turned back' (v.28), and 'returned' (v.36).

Verse 9

Tirhakah king of Ethiopia — Kush, rendered Ethiopia in the KJV. The report that he 'is come out to fight' is the 'rumour' of v.7. Sennacherib sends messengers 'again' (shuv) to Hezekiah, a second message after the Rabshakeh's. The name Tirhakah appears in Scripture only here and in Isa 37:9.

Verse 10

Let not thy God… deceive thee — Nasha, to beguile, the word of Eve's 'The serpent beguiled me' (Gen 3:13) and of the Rabshakeh's 'Let not Hezekiah deceive you' (2 Kgs 18:29). The letter aims at the king's trust (batach), of whom it is written, 'He trusted in the LORD God of Israel' (2 Kgs 18:5).

Verse 12

Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph — Gozan is where Assyria placed the exiles of Samaria, 'by the river of Gozan' (2 Kgs 17:6); Haran is where Terah's household 'dwelt' on the way from Ur (Gen 11:31). The question repeats the Rabshakeh's 'Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad?' (2 Kgs 18:34).

Verse 14

spread it before the LORD — Paras, to spread out, the verb of Solomon at the dedication, who 'spread forth his hands toward heaven' (1 Kgs 8:22). Hezekiah 'received the letter' (sepher), 'read it', went up (alah) to the house of the LORD, and laid it open there. Isa 37:14 tells the same.

Verse 15

dwellest between the cherubims — The title of the ark, from which the LORD speaks 'from between the two cherubims' (Ex 25:22) and where he 'dwelleth between the cherubims' (1 Sam 4:4; compare Ps 80:1, 'dwellest'). Hezekiah prays in that house: 'thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth'; he made 'heaven and earth'.

Verse 18

wood and stone — Hezekiah grants the report: the nations' gods were 'cast… into the fire'. They fell because they were 'the work of men's hands, wood and stone', as Deut 4:28 describes such gods, 'which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell'. The one he addresses 'made heaven and earth' (v.15).

Verse 19

that all the kingdoms of the earth may know — The aim of the request is that the earth may know the LORD, as Solomon prayed 'that all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God' (1 Kgs 8:60) and David said to Goliath, 'that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel' (1 Sam 17:46). 'Save' is yasha, to deliver.

Verse 20

I have heard — Shama, to hear, runs through the chapter: Hezekiah 'heard' in v.1, the LORD 'hath heard' the Rabshakeh's words (v.4), and here 'I have heard' the prayer. 'Prayed' is palal, the verb of v.15, so the answer is given to the request as made. It comes by Isaiah 'the son of Amoz', to whom the officers went (v.2).

Verse 21

The virgin the daughter of Zion — Zion is named a young woman who turns the gestures of scorn on the invader: 'despised' (buz), 'laughed thee to scorn' (la'ag), 'shaken her head' (nua). Ps 22:7 has the last two verbs in the mouths of mockers: 'laugh me to scorn… they shake the head'. Here the gestures are the city's.

Verse 22

the Holy One of Israel — The offence is named as against him: 'reproached and blasphemed' (charaph, gadaph), the voice 'exalted', the eyes 'lifted up… on high'. 'Holy One of Israel' (qadosh) is the title Isaiah uses throughout his book, in 25 verses from Isa 1:4. In the books of Kings it occurs only here.

Verse 23

the tall cedar trees — This is the boast of the invader in his own terms: chariots up 'to the height of the mountains', 'to the sides of Lebanon', the 'tall cedar trees' cut down (karath). Lebanon's cedar was the timber Solomon sought for the house (1 Kgs 5:6). The boast is made 'by thy messengers' (mal'ak), the word that returns in v.35.

Verse 25

I have formed it — Yatsar, to shape: the conquests were 'done' and 'formed' by the LORD of 'ancient times', and 'now have I brought it to pass'. Isa 10:5 calls Assyria 'the rod of mine anger', and Isa 10:15 asks, 'Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?'

Verse 27

thy going out, and thy coming in — This is the pair of Ps 121:8, where the LORD 'shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in'. Here it is the king's own movement that the LORD knows, with his 'abode' (literally his sitting, yashab) and his 'rage' against him.

Verse 28

my hook in thy nose — Chach, a ring or hook for the nose, with a 'bridle' (metheg) for the lips, which is the figure of a beast led. Ezekiel uses the hook against Pharaoh (Ezek 29:4) and against Gog: 'I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws' (Ezek 38:4). Here the king is turned back 'by the way by which thou camest'.

Verse 29

a sign — Oth. For two years the land gives without sowing: first 'such things as grow of themselves' (sapiach, the word of Lev 25:5, 'That which groweth of its own accord'), then 'that which springeth of the same' (shachis, aftergrowth). Only in the third year do they 'sow… and reap'. It recalls the sabbath year of Lev 25:4–5.

Verse 30

take root downward, and bear fruit upward — The remnant 'that is escaped of the house of Judah' is pictured as a plant that roots (shoresh) first and then fruits (peri). Isa 27:6 uses the picture for Jacob: 'He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.'

Verse 32

nor shoot an arrow — Four negatives close the way: no entry, no arrow, no shield brought up (qadam, to come before), no 'bank' (solelah, a siege mound). The same mound is named in Jer 6:6, 'cast a mount against Jerusalem', where the LORD himself gives the order. Here it is withheld from the Assyrian.

Verse 34

for my servant David's sake — Ganan, to hedge about: the LORD sets a hedge round Jerusalem. The same reason is given for Hezekiah's fifteen added years (2 Kgs 20:6) and echoes his word about the kingdom, 'for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen' (1 Kgs 11:13).

Verse 35

the angel of the LORD — Mal'ak, messenger, the word rendered 'messengers' in vv.9 and 23: Sennacherib's messengers reproached the LORD, and now the LORD's messenger 'smote' the camp. It was 'that night'; by morning they were 'all dead corpses'. 2 Chr 32:21 records it: 'the LORD sent an angel'.

Verse 36

dwelt at Nineveh — Four verbs set the king's course: 'departed', 'went', 'returned', 'dwelt', the return 'by the way that he came' foretold in v.33. Nineveh is the city to which Jonah was told, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city' (Jonah 1:2), and the subject of Nahum's 'burden' (Nah 1:1).

Verse 37

the house of Nisroch his god — The king who asked whether the gods of the nations had delivered them (v.12) is struck 'with the sword' as he is 'worshipping' (shachah) in his own god's house, as v.7 foretold. 'Armenia' is Ararat in the Hebrew, the mountains where the ark rested (Gen 8:4). Esarhaddon his son reigned.