Isaiah37

King Hezekiah, facing the Assyrian king Sennacherib's blasphemous threats against Jerusalem, sought the LORD through the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah delivered God's message of assurance, promising deliverance for Jerusalem and Sennacherib's eventual demise. The Angel of the LORD then smote 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, forcing Sennacherib to retreat. Years later, Sennacherib was assassinated by his own sons in Nineveh, fulfilling the divine prophecy.

Hezekiah Seeks Counsel from Isaiah

1
On hearing it, King Hizkiyahu tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of ADONAI. ​
2
He sent Elyakim, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and the leading cohanim, covered with sackcloth, to Yesha'yahu the prophet, the son of Amotz.
3
They said to him, "This is what Hizkiyahu says: 'Today is a day of trouble, rebuke and disgrace. Children are ready to be born, but there is no strength to bring them to birth. ​
4
Maybe ADONAI your God will hear the words of Rav-Shakeh, whom his master the king of Ashur has sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke the message which ADONAI your God has heard. So pray for the remnant that is left.'" ​
5
When King Hizkiyahu's servants came to Yesha'yahu,
6
he said to them, "Tell your master that this is what ADONAI says: 'Don't be afraid of the words you heard the servants of the king of Ashur use to insult me. ​
7
I will put a spirit in him that will make him hear a rumor and return to his own land; then I will cause him to die by the sword in his own land.'" ​

Assyria Renews the Threat

8
Rav-Shakeh returned and, having heard that the king of Ashur had left Lakhish, found him making war with Livnah.
9
Then he heard it said that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia was on his way to fight him. On hearing this, the king of Ashur sent messengers to Hizkiyahu, after ordering them, ​
10
"This is what you are to say to Hizkiyahu king of Y'hudah: 'Don't let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, "Yerushalayim will not be handed over to the power of the king of Ashur."
11
You have heard what the kings of Ashur have done to all lands - they have completely destroyed them. So how will you be delivered?
12
Have the gods of the nations delivered them? No, my ancestors destroyed them - Gozan, Haran, Retzef and the people of 'Eden who were in Tel'asar.
13
Where is the king of Hamat? the king of Arpad? the king of the city of S'farvayim, of Hena and 'Ivah?'"

Hezekiah's Prayer in the Temple

14
Hizkiyahu took the letter from the messengers' hands and read it. Then Hizkiyahu went up to the house of ADONAI and spread it out before ADONAI. ​
15
This is the prayer that Hizkiyahu prayed to ADONAI:
16
"ADONAI-Tzva'ot, God of Isra'el, who dwells above the k'ruvim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms on earth. You made heaven and earth. ​
17
Turn your ear, ADONAI, and hear! Open your eyes, ADONAI, and see! Hear all the words that Sancheriv sent to taunt the living God.
18
It is true that the kings of Ashur have laid waste all the countries and their lands
19
and have thrown their gods into the fire. For those were non-gods, merely the products of people's hands, wood and stone; this is why they could destroy them. ​
20
Now therefore, ADONAI our God, save us from his power - so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you are ADONAI - you only." ​

Isaiah Delivers the Lord's Prophecy

21
Then Yesha'yahu the son of Amotz sent this message to Hizkiyahu: "ADONAI the God of Isra'el says: 'You prayed to me against Sancheriv king of Ashur.'
22
Here is ADONAI's answer concerning him: "'The virgin daughter of Tziyon despises you; she laughs you to scorn. The daughter of Yerushalayim shakes her head at you. ​
23
Whom have you taunted and insulted? Against whom have you raised your voice and haughtily lifted your eyes? The Holy One of Isra'el! ​
24
"'Through your servants you taunted Adonai. You said, "With my many chariots I have ascended the mountain heights even in the far reaches of the L'vanon. I cut down its tall cedars and its best cypress trees. I reached its remotest heights and its best forests.
25
I dug [wells] and drank the water. The soles of my [soldiers'] feet dried up all the rivers of Egypt."
26
"'Haven't you heard? Long ago I made it; in antiquity I produced it; and now I am making it happen: you are turning fortified cities into heaps of ruins, ​
27
while their inhabitants, shorn of power, are disheartened and ashamed, weak as grass, frail as plants, like grass on the rooftops or grain scorched by the east wind.
28
"'But I know when you sit, when you leave, when you enter - and when you rage against me.
29
And because of your rage against me, because of your pride that has reached my ears, I am putting my hook in your nose and my bridle on your lips; and I will make you return by the way on which you came. ​
30
"'This will be the sign for you [people of Isra'el]: this year, you will eat the grain that grows of itself; the second year, you will eat what grows from that; but in the third year, you will sow, reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ​
31
"'Meanwhile, the remnant of the house of Y'hudah that has escaped will again take root downward and bear fruit upward; ​
32
for a remnant will go out from Yerushalayim, those escaping will go out from Mount Tziyon. The zeal of ADONAI-Tzva'ot will accomplish this.'
33
"Therefore this is what ADONAI says concerning the king of Ashur: "'He will not come to this city or even shoot an arrow there; he will not confront it with a shield or erect earthworks against it. ​
34
"'By the way he came he will return; he will not come to this city,' says ADONAI.
35
'For I will defend this city and save it, both for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.'" ​

The Lord Delivers Jerusalem

36
Then the angel of ADONAI went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of Ashur. Early the next morning, there they were, all of them, corpses - dead. ​
37
So Sancheriv king of Ashur left, went and returned to live in Ninveh. ​
38
One day, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisrokh his god, his sons Adramelekh and Shar'etzer struck him with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. So his son Esar-Hadon took his place as king. ​

Study Notes for Isaiah 37

Verse 1

Hezekiah's actions (renting clothes, wearing sackcloth, going to the Temple) demonstrate profound spiritual distress and reliance on Yahweh, contrasting with the political maneuvering of previous kings.

Verse 3

The metaphor of the difficult birth illustrates a crisis point—Judah is at the brink of destruction, totally unable to save itself, needing immediate divine intervention.

Verse 4

Hezekiah focuses his request on the Assyrian blasphemy against the 'living God,' recognizing that the conflict is fundamentally theological, not merely military.

Verse 6

Isaiah’s response is immediate and absolute, assuring Hezekiah that the Lord will directly address the arrogance of the Assyrian king.

Verse 7

The 'blast' (often translated as 'spirit') signifies a supernatural intervention by God. This verse prophesies Sennacherib's eventual death by the sword in his homeland, which is fulfilled in verse 38.

Verse 9

Tirhakah (Taharqa) was the Pharaoh of the 25th Dynasty of Egypt (Kush/Ethiopia). This external military threat diverted Sennacherib's attention, setting up the conditions for God's eventual intervention.

Verse 14

Spreading the letter before the Lord is a profound act of faith, treating the physical threat as a direct challenge to God’s honor and submitting the crisis entirely to divine judgment.

Verse 16

Hezekiah invokes the divine name ('LORD of hosts') and specifically references God dwelling 'between the cherubims,' grounding his prayer in established covenant theology associated with the Ark of the Covenant.

Verse 19

Hezekiah contrasts the false, man-made gods of the conquered nations with the one true God, validating his claim that Yahweh alone has the power to save.

Verse 20

The ultimate goal of the prayer is not merely Judah's survival, but the vindication of Yahweh's sovereignty 'that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.'

Verse 22

The 'Daughter of Zion' personifies Jerusalem as a virgin protected by God, expressing contempt and scorn for the arrogant invader, Sennacherib.

Verse 23

This rhetorical question redefines Sennacherib's arrogance: his pride was directed not against Judah, but against the 'Holy One of Israel,' making his sin cosmic in scope.

Verse 26

God asserts that Assyria's military success was not due to its own strength, but was planned by Yahweh from 'ancient times' as a tool of divine judgment against other nations.

Verse 29

The imagery of the hook in the nose and bridle in the lips refers to common Assyrian practices of controlling defeated captive kings, ironically applied here by God to the Assyrian king himself.

Verse 30

This verse offers a sign of supernatural restoration and provision. The lack of planting for two years (relying on self-sown crops) signifies God’s direct care for the ravaged land and people.

Verse 31

The 'remnant' surviving the siege will be firmly established again, symbolizing physical and spiritual restoration, rooting downward and bearing fruit upward.

Verse 33

This prophecy guarantees the absolute protection of Jerusalem; the Assyrian army will not even be allowed to begin siege operations against the city walls.

Verse 35

God offers two covenantal reasons for the defense: 'for mine own sake' (to uphold divine honor) and 'for my servant David's sake' (upholding the eternal Davidic covenant).

Verse 36

The fulfillment is miraculous: 185,000 Assyrian soldiers were killed by the Angel of the Lord in a single night. This event confirmed the prophetic word and ensured Jerusalem's survival.

Verse 37

Sennacherib’s return to Nineveh marked the end of his campaign against Judah and the fulfillment of the immediate prophecy that he would not enter Jerusalem (v. 34).

Verse 38

Sennacherib’s assassination by his own sons is the final fulfillment of the prophecy given in verse 7, demonstrating that even powerful kings are subject to God’s inescapable judgment.

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