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Isaiah36

Sennacherib, King of Assyria, invades Judah and sends his chief officer, Rabshakeh, with a great army to Jerusalem. Rabshakeh publicly challenges King Hezekiah's trust in the LORD and reliance on Egypt, mocking their ability to resist Assyria. He attempts to demoralize the people of Jerusalem, urging them to surrender and questioning the power of their God compared to the gods of other conquered nations. Hezekiah's officials report these blasphemous words to the king.
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Sennacherib Invades Judah

1
Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. ​
2
And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field. ​
3
Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder. ​

Rabshakeh Taunts Hezekiah

4
And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? ​
5
I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
6
Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. ​
7
But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? ​
8
Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
9
How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
10
And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. ​

Rabshakeh Addresses the People Directly

11
Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. ​
12
But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? ​
13
Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
14
Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.
15
Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. ​
16
Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; ​
17
Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. ​
18
Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? ​
19
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? ​
20
Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

Hezekiah's Officials Report Back

21
But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not. ​
22
Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh. ​

Study Notes for Isaiah 36

Verse 1

The 14th year of King Hezekiah (c. 701 BC) marks the historical setting for Sennacherib's famous campaign, which devastated much of Judah before besieging Jerusalem. This account is nearly identical to 2 Kings 18:13–19:7.

Verse 2

Lachish was a major fortified city captured by Assyria before Jerusalem. The Rabshakeh ('Chief Cupbearer' or 'Chief Officer') was a high-ranking military official responsible for diplomacy and psychological warfare. The upper pool location recalls Isaiah’s meeting with Ahaz (Isa 7:3).

Verse 3

Eliakim and Shebna are high officials previously named in Isaiah’s prophecies (Isa 22:15–25), highlighting the seriousness of the diplomatic mission sent to meet the Assyrian commander.

Verse 4

The title 'the great king' was a common appellation used by powerful Mesopotamian rulers, especially Assyrian kings, to assert their universal sovereignty and dominance over lesser rulers like Hezekiah.

Verse 6

Egypt is consistently portrayed in Isaiah as an unreliable and dangerous ally, symbolized here as a ‘broken reed.’ Trusting in Egypt, rather than Yahweh, was the source of Judah’s political and spiritual folly (cf. Isa 30:1-7).

Verse 7

Rabshakeh cleverly turns Hezekiah’s successful religious reforms (destroying the ‘high places,’ or *bamoth*) against him, suggesting that Hezekiah had angered his own God by confining worship to Jerusalem.

Verse 10

This claim of divine sanction is key Assyrian propaganda, intended to break the morale of the defenders by suggesting that resistance was futile because Yahweh Himself had commissioned the destruction.

Verse 11

The officials request Aramaic (the 'Syrian language'), which was the common language of international diplomacy, hoping to keep the demoralizing threats hidden from the common people who only spoke Hebrew.

Verse 12

Rabshakeh refuses to speak privately and uses deliberately vulgar language to emphasize the horrific conditions of siege warfare (eating and drinking bodily waste) that awaited the inhabitants if they refused to surrender.

Verse 15

This verse shows that Hezekiah was actively promoting faith in Yahweh’s deliverance, a trust Rabshakeh attempts to undermine through mockery and fear.

Verse 16

Rabshakeh presents a false promise of immediate peace and prosperity (eating from one’s own vine and fig tree) as an incentive for immediate surrender.

Verse 17

The Assyrian promise of a better land reveals the true intention: mass deportation. Assyria systematically relocated conquered populations to prevent future rebellion and to destabilize local identity.

Verse 18

The Assyrian strategy culminates in a theological comparison, placing Yahweh on the same level as the defeated gods of the surrounding nations.

Verse 19

Hamath, Arphad, and Sepharvaim were cities already conquered by Assyria. The reference to Samaria (capital of the Northern Kingdom, Israel) is especially potent, as it was conquered in 722 BC despite its inhabitants trusting in Yahweh.

Verse 21

The officials’ silence was a deliberate act of obedience to the king’s command, preventing Rabshakeh from gaining further psychological advantage through public debate.

Verse 22

Rending their clothes was the traditional expression of deep grief, horror, or hearing blasphemy, signaling the profound spiritual and physical threat posed by the Assyrian challenge to God’s honor and Jerusalem’s safety.

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