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Commentary on Isaiah 36 verses 1–10
We shall here only observe some practical lessons. 1. A people may be in the way of their duty and yet meet with trouble and distress. Hezekiah was reforming, and his people were in some measure reformed; and yet their country is at that time invaded and a great part of it laid waste. Perhaps they began to grow remiss and cool in the work of reformation, were doing it by halves, and ready to sit down short of a thorough reformation; and then God visited them with this judgment, to put life into them and that good cause. We must not wonder if, when we are doing well, God sends afflictions to quicken us to do better, to do our best, and to press forward towards perfection. 2. That we must never be secure of the continuance of our peace in this world, nor think our mountain stands so strong that it cannot be moved. Hezekiah was not only a pious king, but prudent, both in his administration at home and in his treaties abroad. His affairs were in a good posture, and he seemed particularly to be upon good terms with the king of Assyria, for he had lately made his peace with him by a rich present (Kg2 18:14), and yet that perfidious prince pours an army into his country all of a sudden and lays it waste. It is good for us therefore always to keep up an expectation of trouble, that, when it comes, it may be no surprise to us, and then it will be the less a terror. 3. God sometimes permits the enemies of his people, even those that are most impious and treacherous, to prevail far against them. The king of Assyria took all, or most, of the defenced cities of Judah, and then the country would of course be an easy prey to him. Wickedness may prosper awhile, but cannot prosper always. 4. Proud men love to talk big, to boast of what they are, and have, and have done, nay and of what they will do, to insult over others, and set all mankind at defiance, though thereby they render themselves ridiculous to all wise men and obnoxious to the wrath of that God who resists the proud. But thus they think to make themselves feared, though they make themselves hated, and to carry their point by great swelling words of vanity, Jde 1:16. 5. The enemies of God's people endeavour to conquer them by frightening them, especially by frightening them from their confidence in God. Thus Rabshakeh here, with noise and banter, runs down Hezekiah as utterly unable to cope with his master, or in the least to make head against him. It concerns us therefore, that we may keep our ground against the enemies of our souls, to keep up our spirits by keeping up our hope in God. 6. It is acknowledged, on all hands, that those who forsake God's service forfeit his protection. If that had been true which Rabshakeh alleged, that Hezekiah had thrown down God's altars, he might justly infer that he could not with any assurance trust in him for succour and relief, Isa 36:7, We may say thus to presuming sinners, who say that they trust in the Lord and in his mercy. Is not this he whose commandments they have lived in the contempt of, whose name they have dishonoured, and whose ordinances they have slighted? How then can they expect to find favour with him? 7. It is an easy thing, and very common, for those that persecute the church and people of God to pretend a commission from him for so doing. Rabshakeh could say, Have I now come up without the Lord? when really he had come up against the Lord, Isa 37:28. Those that kill the servants of the Lord think they do him service and say, Let the Lord be glorified. But, sooner or later, they will be made to know their error to their cost, to their confusion.
Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was leader of the house, went out to him, as well as Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph from the commentaries. This is the same Elakim, son of Hilkiah, about whom we read above in the vision of the valley of Zion: “I will call my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him in your tunic, and I will strengthen him with your girdle, and I will give your power into his hand, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.”
(Chapter 36—Verse 1 and following) And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the washer's field. And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him. And Rabshakeh said to them, "Say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours?' By what plan and courage do you prepare to rebel? On whom do you have confidence, because you have turned away from me? Look, you trust in this broken reed staff, in Egypt: if a man leans on it, it will enter into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all who trust in him. But if you say to me, 'We trust in the LORD our God,' is it not he whose heights and altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar'? And now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, and you will not be able to provide riders for them. And how will you withstand the face of one judge from my lord's servants? And if you rely on Egypt: and on chariots, and on horsemen: and now, did I ascend to this land without the Lord, to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up on this land and destroy it. The history is clear and does not require interpretation: and this same thing is reported more fully in the volumes of Kings and Chronicles. In the third year of Hosea the son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. And afterwards: In the Lord God of Israel he trusted, and there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who came before him. He clung to the Lord and did not turn away from his commandments. He did the commandments that the Lord had given to Moses. Therefore, the Lord was with him, and he acted wisely in all that he did (2 Kings 18:2,7). But he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. In the sixth year of his reign, Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, captured Samaria and took away the ten tribes of Israel that were called Israel. He deported them to Assyria and settled them in Halah and Habor, along the rivers of the Gozan, in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings 17 and 18). After seven years, that is, in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, entered Judah and besieged its fortified cities, intending to capture them. And when he besieged Lachish, Hezekiah sent messengers to him, saying: 'I have sinned, withdraw from me and whatever you impose on me, I will bear.' And when he had paid three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold to the king's command, the king of Assyria broke down the doors of the temple of the Lord and took away its panels, which he himself had put up, and he sent the Tartan and the Rab-saris and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And when they had come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the washer's field, and they called for the king. But Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, went out to them, along with the court secretary, Shebna, and the court historian, Joah, the son of Asaph. Rabshekah addressed them as follows: “Tell Hezekiah: This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says... and so on, as recorded in the history. In this, we can see the arrogance of Rabshekah, who, in a manner contrary to true strength, imitates the custom of the prophets. While they usually begin their pronouncements with 'This is what the Lord says,' he now says, 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says.' But Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, went out to him, along with the royal secretary Shebna and the court official Joah son of Asaph. Eliakim is the same person mentioned in the Vision of the Valley of Zion (see Isaiah 22:20-21): I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him in your robe and fasten your sash around him. I will hand your authority over to him, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the people of Judah, and so on. But these things are said to Shebna, who was the governor of the Temple before him, of whom it is written in the same vision: Go and enter to him who dwells in the tabernacle, to Shebna the governor of the Temple, whom the Hebrews say handed over his hands to the Assyrians, terrified by Rabsaris' threats, and betrayed the lower part of Jerusalem to the enemy, and except for the fortress of Zion and the Temple, nothing else remained that the Assyrian did not hold. Where are those who think that Sobna, who is now going out with Eliacim and Joahe to meet Rabsacen, is the same person as before. There, Sobna, the head of the Temple, is said to be captured by the Assyrians; but here Sobna is a scribe, that is, a γραμματεὶς, who is called Sopher in Hebrew, and is the same as the previous one. Rabsacen, on the other hand, is believed to be the son of Isaiah the Jewish prophet, who also was a traitor; and the other son of Isaiah, who is called Jasub, is said to be left behind, which means 'left' in our language. Others, on the other hand, think that he was a Samaritan, and therefore knew the Hebrew language, and boldly and impiously blasphemed the Lord. Let us consider the words of Rabshakeh; and first what he says: You trust in this broken reed, in Egypt, is false: for no history tells that Hezekiah sent to the Egyptians and asked for the help of Pharaoh. And what he infers: If you answer me, we trust in the Lord our God, is true. But again, he joins a lie to the truth, that Ezechias took away its high places and altars. For he did this not against God, but for God, so that idolatry and ancient error being destroyed, he commanded God to be worshipped in Jerusalem, where his Temple was: although we read that by a very bad custom, the people offered sacrifices to God on altars already built on mountains and hills. And he, wanting to show the scarcity of the besieged, promises two thousand horses, of which Ezechias cannot provide the riders, not because of the weakness of the people of Judah, who lacked knowledge of riding: but by observing the commandments of God, who had commanded Israel through Moses concerning the king: He shall not multiply horses for himself, nor have many wives. And he said to me, 'By yourself, you cannot withstand the servant of Sennacherib, who am the least of his servants, how then will you withstand the great power of the king? And to what he had said, if you answer me, we trust in the Lord our God, he cunningly and wisely responded that he had come not by his own will, but by the command of the Lord. The Lord said to me, Go upon this land and destroy it. And this is the proof: certainly, without the will of the Lord, I could not have come here.' But when I come and capture many cities, and part of Jerusalem remains untouched, it is evident that I have come by its will. I read in a certain Commentary that the same person is Sennacherib who also captured Samaria, which is completely false. For the Sacred History recounts that first Phul, the king of the Assyrians, devastated the ten tribes under Manahen, the king of Israel. Secondly, Theglathphalasar came against Samaria under Phacee, the son of Romelia of Israel. Salmanasar III, under the reign of King Hoshea of Israel, supposedly captured the entire city of Samaria (2 Kings 15:17). Sargon II is said to be the fourth king who captured Ashdod (Isaiah 20). Asarhaddon, the fifth king, supposedly relocated Israel and sent the Samaritans as guardians to the land of Judah (2 Kings 17). Sennacherib, the sixth king, besieged Jerusalem after capturing Lachish and other cities of Judah during the reign of King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18). However, some believe that these names could refer to one and the same king with multiple names.
But these things were said to Shebna, who was leader of the temple before Eliakim, about whom it is written, “Go, approach him who lives in the tabernacle, Shebna the leader of the temple.” Acting under the threat of the Rabshakeh, the Hebrews betrayed him to the Assyrians and handed over the lower part of Jerusalem to the enemies, and nothing remained of what the Assyrians had left behind except for the temple and the ark of Zion. Hence they err who think that the Shebna who now goes out with Eliakim and Joah to the Rabshakeh is the same as the one above. For that Shebna was made leader of the temple which, it is said, was to be taken by the Assyrians. But this Shebna is a scribe, that is, a grammateis [Greek], which is called sofēr in Hebrew, and is homōnymos [Greek] to the one above.
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SUMMARY
Isaiah 36:3 introduces the three high-ranking officials King Hezekiah dispatched to meet with Rabshakeh, the Assyrian field commander, who had arrived to demand Jerusalem's surrender. These key figures—Eliakim, the palace administrator; Shebna, the royal scribe; and Joah, the recorder—represent Hezekiah's formal and strategic response to the formidable Assyrian threat, setting the stage for the dramatic confrontation and divine intervention that follows in this pivotal historical narrative.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The primary literary device at play in Isaiah 36:3 is Delegation and Formal Introduction. By explicitly naming the three high-ranking officials and their specific roles, the text immediately establishes the gravity and formality of the impending confrontation. This detailed introduction serves to emphasize the strategic importance Hezekiah placed on this encounter. Furthermore, there is an element of Anticipation, as the dispatching of these key figures sets the stage for the dramatic dialogue and the ensuing spiritual and military crisis that unfolds in the subsequent chapters. The precise listing of their titles also functions as a form of Verisimilitude, lending historical authenticity and weight to the narrative by grounding it in the known administrative structures of ancient Judah.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Isaiah 36:3, by introducing the specific officials sent by Hezekiah, underscores the principle of wise leadership and the importance of seeking counsel in times of crisis. Hezekiah, rather than acting impulsively, dispatches his most trusted and competent advisors to assess the formidable Assyrian threat. This act of delegation highlights a king who understands the need for strategic engagement and accurate information gathering, even when facing overwhelming odds. The subsequent narrative, where these officials report back to Hezekiah, leading to his fervent prayer and God's miraculous intervention, demonstrates that while human wisdom and strategy are valuable, ultimate reliance must be placed on divine power and faithfulness. It sets the stage for a profound theological lesson: even the most dire human circumstances can be transformed by God's sovereign hand when His people turn to Him in humility and faith.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Isaiah 36:3 offers valuable insights for contemporary life, particularly in how we approach overwhelming challenges. King Hezekiah, faced with an existential threat from the Assyrian superpower, did not panic or act in isolation. Instead, he thoughtfully dispatched his most capable and trusted officials—Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah—to gather information and engage with the adversary. This demonstrates the wisdom of seeking counsel and delegating responsibility to competent individuals in times of crisis. For us, this means recognizing that we are not meant to bear every burden alone. When confronted with difficult decisions, overwhelming circumstances, or external pressures, it is prudent and wise to seek the advice of trusted mentors, spiritual leaders, or skilled professionals. Moreover, the narrative that follows this verse reminds us that while human strategy is important, it is ultimately our reliance on God that secures true deliverance. Hezekiah's subsequent turn to prayer and God's miraculous intervention serve as a powerful testament to the truth that even the most formidable human threats are subject to God's ultimate power and faithfulness. We are called to exercise wisdom in our preparations and actions, but always to anchor our hope and trust in the Lord.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Who were Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah, and what were their specific roles in King Hezekiah's administration?
Answer: These three individuals were among the highest-ranking officials in King Hezekiah's royal court, each holding a critical administrative position. Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, held the esteemed title of "over the house" (or "steward of the house"), which was essentially the chief minister or prime minister. He managed the king's household, finances, and often acted as the king's chief representative and advisor. Shebna, the scribe, was a royal secretary responsible for drafting official documents, managing state archives, and handling foreign correspondence. This role required literacy, diplomacy, and administrative skill. Joah, Asaph's son, was "the recorder," whose duty was to chronicle significant events, royal decrees, and diplomatic negotiations for the official annals of the kingdom. Their collective presence underscored the formal and serious nature of the encounter with Rabshakeh, ensuring that the king received accurate information and that the events were properly documented.
Why did King Hezekiah send these specific officials to meet with Rabshakeh, the Assyrian commander?
Answer: King Hezekiah sent these particular officials because their roles were essential for handling a high-stakes diplomatic and military confrontation. Eliakim, as the chief administrator, was the most suitable representative to engage in direct dialogue with the Assyrian commander, embodying the king's authority. Shebna, the scribe, was crucial for accurately recording Rabshakeh's demands and any subsequent negotiations, ensuring that no detail was lost. Joah, the recorder, was present to officially document the entire exchange for the kingdom's historical archives, providing an undisputed account of the Assyrian aggression. Their combined presence ensured a comprehensive and formal response to the Assyrian challenge, reflecting Hezekiah's strategic prudence in the face of an existential threat to Jerusalem, as detailed in Isaiah 36.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The delegation of Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah to confront the Assyrian threat in Isaiah 36:3, while a historical event, subtly foreshadows aspects of Christ's mission and the nature of God's redemptive plan. Just as Hezekiah sent his trusted representatives to engage with an overwhelming enemy, God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, as the ultimate and perfect representative to confront the greatest enemy of humanity: sin and death. Jesus is the true "Steward over the House" of God, managing and building His spiritual household, the Church, as referenced in Hebrews 3:6. He is the living Word, the ultimate "Scribe" who perfectly reveals the Father's will and truth, embodying the very wisdom of God that was "recorded" for us in the Scriptures (John 1:1-3). Furthermore, Jesus is the divine "Recorder" who perfectly fulfills all prophecy and records the names of His redeemed in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:12). The limited human delegation in Isaiah 36 ultimately relied on God's miraculous intervention for deliverance, pointing forward to Christ, who is not merely a delegate but God Himself, who achieved ultimate victory over sin and death through His sacrifice and resurrection, securing eternal deliverance for all who believe (Colossians 2:15). The historical deliverance of Jerusalem becomes a type of the spiritual deliverance offered through Christ, the true King and Savior.