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Commentary on Isaiah 37 verses 1–7
We may observe here, 1. That the best way to baffle the malicious designs of our enemies against us is to be driven by them to God and to our duty and so to fetch meat out of the eater. Rabshakeh intended to frighten Hezekiah from the Lord, but it proves that he frightens him to the Lord. The wind, instead of forcing the traveller's coat from him, makes him wrap it the closer about him. The more Rabshakeh reproaches God the more Hezekiah studies to honour him, by rending his clothes for the dishonour done to him and attending in his sanctuary to know his mind. 2. That it well becomes great men to desire the prayers of good men and good ministers. Hezekiah sent messengers, and honourable ones, those of the first rank, to Isaiah, to desire his prayers, remembering how much his prophecies of late had plainly looked towards the events of the present day, in dependence upon which, it is probable, he doubted not but that the issue would be comfortable, yet he would have it to be so in answer to prayer: This is a day of trouble, therefore let it be a day of prayer. 3. When we are most at a plunge we should be most earnest in prayer: Now that the children are brought to the birth, but there is not strength to bring forth, now let prayer come, and help at a dead lift. When pains are most strong let prayers be most lively; and, when we meet with the greatest difficulties, then is a time to stir up not ourselves only, but others also, to take hold on God. Prayer is the midwife of mercy, that helps to bring it forth. 4. It is an encouragement to pray though we have but some hopes of mercy (Isa 37:4): It may be the Lord thy God will hear; who knows but he will return and repent? The it may be of the prospect of the haven of blessings should quicken us with double diligence to ply the oar of prayer. 5. When there is a remnant left, and but a remnant, it concerns us to lift up a prayer for that remnant, Isa 37:4. The prayer that reaches heaven must be lifted up by a strong faith, earnest desires, and a direct intention to the glory of God, all which should be quickened when we come to the last stake. 6. Those that have made God their enemy we have no reason to be afraid of, for they are marked for ruin; and, though they may hiss, they cannot hurt. Rabshakeh has blasphemed God, and therefore let not Hezekiah be afraid of him, Isa 37:6. He has made God a party to the cause by his invectives, and therefore judgment will certainly be given against him. God will certainly plead his own cause. 7. Sinners' fears are but prefaces to their falls. He shall hear the rumour of the slaughter of his army, which shall oblige him to retire to his own land, and there he shall be slain, Isa 37:7. The terrors that pursue him shall bring him at last to the king of terrors, Job 18:11, Job 18:14. The curses that come upon sinners shall overtake them.
For the sake of royal worship, therefore, Hezekiah wrapped himself in sackcloth and, walking from his palace to the temple, sent Eliakim, the high priest, Shebna, the scribe, and senior priests to the prophet Isaiah son of Amos, an act that must be attributed to the humility and prudence of the king. He proceeded to the temple and sent leaders of the people and senior priests, not draped in priestly stoles but covered in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amos, concerning which we read in the book of Kings: “Himself covered in sackcloth, having entered the house of the Lord, he sent Eliakim, leader of the house, and Shebna the scribe and senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amos.” Because Isaiah was writing a history about himself here in his book, he did not call himself a prophet but the son of a prophet, whereas the passage just quoted does use the title prophet because it comes from a different author of the history. Similarly, we read from the Gospel of Matthew that Matthew called himself a publican, whereas other Evangelists refrained from calling him a publican, granting him such apostolic dignity.
(Chapter 37, Verse 1 and following) Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him what the field commander had said. When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, 'This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them.' If you want to know how the Lord your God heard the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians, his lord, sent to blaspheme the living God and to reproach the words that the Lord your God heard, lift up a prayer for the remainder that have been found. Then the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, and Isaiah said to them: 'Thus you shall say to your master: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria blasphemed me.' Behold, I will give to him the spirit, and he will hear the message, and he will return to his land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his land. Leaving aside the clear things, let us discuss only those in which the hidden meaning is present. They tear their clothes because they hear Rabshekah blaspheming. The king himself tears his own clothes because he believed it to be his and the people's sins that Rabshekah has come all the way to the gate of Jerusalem and has spoken such things against the Lord. Whereupon, the high priest, because he believed that he had blasphemed the Savior, tore his garments (Matt. XXVI); and Paul and Barnabas, when the people of Lystra wanted to worship them as gods, tore their garments (Acts XIV). Therefore, he wrapped himself in sackcloth for the royal worship, and as he walked from the palace to the temple, he sent Eliakim the high priest, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests to Isaiah the son of Amos the prophet. In this, the humility and prudence of the king are worth considering. He himself proceeded to the Temple; the leaders of the people and the elders of the priests, not dressed in priestly garments but covered in sackcloth, sent to Isaiah son of Amos, the prophet. Concerning him, it is read in the Book of Kings: He himself was covered with a mantle, and entered the house of the Lord, Eliakim the steward of the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests sent covered in sacks to Isaiah the prophet, son of Amos (2 Kings 19:1-2). Here, because Isaiah himself was writing the history about himself, he did not call himself a Prophet, but the son of a Prophet; there, because another person was writing the history, he writes about him as a Prophet. Indeed, we read this also concerning the Evangelist Matthew, that Matthew himself said that he was a tax collector (Matt. IX); but the other Evangelists remained silent about the name tax collector, and only mentioned his apostolic dignity; and that in the ranks of the Apostles, he is second in his own account and first in the others'. And they said to him: Thus says Hezekiah, not a king, not swollen with the name of empire: The day of tribulation, and the day of corruption, and the day of blasphemy: the day of our tribulation, the day of God's correction, the day of the enemies' blasphemy. And the likeness of a woman in labor and in distress, that she has come to labor and cannot give birth, nor can she say: We have conceived, O Lord, from fear of you, and we have grieved and given birth to the spirit of salvation. It follows: As how should the Lord your God hear the words of Rabsaces (Isaiah XXVI, 18, according to the LXX). For we do not dare to say O Lord, Lord of all, when such great wrath is upon us; but we say, your Lord. And we have this confidence of vengeance: because the living God is blasphemed by the worshipper of dead idols. And they reproached with the words, which the Lord your God heard: Therefore, lift up our lying prayer: not for all the people who have already perished, but for the remnants that are besieged. And when the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, the name of the Prophet was silent again, so that he would preserve the humility that had been started. And Isaiah anticipated them: for with the same spirit with which he knew the future, he had also heard the absent king: and he said what they should respond to their Lord, humbled in this trust of conscience. He said, 'Say to your master, who is your Lord; for my Lord says these things: Do not fear the words by which not you, but I am blasphemed. Nor do I say that I am going to do all the things that the king of the Assyrians wishes, lest it seem that I am boasting of my power; but that a spirit, not of God, but an adversary, is to be given to him. And upon hearing the message, let him return to his own land, and let him fall by the sword in it, so that both things which Hezekiah desired equally, he would hear: that he would be freed from the siege and danger, and that the angry and hostile king would die in his own land.' If someone asks why the book of Prophecies, which is written in the volumes of Kings and Chronicles, seems mixed, let them consider that the prophecy of history is linked, both concerning the liberation of the city and the destruction of Assyria, and concerning the return of the sun with ten and fifteen years elapsed, which is both prophecy and history.
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SUMMARY
Isaiah 37:2 vividly portrays King Hezekiah's immediate and profound response to the existential threat posed by the Assyrian Empire. In a display of national humility and desperate reliance on divine intervention, Hezekiah dispatches his most senior officials—Eliakim, the palace administrator; Shebna, the royal scribe; and the venerable elders of the priests, all symbolically clothed in sackcloth—to seek a word of guidance and hope from the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz. This pivotal moment underscores Judah's dire spiritual and military predicament and the king's recognition that true deliverance must come from God through His appointed messenger.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Isaiah 37:2 masterfully employs several literary devices to heighten the drama and theological significance of the scene. Symbolism is profoundly evident in the "sackcloth" worn by the delegation. This coarse garment is a universal symbol of deep mourning, humility, and desperate supplication in the ancient Near East, visually communicating the profound spiritual and national distress of Judah and its leaders' complete dependence on God. The composition of the delegation itself—Eliakim (representing the royal administration), Shebna (representing the royal bureaucracy and diplomacy), and the elders of the priests (representing religious authority)—functions as a powerful form of Synecdoche. These key figures collectively represent the entire kingdom of Judah, its political, administrative, and spiritual leadership, all united in their humble plea to God through the prophet. This collective action also serves as Foreshadowing, subtly hinting that such a profound and earnest appeal to God will inevitably be met with a powerful divine response, setting the stage for the miraculous deliverance that follows.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Isaiah 37:2 powerfully illustrates the biblical principle that in moments of overwhelming national or personal crisis, true leadership and genuine faith are characterized by profound humility and an earnest, immediate turning to God. Hezekiah's decision to dispatch his highest officials, clothed in the garments of mourning and supplication, to Isaiah demonstrates a profound recognition that human wisdom, military strength, and political maneuvering are ultimately insufficient against a sovereign God. This act of national repentance and reliance on God's prophetic word underscores that God responds to the humble cries of His people, often in ways that defy human expectation. It teaches us that our primary recourse in desperation should always be to acknowledge God's supreme authority and our utter dependence on His grace and power, inviting His miraculous intervention.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
The scene depicted in Isaiah 37:2 offers timeless and profound lessons for believers navigating the complexities and challenges of contemporary life. When confronted with overwhelming difficulties—whether personal crises, communal struggles, or global anxieties—our innate human tendency often inclines us toward self-reliance, intellectual strategizing, or the accumulation of resources. However, Hezekiah's exemplary response calls us to adopt a radically different posture: one of deep humility and immediate, unreserved dependence on God. His act of sending a high-level delegation, clothed in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah serves as a powerful reminder that true wisdom begins with acknowledging our inherent limitations and turning to the divine source of all wisdom and power. It teaches us that God frequently manifests His greatest power and provides His clearest guidance when we have reached the absolute end of our own strength. This narrative invites us to set aside pride and self-sufficiency, to humble ourselves before the Almighty, and to seek His face with earnest supplication. Such a posture of dependence not only opens the door for God's miraculous intervention and guidance in our lives, but also deepens our faith and transforms our understanding of His sovereign care, just as it did for the kingdom of Judah.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did Hezekiah send such important officials to Isaiah, and why were they wearing sackcloth?
Answer: King Hezekiah dispatched his most trusted and high-ranking officials—Eliakim, the palace administrator; Shebna, the royal scribe; and the elders of the priests—to Isaiah because the kingdom of Judah was facing an existential threat from the mighty Assyrian army, which had already conquered much of the land and was besieging Jerusalem. This was a national crisis of the highest order, requiring divine intervention, and Isaiah was God's recognized prophet, serving as a vital conduit for God's word. Their attire of sackcloth was a deeply significant cultural and religious practice in the ancient Near East. It symbolized profound grief, deep distress, humility, and desperate supplication to God. By wearing sackcloth, the delegation publicly expressed the nation's collective mourning, repentance, and urgent plea for God's mercy and deliverance, mirroring Hezekiah's own actions in Isaiah 37:1. It underscored that human efforts alone were insufficient, and their only hope lay in God's miraculous intervention.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Isaiah 37:2, with its poignant depiction of a desperate king and nation seeking a divine word through a prophet, powerfully foreshadows the ultimate and perfect communication of God's will through Jesus Christ. Just as Hezekiah's delegation sought a message of hope and deliverance from Isaiah, humanity, in its spiritual distress and bondage to sin, desperately needed a definitive word from God. Jesus is revealed as the very Word made flesh, the complete and final revelation of God to humanity, far surpassing any prophetic utterance. He is the ultimate Prophet, through whom God speaks directly and perfectly, as affirmed in Hebrews 1:1-2. Furthermore, the elders of the priests, clothed in sackcloth, represent the Old Covenant's desperate plea for atonement and deliverance from sin and judgment. Christ, however, is not merely a priest but the Great High Priest who offered Himself as the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice, taking away the sin of the world and securing eternal deliverance, thereby eliminating the need for sackcloth and desperate pleas from a human priesthood. His ultimate act of humility on the cross, where He bore the weight of humanity's sin, fulfills the spirit of humility and dependence on God seen in Hezekiah's delegation, offering a salvation that no human prophet or priest could ever achieve. Through Him, we find not just temporary reprieve from earthly enemies, but eternal deliverance from sin and death, as celebrated in passages like Romans 5:8 and Colossians 2:13-15.