2 Kings 19

AND it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sack cloth, and went into the house of the LORD.

And he sent Eliakim, which was over the houshold, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sack cloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos.

And they said unto him, Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke Either, 1. From God, wherein God rebukes and chastens us sorely. Or rather, 2. From the Assyrian, who Reviles and Reproacheth us: for his business here is to complain, not of God, but of the Assyrian., and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth We are like a poor Travelling Woman in great Extremity, and having no strength left to help her self, and to bring forth her Infant into the World. We have attempted to deliver our selves from the Assyrian Yoke; and had carried on that work to some maturity, and as we thought, brought it to the Birth; but now we have no might to finish, unless thou assist us. We have begun an happy Reformation, and are hindred by this insolent Assyrian, from bringing it to perfection. See 2 Chron. 32. 1..

It may be He speaks doubtfully, because he knew not whether God would not deliver them all up into the Assyrians hand, as he, and his people deserved. But sometimes this is not a word of doubt, but of good hope; as Numb. 22. 33. Iosh. 14. 12. the LORD thy God To whom thou art dear and precious. He says not our God, because he seemed to have forsaken and rejected them; and they, by their Designs had forfeited all their Interest in him. will hear i. e. Will show by his Actions, that he has heard them with just Indignation. all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words Or rather, will reprove him, (An Ellipsis of the Pronoun, which is frequent in the Hebrew Tongue) for the words, as the Syriack, and Arabick, and Caldee render it. which the LORD thy God has heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant This he mentions as an Argument, to stir up Isaiah to pray, and to move God's Compassion towards them; That they were but a small Remnant either of God's People, of whom Ten Tribes were now lost: or of the Kingdom of Iudah, which had been greatly wasted and depopulated in the days of Ahaz; and now lately by this Assyrian, ver. 13. that are left.

So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

¶ And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus says the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

Behold, I will send a blast upon him Heb. a wind, a Storm or Tempest, by which name God's Judgments are oft called; i. e. a violent, and sudden, and terrible Stroke; namely, That miraculous Destruction of his Army, of which ver. 35. Although the place may be rendred thus, I will put a Spirit within him, so that he shall hear a rumour, and return, &c. For by Spirit, is many times understood an Imagination, or Inclination, or Affection; in which sense we read of the Spirit of fear; 2 Tim. 1. 7. Of the Spirit of jealousie, Numb. 5. 14. Of the Spirit of slumber, Rom. 11. 8. Or, a Spirit against (for so the Hebrew Position Beth is oft used, as has been noted before) him; Of whom this Word is elsewhere used, as Iudg. 9. 23. 1 Sam. 16. 14, 23. 1 King. 22. 23. as it is also given to Man's Soul, Iob 12. 10. Eccles. 12. 7. which is a Spiritual Substance, as the Angels are. And this Interpretation seems most agreeable to the design of this Verse, which is in brief to represent all the Judgments of God which were to befall him, and which are related in the following History; and therefore all the other Particulars being contained in the following Branches of this Verse; the tidings of Tirhakah, ver. 9. in these words, he shall hear a rumour; his returning to his own Land, and being slain there, ver. 36, 37. in the next words, it seems most probable, That the chiefest of all the Judgments, to wit, the Destruction of 185 thousand Soldiers in one night, ver. 35. is not omitted here, but expressed in the first branch of the Verse; and the Spirit here is the same thing, which is here called an Angel; this latter Word being there used, to limit and explain the former, which otherwise was of a doubtful signification., and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

¶ So Rab-shakeh returned To the King, to give him an account of the Treaty, and to advise with him what was further to be done; leaving behind him the Army under the other Commanders mentioned, Chap. 18. 17. as is most probable from the other threatning Message here following; which would have been very unsuitable, if his Siege had been raised., and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish Not being able to take it..

And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia Heb. of Chush, i. e. Either, 1. of Arabia, as that Word is most commonly meant; of which see the notes, and especially my Latin Synopsis, upon Numb. 12. 1. Or rather, 2. Of Ethiopia beyond Egypt. Nor was there any need that he should force his Passage through Egypt, which is objected against this Opinion by a very Learned Man; because the Egyptians (against whom this Sennacherib Warred, as Heathen Historians, Herodotus and Berosus, relate) and the Ethiopians were Confederates in this Expedition, as Iosephus expresly affirms; who lived above 1600 Years nearer the time when this was done, than we; and therefore was more likely to understand it., Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,

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 delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered No certainly, never expect it: such questions oft imply a denial; as Gen. 18. 17.?

Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar Several places about, or beyond Euphrates. See Gen. 11. 31. Ezek. 27. 23.?

Where is the king Either, 1. Their god, whom he here calls their King; because they looked upon him as their Protector and Governour; which Kings are, or should be to their People. Or rather, 2. Their King properly so called. And as before he compared their gods with the God of Ierusalem; so now he compares their kings with King Hezekiah; and by both intends to persuade them, that neither their God, nor their King, was able to save them out of his Hand. of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Henah, and Ivah Of which see the notes on Chap. 18. 34.?

¶ And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: And Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD i. e. Into the Court of the Temple: for further he might not enter., and spread it before the LORD i. e. Before the Ark, or Temple: which... e did, not to acquaint God, but to strengthen his own Faith, and quicken himself to Prayer..

And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth.

LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which has sent him i. e. The Messenger who brought this Railing Letter, ver. 14. Or Rabshakeh, who was easily understood out of the former Chapter, although he would not do him the honour to name him; or, sent it; to wit, This Letter. to reproach the living God.

Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations, and their lands.

And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of mens hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.

¶ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard i. e. Accepted it, and will answer it: A common Synecdoche..

This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him, The virgin So he calls Zion, or Ierusalem; partly, because she was pure in good measure from that gross Idolatry wherewith other people were defiled, which is called Spiritual Whoredom: partly, to signifie, that God would defend her from that Rape which Sennacherib intended to commit upon her, with no less Care and Zeal, than Parents do their Virgin Daughters from those who seek to Force and Deflour them: and partly, to intimate, That as she had not yet been Forced, and taken by her Barbarous Enemies, so she should still retain her Virginity in spight of his Attempts against her., the daughter of Zion i. e. The People of Zion; i. e. as it follows, of Ierusalem; so called Synecdochically from the Mountain, and City of Zion, which was an eminent part of it. Cities and Countries are oft called Mothers, as 2 Sam. 20. 19. and their Inhabitants Daughters; as Numb. 21. 25. Iosh. 17. 16. Iudg. 1. 27. Psal. 45. 13. and 137. 8. has despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn, the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at thee Laughed at all thy proud and impotent Threatnings. This is a Gesture of Contempt and Derision: of which, see Psal. 22. 7. and 44. 13. Ier. 18. 16. Matt. 27. 39..

Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice By Rabshakeh, who cryed with a loud voice, Chap. 18. 28., and lift up thine eyes on high A Gesture of Pride, and Scornfulness, Pro. 21. 4.? even against the holy One of Israel Not against man, but against the Holy God, who will not suffer thy Impious Blasphemies to go unpunished; and against the holy one of Israel, who has a special relation and kindness to Israel, having as it were set himself apart for them, and set them apart for himself, as being at this time the God of the Iews only, and not the God of the Gentiles; whom, as yet, he suffered to walk in their own evil ways, Act. 14. 16. And therefore he will Plead their Cause against thee..

By thy messengers So thou hast advanced thy very Servants above me. thou hast reproached the LORD, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains I have brought up my very Chariots to those Mountains which were thought inaccessible by my Army., to the sides of Lebanon An high Hill, famous for Cedars and Fir-trees, here following., and will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof This may be understood, either, 1. Mystically, I will destroy the Princes, and Nobles of Iudah, (which are sometimes compared to cedars, &c.) Or, their strongest Cities. Or rather, 2. Literally, I will cut down the Trees that hinder my March, and plain and prepare the way for all my Numerous Army and Chariots. And by this one Instance, he intimates, That nothing should stand in his way; no not the highest and strongest Places.: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders i. e. Those Towns and Cities (which he calls Lodgings in way of Contempt) which are in his utmost Borders, and most remote from me. I am come into the Land of Canaan at one Border Lebanon, and I resolve to March on, to the other extreme Border, and so to Destroy the whole Countrey, from one Border to another: the borders of a Land being oft put for the whole Land within its Borders; as Exod. 8. 2. Psal. 74. 17. and 147. 14. Isa. 54. 12. Or, as it is in the Hebrew, into the lodging of his border; for which in the Parallel place, Isa. 37. 24. it is, into the height of his border. And so this may be understood of Ierusalem; which it is not probable, that in all his brags he would omit; and against which, his chief Design now lay, which he here calleth a lodging, for its contemptible smallness, if compared with his great and vast City of Niniveh; or, as it is in Isa. 37. the height, for its Two famous Mountains, Zion and Moriah; or for the Mountains which were round about Ierusalem; Psal. 125. 2. and he adds, of his border, because this City was in the Border of Iudah; as being part of it in the Tribe of Benjamin, and near the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes, which was now in the Assyrians hands., and into the forest of his Carmel. h i. e. The Forest of Mount Carmel, which may seem to be another Inaccessible Place, like Lebanon. Or, into his forest, and his fruitful field. For Carmel, though properly it was a pleasant and fruitful Mountain in the Tribe of Issachar, of which see Iosh. 12. 22. yet it is oft used to signifie, any fruitful place, as is manifest from Isa. 10. 18. and 16. 10. Ier. 2. 7. And thus all the parts of the Land are here enumerated; the Mountains, the Cities, the Woods, and the Fruitful Fields. Or, his fruitful forest; to wit, Ierusalem; which is thought by many Interpreters, to be called a Forest, Ier. 21. 14. Ezek 20. 46. a name which agrees well enough to Cities, where Buildings are very numerous, and close, and high, like Trees in a Forest. And if Ierusalem might be called a Forest, it might well be called, Hezekiah's Carmel; or, Fruitful Place: because his Chief Strength, and Treasure, and Fruit was now in it: and this last Word may seem to be added here, to intimate, That this was not like other Forests, unfruitful, and barren. And so both this, and the foregoing words are understood of the same place, even of Ierusalem; the last Branch being joyned to the former by way of Apposition; into the lodging of his border, the forest of his Carmel; or, his fruitful Forest; there being no more words in the Hebrew Text.

I have digged and drank strange waters Such as were never discovered nor used by others. And therefore all thy indeavours to deprive me of Water for my Army, 2 Chron. 32. 3. are Idle and Fruitless., and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places And as I can furnish my Army with Water digged out of the Earth, by their Labour, and my Art; so I can deprive my Enemies of their Water, and can dry up their rivers, and that with the sole of my feet; i. e. With the March of my Vast and Numerous Army, who will easily do this, either by Marching thorough them, and each carrying part away with them: or by Drinking every one a little of them: or by their Pains, making many new Channels, and deriving the Waters of the River into them, as Cyrus dried up Euphrates, and thereby took Babylon..

Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it Hast thou not long since learned, that which some of thy Philosophers could, and did teach thee; That there is a Supreme and Powerful God, by whose Decree and Providence all these Wars and Calamities were sent, and ordered; whose mere Instrument thou art, so that thou hast no cause for these vain Boastings? This Work is mine, more than thine. Or, as it is in the Margent of our Bibles, Hast thou not heard that (a Particle oft understood) I have made (i. e. Constituted, or Purchased, or Adorned, for all these ways is this Hebrew Verb used) it (either Ierusalem, which he now threatned; or rather, the Iewish Nation, which he endeavoured to Root out: the Relative Pronoun, being put without the Antecedent, which is to be gathered out of the Context; of which I have formerly given instances) long ago, and formed it of ancient times? i. e. Didst thou not hear what I did for this People many Ages since, that I carried them out of Egypt in spight of Pharaoh and all his Host; and through the Red-sea, where I overthrew the Egyptians; and through the vast howling Wilderness; and then brought them into this Land by a strong hand, by which I Destroyed all their Enemies, and planted them in their stead? By which thou mayest understand how dear this People are to me, and how easily I could Destroy thee before them, if I saw it fit; and that the Places which thou hast taken, and the Conquests which thou hast made here, are not to be imputed to thy Valour, or Numbers, but unto my Providence, who for wise and just reasons, have given them up into thy hands, as it here follows. This may seem to be the truest sense, because that Barbarous Prince and People were much more likely to hear the Tidings of what God did for the Israelites in Egypt, and at the Red-sea, and in Canaan; the Fame of which was spread in all those parts; than to hear of, or be instructed in the Doctrine of God's particular Providence in the Government of several Nations, and all their Counsels, and actions of State, and War. For, though the Assyrian was indeed the rod in God's hand, &c. Isa. 10. 5. yet... e did not so understand it,... or was God in all his thoughts, but he minded only the enlargement of his own Empire, by the Destruction of other Kingdoms, as it there follows, ver. 7, 13, 14, 15.? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shoulded be to lay waste senced cities into ruinous heaps This Translation seems better to agree both with the foregoing Branch of this Verse, and with the following Verse, than the other Interrogative Translation in the Margent; and the plain sense seems to be this, Great Things I have done for this People, which thou canst not be ignorant of; but now I have changed my Course towards them, resolved by Punish them severely for their Sins; and therefore, now I have brought it to pass, i. e. I have so disposed of things by my Providence, that thou shouldest be a Great and Victorious Prince, and that thou shouldest imploy thy Forces against them, to do my work upon them, that thou shouldest be (to wit, a person raised up, and fitted, and strengthned for this very purpose) to lay waste fenced cities (and to turn them) into ruinous heaps; i. e. That thou shouldest be so successful as thou hast hitherto been, first against the Kingdom of Israel, and now against Iudah..

Therefore Because I had armed thee with my Commission and Strength, and taken away their Spirit and Courage, and withdrew my help from them, to give it to thee. their inhabitants The People of Israel, and Iudah, and other Places which thou hast Conquered. were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded, they were as the grass of the field Which is weak and quickly fading, and unable to resist any Hand or Instrument which offers Violence to it., and as the green herb, as the grass on the house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up i. e. All their Designs and Hopes were disappointed, before they could come to any Perfection or Success..

But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in Though thou dost not know me, yet I thoroughly know thee, and all thy Designs and Actions, all thy secret and subtil contrivances in the place of thy abode, in thy own Kingdom and Court; and the Execution of thy Designs abroad, what thou intendest in thy going out, and with what successes or further thoughts thou comest in, or returnest to thy own Land. For the Phrase, Compare Deut. 31. 2. Psal. 139. 2, 3., and thy rage against me i. e. Against my servant Hezekiah, and my People, against whom he was engaged, because they would not deliver up Ierusalem to him, which he demanded. Things are frequently said to be done against God, which are only done against his People, because of that near Union and Relation which is between them. See Zech. 2. 8. Acts 9. 4, 5. But the Words may well be rendred, and thy rage is with me, or before me, as the Syriack has it; or, i... manifest to me; as the Chaldee renders it. And so this Branch of the Verse answers to the former; I know, &c. and it is before me..

Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult i. e. Thy Tumultuous Noise, thy Clamours, and Blasphemies which Rabshakeh in thy Name belched forth against me, with a loud voice, Chap. 18. 28. is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips A Metaphor from wild and furious Beasts, that must be thus managed.; and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest I will cause thee to return to thy home with shame and lost..

And this shall be a sign unto thee To wit, of the certain accomplishment of the Promises here made to thee; That Zion should Triumph over this Insulting Enemy, ver. 21. That God would not only preserve the City from his present Fury, ver. 34. but also, That God would bless his People with a durable Prosperity, and an happy Increase, ver. 30, 31. And thus, it is not only a sign of a short Deliverance, which would be past before this sign was Fulfilled, (though there are instances of such Signs as followed the thing done; as Exod. 3. 12. Isa. 7. 14.) but of a future Mercy, which was to continue long after that sign. And this Sign was the more necessary, because otherwise Hezekiah and his people had cause to fear, That the Assyrians would be greatly enraged for their shameful Repulse, and the Destruction of their Army, and would quickly recruit their Army, and return against them with far greater Force and Violence. But some affirm, That Sennacherib when he heard of Tirhakah's March against him, of which, ver. 9. went with his Army to meet him, and overthrew him, and the Egyptian who was joyned with him, as was noted before; and prosecuted his Victory, by following them into Egypt, and Ethiopia: in the Conquest of which, he spent Two Years; in which space, the People did eat such things as grew of themselves: and in the Third Year returned to Ierusalem, intending to Besiege it. It is true, it is said, and so the Sign went before the thing, (which may be objected against the Truth of this Relation) ver. 9. That when he heard of Tirhakah, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, pretending as if he would forthwith come against him; but it is not said, that he did so: nor is it set down, what he did with Tirhakah, because the Design of the Sacred Writer, was only to write the History of the Iewish Nation; not of others, but only with respect to them., Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year, that which springeth of the same, and in the third year This was an excellent Sign, for it was miraculous; especially, considering the waste and havock which the Assyrians had made in the Land; and that the Iews had been forced to retire into their strong Hold, and consequently to neglect their Tilling, and Sowing, and Reaping; and yet this Year they should have sufficient Provision from those Fruits of the Earth which the Assyrian left; and the Second Year, which probably was the Year of Release, in which they might neither Sow, nor Reap, from such Fruits as the Earth brought forth of its own accord; and so in the Third Year. sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof You shall not Sow, and another Reap, as lately you did; but you shall Enjoy the Fruit of your own Labours..

And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah, shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward i. e. Shall increase and multiply greatly. A Metaphor from Plan.... Comp. Iob 29. 19..

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant That handful of Iews who now were gathered together, and shut up in Ierusalem, shall go out to their several Habitations, and by my singular Blessing increase exceedingly., and they that escape out of mount Sion The same thing expressed in other words, which is usual in the Hebrew Language.: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this Although when you reflect upon your selves, and consider either your present fewness, and weakness, or your great unworthiness, this may seem too great a Blessing for you to expect, or believe; yet God will do it from the zeal which he has, both for his own Name, to Vindicate it from the Blasphemous Reproaches of the Assyrians, and for the good of his undeserving People.

Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it Which was true, though he sent Rabshakeh, and others, with a great Host against Ierusalem, Chap. 18. 17. Either because that Host went away with Rabshakeh to Libnah; above ver. 8. Or rather, because that Army did not form a close Siege against it, but only Marched towards it, and disposed themselves so as to block it up at some distance; possibly waiting till the King of Assyria had taken Libnah and Lachish, (which they presumed he would speedily do) and should come up with the rest of his Forces, when they intended to fall more vigorously to their work..

By the way that he came, by the same shall he return Whereas he expected to devour the Kingdom of Iudah at one Morsel, and then to proceed further, and to Conquer Egypt, or other Neighbouring Countries; and, as it is said of him, and concerning this very time, and design, Isa. 10. 7. To cut off nations not a few; he shall meet with so sad a disappointment and rebuke here, that he shall make haste to return with shame to his own Country., and shall not come into the city, says the LORD.

For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake For my Promise and Covenants-sake made with David concerning the Stability and Eternity of his Kingdom, See 1 King. 11. 12, 13..

¶ And it came to pass that night Either, 1. In the Night following this Message of the Prophet to Hezekiah: Or 2. In that famous Night when God Destroyed the Assyrians, it was done in this manner. For such Expressions are oft used of an indefinite and uncertain time, as that day is frequently taken, as Isa. 4. 1. and 26. 1. and 27. 1, &c., that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote With Pestilence, or some other sudden and Mortal stroke. in the camp of the Assyrians Either before Libnah; or, in some other place near Ierusalem, where they were Encamped. an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed Whom God spared, not in Mercy, but in Wrath; reserving him to a more dreadful and shameful Death, by the hands of his own Children., and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia Which was a place most fit for their purpose, because it was near to that part of Assyria, and was very Mountainous and inaccessible by Armies; and the people more stout, and warlike, and constant Enemies to the Assyrians., and Esarhaddon Who sent great supplies to his new Colony in Samaria, Ezra 4. 2. fearing, it seems, lest Hezekiah should improve the last great advantage to disturb his new Conquests there. his son reigned in his stead.