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Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
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Commentary & Explanation
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Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
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CHAPTER 36
Assyrians war against Judah and blaspheme the Lord.
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The Assyrians war against Judah taking all their defensed cities except
Jerusalem—They stand against Jerusalem and blaspheme the Lord stating
that the high places Hezekiah destroyed were Jehovah's—They threaten
Jerusalem with the fate of Sameria but as commanded of the king the Jews
upon the wall answer them nothing.
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1 NOW it came to pass in the
afourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib
king of bAssyria came up against all the defenced cities of
Judah, and took them.
2 And the king of Assyria sent
aRabshakeh 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.
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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
areed, on bEgypt; 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.
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7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God:
is it not he, whose ahigh 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.
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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.
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11 ¶ Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto
Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the
aSyrian 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.
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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.
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15 Neithera
let Hezekiah make you trust in the
LORDa, 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.
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15a Neither ... trust in the
LORD One of Satan's greatest tools is to undermine man's trust and
faith in the LORD. Here in verse 15 and in 18 the message to the Jews is not
to trust in the LORD for he cannot deliver you. Once that trust is undermined
them men lay easy prey for Lucifer but as long as that faith and trust in the
LORD is strong Lucifer is bound by it as the LORD does have the power without
any help by the arm of flesh to over come and over power the forces of Satan.
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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
aSamaria 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?
21 But they aheld their peace, and
answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him
not.
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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.
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