Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 18:17
And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which [is] in the highway of the fuller’s field.
17 25. The Assyrian army sent against Jerusalem. Rab-shakeh’s arguments for a surrender of the city (2Ch 32:2-12; Isa 36:2-10)
17. the king of Assyria sent Tartan ] In the light of the record in Chronicles, which says nothing of the previous proceedings of Sennacherib, we must consider that there was but one expedition, and that first came Hezekiah’s submission, which was unavailing, and then followed the advance upon Jerusalem. We can imagine many things which induced Sennacherib not to keep faith with Hezekiah, but most probably it was the movements of the Egyptians in the south. Finding that they were advancing he would resolve on attacking and reducing Jerusalem before they arrived, and would care nothing for former compacts. Tartan, as well as the other two names here given, is probably an official title. Tartan is found in Isa 20:1, and the R.V. puts a note in the margin ‘the title of the Assyrian commander in chief’. In that place it is the title of the officer sent by Sargon against Ashdod. As this title here stands first, we may suppose that he was the chief military officer, though Rab-shakeh was the spokesman. It would be more correct to say ‘the Tartan’.
and Rabsaris ] The word is Hebrew in form and signifies ‘the chief of the eunuchs’. It may be some title which the Jews modified so as to make of it a Hebrew word. Clearly in this place it indicates some high official. It need not necessarily be a military person, but some one like a lord chamberlain, who came with the Tartan to add civil dignity to the military. Rab-saris is found in Jeremiah (Jer 39:3) among the titles of the princes of the king of Babylon.
and Rab-shakeh ] This word also has a Hebrew form, and means ‘the chief cup-bearer’. The title may have been preserved and attached to an office, when the duties from which it was originally given had ceased to be performed, and others had been imposed in their place. And the Hebrew writers may have represented in their own way the meaning of a title for which they had no proper equivalent.
with a great host ] For Jerusalem was stronger than the other places in Judah which he had already captured, and news from Egypt-wards was perhaps such as to make haste urgent.
against Jerusalem ] R.V. unto Jerusalem. The original has no preposition, but the accusative of direction.
they came and stood by the conduit ] The Chronicler gives us details which shew that some time elapsed before the attack on Jerusalem was commenced. Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem. He therefore took counsel with his princes and blocked up all the water courses and fountains, so that the Assyrians should have as little water supply as possible. He also strengthened the fortifications, provided new weapons, and organized his forces. Then he gathered the people and encouraged them, so that they ‘rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah’. All this had been done before the arrival of Rab-shakeh and his fellows.
the upper pool ] This is probably what in 2Ch 32:30 is called ‘the upper watercourse of Gihon’. On ‘Gihon’ see note on 1Ki 1:33. The locality is described, in the same words as here, in Isa 7:3, so that it was a well-known spot. The pool was within the walls, but from it went a conduit to the fuller’s field. The fuller’s occupation was one which was carried on without the walls.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
An interval of time must be placed between this verse and the last. Sennacherib, content with his successes, had returned to Nineveh with his spoil and his numerous captives. Hezekiah, left to himself, repented of his submission, and commenced negotiations with Egypt 2Ki 18:21, 2Ki 18:24; Isa 30:2-6; Isa 31:1, which implied treason against his Assyrian suzerain. It was under these circumstances that Sennacherib appears to have made his second expedition into Palestine very soon after the first. Following the usual coast route he passed through Philistia on his way to Egypt, leaving Jerusalem on one side, despising so irony a state, and knowing that the submission of Egypt would involve that of her hangers-on. While, however, he was besieging Lachish on his way to encounter his main enemy, he determined to try the temper of the Jews by means of an embassy, which he accordingly sent.
Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh – None of these are proper names. Tartan was the ordinary title of an Assyrian general; Rab-saris is chief eunuch, always a high officer of the Assyrian court; Rab-shakeh is probably chief cup-bearer.
By the conduit of the upper pool – Possibly a conduit on the north side of the city near the camp of the Assyrians. The spot was the same as that on which Isaiah had met Ahaz Isa 7:3.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. The king of Assyria sent Tartan, c.] Calmet has very justly remarked that these are not the names of persons, but of offices. Tartan, tartan or tantan, as in the parallel place in Isaiah, in the Greek version, signifies he who presides over the gifts or tribute chancellor of the exchequer.
Rabsaris] , the chief of the eunuchs. Rab-shakeh, master or chief over the wine cellar; or he who had the care of the king’s drink.
From Lachish] It seems as if the Assyrian troops had been worsted before Lachish, and were obliged to raise the siege, from which they went and sat down before Libnah. While Sennacherib was there with the Assyrian army, he heard that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, had invaded the Assyrian territories. Being obliged therefore to hasten, in order to succour his own dominions, he sent a considerable force under the aforementioned officers against Jerusalem, with a most fearful and bloody manifesto, commanding Hezekiah to pay him tribute, to deliver up his kingdom to him, and to submit, he and his people, to be carried away captives into Assyria! This manifesto was accompanied with the vilest insults, and the highest blasphemies. God interposed and the evils threatened against others fell upon himself.
Manifestoes of this kind have seldom been honourable to the senders. The conduct of Rab-shakeh was unfortunately copied by the Duke of Brunswick, commander-in-chief of the allied army of the centre, in the French revolution, who was then in the plains of Champagne, August 27,1792, at the head of ninety thousand men, Prussians, Austrians, and emigrants, on his way to Paris, which in his manifesto he threatened to reduce to ashes! This was the cause of the dreadful massacres which immediately took place. And shortly after this time the blast of God fell upon him, for in Sept. 20 of the same year, (three weeks after issuing the manifesto,) almost all his army was destroyed by a fatal disease, and himself obliged to retreat from the French territories with shame and confusion. This, and some other injudicious steps taken by the allies, were the cause of the ruin of the royal family of France, and of enormities and calamities the most extensive, disgraceful, and ruinous, that ever stained the page of history. From all such revolutions God in mercy save mankind!
Conduit of the upper pool] The aqueduct that brought the water from the upper or eastern reservoir, near to the valley of Kidron, into the city. Probably they had seized on this in order to distress the city.
The fuller’s field.] The place where the washermen stretched out their clothes to dry.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The king of Assyria sent; having received the money, upon which he agreed to depart from Hezekiah and his land, 2Ki 18:16. He breaks his faith with Hezekiah, thereby justifying Hezekiahs rebellion, and preparing the way for his own approaching destruction.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. king of Assyria sentTartangeneral (Isa 20:1).
Rab-sarischief of theeunuchs.
Rab-shakehchiefcupbearer. These were the great officers employed in deliveringSennacherib’s insulting message to Hezekiah. On the walls of thepalace of Sennacherib, at Khorsabad, certain figures have beenidentified with the officers of that sovereign mentioned inScripture. In particular, the figures, Rab-shakeh, Rab-saris, andTartan, appear as full-length portraits of the persons holding thoseoffices in the reign of Sennacherib. Probably they represent the veryindividuals sent on this embassy.
with a great host toJerusalemEngaged in a campaign of three years in Egypt,Sennacherib was forced by the king of Ethiopia to retreat, anddischarging his rage against Jerusalem, he sent an immense army tosummon it to surrender. (See on 2Ch32:30).
the conduit of the upperpoolthe conduit which went from the reservoir of the UpperGihon (Birket et Mamilla) to the lower pool, the Birket es Sultan.
the highway of the fuller’sfieldthe public road which passed by that district, which hadbeen assigned them for carrying on their business without the city,on account of the unpleasant smell [KEIL].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem,…. Notwithstanding he took the above large sum of money of him, so false and deceitful was he: these were three generals of his army, whom he sent to besiege Jerusalem, while he continued the siege of Lachish; only Rabshakeh is mentioned in Isa 36:2 he being perhaps chief general, and the principal speaker; whose speech, to the end of this chapter, intended to intimidate Hezekiah, and dishearten his people, with some circumstances which attended it, are recorded word for word in Isa 36:1 throughout;
[See comments on Isa 36:1] and notes on that chapter.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Rab-Shakeh’s Blasphemous Speech. | B. C. 710. |
17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field. 18 And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. 19 And Rab-shakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 20 Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? 21 Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. 22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? 23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 24 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? 25 Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. 26 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. 27 But Rab-shakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? 28 Then Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: 29 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: 30 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 31 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 then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern: 32 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, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. 33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? 35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand? 36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not. 37 Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which 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 Rab-shakeh.
Here is, I. Jerusalem besieged by Sennacherib’s army, v. 17. He sent three of his great generals with a great host against Jerusalem. Is this the great king, the king of Assyria? No, never call him so; he is a base, false, perfidious man, and worthy to be made infamous to all ages; let him never be named with honour that could do such a dishonourable thing as this, to take Hezekiah’s money, which he gave him upon condition he should withdraw his army, and then, instead of quitting his country according to the agreement, to advance against his capital city, and not send him his money again either. Those are wicked men indeed, and, let them be ever so great, we will call them so, whose principle it is not to make their promises binding any further than is for their interest. Now Hezekiah had too much reason to repent his treaty with Sennacherib, which made him much the poorer and never the safer.
II. Hezekiah, and his princes and people, railed upon by Rabshakeh, the chief speaker of the three generals, and one that had the most satirical genius. He was no doubt instructed what to say by Sennacherib, who intended hereby to pick a new quarrel with Hezekiah. He had promised, upon the receipt of Hezekiah’s money, to withdraw his army, and therefore could not for shame make a forcible attack upon Jerusalem immediately; but he sent Rabshakeh to persuade Hezekiah to surrender it, and, if he should refuse, the refusal would serve him for a pretence (and a very poor one) to besiege it, and, if it hold out, to take it by storm. Rabshakeh had the impudence to desire audience of the king himself at the conduit of the upper pool, without the walls; but Hezekiah had the prudence to decline a personal treaty, and sent three commissioners (the prime ministers of state) to hear what he had to say, but with a charge to them not to answer that fool according to his folly (v. 36), for they could not convince him, but would certainly provoke him, and Hezekiah had learned of his father David to believe that God would hear when he, as a deaf man, heard not, Ps. xxxviii. 13-15. One interruption they gave him in his discourse, which was only to desire that he would speak to them now in the Syrian language, and they would consider what he said and report it to the king, and, if they did not give him a satisfactory answer, then he might appeal to the people, by speaking in the Jews’ language, v. 26. This was a reasonable request, and agreeable to the custom of treaties, which is that the plenipotentiaries should settle matters between themselves before any thing be made public; but Hilkiah did not consider what an unreasonable man he had to deal with, else he would not have made this request, for it did but exasperate Rabshakeh, and make him the more rude and boisterous, v. 27. Against all the rules of decency and honour, instead of treating with the commissioners, he menaces the soldiery, persuades them to desert or mutiny, threatens if they hold out to reduce the to the last extremities of famine, and then goes on with his discourse, the scope of which is to persuade Hezekiah, and his princes and people, to surrender the city. Observe how, in order to do this,
1. He magnifies his master the king of Assyria. Once and again he calls him That great king, the king of Assyria,2Ki 18:19; 2Ki 18:28. What an idol did he make of that prince whose creature he was! God is the great King, but Sennacherib was in his eye a little god, and he would possess them with the same veneration for him that he had, and thereby frighten them into a submission to him. But to those who by faith see the King of kings in his power and glory even the king of Assyria looks mean and little. What are the greatest of men when either they come to compare with God or God comes to contend with them? Psa 82:6; Psa 82:7.
2. He endeavours to make them believe that it will be much for their advantage to surrender. If they held out, they must expect no other than to eat their own dung, by reason of the want of provisions, which would be entirely cut off from them by the besiegers; but if they would capitulate, seek his favour with a present and cast themselves upon his mercy, he would give them very good treatment, v. 31. I wonder with what face Rabshakeh could speak of making an agreement with a present when his master had so lately broken the agreement Hezekiah made with him with that great present, v. 14. Can those expect to be trusted that have been so grossly perfidious? But, Ad populum phaleras—Gild the chain and the vulgar will let you bind them. He thought to soothe up all with a promise that if they would surrender upon discretion, though they must expect to be prisoners and captives, yet it would really be happy for them to be so. One would wonder he should ever think to prevail by such gross suggestions as these, but that the devil does thus impose upon sinners every day by his temptations. He will needs persuade them, (1.) That their imprisonment would be to their advantage, for they should eat every man of his own vine (v. 31); though the property of their estates would be vested in the conquerors, yet they should have the free use of them. But he does not explain it now to them as he would afterwards, that it must be understood just as much, and just as long, as the conqueror pleases. (2.) That their captivity would be much more to their advantage: I will take you away to a land like your own land; and what the better would they be for that, when they must have nothing in it to call their own?
3. That which he aims at especially is to convince them that it is to no purpose for them to stand it out: What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? So he insults over Hezekiah, v. 19. To the people he says (v. 29), “Let not Hezekiah deceive you into your own ruin, for he shall not be able to deliver you; you must either bend or break.” It were well if sinners would submit to the force of this argument, in making their peace with God–That it is therefore our wisdom to yield to him, because it is in vain to contend with him: what confidence is that which those trust in who stand it out against him? Are we stronger than he? Or what shall we get by setting briars and thorns before a consuming fire? But Hezekiah was not so helpless and defenceless as Rabshakeh would here represent him. Three things he supposes Hezekiah might trust to, and he endeavours to make out the insufficiency of these:– (1.) His own military preparations: Thou sayest, I have counsel and strength for the war; and we find that so he had, 2 Chron. xxxii. 3. But this Rabshakeh turns off with a slight: “They are but vain words; thou art an unequal match for us,” v. 20. With the greatest haughtiness and disdain imaginable, he challenges him to produce 2000 men of all his people that know how to manage a horse, and will venture to give him 2000 horses if he can. He falsely insinuates that Hezekiah has no men, or none fit to be soldiers, v. 23. Thus he thinks to run him down with confidence and banter, and will lay him any wager that one captain of the least of his master’s servants is able to baffle him and all his forces. (2.) His alliance with Egypt. He supposes that Hezekiah trusts to Egypt for chariots and horsemen (v. 24), because the king of Israel had done so, and of this confidence he truly says, It is a broken reed (v. 21), it will not only fail a man when he leans on it and expects it to bear his weight, but it will run into his hand and pierce it, and rend his shoulder, as the prophet further illustrates this similitude, with application to Egypt, Eze 29:6; Eze 29:7. So is the king of Egypt, says he; and truly so had the king of Assyria been to Ahaz, who trusted in him, but he distressed him, and strengthened him not, 2 Chron. xxviii. 20. Those that trust to any arm of flesh will find it no better than a broken reed; but God is the rock of ages. (3.) His interest in God and relation to him. This was indeed the confidence in which Hezekiah trusts, v. 22. He supported himself by depending on the power and promise of God; with this he encouraged himself and his people (v. 30): The Lord will surely deliver us, and again v. 32. This Rabshakeh was sensible was their great stay, and therefore he was most large in his endeavours to shake this, as David’s enemies, who used all the arts they had to drive him from his confidence in God (Psa 3:2; Psa 11:1), and thus did Christ’s enemies, Matt. xxvii. 43. Three things Rabshakeh suggested to discourage their confidence in God, and they were all false:– [1.] That Hezekiah had forfeited God’s protection, and thrown himself out of it, by destroying the high places and the altars, v. 22. Here he measures the God of Israel by the gods of the heathen, who delighted in the multitude of altars and temples, and concludes that Hezekiah has given a great offence to the God of Israel, in confining his people to one altar: thus is one of the best deeds he ever did in his life misconstrued as impious and profane, by one that did not, or would not, know the law of the God of Israel. If that be represented by ignorant and malicious men as evil and a provocation to God which is really good and pleasing to him, we must not think it strange. If this was to be sacrilegious, Hezekiah would ever be so. [2.] That God had given orders for the destruction of Jerusalem at this time (v. 25): Have I now come up without the Lord? This is all banter and rhodomontade. He did not himself think he had any commission from God to do what he did (by whom should he have it?) but he made this pretence to amuse and terrify the people that were on the wall. If he had any colour at all for what he said, it might be taken from the notice which perhaps he had had, by the writings of the prophets, of the hand of God in the destruction of the ten tribes, and he thought he had as good a warrant for the seizing of Jerusalem as of Samaria. Many that have fought against God have pretended commissions from him. [3.] That if Jehovah, the God of Israel, should undertake to protect them from the king of Assyria, yet he was notable to do it. With this blasphemy he concluded his speech (v. 33-35), comparing the God of Israel with the gods of the nations whom he had conquered and putting him upon the level with them, and concluding that because they could not defend and deliver their worshippers the God of Israel could not defend and deliver his. See here, First, His pride. When he conquered a city he reckoned himself to have conquered its gods, and valued himself mightily upon it. His high opinion of the idols made him have a high opinion of himself as too hard for them. Secondly, His profaneness. The God of Israel was not a local deity, but the God of the whole earth, the only living and true God, the ancient of days, and had often proved himself to be above all gods; yet he makes no more of him than of the upstart fictitious gods of Hamath and Arpad, unfairly arguing that the gods (as some now say the priests) of all religions are the same, and himself above them all. The tradition of the Jews is that Rabshakeh was an apostate Jew, which made him so ready in the Jews’ language; if so, his ignorance of the God of Israel was the less excusable and his enmity the less strange, for apostates are commonly the most bitter and spiteful enemies, witness Julian. A great deal of art and management, it must be owned, there were in this speech of Rabshakeh, but, withal, a great deal of pride, malice, falsehood, and blasphemy. One grain of sincerity would have been worth all this wit and rhetoric.
Lastly, We are told what the commissioners on Hezekiah’s part did. 1. They held their peace, not for want of something to say both on God’s behalf and Hezekiah’s: they might easily and justly have upbraided him with his master’s treachery and breach of faith, and have asked him, What religion encourages you to hope that such conduct will prosper? At least they might have given that grave hint which Ahab gave to Benhadad’s like insolent demands–Let not him that girdeth on the harness boast as though he had put it off. But the king had commanded them not to answer him, and they observed their instructions. There is a time to keep silence, as well as a time to speak, and there are those to whom to offer any thing religious or rational is to cast pearls before swine. What can be said to a madman? It is probable that their silence made Rabshakeh yet more proud and secure, and so his heart was lifted up and hardened to his destruction. 2. They rent their clothes in detestation of his blasphemy and in grief for the despised afflicted condition of Jerusalem, the reproach of which was a burden to them. 3. They faithfully reported the matter to the king, their master, and told him the words of Rabshakeh, that he might consider what was to be done, what course they should take and what answer they should return to Rabshakeh’s summons.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Sennacherib’s Message, Commentary on 2Ki 18:17-25 AND 2Ch 32:9-15
While he continued his siege of the Jewish city of Lachish Sennacherib sent his messengers to seek the surrender of Hezekiah and the city of Jerusalem. The names in the Kings account are actually Assyrian titles rather than names. The Tartan was the commander-in-chief of the Assyrian army, while Rabsaris means ‘first eunuch,” a high official of the king, and Rab-shakeh means ‘first officer.” To parley with them Hezekiah sent out Eliakim, chief of his house, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the recorder, all high officials in the Judaean government. They met at the well-known counselling place at the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field. It was here that Isaiah had met with Ahaz and offered him the sign from the Lord (Isa 7:3-11).
The envoys of Sennacherib seemed to be at a loss to understand how Hezekiah could think there was any possibility of successful resistance to the Assyrian army. Their words reeked with scorn and ridicule. They doubtless knew that some of the Jewish counsellors had felt they should seek the aid of Egypt. So the messengers conjectured that might be their source of hope. They had heard Hezekiah s boast that he had counsel and strength for the war. In other words he had gained the consent of his counselors to refuse the tribute to Sennacherib.
So it must be, the Assyrians thought, they were expecting help from Egypt. Egypt they characterized as a bruised reed, a power itself almost broken already. If Hezekiah sought to lean on this Egyptian reed it would break and stick in him, severely wounding him.
Or reports had come that Hezekiah had persuaded his people to trust in their God to deliver them from Sennacherib. To them this was a very ridiculous hope, seeing that no other god had been able to resist the Assyrian might. They could review the history of the Assyrian spread of empire and would find no place where the gods of the land had been able to withstand those of Assyria. It was preposterous to think Judah’s God could deliver this small, insignificant kingdom. Had the God of Judah been minded to deliver His people, the Assyrians argued, it was unlikely that He would do so. For Hezekiah had torn down his altars, destroyed his high places, and commanded his people to worship only before the altar at the temple in Jerusalem. This argument reveals the bent of the pagan mind which could not conceive of a God who would have only one altar and place of worship. Furthermore the Assyrians probably thought to encourage the enemies of Hezekiah to resist him, forthey would be resentful of his reformatory measures.
The officials of Sennacherib warned the people not to allow Hezekiah to persuade them to bring hunger and thirst upon them by a prolonged siege of Jerusalem. The strength of the Jews was so minute and infinitesimal it was ridiculed by the Assyrian officers. They offered to lend Hezekiah two thousand horses if they could find trained riders among the Jews to mount them. Since they obviously could not find them, how could they think they could turn away one captain of the many among the Assyrians when the assault on Jerusalem began? Jerusalem was, indeed, in a pathetic situation from the physical standpoint. David must have been in a similar circumstance when he spoke the words of Psa 42:10-11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
B. SENNACHERIBS INITIAL SURRENDER DEMANDS 18:17-19:7
The Assyrian king was not satisfied with the tribute paid by Hezekiah. He wanted nothing less than the total surrender of Jerusalem. While he himself was engaged in military operations in the lowland region of Palestine, he sent an embassy to Jerusalem to demand capitulation (2Ki. 18:17-37). In response to the bombastic demands and blasphemous assertions of these pagans, Isaiah delivered an oracle promising deliverance for Judah (2Ki. 19:1-7).
Whereas older commentators viewed the actions and words of the Assyrian envoys in this section as improbable, more recent scholars have been forced to concede the historical verisimilitude of 2Ki. 18:17 to 2Ki. 9:7.[605] The details of this section and the diplomatic arguments of Rab-shakeh have an analogy in a siege of Babylon by Tiglath-pileser III.[606]
[605] Gray, OTL, p. 684.
[606] See Childs, IAC, pp. 69103.
1. THE ARROGANT ASSYRIAN DEMANDS (2Ki. 18:17-37)
TRANSLATION
(17) And the king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish unto King Hezekiah with a heavy force to Jerusalem; and they went up, and came to Jerusalem, and stood by the aqueduct of the upper pool which is in the highway of the fullers field. (18) And they called unto the king; and Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the remembrancer went out unto them. (19) And Rab-shakeh said unto them, Say now unto Hezekiah, Thus says the Great King, the king of Assyria: What is this confidence in which you trust? (20) You have said (but they are merely words), Counsel and might for war! Now upon whom do you trust that you have rebelled against me? (21) Now behold you trust for your sake upon the staff of this bruised reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man leans it will go into his hand and pierce it. Thus is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. (22) And if you say unto me, Upon the LORD our God we will trust: Is it not He whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? (23) And now make a wager, I pray you, with my lord, the king of Assyria, and I will give to you two thousand horses if you are able on your part to set riders upon them. (24) And how will you turn away the face of one captain of the least of the servants of my lord, and trust for your part in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? (25) Now have I come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said unto me, Go up against this land and destroy it. (26) Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said unto Rab-shakeh, Speak unto your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; do not speak with us in the language of the Jews in the presence of the people who are upon the wall. (27) And Rab-shakeh said unto them, Did my master send me to speak these words unto your master and unto you? Did he not send me unto the men who sit on the wall, that they might eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you? (28) And Rab-shakeh stood and cried in a loud voice in the Jews language, and spoke, and said, Hear the word of the Great King, the king of Assyria: (29) Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you for he is not able to deliver you from my hand. (30) Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, the LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. (31) Do not hearken unto Hezekiah for thus says the king of Assyria: Negotiate with me by a present, and go out unto me, that each may eat from his vine and each from his fig tree, and each may drink water of his cistern, (32) until I come and take you unto a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey that you might live and not die. Do not hearken to Hezekiah, for he has enticed you, saying, the LORD will deliver us. (33) Have the gods of the nations delivered each his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? (34) Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? (35) Who is it among all the gods of the lands that has delivered their land from my hand that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand? (36) But the people were silent and answered him not a word for it was a commandment from the king, saying, Do not answer him. (37) Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the sons of Asaph the recorder to Hezekiah with their clothing rent; and they told him the words of Rab-shakeh.
COMMENTS
Historians and Biblical commentators are not in agreement as to the time setting of 2Ki. 18:17-37. Some think that even after receiving the tribute money from Hezekiah, Sennacherib was not satisfied, and that he was determined to punish this rebellious vassal. Consequently he sent a contingent of troops to Jerusalem in an effort to get Hezekiah to surrender. Others think that a time gap may exist between 2Ki. 18:16-17. According to this view, Sennacherib withdrew from Palestine in 701 B.C. Because of certain overtures from Egypt. Hezekiah determined again to extricate himself from the Assyrian grip. Sennacherib then reappeared in the region about 688 B.C. marching through the Philistine plain to confront any Egyptian force that might attempt to march northward. A small contingent was dispatched to Jerusalem to hold Hezekiah in check and to wage psychological warfare against him.[607]
[607] Among recent Evangelical writers, Finley (BBC, p. 48081) has presented a powerful defense of the two invasion theory.
At the head of the contingent which was dispatched to Jerusalem were three officers bearing the titles Tartan, Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh. All three titles are known from Assyrian records. The Tartan was the commander-in-chief of the field army. It is not certain what the precise functions of the other two officers might have been.[608] The Assyrian officers positioned themselves by the aqueduct (KJV, conduit)[609] which carried water from the spring Gihon, the main source of water for the city, to the upper pool, probably the Pool of Siloam. This aqueduct was located on the road which led to the fullers field, an area adjacent to En-rogel south of Jerusalem[610] (2Ki. 18:17).
[608] The Rabsaris was probably the chief of the kings bodyguard. Rab-shakeh means chief officer.
[609] This aqueduct is mentioned also in Isa. 7:3.
[610] On the location of En-rogel, see comments on 1Ki. 1:9-10. According to Finley (BBC, p. 482) this field was the place where newly shorn wool and woven cloth were processed by the use of an alkaline cleanser.
From their vantage point on the east side of the city, the Assyrian officers shouted to the Jewish guards that they had a message for the king. Hezekiah sent out to the wall three of his highest officials: Eliakim who was over the household, i.e., prime minister;[611] Shebna the scribe, perhaps something equivalent to a secretary of state; and Joah the recorder or remembrancer.[612]
[611] Eliakim had displaced Shebna in this office just as Isaiah the prophet had predicted (Isa. 22:15-23).
[612] On the duties of the remembrancer see comments on 1Ki. 4:3.
Rab-shakeh took the lead in speaking for the Assyrians probably because he could speak Hebrew fluently. His rude and abrupt order to the Jewish officers was stripped of all diplomatic niceties. Throughout the address he spoke of Sennacherib as the Great King while to Hezekiah he ascribed no title whatsoever. Rab-shakeh came right to the point: What was this confidence in which the Jews trusted? (2Ki. 18:19). Hezekiah had withheld tribute. He had fortified his capital (2Ch. 32:2-5); he had collected arms and soldiers and had shut himself up in Jerusalem, having made every preparation for a siege. How had he dared take those steps? What was the basis for his confidence?
Beginning in 2Ki. 18:20, Rab-shakeh attempts to eliminate one by one the possible grounds upon which Hezekiah based his rebellion. First, he imagines Hezekiah boasting of his counsel and strength for war, i.e., of the wisdom of his advisers and his military capabilities. Such boasts were merely words, or one might say in modern idiom, so much hot air (2Ki. 18:20). Sennacherib apparently knew of Hezekiahs efforts to secure an alliance with Egypt (Isa. 30:2-7) and rightly judged that he was expecting to receive aid from that quarter. Rab-shakeh ridiculed this expectation. Egypt was nothing but a bruised reed[613] which will snap the moment any weight is applied to it. The sharp jagged casing of that broken reed might well injure the man who tried to use it for a staff (2Ki. 18:21). The Assyrians were entirely justified in their contempt for the military capabilities of Egypt. Pharaoh had never yet given effective aid to any state which had come under attack by Assyria.[614]
[613] This characterization of Egypt is repeated in Eze. 29:6.
[614] King So gave no aid to Samaria in 722 B.C. Though Pharaoh came to the aid of Gaza in 720 B.C., the city fell easily to Sargon. Egyptian efforts to aid Ashdod in 711 B.C. and Ashkalon in 701 B.C. were equally unsuccessful.
Sennacherib had also heard of Hezekiahs great religious reformation and of his boasts concerning the God of Israel (cf. 2Ch. 32:8). He either had been told or had concluded that this reformation was not popular with all segments of the population, and therefore Rab-shakeh was instructed to attempt to exploit this issue. How could Hezekiah confidently rely on the protection of the God of the nation when he had for years been desecrating and destroying the high places and altars of this God? To the pagan Sennacherib it seemed inconceivable that any deity could condone such action.
Were it not for the explicit command of the Law of Moses concerning a centralized place of worship, the argument of the Assyrian would make excellent sense. Certainly there would have been many of those who were within earshot of Rab-shakeh who probably would have agreed with his line of thinking. Jews from rural areas would have flocked to Jerusalem during the emergency and no doubt many of them resented the fact that Hezekiah had made a determined effort to centralize the worship of Yahweh in Jerusalem (2Ki. 18:22). The illicit high places had been winked at for so long that they had become in the eyes of many a perfectly legitimate facet of formal worship.
To this point Rab-shakeh proceeded with logical precision. He could not, however, resist the temptation to ridicule the military capabilities of the Jews. If Hezekiah would wager two thousand men, Sennacherib would supply horses for them to ride upon (2Ki. 18:23). By this remark Rab-Shakeh was mocking the fact that the Jewish army lacked any cavalry. He was also suggesting that Hezekiah was facing a shortage of fighting men. Without such a force the Jews could not hope to be able to turn back even one unit of the Assyrian army, and for such a force the Jews were dependent upon undependable Egypt (2Ki. 18:24). Furthermore, the Assyrian armies were invincible because, boasted Rab-Shakeh, Yahweh Himself had dispatched Sennacherib against Jerusalem (2Ki. 18:25). Perhaps the Assyrian king had heard of the prophecies of Isaiah (Isa. 7:17-24; Isa. 10:5-12) which foretold the Assyrian invasion of Judah.
The three Jewish officials stood on the wall and listened to the threats and boasts of Rab-shakeh. They could sense the uneasiness of the soldiers who manned the wall. The propaganda of Rab-shakeh was having its intended effect. Eliakim, Shebna and Joah interrupted the Assyrian officer at this point and requested that he speak to them in the diplomatic language of the daythe Aramaic tongue. Hebrew and Aramaic are closely related languages, but sufficiently different to be distinct languages which were only intelligible to those who had learned them. The common people of Jerusalem would not know Aramaic; the diplomats would. The Jewish officials desperately desired that any further negotiations be conducted in the international language of the time (2Ki. 18:26). Rab-shakeh, of course, refused to comply with this request. The very purpose of his coming to Jerusalem was to intimidate the soldiers and weaken the resolve of the citizens to resist. He had come to make the men who defended Jerusalems walls realize that before long they would be brought to the last extremity of hunger and thirstthey would be forced even to consume their own excrement (2Ki. 18:27).
The urgent request of the Jewish diplomats only stirred Rabshakeh to greater efforts. He rosehe must heretofore have been seatedand addressed himself directly to the citizens on the walls (2Ki. 18:28). He urged the people not to allow Hezekiah to deceive them particularly with his assurances of supernatural deliverance (2Ki. 18:29). The Assyrians knew that Hezekiah had been stirring up the people to militant resistance with promises that God would not allow Jerusalem to fall to the Assyrians (2Ki. 18:30). Hezekiah based these assurances on the definite prophecies of Isaiah (Isa. 31:4-6; Isa. 33:20-22).
From threat Rab-shakeh turned to grandiose promises. If Jerusalem would but come to terms with Sennacherib and surrender, everybody in the city would be allowed to return to his own land where for a time he might live a peaceful and happy life (2Ki. 18:31). Then after a time, Sennacherib would come and transplant them to a new land. Such national deportations were so common in the Assyrian empire that Rab-shakeh knew he must mention it if his remarks were to enjoy any measure of credibility. So he attempted to place this practice in the best possible light. He tried to persuade the Jews that being transported hundreds of miles from their homes really would not be so badthat they were to be envied rather than pitied for being about to experience it. The king of Assyria would see to it that they were taken to a land as nearly as possible like their own land. In describing the land of Judah the Assyrian used glowing terminology which was designed to win the sympathy of the Jews within earshot. If they followed Rab-Shakehs advice they would live; if Hezekiahs, they would die (2Ki. 18:32).
Again Rab-shakeh repeated his warning: Do not let Hezekiah persuade you that your God will deliver you (2Ki. 18:32). Recent history provided crushing evidence that Hezekiahs faith was fanatical and unrealistic. No local deity thus far had been able to deliver his people from the mighty Assyrian army (2Ki. 18:33). From the Assyrian point of view it was sheer madness to think that the insignificant god of this insignificant people could do what the mighty Moloch, Chemosh, Baal and Bel had been unable to do. To make his point more emphatically, Rabshakeh ticked off the recent victories of the Assyrian war machine: Hamath and Arpad in Syria had been conquered about 720 B.C. by Sargon. The Syrian cities of Sepharvaim, Ivah (Ava in 2Ki. 17:24), and Hena[615] also had easily been conquered, probably about 710 B.C. The idols of Samaria had not been able to deliver that city either when the Assyrians conquered it in 722 B.C. (2Ki. 18:34). Rab-shakeh challenged his auditors to produce a single example of a national god who had been able to withstand the Assyrian might. If no such example could be produced then the Jews should have abandoned their hope of supernatural deliverance from Sennacherib (2Ki. 18:35). Rabshakeh could not conceive of the idea of Yahweh being anything but a local god, on a par with the idols of surrounding nations.
[615] Hena and Ivah are problematical. They are not mentioned in the parallel account in Isaiah 36 nor in the Greek translation of the present passage. The Targum renders these words as though they were verbal forms, he sent them wandering and caused them to stray.
In the face of these outrageous and blasphemous assertions, the Jews of Jerusalem maintained a resolute silence. Rabshakehs efforts to generate some sort of insurrection within the city failed. Upon hearing of the arrival of this Assyrian psychological warfare team, Hezekiah had given strict orders that no matter what was said, his subjects were to maintain strict silence (2Ki. 18:36). Horrified at the blasphemies of Rabshakeh, Hezekiahs three ministers ripped their robes and returned to the royal palace to report all that had been said (2Ki. 18:37).
2. THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF ISAIAH THE PROPHET (2Ki. 19:1-7)
TRANSLATION
(1) And it came to pass when King Hezekiah heard, that he tore his garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went to the house of the LORD. (2) And he sent Eliakim who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. (3) And they said unto him, Thus says Hezekiah: A day of trouble, chastisement and abhorrence is this day, for children have come to the time of birth and there is no strength to bring forth. (4) Perhaps the LORD your God will hearken unto all the words of Rab-shakeh who was sent by the king of Assyria his master to revile the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD your God heard, now lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is left. (5) And the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. (6) And Isaiah said unto them, Thus say unto your master: Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words which you have heard with which the lackeys of the king of Assyria blaspheme Me. (7) Behold I am about to send a blast against him and he shall hear a report, and return to his land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his land.
COMMENTS
When Hezekiah heard the report of his ministers, he too was terribly upset. Following their example, he tore his garments and donned sackclotha sign of grief and self-humiliation.[616] He then took his troubles to the Lord as he went to the Temple to seek divine counsel and solace (2Ki. 18:1). At the same time the king dispatched an embassy to the great prophet Isaiah[617] who resided in Jerusalem. Isaiah had been an adviser to Ahaz and most certainly would have been among the counselors of Hezekiah. The embassy wore sackcloth to emphasize the horror and grief which Rab-shakehs threatening boasts had engendered (2Ki. 18:2).
[616] By this action the king may have initiated a public fast.
[617] Isaiah is the first canonical (writing) prophet to be mentioned in the historical books of the Old Testament.
The kings message to the prophet is summed up in 2Ki. 18:3-4. This, said the king, is a day of trouble for the nation, a day of rebuke or chastisement for the sins we have committed against God, and a day of abhorrence in which God has allowed His people to be insulted by their enemies. The expression children are come to birth, and there is not strength to bring forth is a proverbial expression, probably meaning that the nation is facing a dangerous crisis and has no strength to face up to it (2Ki. 18:3). Perhaps, suggested the king, the Lord would take note of the contemptuous words which Rab-shakeh had spoken against the living God and then reprove those words in some mighty act of judgment. To this end Hezekiah urged Isaiah to pray on behalf of the remnant who had not yet fallen into the hands of Sennacherib. The Assyrian king claims to have carried away 200,150 persons in this expedition. He also had taken away from Hezekiah certain cities and assigned them to more friendly monarchs. Thus, only a remnant of the people of Judah were left (2Ki. 18:4). With this message the embassy came to seek the help of the prophet (2Ki. 18:5).
Isaiah seems to have already formulated a reply to the king even before the delegation arrived at his home. Hezekiah did not need to be afraid of the blasphemous words which the lackeys (lit., foot-boys) of the king of Assyria had spoken (2Ki. 18:6). God would send a blast (lit., a wind) against Sennacheribthe destruction of his army. The report of this disaster would send the Assyrian king into full retreat.[618] When he returned to his own land Sennacherib would be assassinated (2Ki. 18:7).
[618] Keil thinks the report or rumor which Sennacherib heard was the news of Tirhakahs advance from Egypt.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(17) And the king of Assyria sent . . .Apparently in careless violation of his word, as Josephus states.
Tartan.Rather, the commander-in-chief; called in Assyrian tur-ta-nu, a word of Sumerian origin, imitated in the Hebrew tartn here and in Isa. 20:1.
Rabsaris and Rab-shaken.Two other official titles. The Rabsaris has not been identified on the Assyrian monuments. The Hebrew word suggests chief eunuch, or courtier. (Comp. Jer. 39:3.) Such an official would accompany the tartan as scribe The term Rab-shakeh, as a Hebrew expression, signifies chief cup-bearer; but it is really only a Hebraised form of the Assyrian title rab-sak, chief officer, applied to superior military commanders or staff officers. In Isa. 36:2 only the Rabshakeh is mentioned; in 2Ch. 33:9 the three foreign titles are naturally displaced by the general expression, his servants.
And they went up and camei.e., the Assyrian army-corps under the tartan, &c.
And when they were come up, they came.Literally, as before, And they went up and came. This is omitted in LXX., Syriac, Vulg., and Arabic, but the phrase refers this time specially to the three principals, who came within speaking distance of the walls.
The conduit . . . field.Isa. 7:3. The upper pool (called Gihon in 1Ki. 1:33) on the highway of the fullers field, i.e., the Joppa road, on the west side of the city, is different from the upper pool in the Tyropon, which is also called the artificial pool (Neh. 3:16), and the old pool (Isa. 22:11). Below this latter was a pool, dug in Hezo-kiahs time, called in Isa. 22:9 the lower pool, and in Neh. 3:15 the pool of Siloah.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
RAB-SHAKEH’S INSULTING MESSAGE TO HEZEKIAH, 2Ki 18:17-37.
17. The king of Assyria sent from Lachish According to Josephus ( Antiq., 2Ki 10:1 ; 2Ki 10:1) Sennacherib bound himself to depart from Jerusalem upon receiving the three hundred silver and thirty gold talents mentioned above, but having received it, “had no regard to what he had promised; but while he himself went to the war against the Egyptians and Ethiopians, he left his general Rab-shakeh and two others of his principal commanders, with great forces, to destroy Jerusalem.” But it seems better to refer this siege of Jerusalem to a second invasion of Sennacherib, made a year or more after he had received Hezekiah’s submission and tribute of gold and silver, for it appears from 2Ki 18:21 that Hezekiah had formed some alliance with Egypt, and so, like Hoshea, (compare 2Ki 17:4,) “brought no present to the king of Assyria.” This is the view of Rawlinson, who describes the matter thus: “Sennacherib, understanding that the real enemy whom he had to fear on his southwestern frontier was not Judea but Egypt, marched his army through Palestine probably by the coast route and without stopping to chastise Jerusalem, pressed south-wards to Libnah and Lachish, which were at the extreme verge of the Holy Land, and probably at this time subject to Egypt. He first commenced the siege of Lachish ‘ with all his power,’ (2Ch 32:9😉 and while engaged in this operation, finding that Hezekiah was not alarmed by his proximity, and did not send in his submission, he detached a body of troops from his main force, and sent it under a Tartan, or general, supported by two high officers of the court the Rab-shakeh, or chief cupbearer, and the Rabsaris, or chief eunuch to summon the rebellious city to surrender.” Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii, p. 165.
Tartan Rabsaris Rab-shakeh These words have, respectively, the meaning given them by Rawlinson in the note just quoted, and from being common official titles came to be used as proper names. The etymology of Tartan is uncertain. “The name is said to be derived from the Persian tar, summit, and tan, person; that is, high personage; or from the Persian tara, Sanscrit tara, a star, and tan; consequently, star-form.” Furst. The office of chief cupbearer is common in the East. In Gen 40:2; Gen 40:21, he is called “chief of the butlers.” Nehemiah held this office at the Persian court. Neh 1:11; Neh 2:1. It seems to have been a custom for high officers of the court to accompany the king to battle; and very probably the most loyal and successful generals or captains were rewarded with offices and titles of this kind in the royal court, so that we need not wonder that a royal cupbearer should also be a high military officer. The same may be said of the chief of the eunuchs. “In the Ottoman Porte,” says Kitto, “the Kislar Aga, or chief of the black eunuchs, is one of the principal personages in the empire, and in an official paper of great solemnity is styled by the Sultan the most illustrious of the officers who approach his august person, and worthy of the confidence of monarchs and of sovereigns. It is, therefore, by no means improbable that such an office should be associated with such a military commission; perhaps not for directly military duties, but to take charge of the treasure, and to select from the female captives such as might seem worthy of the royal harem.”
The conduit of the upper pool The upper pool is undoubtedly Gihon, at the head of the Hinnom valley, described in note on 1Ki 1:33. Its conduit, or aqueduct, would naturally have been a canal running from it in a southeasterly direction down the valley of Hinnom to the west side of the city. It was, perhaps, identical with the subterranean aqueduct by which Hezekiah himself brought down the waters of this pool “on the west to the city of David.” 2Ch 32:30. Consequently the highway of the fuller’s field must have been the road leading from the west side of the city northward, and so called because here was a common resort of the fullers of the city, who, on account of the offensive smells and uncleanliness of their work, and also for the sake of room to dry cloths, would require a field outside the city limits. The approach of the Assyrian host would, therefore, have been from the north, and the commanders stood sufficiently near the city to address the people on the wall. 2Ki 18:26 Here, for the first time, we meet with a biblical notice of fullers, whose art is of great antiquity. “Of the processes followed in the art of cleaning cloth, and the various kinds of stuff among the Jews, we have no direct knowledge. In an early part of the operation they seem to have trod the cloths with their feet, as the Hebrew Ain-Rogel, or En-Rogel, (literally, foot-fountain,) has been rendered on rabbinical authority, ‘Fuller’s Fountain,’ on the ground that fullers trod the cloths there with their feet. They were also rubbed with the knuckles, as in modern washing. A subsequent operation was probably that of rubbing the cloth on an inclined plane, in a mode which is figured in the Egyptian paintings, and still preserved in the East.” M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopaedia.
The Assyrian Expedition Against Jerusalem
v. 17. And the king of Assyria, v. 18. And when they had called to the king, v. 19. And Babshakeh, v. 20. Thou sayest, v. 21. Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, v. 22. But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord, our God, is not that He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? v. 23. Now, therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to, v. 24. How, then, wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, v. 25. Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it. v. 26. Then said Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language, v. 27. But Rabshakeh said unto them, v. 28. Then Rabshakeh stood, v. 29. Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his, v. 30. neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
v. 31. Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, v. 32. 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, a land of oil-olive and of honey, v. 33. Hath any of the gods of the nations, v. 34. Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? v. 35. Who are they among all the gods of the countries that have delivered their country out of mine hand that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand? v. 36. But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; v. 37. Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, Hezekiah is soon taught what a base wretch he had to do with, who not only took Hezekiah’s gold, and then turned against him, with more force, in the perfidy of his heart, but even charged Hezekiah with robbery, for taking the gold to give him from the house of the Lord. The Reader will do no violence to the scripture of this history, if he spiritualizes the whole of this blasphemer’s speech, as the language of the devil, in his temptations of our poor nature. Doth he not in effect say the same thing, and pretend, when he transforms himself into an angel of light, that he hath his commission from the Lord?
2Ki 18:17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which [is] in the highway of the fuller’s field.
Ver. 17. And the king of Assyria sent Tartan. ] Notwithstanding that great present, worth two hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds: all of which this Cerberus swallowed, and yet was not satisfied; but demanded also the city to be delivered to him.
And Rabsaris and Rabshakeh.
By the conduit of the upper pool. a Jerome, De Tradit. Hebr.
king of Assyria. Some suppose Sargon, and treat Sennacherib as a mistake here. But probably Sennacherib was the co-regent in the field. Compare Jerusalem’s being taken by Nebuchadnezzar, while Nabo-polassar was king in Babylon. So Belshazzar was co-regent with Nabonnedus at the taking of Babylon.
sent. The gift of verses: 2Ki 18:14-16 did not prevent a further assault. Compromise seldom does.
Tartan. A title = commander-in-chief.
Rabsaris. A title = chief of the heads.
Rab-shakeh. A title = chief of the captains; possibly a political officer.
Lachish. Ten miles south-east of Jerusalem, on Sennacherib’s way to Egypt. See note on 2Ki 19:8.
great host = heavy force.
against Jerusalem. See note on Jdg 1:8.
upper pool. On east side of Jebus = Gihon.
am 3294, bc 710
the king: 2Ch 32:9, Isa 20:1, Isa 36:2
Tartan: Calmet remarks, that these are not the names of persons, but of offices: Tartan signifies “he who presides over gifts or tribute;” Rabsaris, “the chief of the eunuchs;” and Rabshakeh, “the chief cup-bearer.”
great: Heb. heavy
the conduit of the upper pool: If the Fuller’s field were near En-Rogel, or the Fuller’s fountain, east of Jerusalem, as is generally supposed, then the conduit of the upper pool may been an aqueduct that brought the water from the upper or eastern reservoir of that fountain, which had been seized in order to distress the city. 2Ki 20:20, Isa 7:3, Isa 22:9-11, Isa 36:2
Reciprocal: Jos 10:3 – Lachish Jos 15:39 – Lachish 2Sa 20:13 – the highway 2Ki 6:14 – great 2Ki 19:4 – whom the king 2Ki 19:6 – the servants 2Ki 19:9 – sent 2Ki 19:23 – messengers 2Ch 12:4 – came Neh 2:14 – the gate of the fountain Isa 29:3 – General Isa 36:1 – it came Mic 1:13 – Lachish Nah 2:13 – the voice
2Ki 18:17. The king of Assyria sent Tartan Having received the money, upon which he agreed to depart from Hezekiah and his land, he breaks his faith with him; thereby justifying his revolt, and preparing the way for his own destruction. They came and stood, &c. They took up their headquarters, as we now speak, by the conduit or canal, into which water was derived from the upper fish-pond or pool, which was in the highway to the field where the fullers, after they had washed their clothes in that pool, were wont to spread them. This was a most unjust behaviour of the king of Assyria, since Hezekiah had paid the fine he had imposed on him.
18:17 And the king of Assyria sent {e} Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which [is] in the highway of the fuller’s field.
(e) After certain years, when Hezekiah ceased to send the tribute appointed by the king of the Assyrians, he sent his captains and army against him.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes