Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 19:20
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, [That] which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
20 37. The answer of the Lord through Isaiah, and the manner of its fulfilment (2Ch 32:21-22; Isa 37:21-38)
20. The Lord God [R.V. the God ] of Israel ] The LXX. represents here ‘the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel’, a very suitable expression at such a crisis but not in the Hebrew either here or in Isaiah.
That which [R.V. whereas ] thou hast prayed to me ] This change is in conformity with Isaiah. But in the Hebrew there, the words ‘I have heard’ are not represented. In the verse before us the R.V. puts ‘thee’ in italics after them. ‘I have heard thee ’.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
i.e. Accepted it, and will answer it; a common synecdoche.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. Then Isaiah . . . sentArevelation having been made to Isaiah, the prophet announced to theking that his prayer was heard. The prophetic message consisted ofthree different portions:First, Sennacherib isapostrophized (2Ki19:21-28) in a highly poetical strain, admirably descriptive ofthe turgid vanity, haughty pretensions, and presumptuous impiety ofthe Assyrian despot. Secondly, Hezekiah is addressed (2Ki19:29-31), and a sign is given him of the promiseddeliverancenamely, that for two years the presence of the enemywould interrupt the peaceful pursuits of husbandry, but in the thirdyear the people would be in circumstances to till their fields andvineyards and reap the fruits as formerly. Thirdly, the issueof Sennacherib’s invasion is announced (2Ki19:32-34).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[See comments on 2Ki 19:1]
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The divine promise. – 2Ki 19:20, 2Ki 19:21. When Hezekiah had prayed, the prophet Isaiah received a divine revelation with regard to the hearing of this prayer, which he sent, i.e., caused to be handed over, to the king. (2Ki 19:21) is omitted in Isaiah, so that is to be taken in the sense of “with regard to that which thou hast prayed to me,” whilst (I have heard) elucidates the thought and simplifies the construction. The word of the Lord announced to the king, (1) the shameful retreat of Sennacherib as a just retribution for his mockery of the living God (2Ki 19:21-28; Isa 37:22-29); (2) the confirmation of this assurance through the indication of a sign by which Hezekiah was to recognise the deliverance of Jerusalem (2Ki 19:29-31; Isa 37:30-32), and through the distinct promise, that the Assyrian would neither come into the city nor besiege it, because the Lord was sheltering it (2Ki 19:32-34; Isa 37:33-35). In the first part the words are addressed with poetic vivacity directly to Sennacherib, and scourge his haughty boastings by pointing to the ridicule and scorn which would follow him on his departure from the land.
2Ki 19:21 “The virgin daughter Zion despises thee, the daughter Jerusalem shakes the head behind thee.” By daughter Zion, daughter Jerusalem, we are not to understand the inhabitants of Zion, or of Jerusalem, as though stood for or (Ges., Hitzig, and others); but the city itself with its inhabitants is pictorially personified as a daughter and virgin, and the construct state is to be taken, like , as in apposition: “daughter Zion,” not daughter of Zion (vid., Ges. 116, 5; Ewald, 287, e.). Even in the case of the construct state expresses simply the relation of apposition. Zion is called a “virgin” as being an inviolable city to the Assyrians, i.e., one which they cannot conquer. Shaking the head is a gesture denoting derision and pleasure at another’s misfortune (cf. Psa 22:8; Psa 109:25, etc.). “Behind thee,” i.e., after thee as thou goest away, is placed first as a pictorial feature for the sake of emphasis.
2Ki 19:22-23 This derision falls upon the Assyrian, for having blasphemed the Lord God by his foolish boasting about his irresistible power. “Whom hast thou despised and blasphemed, and against whom hast thou lifted up the voice? and thou liftest up thine eyes against the Holy One of Israel.” Lifting up the voice refers to the tone of threatening assumption, in which Rabshakeh and Sennacherib had spoken. Lifting up the eyes on high, i.e., to the heavens, signifies simply looking up to the sky (cf. Isa 40:26), not “directing proud looks against God” (Ges.). Still less is to be taken adverbially in the sense of haughtily, as Thenius and Knobel suppose. The bad sense of proud arrogance lies in the words which follow, “against the Holy One of Israel,” or in the case of Isaiah, where stands for , in the context, viz., the parallelism of the members. God is called the Holy One of Israel as He who manifests His holiness in and upon Israel. This title of the Deity is one of the peculiarities of Isaiah’s range of thought, although it originated with Asaph (Psa 78:41; see at Isa 1:4). This insult to the holy God consisted in the fact that Sennacherib had said through his servants (2Ki 19:23, 2Ki 19:24): “With my chariots upon chariots I have ascended the height of the mountains, the uttermost part of Lebanon, so that I felled the tallness of its cedars, the choice of its cypresses, and came to the shelter of its border, to the forest of its orchard. I have dug and drunk strange water, so that I dried up all the rivers of Egypt with the sole of my feet.” The words put into the mouth of the Assyrian are expressive of the feeling which underlay all his blasphemies (Drechsler). The two verses are kept quite uniform, the second hemistich in both cases expressing the result of the first, that is to say, what the Assyrian intended still further to perform after having accomplished what is stated in the first hemistich. When he has ascended the heights of Lebanon, he devastates the glorious trees of the mountain. Consequently in 2Ki 19:24 the drying up of the Nile of Egypt is to be taken as the result of the digging of wells in the parched desert; in other words, it is to be interpreted as descriptive of the devastation of Egypt, whose whole fertility depended upon its being watered by the Nile and its canals. We cannot therefore take these verses exactly as Drechsler does; that is to say, we cannot assume that the Assyrian is speaking in the first hemistichs of both verses of what he (not necessarily Sennacherib himself, but one of his predecessors) has actually performed. For even if the ascent of the uttermost heights of Lebanon had been performed by one of the kings of Assyria, there is no historical evidence whatever that Sennacherib or one of his predecessors had already forced his way into Egypt. The words are therefore to be understood in a figurative sense, as an individualizing picture of the conquests which the Assyrians had already accomplished, and those which they were still intending to effect; and this assumption does not necessarily exhibit Sennacherib “as a mere braggart, who boastfully heaps up in ridiculous hyperbole an enumeration of the things which he means to perform” (Drechsler). For if the Assyrian had not ascended with the whole multitude of his war-chariots to the loftiest summits of Lebanon, to feel its cedars and its cypresses, Lebanon had set no bounds to his plans of conquest, so that Sennacherib might very well represent his forcing his way into Canaan as an ascent of the lofty peaks of this mountain range. Lebanon is mentioned, partly as a range of mountains that was quite inaccessible to war-chariots, and partly as the northern defence of the land of Canaan, through the conquest of which one made himself lord of the land. And so far as Lebanon is used synecdochically for the land of which it formed the defence, the hewing down of its cedars and cypresses, those glorious witnesses of the creation of God, denotes the devastation of the whole land, with all its glorious works of nature and of human hands. The chief strength of the early Asiatic conquerors consisted in the multitude of their war-chariots: they are therefore brought into consideration simply as signs of vast military resources; the fact that they could only be used on level ground being therefore disregarded. The Chethb , “my chariots upon chariots,” is used poetically for an innumerable multitude of chariots, as for an innumerable host of locusts (Nah 3:17), and is more original than the Keri , the multitude of my chariots, which simply follows Isaiah. The “height of the mountains” is more precisely defined by the emphatic , the uttermost sides, i.e., the loftiest heights, of Lebanon, just as in Isa 14:15 and Eze 32:23 are the uttermost depths of Sheol. , his tallest cedars. , his most select or finest cypresses. , for which Isaiah has the more usual , “the height of his end,” is the loftiest point of Lebanon on which a man can rest, not a lodging built on the highest point of Lebanon (Cler., Vitr., Ros.). , the forest of his orchard, i.e., the forest resembling an orchard. The reference is to the celebrated cedar-forest between the loftiest peaks of Lebanon at the village of Bjerreh.
2Ki 19:24 2Ki 19:24 refers to the intended conquest of Egypt. Just as Lebanon could not stop the expeditions of the Assyrians, or keep them back from the conquest of the land of Canaan, so the desert of et Tih, which separated Egypt from Asia, notwithstanding its want of water (cf. Herod. iii. 5; Rob. Pal. i. p. 262), was no hindrance to him, which could prevent his forcing his way through it and laying Egypt waste. The digging of water is, of course, not merely “a reopening of the wells that had been choked with rubbish, and the cisterns that had been covered up before the approaching enemy” (Thenius), but the digging of wells in the waterless desert. , strange water, is not merely water belonging to others, but water not belonging to this soil (Drechsler), i.e., water supplied by a region which had none at other times. By the perfects the thing is represented as already done, as exposed to no doubt whatever; we must bear in mind, however, that the desert of et Tih is not expressly named, but the expression is couched in such general terms, that we may also assume that it includes what the Assyrian had really effected in his expeditions through similar regions. The drying up of the rivers with the soles of the feet is a hyperbolical expression denoting the omnipotence with which the Assyrian rules over the earth. Just as he digs water in the desert where no water is to be had, so does he annihilate it where mighty rivers exist.
(Note: Compare the similar boasting of Alarich, already quoted by earlier commentators, in Claudian, de bello Geth. v. 526ff.:
cum cesserit omnis
Obsequiis natura meis? subsidere nostris
Sub pedibus montes, arescere vidimus amnes.
v. 532. Fregi Alpes. galeis Padum victricibus hausi.)
are the arms and canals of the Yeor, i.e., of the Nile. , a rhetorical epithet for Egypt, used not only here, but also in Isa 19:6 and Mic 7:12.
2Ki 19:25-34 To this foolish boasting the prophet opposes the divine purpose which had been formed long ago, and according to which the Assyrian, without knowing it or being willing to acknowledge it, had acted simply as the instrument of the Lord, who had given him the power to destroy, but who would soon restrain his ranting against Him, the true God.
2Ki 19:25 “Hast thou not heard? Long ago have I done this, from the days of olden time have I formed it! Now have I brought it to pass, that fortified cities should be to be destroyed into waste heaps.” 2Ki 19:26. “And their inhabitants, short of hand, were dismayed and put to shame; they were herb of the field and green of the turf, grass of the roofs and blighted corn before the stalk.” 2Ki 19:27. “And thy sitting and thy going out and thy coming I know, and thy raging against me.” 2Ki 19:28. “Because of thy raging against me and thy safety, which rise up into my ears, I put my ring into thy nose, and my bridle into thy lips, and bring thee back by the way by which thou hast come.” The words are still addressed to the Assyrian, of whom the Lord inquires whether he does not know that the destructive deeds performed by him had been determined very long before. “Hast thou not heart?” namely, what follows, what the Lord had long ago made known through His prophets in Judah (cf. Isa 7:7-9; Isa 8:1-4 and Isa 8:7, etc.). , from distant time have I done it, etc., refers to the divine ordering and governing of the events of the universe, which God has purposed and established from the very beginning of time. The pronoun , and the suffixes attached to and , do not refer with vague generality to the substance of 2Ki 19:23 and 2Ki 19:24, i.e., to the boastings of the Assyrians quoted there (Drechsler), but to , i.e., to the conquests and devastations which the Assyrian had really effected. The before introduces the apodosis, as is frequently the case after a preceding definition of time (cf. Ges. 155, a). , “that it may be to destroy” ( , a contraction of , Keri and Isaiah, from ; see Ewald, 73, c., and 245, b.), i.e., that it shall be destroyed, – according to a turn which is very common in Isaiah, like , it is to burn = it shall be burned (cf. Isa 5:5; Isa 6:13; Isa 44:15, and Ewald, 237, c.). The rendering given by Ges., Knob., Then., and others, “that thou mayest be for destruction,” is at variance with this usage.
2Ki 19:26-28 2Ki 19:26 is closely connected, so far as the sense is concerned, with the last clause of 2Ki 19:25, but in form it is only loosely attached: “and their inhabitants were,” instead of “that their inhabitants might be.” , of short hand, i.e., without power to offer a successful resistance (cf. Num 11:23, and Isa 50:2; Isa 59:1). – They were herbage of the field, etc., just as perishable as the herbage, grass, etc., which quickly fade away (cf. Psa 37:2; Psa 90:5-6; Isa 40:6). The grass of the roofs fades still more quickly, because it cannot strike deep roots (cf. Psa 129:6). Blighted corn before the stalk, i.e., corn which is blighted and withered up, before it shoots up into a stalk. In Isaiah we have instead of , with a change of the labials, probably for the purpose of preserving an assonance with , which must not therefore be altered into . The thought in the two verses is this: The Assyrian does not owe his victories and conquests to his irresistible might, but purely to the fact that God had long ago resolved to deliver the nations into his hands, so that it was possible to overcome them without their being able to offer any resistance. This the Assyrian had not perceived, but in his daring pride had exalted himself above the living God. This conduct of his the Lord was well acquainted with, and He would humble him for it. Sitting and going out and coming denote all the actions of a man, like sitting down and rising up in Psa 139:2. Instead of rising up, we generally find going out and coming in (cf. Deu 28:6 and Psa 121:8). , thy raging, commotio furibunda, quae ex ira nascitur superbiae mixta (Vitr.). We must repeat before ; and is to be taken in a relative sense: on account of thy self-security, which has come to my ears. is the security of the ungodly which springs from the feeling of great superiority in power. The figurative words, “I put my ring into thy nose,” are taken from the custom of restraining wild animals, such as lions (Eze 19:4) and other wild beasts (Eze 29:4 and Isa 30:28), in this manner. For “the bridle in the lips” of ungovernable horses, see Psa 32:9. To lead a person back by the way by which he had come, i.e., to lead him back disappointed, without having reached the goal that he set before him.
2Ki 19:29 To confirm what he had said, the prophet gave to Hezekiah a sign (2Ki 19:29.): “Eat this year what groweth in the fallow, and in the second year what groweth wild, and in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.” That the words are not addressed to the king of Assyria as in 2Ki 19:28, but to Hezekiah, is evident from their contents. This sudden change in the person addressed may be explained from the fact that from 2Ki 19:29 the words contain a perfectly fresh train of thought. For see Exo 3:12; 1Sa 2:34 and 1Sa 14:10; also Jer 44:29. In all these passages , , is not a (supernatural) wonder, a as in 1Ki 13:3, but consists simply in the prediction of natural events, which serve as credentials to a prediction, whereas in Isa 7:14 and Isa 38:7 a miracle is given as an . The inf. abs. is not used for the pret. (Ges., Then., and others), but for the imperf. or fut.: “one will eat.” , the (present) year. signifies the corn which springs up and grows from the grains that have been shaken out the previous year (Lev 25:5, Lev 25:11). (in Isa. ) is explained by Abulw. as signifying the corn which springs up again from the roots of what has been sown. The etymology of the word is uncertain, so that it is impossible to decide which of the two forms is the original one. For the fact itself compare the evidence adduced in the Comm. on Lev 25:7, that in Palestine and other lands two or three harvests can be reaped from one sowing. – The signs mentioned do not enable us to determine with certainty how long the Assyrians were in the land. All that can be clearly gathered from the words, “in this and the following year will they live upon that which has sprung up without any sowing,” is that for two years, i.e., in two successive autumns, the fields could not be cultivated because the enemy had occupied the land and laid it waste. But whether the occupation lasted two years, or only a year and a little over, depends upon the time of the year at which the Assyrians entered the land. If the invasion of Judah took place in autumn, shortly before the time for sowing, and the miraculous destruction of the Assyrian forces occurred a year after about the same time, the sowing of two successive years would be prevented, and the population of Judah would be compelled to live for two years upon what had sprung up without sowing. Consequently both the prophecy of Isaiah and the fulfilment recorded in vv. 35, 36 would fall in the autumn, when the Assyrians had ruled for a whole year in the land; so that the prophet was able to say: in this year and in the second (i.e., the next) will they eat after-growth and wild growth; inasmuch as when he said this, the first year had not quite expired. Even if the overthrow of the Assyrians took place immediately afterwards (cf. 2Ki 19:35), with the extent to which they had carried out the desolation of the land, many of the inhabitants having been slain or taken prisoners, and many others having been put to flight, it would be utterly impossible in the same year to cultivate the fields and sow them, and the people would be obliged to live in the second or following year upon what had grown wild, until the harvest of the second year, when the land could be properly cultivated, or rather till the third year, when it could be reaped again.
(Note: There is no necessity, therefore, to explain the sign here given, either by the assumption of a sabbatical year, with or without a year of jubilee following, or by supposing that the Assyrians did not depart immediately after the catastrophe described in 2Ki 19:35, but remained till after they had attempted an expedition into Egypt, or indeed by any other artificial hypothesis.)
2Ki 19:30-34 The sign is followed in 2Ki 19:30, 2Ki 19:31 by the distinct promise of the deliverance of Judah and Jerusalem, for which Isaiah uses the sign itself as a type. “And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah will again strike roots downwards and bear fruit upwards; for from Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and that which is escaped from Mount Zion; the zeal of Jehovah will do this.” , to add roots, i.e., to strike fresh roots. The meaning is, that Judah will not succumb to this judgment. The remnant of the nation that has escaped from destruction by the Assyrians will once more grow and flourish vigorously; for from Jerusalem will a rescued remnant go forth. denotes those who have escaped destruction by the judgment (cf. Isa 4:2; Isa 10:20, etc.). The deliverance was attached to Jerusalem or to Mount Zion, not so much because the power of the Assyrians was to be destroyed before the gates of Jerusalem, as because of the greater importance which Jerusalem and Mount Zion, as the centre of the kingdom of God, the seat of the God-King, possessed in relation to the covenant-nation, so that, according to Isa 2:3, it was thence that the Messianic salvation was also to proceed. This deliverance is traced to the zeal of the Lord on behalf of His people and against His foes (see at Exo 20:5), like the coming of the Messiah in Isa 9:6 to establish an everlasting kingdom of peace and righteousness. The deliverance of Judah out of the power of Asshur was a prelude and type of the deliverance of the people of God by the Messiah out of the power of all that was ungodly. The of Isaiah is omitted after , just as in 2Ki 19:15; though here it is supplied by the Masora as Keri. – In 2Ki 19:32-34 Isaiah concludes by announcing that Sennacherib will not come to Jerusalem, nor even shoot at the city and besiege it, but will return disappointed, because the Lord will defend and save the city for the sake of His promise. The result of the whole prophecy is introduced with : therefore, because this is how the matter stands, viz., as explained in what precedes. , with regard to the king, as in 2Ki 19:20. , “he will not attack it with a shield,” i.e., will not advance with shields to make an attack upon it. with a double accusative, as in Psa 21:4. It only occurs here in a hostile sense: to come against, as in Psa 18:19, i.e., to advance against a city, to storm it. The four clauses of the verse stand in a graduated relation to one another: not to take, not even to shoot at and attack, yea, not even to besiege the city, will he come. In 2Ki 19:33 we have 2Ki 19:28 taken up again, and 2Ki 19:32 is repeated in 2Ki 19:33 for the purpose of strengthening the promise. Instead of we have in Isaiah : “by which he has come.” The perfect is actually more exact, and the imperfect may be explained from the fact that Sennacherib was at that very time advancing against Jerusalem. In 2Ki 19:34 we have instead of the of Isaiah: is more correct than . “For my sake,” as Hezekiah had prayed in v. 19; and “for my servant David’s sake,” because Jehovah, as the unchangeably true One, must fulfil the promise which He gave to David (sees at 1Ki 11:13).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Sennacherib’s Fall Predicted. | B. C. 710. |
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. 22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. 23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel. 24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places. 25 Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps. 26 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. 27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. 28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. 29 And this shall be a sign unto thee, 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 sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. 30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this. 32 Therefore thus saith 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. 33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. 34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
We have here the gracious copious answer which God gave to Hezekiah’s prayer. The message which he sent him by the same hand (2Ki 19:6; 2Ki 19:7), one would think, was an answer sufficient to his prayer; but, that he might have strong consolation, he was encouraged by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, Heb. vi. 18. In general, God assured him that his prayer was heard, his prayer against Sennacherib, v. 20. Note, The case of those that have the prayers of God’s people against them is miserable. For, if the oppressed cry to God against the oppressor, he will hear, Exod. xxii. 23. God hears and answers, hears with the saving strength of his right hand, Ps. xx. 6.
This message bespeaks two things:–
I. Confusion and shame to Sennacherib and his forces. It is here foretold that he should be humbled and broken. The prophet elegantly directs his speech to him, as he does, Isa. x. 5. O Assyrian! the rod of my anger. Not that this message was sent to him, but what is here said to him he was made to know by the event. Providence spoke it to him with a witness; and perhaps his own heart was made to whisper this to him: for God has more ways than one of speaking to sinners in his wrath, so as to vex them in his sore displeasure, Ps. ii. 5. Sennacherib is here represented,
1. As the scorn of Jerusalem, v. 21. He thought himself the terror of the daughter of Zion, that chaste and beautiful virgin, and that by his threats he could force her to submit to him: “But, being a virgin in her Father’s house and under his protection, she defies thee, despises thee, laughs thee to scorn. Thy impotent malice is ridiculous; he that sits in heaven laughs at thee, and therefore so do those that abide under his shadow.” By this word God intended to silence the fears of Hezekiah and his people. Though to an eye of sense the enemy looked formidable, to an eye of faith he looked despicable.
2. As an enemy to God; and that was enough to make him miserable. Hezekiah pleaded this: “Lord, he has reproached thee,” v. 16. “He has,” saith God, “and I take it as against myself (v. 22): Whom hast thou reproached? Is it not the Holy One of Israel, whose honour is dear to him, and who has power to vindicate it, which the gods of the heathen have not?” Nemo me impune lacesset–No one shall provoke me with impunity.
3. As a proud vainglorious fool, that spoke great swelling words of vanity, and boasted of a false gift, by his boasts, as well as by his threats, reproaching the Lord. For, (1.) He magnified his own achievements out of measure and quite above what really they were (2Ki 19:23; 2Ki 19:24): Thou hast said so and so. This was not in the letter he wrote, but God let Hezekiah know that he not only saw what was written there, but heard what he said elsewhere, probably in the speeches he made to his councils or armies. Note, God takes notice of the boasts of proud men, and will call them to an account, that he may look upon them and abuse them, Job xl. 11. What a mighty figure does Sennacherib think he makes! Driving his chariots to the tops of the highest mountains, forcing his way through woods and rivers, breaking through all difficulties, making himself master of all he had a mind to. Nothing could stand before him or be withheld from him; no hills too high for him to climb, no trees too strong for him to fell, no waters too deep for him to dry up; as if he had the power of a God, to speak and it is done. (2.) He took to himself the glory of doing these great things, whereas they were all the Lord’s doing,2Ki 19:25; 2Ki 19:26. Sennacherib, in his letter, had appealed to what Hezekiah had heard (v. 11): Thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done; but, in answer to that, he is reminded of what God has done for Israel of old, drying up the Red Sea, leading them through the wilderness, planting them in Canaan. “What are all thy doings to these? And as for the desolations thou hast made in the earth, and particularly in Judah, thou art but the instrument in God’s hand, a mere tool: it is I that have brought it to pass. I gave thee thy power, gave thee thy success, and made thee what thou art, raised thee up to lay waste fenced cities and so to punish them for their wickedness, and therefore their inhabitants were of small power.” What a foolish insolent thing was it for him to exalt himself above God, and against God, upon that which he had done by him and under him. Sennacherib’s boasts here are expounded in Isa 10:13; Isa 10:14, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, c. and they are answered (v. 15), Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? It is surely absurd for the fly upon the wheel to say, What a dust do I make! or for the sword in the hand to say, What execution I do! If God be the principal agent in all that is done, boasting is for ever excluded.
4. As under the check and rebuke of that God whom he blasphemed. All his motions were, (1.) Under the divine cognizance (v. 27): “I have thy abode, and what thou dost secretly devise and design, thy going out and coming in, marches and counter-marches, and thy rage against me and my people, the tumult of thy passions, the tumult of thy preparations, the noise and bluster thou makest: I know it all.” That was more than Hezekiah did, who wished for intelligence of the enemy’s motions; but what need was there for this when the eye of God was a constant spy upon him? 2 Chron. xvi. 9. (2.) Under the divine control (v. 28): “I will put my hook in thy nose, thou great Leviathan (Job 41:1; Job 41:2), my bridle in thy jaws, thou great Behemoth. I will restrain thee, manage thee, turn thee where I please, send thee home like a fool as thou camest, re infecta—disappointed of thy aim.” Note, It is a great comfort to all the church’s friends that God has a hook in the nose and a bridle in the jaws of all her enemies, can make even their wrath to serve and praise him and then restrain the remainder of it. Here shall its proud waves be stayed.
II. Salvation and joy to Hezekiah and his people. This shall be a sign to them of God’s favour, and that he is reconciled to them, and his anger is turned away (Isa. xii. 1), a wonder in their eyes (for so a sign sometimes signifies), a token for good, and an earnest of the further mercy God has in store for them, that a good issue shall be put to their present distress in every respect.
1. Provisions were scarce and dear; and what should they do for food? The fruits of the earth were devoured by the Assyrian army, Isa 32:9; Isa 32:10, c. Why, they shall not only dwell in the land, but verily they shall be fed. If God save them, he will not starve them, nor let them die by famine, when they have escaped the sword: “Eat you this year that which groweth of itself, and you shall find enough of that. Did the Assyrians reap what you sowed? You shall reap what you did not sow.” But the next year was the sabbatical year, when the land was to rest, and they must neither sow nor reap. What must they do that year? Why, Jehovah-jireh–The Lord will provide. God’s blessing shall save them seed and labour, and, that year too, the voluntary productions of the earth shall serve to maintain them, to remind them that the earth brought forth before there was a man to till it, Gen. i. 11. And then, the third year, their husbandry should return into its former channel, and they should sow and reap as they used to do. 2. The country was laid waste, families were broken up and scattered, and all was in confusion how should it be otherwise when it was over-run by such an army? As to this, it is promised that the remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah (that is, of the country people) shall yet again be planted in their own habitations, upon their own estates, shall take root there, shall increase and grow rich, v. 30. See how their prosperity is described: it is taking root downwards, and bearing fruit upwards, being well fixed and well provided for themselves, and then doing good to others. Such is the prosperity of the soul: it is taking root downwards by faith in Christ, and then being fruitful in fruits of righteousness. 3. The city was shut up, none went out or came in; but now the remnant in Jerusalem and Zion shall go forth freely, and there shall be none to hinder them, or make them afraid, v. 31. Great destruction had been made both in city and country, bit in both there was a remnant that escaped, which typified the saved remnant of Israelites indeed (as appears by comparing Isa 10:22; Isa 10:23, which speaks of this very event, with Rom 9:27; Rom 9:28), and they shall go forth into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 4. The Assyrians were advancing towards Jerusalem, and would in a little time besiege it in form, and it was in great danger of falling into their hands. But it is here promised that the siege they feared should be prevented,–that, though the enemy had now (as it should seem) encamped before the city, yet they should never come into the city, no, nor so much as shoot an arrow into it (2Ki 19:32; 2Ki 19:33),– that he should be forced to retire with shame, and a thousand times to repent his undertaking. God himself undertakes to defend the city (v. 34), and that person, that place, cannot but be safe, the protection of which he undertakes. 5. The honour and truth of God are engaged for the doing of all this. These are great things, but how will they be effected? Why, the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this, v. 31. He is Lord of hosts, has all creatures at his beck, therefore he is able to do it; he is jealous for Jerusalem with great jealousy (Zech. i. 14); having espoused her a chaste virgin to himself, he will not suffer he to be abused, v. 21. “You have reason to think yourselves unworthy that such great things should be done for you; but God’s own zeal will do it.” His zeal, (1.) For his own honour (v. 34): “I will do it for my own sake, to make myself an everlasting name.” God’s reasons of mercy are fetched from within himself. (2.) For his own truth: “I will do it for my servant David’s sake; not for the sake of his merit, but the promise made to him and the covenant made with him, those sure mercies of David.” Thus all the deliverances of the church are wrought for the sake of Christ, the Son of David.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The Lord Answers – Verses 20-34
The Lord quickly answered the prayer of Hezekiah through the Prophet Isaiah, who sent him word that the Lord had affirmed His hearing of the king. He sent a message to him for Sennacherib. It was one of scorn and ridicule of this blasphemous king who had so belittled the true God. The tables would turn and God’s virgin daughter, the city of Zion (or Jerusalem), would hold him in despite. The young girls of the city would saucily shake their heads at him. For with all his proud boastfulness he would become an object of contempt at last.
The reason? He had not realized whom he blasphemed, against whom he had raised his voice, lifted his eyes, and reproached. Through the envoy he had sent to ridicule and belittle the messengers of Hezekiah he had railed against the Holy One of Israel. This appellation, “Holy One of Israel,” was the Lord, the promised Messiah, who would be the Savior of the world. In humiliating Eliakim and his patty he had reproached the One who is the hope of the world, and he must be judged (cf. 1Ti 1:20).
The Lord had weighed the boast of Sennacherib about his power and had some information about those claims for him. He claimed to have climbed the great mountains (nations) and cut down the tall cedars (great kings), and to have encamped his armies in their borders. Now he has come into the forest of Carmel (Israel) and will treat it as he has all those before it. He had digged out springs of strange waters (far-flung nations) and drunk from them. He had dried up the rivers of the places he had besieged, or had taken away their material good. But the king of Assyria had forgotten, or ignored, the lessons of history. For the God of Israel, whom he had despised, had long before him dried up seas (the Red Sea) and rivers (Jordan). In ancient times the Lord had devastated proud nations which defied Him (as Egypt and Canaan), and made their fenced cities heaps of ruin. Sennacherib should recall that it was this God he treated so lightly who had accomplished much more marvelous things than he had even imagined to do.
Furthermore the victories of the Assyrian armies were made possible by the Lord’s permission. Because they had forsaken Him they had no power, had been dismayed and confounded, not knowing which way they should turn. Therefore they were as perishable in His judgment as the green grass on a housetop or young grain when the hot sun and wind bears down upon them. But the Lord knows all about the Assyrian, how he has gone out and come in. Sennacherib did not need to tell Him anything. He is now taking note of this wicked king, and will treat him as an aniMal His hook of conquest will be put into the ox’s nose and His bridle of direction in the mouth of the horse, and He will direct him back to his own land in disgrace and humiliation.
The rest of the message is for Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem, from verse 29. The remnant escaped from the invasion of Sennacherib will survive and again thrive in the land. The Lord will cause enough voluntary growth in the fields and vineyards to supply them the first year and again in the second year, when they will also secure seed again, so that in the third year they may sow and reap as in former years. So Judah will again establish roots in the land and bear fruit abroad. The remnant, fled to Jerusalem for safety, will return to their lands. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish His purpose in Israel. These things anticipate prophetically the end of the present age and the conversion of national Israel (see Rom 9:27-28; Rom 11:5).
As for the present status of the city of Jerusalem, none of the boasts of the Assyrians against it will be carried out. Sennacherib will not as much as shoot one arrow into Jerusalem, nor send one shield-bearer against it, nor throw up any embankment against it. The humiliated king will retrace his steps to Nineveh by the road he came and will not gain access to Jerusalem. God will defend Jerusalem, first, for His own sake, and secondly for the sake of his covenant oath to David.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(20) Then Isaiah . . .The prophet, as Hezekiahs trusted adviser, may have counselled the king to go up into the house of the Lord, or, at least, would be cognisant of his intention in the matter.
Against.Hebrew text, in regard to. . . . touching.
I have heard.The verb has fallen out in Isa. 37:21.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
ISAIAH’S ORACLE, 2Ki 19:20-34.
This prophecy, so rich in poetic diction, so emphatic in its outbursts of righteous indignation and scorn against Assyria, and so comforting to Judah for its predictions of Assyrian defeat and of coming prosperity and glory for the people of God, consists, 1.) of a scornful rebuke of Sennacherib’s pride and boasting, with a prophecy of his humiliation and retreat, (2Ki 19:21-28😉 2.) of a cheering pledge that Jehovah would bring about the peace and triumph of Judah and Jerusalem, (29-31;) and, 3.) a solemn announcement of the utter failure of Sennacherib to take the holy city, (32-34.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
20. Sent to Hezekiah This oracle was delivered to Hezekiah in the form of a letter, just as Sennacherib’s message had been sent. 2Ki 19:14. As by one letter Hezekiah had been brought to profoundest grief and humiliation before God, so would Jehovah, by another letter, cheer his soul.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isaiah Communicates To King Hezekiah ‘The Word Of YHWH’ Now Active Against The King Of Assyria ( 2Ki 19:20-28 ).
As a result of King Hezekiah’s prayer Isaiah was given a prophetic message, an ‘oracle’ from YHWH (‘thus says YHWH’) to pass on to him. Such an oracle was seen as not only spoken but active, as YHWH acted in accordance with His word. The semi-personalised Word of YHWH was going forth to accomplish His will (compare Isa 55:10-13. This would lead on to the idea of the fully personal Word in Joh 1:1-14; 1Jn 1:1-4; Rev 19:13). This oracle was, as so often, in rhythmic form, and was in the form of a message of rebuke to Sennacherib, although issued at a distance. It was not intended to be delivered to Sennacherib, but to be seen as an assurance to Hezekiah that ‘the word of YHWH’ was at work. The oracle divides up into four main sections:
1) Judah’s Scorn At Sennacherib For Setting Himself Up Against YHWH (2Ki 19:21-22).
2) A Description Of The Boasting And Defiance Of Sennacherib (2Ki 19:23-24).
3) YHWH’s Response That Sennacherib In Fact Owes All His Success To Him (2Ki 19:25-26).
4) An Assurance That Because Of Sennacherib’s Taunts YHWH Intends To Act Against Him And Transport Him Back Like A Captive Wild Beast To Nineveh (2Ki 19:27-28).
In order to be fully appreciated the oracle must be presented as a whole.
2Ki 19:21-22
Judah’s Scorn At Sennacherib For Setting Himself Up Against YHWH ( 2Ki 19:21-22 ).
“The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and laughed you to scorn,
The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head after you.
Whom have you defied and blasphemed?
And against whom have you exalted your voice,
And lifted up your eyes on high?
Even against the Holy One of Israel.”
2Ki 19:23-24
A Description Of The Boasting And Defiance Of Sennacherib ( 2Ki 19:23-24 ).
“By your messengers you have defied the Lord,
And have said, With the multitude of my chariots,
Am I come up to the height of the mountains,
To the innermost parts of Lebanon,
And I will cut down its tall cedars,
And its choice fir-trees,
And I will enter into his farthest lodging-place,
The forest of his fruitful countryside.
I have dug,
And drunk strange waters,
And with the sole of my feet will I dry up
All the rivers of Egypt.”
2Ki 19:25-26
YHWH Responds That Sennacherib In Fact Owes All His Success To Him ( 2Ki 19:25-26 ).
“Have you not heard,
How I have done it long ago,
And formed it of ancient times?
Now have I brought it about,
That it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities,
Into ruinous heaps.
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power,
They were dismayed and confounded,
They were as the grass of the field,
And as the green herb,
As the grass on the housetops,
And as grain blasted before it is grown up.”
2Ki 19:27-28
Now Because Of Sennacherib’s Taunts And Attitude YHWH Intends To Act Against Him And Transport Him Back Like A Humiliated Captive To Nineveh ( 2Ki 19:27-28 ).
“But I know your sitting down, and your going out,
And your coming in, and your raging against me.
Because of your raging against me,
And because your arrogant attitude has come up into my ears,
Therefore will I put my hook in your nose,
And my bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back,
By the way by which you came.”
2Ki 19:20
‘Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, Whereas you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.”
As a result of Hezekiah’s plea Isaiah sent to him an assurance of YHWH’s response. Because he has humbled himself and prayed wholeheartedly to God, God has heard him. Note the description of YHWH as ‘the God of Israel’. Judah now represented the whole of Israel (and indeed contained many from the other tribes within its population).
2Ki 19:21
“This is the word (Hebrew ha dabar; LXX ho logos) that YHWH has spoken (diber) concerning him,”
He assured Hezekiah that YHWH’s ‘word’ had now gone forth and would accomplish His will. When YHWH spoke His word it was the guarantee that action would result (see Isa 55:11). In these contexts the ‘word’ of God can almost be paralleled with the idea of the ‘Spirit’ of God as indicating God in action. This would later be personified in Jesus Christ Who was God’s Logos supreme (Joh 1:1-4).
2Ki 19:21-22
1). Judah’s Scorn At Sennacherib For Setting Himself Up Against YHWH ( 2Ki 19:21-22 ).
2Ki 19:21
“The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head after you.”
The picture is a vivid one. Sennacherib, through the Rabshakeh, had been ranting at Jerusalem, and seeing her as like a virgin daughter waiting to be raped, but this was now a picture of what the ‘virgin daughter’s’ response would be, mockery at his folly in thinking that he could set himself up against the God of Israel. The ‘virgin daughter of Zion’ (pure and unspoiled and reserved for YHWH) despised him and ‘laughed him to scorn’ (compare Psa 2:4 where it is YHWH Himself who laughs at the folly of the enemies of His Anointed). She shook her head ‘after him’, in other words once he was running away. This was probably in incredulity at his folly, and derisive wonderment at the fact that he had dared to defy the living God.
2Ki 19:22
“Whom have you defied and blasphemed? And against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Israel.”
YHWH now drew Sennacherib’s attention to what he had done. He had defied and blasphemed and lifted up his haughty eyes against none other than ‘the Holy One of Israel’. Nothing could be more foolish than that. The title ‘the Holy One of Israel’ appears here, three times in the Psalms, twice in Jeremiah and twenty five times spread throughout the Book of Isaiah. It is thus typical of an Isaianic prophecy. It indicates His uniqueness and ‘otherness’, as ‘the High and Exalted One Who inhabits eternity Whose Name is Holy’ (Isa 57:15).
2Ki 19:23-24
2). A Description Of The Boasting And Defiance Of Sennacherib ( 2Ki 19:23-24 ).
YHWH points out that what Sennacherib has done in his folly is to defy the Sovereign Lord of the Universe, as a result of his confidence in his massive (but vulnerable) human resources, and He goes on to describe the exalted claims that he has made.
2Ki 19:23-24
“By your messengers you have defied the Lord,
And have said, With the multitude of my chariots,
Am I come up to the height of the mountains,
To the innermost parts of Lebanon,
And I will cut down its tall cedars,
And its choice fir-trees,
And I will enter into his farthest lodging-place,
The forest of his fruitful countryside.
I have dug,
And drunk strange waters,
And with the sole of my feet will I dry up
All the rivers of Matsor.”
Note the emphasis on the fact that he has ‘defied the Sovereign Lord (adonai)’. He needed to recognise that YHWH was not to be seen as like all the other ‘gods’ that he had had dealings with, not even his own Ashur (whom he called ‘lord’). Rather it is YHWH Who is Lord of all, Lord of time (2Ki 19:25), Lord of history (2Ki 19:25). But Sennacherib had overlooked this fact and had defied Him with his puny chariots (compare Isa 31:1; Isa 31:3; Psa 20:7). He thought that because he had so many chariots he could do what he wanted. He would prove to be mistaken.
The words that follow must not be taken too literally. They are building up a picture of extreme arrogance. No one in his right senses seeks to take chariots to the top of the highest mountains. The point is rather that with his chariot forces he had so taken possession of the land that even the highest mountains, where people thought their gods to be, were under his control. The Assyrian annals, however, do contain similar boasts that the king of Assyria in his chariot will reach even the most inaccessible of regions where none have been before, and he boasted openly of his achievements in taking his chariots into the mountains of Aram and Palestine.
He had taken over the very heart of Lebanon (its innermost parts). He is using ‘Lebanon’ (which is a flexible description, like Gilead) in its widest sense as taking in a large part of the land that he has conquered in the south. And the pride of Lebanon was its tall cedars and splendid fir trees. But these will be cut down, leaving it bereft. Practically speaking they would be used to make siege engines and siege towers, or exported for profit, but the idea is as much a picture of the loss that Lebanon would suffer for defying him. The cutting down of trees unnecessarily was usually frowned on (Deu 20:19-20). To do so despoiled the land, for they took many years to grow. But Assyria did it quite callously.
Nowhere would escape Sennacherib’s attention. He would enter their most distant and remote lodging places, and pierce the centre of their most expansive forests, for which they were so famous. He would extract water from their unyielding ground, digging wells, and drinking from those wells in foreign lands, wells which were far from home, and which had previously belonged to others. In other words he would make himself completely at home there, taking possession of everything both above and below ground.
And in contrast he would dry up whatever waters he wished, even ‘the rivers of Matsor’. This could be the Missor mentioned in the Amarna letters. On the other hand if we take Matsor as signifying Egypt expressed poetically, as some do (Egypt = mitsraim), this may indicate that his final aim was to bring Egypt under Assyrian control.
The expression may indicate his previous victory over Egypt, which he saw as ‘drying up the rivers of Egypt’ (defeating the army which made safe its border).
It may be proverbial, in that the rivers of Egypt never dried up. Egypt was famous as the land which had no need of rain because it was permanently watered by the Nile (see Zec 14:18). Thus it may be intended to indicate his determination to do the impossible. He would dry up what everyone knew could not be dried up (it would be a typical Assyrian boast).
He may simply have had in mind the ‘wadi of Egypt’ and the border rivers which were at the southernmost end of Philistia (Gen 15:18; Num 34:5; Jos 15:4; Jos 15:47) with the idea that he would quickly remove Egypt’s defensive barriers, or even leave them without water (it is a boast).
Or it may be that Sennacherib is depicted as saying that what YHWH had done when Israel had escaped from Egypt (dry up a mere sea; compare Psa 106:9), he could do better when he invaded, for he would dry up all their rivers.
2Ki 19:25-26
3). YHWH’s Response Is That Sennacherib In Fact Owes All His Success To Him ( 2Ki 19:25-26 ).
The point is now made that Sennacherib may think that he has achieved what he has on his own, but the truth is that he has only achieved it because it was YHWH’s purpose. He needed to recognise that it was YHWH Who had taken him up and used him as His instrument (compare Isa 10:5-6; Isa 10:15), and that that was the only secret of his success.
2Ki 19:25
“Have you not heard,
How I have done it long ago,
And formed it of ancient times?
Now have I brought it about,
That it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities,
Into ruinous heaps.”
YHWH asks Sennacherib whether he has in fact not heard that what is unveiling in history had been formed in the mind of YHWH from ancient times? What he needed to realise was that what he was thus doing was thus working out what YHWH had already planned, for now YHWH’s ancient will was being carried out. It was He, (and no one else), Who had purposed that Sennacherib should turn all the cities he has referred to (2Ki 19:12-13) into ruinous heaps. Thus in doing so Sennacherib had simply been carrying out YHWH’s instructions.
2Ki 19:26
“Therefore their inhabitants were of small power,
They were dismayed and confounded,
They were as the grass of the field,
And as the green herb,
As the grass on the housetops,
And as grain blasted before it is grown up.”
Indeed it was because YHWH was at work, and not because of Assyria’s might, that the inhabitant of those cities had been deficient in strength (literally ‘were short of hand’). That was why they were dismayed and confounded, and so easily and quickly withered like the grass and vegetation in the countryside in the hot summer sun once there was no rain. The grass that some grew on the flat roofs of their houses soon withered and died in the glaring sun if it was not constantly watered (compare Psa 129:6), and it was the newest grain that was most vulnerable to the sun. Thus they were an apt picture of weakness and vulnerability.
‘Before it has grown up.’ Literally ‘before (it has become) standing corn’.
2Ki 19:27-28
Now Because Of Sennacherib’s Taunts And Attitude YHWH Intends To Act Against Him And Transport Him Back Like A Humiliated Captive To Nineveh ( 2Ki 19:27-28 ).
So YHWH warns him that because he is aware of all his doings, and especially of his arrogance towards Him. In consequence He Himself will lead him like a humiliated captive back to where he came from.
2Ki 19:27-28
“But I know your sitting down, and your going out,
And your coming in, and your raging against me.
Because of your raging against me,
And because your arrogant attitude has come up into my ears,
Therefore will I put my hook in your nose,
And my bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back,
By the way by which you came.”
What Sennacherib should realise is that YHWH was aware of everything he did, whether he sat down, or whether he went out or in, and especially of his expressed arrogance towards YHWH (literally ‘his careless ease’), and his raging against Him.
The putting of the hook through the nose was a deliberately humiliating way of treating captive foreign princes and nobles used by the Assyrians, and there is a relief in Zenjirli depicting such treatment given to Tirhakah of Egypt and Ba’alu of Tyre, who were being led in that way (some years later) by Esarhaddon. The bridle in the lips might indicate the same, or have in mind the treatment of wild animals or horses in order to keep them obedient and submissive. Compare here 2Ch 33:11 where Manasseh was taken ‘with hooks’ to Babylon.
Note the gradual build up of his behaviour. First his sitting on his throne, then his activity in going out and in, and then finally his rising up in rage against YHWH.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
What a multitude of most rich and precious things appear in these verses. Observe, Reader! how long an answer the Lord returns to a short prayer. God is not only more ready to hear than we to pray; but will infinitely out-go all our desires, and our expectations. The Lord, in this answer, graciously condescends to explain the causes why bad men are permitted to exercise a temporary triumph; and in a most beautiful representation, as the daughter of Zion, describes how his people shall sooner or later laugh all her enemies to scorn. Observe, moreover, that what this proud, insolent tyrant directed, in his threats, against Hezekiah, the Lord took to himself. Sweet thought! Jesus considers the attack of all his people in this point of view. Who toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye. Is not this enough at all times to support and bear up under the trials of his people. But what I would have the Reader particularly to notice in this answer of the Lord is, that he here decidedly shows, that the actions of men, however undesigned on their part, are all under his appointment, and direction. The deceiver and the deceived are his. Although they mean not so, neither did their heart intend it; yet are they carrying on all God’s designs, and doing the very thing which they intend not to do, but which the Lord appoints for his ultimate glory, the joy of his people, and the ruin of his enemies. What illustrious instances do the scriptures afford in proof of this. When the sons of Jacob sold Joseph, how little did they intend Joseph’s glory, and their own preservation from famine. When Haman envied Mordecai, and went forth to his destruction, how little did he see the gallows he was building thereby for himself? Nay, above all these, and every other instance that can ever be thought of; when the Jews nailed our adorable Jesus to the cross, how far distant from their thoughts was it, that this cross would be for the everlasting salvation of the sinner. Reader! pause over these things, and look up at all times with the most awakened attention to that Sovereign Hand who ruleth among the armies of heaven, and the inhabitants of the earth! And how very gracious was the answer of the Lord to the prayer of Hezekiah, as it concerned the deliverance of Jerusalem! How unpromising, indeed, were the things the Lord had assured Hezekiah! The siege had made a famine: The Lord promiseth plenty. How shall it be produced? Not by planting and by sowing; but the earth shall bring forth of itself. But this is not all. Out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant! By what means? Jerusalem is now closely blockaded! The king of Assyria will raze the walls of Jerusalem, he declares. No, saith Jehovah, so far from razing the walls, he shall not shoot a single arrow! Here was room for the exercise of faith. And no doubt Hezekiah found it so. But observe, Reader, the cause of all these promised mercies. Not for Hezekiah’s righteousness; nor for the peoples worth and obedience: But for the Lord’s own sake in the covenant promises; and for his servant David’s sake, to whom he had promised his sure mercies. But oh! how infinitely heightened, and increasingly precious doth this history appear, read through the medium of gospel mercies, and secured to believers in the covenant faithfulness of God the Father, and the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church of Christ, like Jerusalem, is closely besieged day by day. The enemy saith I will pursue: I will overtake. I will divide the spoil. My lust shall be gratified upon her. Hitherto, saith the Lord, shalt thou come, and no further. No weapon formed against the church of Jesus shall prosper. The church is the gift of the Father, the purchase of Christ, and the object of the Spirit’s favor forever. God will defend it, and it shall be a praise in the earth, the perfection of beauty in Jesus throughout all ages!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 19:20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, [That] which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
Ver. 20. Then Isaiah the son of Amos. ] God suffered him not to stay for an answer, but prevented his sending again to the prophet, by causing the prophet to send to him. So the angel Gabriel came with weariness of flight to praying Daniel. Dan 9:23
Which thou hast prayed unto me against Sen.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2 Kings
‘HE UTTERED HIS VOICE, THE EARTH MELTED’
2Ki 19:20 – 2Ki 19:22
At an earlier stage of the Assyrian invasion Hezekiah had sent to Isaiah, asking him to pray to his God for deliverance, and had received an explicit assurance that the invasion would be foiled. When the second stage was reached, and Hezekiah was personally summoned to surrender, by a letter which scoffed at Isaiah’s promise, he himself prayed before the Lord. Isaiah does not seem to have been present, and may not have known of the prayer. At all events, the answer was given to him to give to the king; and it is noteworthy that, as in the former case, he does not himself come, but sends to Hezekiah. He did come when he had to bring a message of death, and again when he had to rebuke 2Ki 20:1 – 2Ki 20:21, but now he only sends. As the chosen speaker of Jehovah’s will, he was mightier than kings, and must not imperil the dignity of the message by the behaviour of the messenger. In a sentence, Hezekiah’s prayer is answered, and then the prophet, in Jehovah’s name, bursts into a wonderful song of triumph over the defeated invader. ‘I have heard.’ That is enough. Hezekiah’s prayer has, as it were, fired the fuse or pulled the trigger, and the explosion follows, and the shot is sped. ‘Whereas thou hast prayed, . . . I have heard,’ is ever true, and God’s hearing is God’s acting in answer. The methods of His response vary, the fact that He responds to the cry of despair driven to faith by extremity of need does not vary.
But it is noteworthy that, with that brief, sufficient assurance, Hezekiah, as it were, is put aside, and instead of three fighters in the field, the king, with God to back him, and on the other side Sennacherib, two only, appear. It is a duel between Jehovah and the arrogant heathen who had despised Him. Jerusalem appears for a moment, in a magnificent piece of poetical scorn, as despising and making gestures of contempt at the baffled would-be conqueror, as Miriam and her maidens did by the Red Sea. The city is ‘virgin,’ as many a fortress in other lands has been named, because uncaptured. But she, too, passes out of sight, and Jehovah and Sennacherib stand opposed on the field. God speaks now not ‘concerning,’ but to, him, and indicts him for insane pride, which was really a denial of dependence on God, and passionate antagonism to Him, as manifested not only in his war against Jehovah’s people, but also in the tone of his insolent defiances of Hezekiah, in which he scoffed at the vain trust which the latter was placing in his God, and paralleled Jehovah with the gods of the nations whom he had already conquered Isa 19:12.
The designation of God, characteristic of Isaiah, as ‘the Holy One of Israel,’ expresses at once His elevation above, and separation from, all mundane, creatural limitations, and His special relation to His people, and both thoughts intensify Sennacherib’s sin. The Highest, before whose transcendent height all human elevations sink to a uniform level, has so joined Israel to Himself that to touch it is to strike at Him, and to vaunt one’s self against it is to be arrogant towards God. That mighty name has received wider extension now, but the wider sweep does not bring diminished depth, and lowly souls who take that name for their strong tower can still run into it and be safe from ‘the oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,’ and the strongest foes.
There is tremendous scorn in the threat with which the divine address to Sennacherib ends. The dreaded world-conqueror is no more in God’s eyes than a wild beast, which He can ring and lead as He will, and not even as formidable as that, but like a horse or a mule, that can easily be bridled and directed. What majestic assertion lies in these figures and in ‘ My hook’ and ‘ My bridle!’ How many conquerors and mighty men since then have been so mastered, and their schemes balked! Sennacherib had to return by ‘the way that he came,’ and to tramp back, foiled and disappointed, over all the weary miles which he had trodden before with such insolent confidence of victory. A modern parallel is Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow. But the same experience really befalls all who order life regardless of God. Their schemes may seem to succeed, but in deepest truth they fail, and the schemers never reach their goal.
In 2Ki 19:29 the prophet turns away abruptly and almost contemptuously from Sennacherib to speak comfortably to Jerusalem, addressing Hezekiah first, but turning immediately to the people. The substance of his words to them is, first, the assurance that the Assyrian invasion had limits of time set to it by God; and, second, that beyond it lay prosperous times, when the prophetic visions of a flourishing Israel should be realised in fact. For two seed-times only field work was to be impossible on account of the Assyrian occupation, but it was to foam itself away, like a winter torrent, before a third season for sowing came round.
But how could this sequence of events, which required time for its unfolding, be ‘a sign’? We must somewhat modify our notions of a sign to understand the prophet. The Scripture usage does not only designate by that name a present event or thing which guarantees the truth of a prophecy, but it sometimes means an event, or sequence of events, in the future, which, when they have come to pass in accordance with the divine prediction of them, will shed back light on other divine words or acts, and demonstrate that they were of God. Thus Moses was given as a sign of his mission the worshipping in Mount Sinai, which was to take place only after the Exodus. So with Isaiah’s sign here. When the harvest of the third year was gathered in, then Israel would know that the prophet had spoken from God when he had sung Sennacherib’s defeat. For the present, Hezekiah and Judah had to live by faith; but when the deliverance was complete, and they were enjoying the fruits of their labours and of God’s salvation, then they could look back on the weary years, and recognise more clearly than while these were slowly passing how God had been in all the trouble, and had been carrying on His purposes of mercy through it all. And there will be a ‘sign’ for us in like manner when we look back from eternity on the transitory conflicts of earthly life, and are satisfied with the harvest which He has caused to spring from our poor sowings to the Spirit.
The definite promise of deliverance in 2Ki 19:32 – 2Ki 19:34 is addressed to Judah, and emphasises the completeness of the frustration of the invader’s efforts. There is a climax in the enumeration of the things that he will not be allowed to do-he will not make his entry into the city, nor even shoot an arrow there, nor even make preparation for a siege. His whole design will be overturned, and as had already been said 2Ki 19:28, he will retrace his steps a baffled man.
Note the strong antithesis: ‘He shall not come into this city, . . . for I will defend this city.’ Zion is impregnable because Jehovah defends it. Sennacherib can do nothing, for he is fighting against God. And if we ‘are come unto the city of the living God,’ we can take the same promise for the strength of our lives. God saves Zion ‘for His own sake,’ for His name is concerned in its security, both because He has taken it for His own and because He has pledged His word to guard it. It would be a blot on His faithfulness, a slur on His power, if it should be conquered while it remains true to Him, its King. His honour is involved in protecting us if we enter into the strong city of which the builder and maker is God. And ‘for David’s sake,’ too, He defends Zion, because He had sworn to David to dwell there. But Zion’s security becomes an illusion if Zion breaks away from God. If it becomes as Sodom, it shares Sodom’s fate.
It is remarkable that neither in the song of triumph nor in the prophecy of deliverance is there allusion to the destruction of the Assyrian army. How the exultant taunts of the one and the definite promises of the other were to be fulfilled was not declared till the event declared it. But faithful expectation had not long to wait, for ‘that night’ the blow fell, and no second was needed. We are not told where the Assyrian army was, but clearly it was not before Jerusalem. Nor do we learn what was the instrument of destruction wielded by the ‘angel of the Lord,’ if there was any. The catastrophe may have been brought about by a pestilence, but however effected, it was ‘the act of God,’ the fulfilment of His promise, the making bare of His arm. ‘By terrible things in righteousness’ did He answer the prayer of Hezekiah, and give to all humble souls who are oppressed and cry to Him a pledge that ‘as they have heard, so’ will they ‘see, in the city of’ their ‘God.’ How much more impressive is the stern, naked brevity of the Scriptural account than a more emotional expansion of it, like, for instance, Byron’s well-known, and in their way powerful lines, would have been! To the writer of this book it seemed the most natural thing in the world that the foes of Zion should be annihilated by one blow of the divine hand. His business is to tell the facts; he leaves commentary and wonder and triumph or terror to others.
There is but one touch of patriotic exultation apparent in the half-sarcastic and half-rejoicing accumulation of synonyms descriptive of Sennacherib’s retreat. He ‘departed, and went and returned.’ It is like the picture in Psa 48:1 – Psa 48:14 , which probably refers to the same events: ‘They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled, and hasted away.’
About twenty years elapsed between Sennacherib’s retreat and his assassination. During all that time he ‘dwelt at Nineveh,’ so far as Judah was concerned. He had had enough of attacking it and its God. But the notice of his death is introduced here, not only to complete the narrative, but to point a lesson, which is suggested by the fact that he was murdered ‘as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god.’ Hezekiah had gone into the house of his God with Sennacherib’s letter, and the dead corpses of an army showed what Jehovah could do for His servant; Sennacherib was praying in the temple of his god, and his corpse lay stretched before his idol, an object lesson of the impotence of Nisroch and all his like to hear or help their worshippers.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
which thou hast: 2Sa 15:31, 2Sa 17:23
I have heard: 2Ki 20:5, 2Ch 32:20, 2Ch 32:21, Job 22:27, Psa 50:15, Psa 65:2, Isa 58:9, Isa 65:24, Jer 33:3, Dan 9:20-23, Joh 11:42, Act 10:4, Act 10:31, 1Jo 5:14, 1Jo 5:15
Reciprocal: 2Ki 20:1 – the prophet 2Ki 22:19 – I also have Isa 37:21 – Whereas Isa 38:5 – I have heard Jer 42:9 – unto
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 19:20. Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah Isaiah was informed, by the spirit of prophecy, that Hezekiah had represented his case to God in the temple, and he was commissioned to assure him his petition was granted.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
5. Yahweh’s answer 19:20-37
God sent Hezekiah the news of what He would do, and why, through Isaiah. The "virgin" daughter of Zion (2Ki 19:21) refers to Jerusalem as a city that a foreign foe had never violated. The "Holy One of Israel" (2Ki 19:22), a favorite name of God with Isaiah (cf. Isa 5:24; Isa 30:11-15; et al.), stresses His uniqueness and superiority. On some monuments Assyrian conquerors pictured themselves as leading their captives with a line that passed through rings that they had placed in the victims’ noses. [Note: Cf. Luckenbill, 2:314-15, 319.] God promised to do to them as they had done to others (2Ki 19:28; cf. Gal 6:7).
An immediate sign helped Hezekiah believe in the long-range deliverance God promised (2Ki 19:29). Signs were either predictions of natural events, which came to pass and thus confirmed the prediction (cf. Exo 3:12; 1Sa 2:34; Jer 44:29), or outright miracles that proved God’s work in history (cf. Isa 7:14; Isa 38:7). [Note: Keil. p. 454.] The Israelites had not been able to plant crops around Jerusalem because of the besieging Assyrians. God promised to feed His people for two years with what came up naturally, namely, as a result of previous cultivation. This was a blessing of fertility for trust and obedience (cf. Deu 28:33). In the third year they would again return to their regular cycle of sowing and reaping. Like the crops, the remnant of the people remaining after the invasions of Israel and Judah would also multiply under God’s blessing. As for Sennacherib, God would keep him away from Jerusalem (2Ki 19:32-33). Ironically, the Assyrian king suffered assassination in the temple of his god, who was not able to deliver him. This was the very thing he had charged Yahweh with being unable to do for Judah. Extra-biblical sources corroborate Sennacherib’s assassination, though they mention only one assassin. [Note: See Cogan and Tadmore, pp. 239-40.]