Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 32:9
After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he [himself laid siege] against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that [were] at Jerusalem, saying,
9. his servants ] Three of these are specified in 2 Kin. by their titles, viz. the Tartan (“Commander-in-chief”), the Rab-saris (“Chief of the Heads”), and the Rab-shakeh (“Chief of the officers”).
but he himself laid siege against Lachish ] R.V. now he was before Lachish. The capture of Lachish by Sennacherib and its spoliation are shewn on an Assyrian relief now in the British Museum. The king himself besieged Lachish because it was of more importance for the main object of the campaign than Jerusalem. Sennacherib’s objective was Egypt (Herod. ii. 141), and Lachish ( Tell-el-esy, Bdeker, p. 154), lay directly in his path.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9 19 (cp. 2Ki 18:17-35). Sennacherib’s Threatening Messages
In this section Chron. briefly summarizes 2 Kin.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The author of Chronicles compresses into 13 verses the history which occupies in Kings a chapter and a half (2Ki 18:17-19; where see the notes).
2Ch 32:10
In the siege – Perhaps in straitness (compare Jer 19:9). Jerusalem is thought by some to have been not so much besieged at this time, as distressed and straitened for supplies, because the Assyrians were masters of the open country.
2Ch 32:13
fathers – i. e. predecessors. Sennacherib really belonged to a dynasty that had only furnished one king before himself.
2Ch 32:22
Guided them … – A slight alteration of the existing text gives the sense – gave them rest round about; a common expression in Chronicles 2Ch 15:15; 2Ch 20:30.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. After this did Sennacherib] Having received the silver and gold mentioned above, he withdrew his army, but shortly after he sent Rab-shakeh with a blasphemous message. This is the fact mentioned here.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Of this and the following verses, See Poole “2Ki 18:17“, &c.; See Poole “2Ki 19:10“, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9-20. (See on 2Ki18:17-35; also 2Ki19:8-34).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem,…. Who are mentioned by name, 2Ki 18:17 this was after Hezekiah had given him a large quantity of silver and gold to depart, and he did depart from him, 2Ki 18:14
but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him; one of the cities of Judah, see Isa 36:2, from hence he dispatched them
unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem; who had retired thither for safety, upon the invasion of their country by the king of Assyria.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The advance of an Assyrian army against Jerusalem, and the attempts of Sennacherib’s generals to induce the population of the capital to submit by persuasive and threatening speeches, are very breifly narrated, in comparison with 2 Kings 18:17-36. In 2Ch 32:9, neither the names of the Assyrian generals, nor the names of Hezekiah’s ambassadors with whom they treated, are given; nor is the place where the negotiation was carried on mentioned. , his servants, Sennacherib’s generals. , while he himself lay near (or against) Lachish, and all the army of his kingdom with him. , his dominion, i.e., army of his kingdom; cf. Jer 34:1.
2Ch 32:10-12 Only the main ideas contained in the speech of these generals are reported; in 2Ch 32:10-12 we have the attempt to shake the trust of the people in Hezekiah and in God (2Ki 18:19-22). is a continuation of the question, In what do ye trust, and why sit ye in the distress, in Jerusalem? as in 2Ki 18:32: Hezekiah seduces you, to give you over to death by hunger and thirst. This thought is much more coarsely expressed in 2Ki 18:27. – On 2Ch 32:12, cf. 2Ki 18:22: is the one altar of burnt-offering in the temple.
2Ch 32:13-19 The description of Sennacherib’s all-conquering power: cf. 2Ki 18:35; Isa 36:20, and Isa 37:11-13. “Who is there among all the gods of these peoples, whom my fathers utterly destroyed, who could have delivered his people out of my hand, that your God should save you?” The idea is, that since the gods of the other peoples, which were mightier than your God, have not been able to save their peoples, how should your God be in a position to rescue you from my power? This idea is again repeated in 2Ch 32:15, as a foundation for the exhortation not to let themselves be deceived and misled by Hezekiah, and not to believe his words, and that in an assertative form: “for not one god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people, … much less then ( ) your gods: they will not save you;” and this is done in order to emphasize strongly the blasphemy of the Assyrian generals against the Almighty God of Israel. To communicate more of these blasphemous speeches would in the chronicler’s view be useless, and he therefore only remarks, in 2Ch 32:16, “And yet more spake his (Sennacherib’s) servants against God Jahve, and against His servant Hezekiah;” and then, in 2Ch 32:17, that Sennacherib also wrote a letter of similar purport, and (2Ch 32:18) that his servants called with a loud voice in the Jews’ speech to the people of Jerusalem upon the wall, to throw them into fear and terrify them, that they might take the city. What they called to the people is not stated, but by the infinit. it is hinted, and thence we may gather that it was to the same effect as the blasphemous speeches above quoted ( , inf. Pi., as in Neh 6:19). – On comparing 2 Kings 18 and 19, it is clear that Sennacherib only sent the letter to Hezekiah after his general Rabshakeh had informed him of the fruitlessness of his efforts to induce the people of Jerusalem to submit by speeches, and the news of the advance of the Cushite king Tirhakah had arrived; while the calling aloud in the Jews’ language to the people standing on the wall, on the part of his generals, took place in the first negotiation with the ambassadors of Hezekiah. The author of the Chronicle has arranged his narrative rhetorically, so as to make the various events form a climax: first, the speeches of the servants of Sennacherib; then the king’s letter to Hezekiah to induce him and his counsellors to submit; and finally, the attempt to terrify the people in language intelligible to them. The conclusion is the statement, 2Ch 32:19: “They spake of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of the hands of man;” cf. 2Ki 19:18.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Destruction of the Assyrians. | B. C. 713. |
9 After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying, 10 Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem? 11 Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 12 Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it? 13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand? 14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand? 15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand? 16 And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against his servant Hezekiah. 17 He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand. 18 Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city. 19 And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man. 20 And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven. 21 And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword. 22 Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side. 23 And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.
This story of the rage and blasphemy of Sennacherib, Hezekiah’s prayer, and the deliverance of Jerusalem by the destruction of the Assyrian army, we had more at large in the book of Kings, 2 Kings xviii. and xix. It is contracted here, yet large enough to show these three things:–
I. The impiety and malice of the church’s enemies. Sennacherib has his hands full in besieging Lachish (v. 9), but hears that Hezekiah is fortifying Jerusalem and encouraging his people to stand it out; and therefore, before he come in person to besiege it, he sends messengers to make speeches, and he himself writes letters to frighten Hezekiah and his people into a surrender of the city. See, 1. His great malice against the king of Judah, in endeavouring to withdraw his subjects from their allegiance to him. He did not treat with Hezekiah as a man of honour would have done, nor propose fair terms to him, but used mean and base artifices, unbecoming a crowned head, to terrify the common people and persuade them to desert him. He represented Hezekiah as one who designed to deceive his subjects into their ruin and betray them to famine and thirst (v. 11), as one who had done them great wrong and exposed them already to the divine displeasure by taking away the high places and altars (v. 12), and who, against the common interest of his people, held out against a force that would certainly be their ruin, v. 15. 2. His great impiety against the God of Israel, the God of Jerusalem he is called (v. 19), because that was the place he had chosen to put his name there, and because that was the place which was now threatened by the enemy and which the divine Providence had under its special protection. This proud blasphemer compared the great Jehovah, the Maker of heaven and earth, with the dunghill gods of the nations, the work of men’s hands, and thought him no more able to deliver his worshippers than they were to deliver theirs (v. 19), as if an infinite and eternal Spirit had no more wisdom and power than a stone or the stock of a tree. He boasted of his triumphs over the gods of the nations, that they could none of them protect their people (v. 13-15), and thence inferred not only, How shall your God deliver you? (v. 14), but, as if he were inferior to them all, How much less shall your God deliver you? as if he were less able to help than any of them. Thus did they rail, rail in writing (which, being more deliberate, is so much the worse), on the Lord God of Israel, as if he were a cipher and an empty name, like all the rest, v. 17. Sennacherib, in the instructions he gave, said more than enough; but, as if his blasphemies had been too little, his servants, who learned insolence from their master, spoke yet more than he bade them against the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah, v. 16. And God resents what is said against his servants, and will reckon for it, as well as what is said against himself. All this was intended to frighten the people from their hope in God, which David’s enemies sought to take him off from (Psa 11:1; Psa 42:10), saying, There is no help for him in God,Psa 3:2; Psa 71:11. Thus they hoped to take the city by weakening the hands of those that should defend it. Satan, in his temptations, aims to destroy our faith in God’s all-sufficiency, knowing that he shall gain his point if he can do that; as we keep our ground if our faith fail not, Luke xxii. 32.
II. The duty as well as the interest of the church’s friends, and that is in the day of distress to pray and cry to Heaven. So Hezekiah did, and the prophet Isaiah, v. 20. It was a happy time when the king and the prophet joined thus in prayer. Is any troubled? Is any terrified? Let him pray. So we engage God for us; so we encourage ourselves in him. Praying to God is here called crying to Heaven, because we are, in prayer, to eye him as our Father in heaven, whence he beholds the children of men, and where he has prepared his throne.
III. The power and goodness of the church’s God. He is able both to control his enemies, be they ever so high, and to relieve his friends, be they ever so low.
1. As the blasphemies of his enemies engage him against them (Deut. xxxii. 27), so the prayers of his people engage him for them. They did so here. (1.) The army of the Assyrians was cut off by the sword of an angel, which triumphed particularly in the slaughter of the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains, who defied the sword of any man. God delights to abase the proud and secure. The Targum says, The Word of the Lord (the eternal Word) sent Gabriel to do this execution, and that it was done with lightning, and in the passover night: that was the night in which the angel destroyed the first-born of Egypt. But that was not all. (2.) The king of the Assyrians, having received this disgrace, was cut off by the sword of his own sons. Those that came forth of his own bowels slew him, v. 21. Thus was he mortified first, and then murdered–shamed first, and then slain. Evil pursues sinners; and, when they escape one mischief, they run upon another unseen.
2. By this work of wonder, (1.) God was glorified, as the protector of his people. Thus he saved Jerusalem, not only from the hand of Sennacherib, but from the hand of all others, v. 22; for such a deliverance as this was an earnest of much mercy in store; and he guided them, that is, he guarded them, on every side. God defends his people by directing them, shows them what they should do, and so saves them from what is designed or done against them. For this many brought gifts unto the Lord, when they saw the great power of God in the defence of his people. Strangers were thereby induced to supplicate his favour and enemies to deprecate his wrath, and both brought gifts to his temple, in token of their care and desire. (2.) Hezekiah was magnified as the favourite and particular care of Heaven. Many brought presents to him (2Ch 32:22; 2Ch 32:23), in token of the honour they had for him, and to make an interest in him. By the favour of God enemies are lost and friends gained.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
See note on 2Ki 18:17
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(9) After this did Sennacherib . . . send.See 2Ki. 18:17.
But he himself . . . Lachish.The verb nilkham, fought, has perhaps fallen out. The great inscription of Sennacherib says nothing about the siege of Lachish; but a bas-relief, now in the British Museum, represents him seated on his throne receiving a file of captives who issue from the gate of a city. Over the kings head is written Sennacherib, the king of multitudes, the king of the land of Asshur, on a raised throne sate, and caused the spoils of the city of Lachish (Lakisu) to pass before him.
His power.Literally, his dominion or realm. Comp. Jer. 34:1, all the kingdoms of the lands of the dominion of his hand. The word hl, army, may have fallen out.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(9-21) A brief summary of what is related in 2Ki. 18:17 to 2Ki. 19:37.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
It is remarkable that about this time great revolutions were accomplishing in the earth. Rome, the mistress of the world as she afterwards became, was about this period built by Romulus, of whom profane historians speak so largely; and which indeed I should not have mentioned in this place, but for the part which the church of God in the days of our Lord had to do with it. Rome at this time begun in its infancy. Seven hundred years after she was arrived at her plenitude, when the Lord Jesus Christ was born.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ch 32:9 After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he [himself laid siege] against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that [were] at Jerusalem, saying,
Ver. 9. Sent his servants to Jerusalem. ] See 2Ki 18:9 . Antichrist, in like sort, sendeth his legates and nuncios to solicit people to a defection from Christ; as he did Vergerius to Saxony, Campeius to the princes of Germany, Sadoletus to Geneva, Pool hither, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
After this. Omitting the account of the surrender of 2Ki 18:14-10.
send his servants. Compare 2Ki 18:17-37; 2Ki 19:1-35. Isa 10:8-11; Isa 10:36; Isa 10:37.
against Lacnish. A difficult task, for Rab-shakeh found Sennacherib had abandoned the siege (2Ki 19:8). Joshua had found it the same (see note on “second day”, Jos 10:31, Jos 10:32). In Jer 34:7 it still belonged to Judah.
power = royal retinue.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2Ch 32:9-15
2Ch 32:9-15
SENNACHERIB SEEKS TO INTIMIDATE JERUSLAEM
“After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem (now he was before Lachish, and all his power was with him), unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide the siege in Jerusalem? Doth not Hezekiah persuade you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, Jehovah our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and upon it shall ye burn incense? Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands in any wise able to deliver their land out of my hand? Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand? Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you after this manner, neither believe ye him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers; how much less shall your God deliver you out of my hand?”
E.M. Zerr:
2Ch 32:9. In a year or two after the events of the preceding paragraph, Sennacherib made another expedition into Hezekiah’s territory; but he did not go in person. He was occupied with a siege against Lachish, an important city south of Jerusalem. From this place he sent his leading servants to act for him against Judah. According to the account in 2 Kings 18, the leader of those servants was named Rab-shakeh, but some secular authorities say that was a military title and would apply to whomsoever the chief of the nation put at the head of his army, or a detachment therefrom.
2Ch 32:10. Whether the name mentioned in the preceding verse was a personal one, or an official title, the spokesman tried to persuade the people of Jerusalem to desert Hezekiah. He belittled the ability of their king and derided them for remaining in the city to suffer the results of the siege.
2Ch 32:11. The Rab-shakeh warned the people in Jerusalem that they would die of hunger if they listened to Hezekiah. Some spies or other secret informants must have been busy, for the reference the spokesman made to Hezekiah’s reliance on God was true.
2Ch 32:12. The pronoun his refers to the same Lord our God named in the preceding verse, and thus constitutes a falsehood. It was not the altars of God, but those of Baal that Hezekiah had thrown down.
2Ch 32:13-14. This vile heathen made no distinction in his respect for the gods of the different countries. He impudently referred to the countries whom his master (Sennacherib) had subdued in spite of their gods. heathen gods is repeated in this verse. My fathers means the ancestors who had gone against other rulers in spite of their gods.
2Ch 32:15. Rab-shakeh stated what was untrue in principle. The God of Israel had delivered them from the Egyptians, and Syrians, and Edomites, and Ammonites, and others too numerous to mention. And soon this vile man will learn that God can deliver his people from so powerful a nation as the Assyrians.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
am 3294, bc 710
Sennacherib: 2Ki 18:17, Isa 36:2
Lachish: Jos 10:31, Jos 12:11, Jos 15:39, Isa 37:8, Mic 1:13
power: Heb. dominion
Reciprocal: 2Ch 11:9 – Lachish Psa 33:16 – no king Nah 2:13 – the voice
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ch 32:9-10. After this did Sennacherib send his servants to Jerusalem
Of this and the following verses, see notes on 2Ki 18:17, &c., and 2Ch 19:10, &c. Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege, &c. Or rather, why do ye stay till Jerusalem is besieged; or, resolve to stand a siege? For the city was not yet besieged.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
32:9 After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he [himself laid siege] {f} against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that [were] at Jerusalem, saying,
(f) While he besieged Lachish.