Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 18:34
Where [are] the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where [are] the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
34. gods of Hamath, and of Arpad ] Of Hamath, see above on 2Ki 17:24. Arpad is always spoken of in connexion with Hamath, but the site of the place has not been determined, nor any trace of the name found except in the Bible (2Ki 19:13; Jer 49:23; Isa 10:9; Isa 36:19; Isa 37:13). In the two last-named places A.V. writes the word Arphad, and the same spelling is found 2Es 9:26 as a various reading for Ardath. From the passage in Jeremiah above quoted it is manifest that like Hamath, it belonged to Damascus, for it is included in the prophecy concerning that city. The chief god of Damascus was Rimmon.
the gods of Sepharvaim ] See above, on 2Ki 17:31.
Hena ] The LXX. represents the name by . From the combination of the gods of Sepharvaim with those of the other two places here mentioned, we should gather that the worship in all three was the same. This gives support to the conjecture which identifies Hena with Ana, a city not far from Sepharvaim. Other opinions favour the identification of the place with Anat, an island in the Euphrates, near its union with the Khabour. This also would be not very remote from Sepharvaim.
and Ivah ] R.V. Ivvah. This place is supposed to be the same with Ava (R.V. Avvah) in 2Ki 17:24 above, where see note. If it be identified, as has been suggested, with Ahava, all the three places lie close together. ‘Hena’ and ‘Ivah’ are omitted from the parallel passage in Isaiah.
have they delivered Samaria ] Among the gods of the countries, the gods of Samaria have been in Rab-shakeh’s thoughts though he has not expressly spoken of them. But here, as if he had done so, he asks: Have they delivered Samaria?
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Arpad was situated somewhere in southern Syria; but it is impossible to fix its exact position. Sargon mentions it in an inscription as joining with Hamath in an act of rebellion, which he chastised. It was probably the capture and destruction of these two cities on this occasion which caused them to be mentioned together here (and in 2Ki 19:13, and again in Isa 10:9). Sennacherib adduces late examples of the inability of the nations gods to protect their cities. On the other cities mentioned in this verse, see 2Ki 17:24 notes.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 34. Where are the gods of Hamath] Sennacherib is greater than any of the gods of the nations. The Assyrians have already overthrown the gods of Hamath, Arpad, Hena, and Ivah; therefore, Jehovah shall be like one of them, and shall not be able to deliver Jerusalem out of the hand of my master.
The impudent blasphemy of this speech is without parallel. Hezekiah treated it as he ought: it was not properly against him, but against the LORD; therefore he refers the matter to Jehovah himself, who punishes this blasphemy in the most signal manner.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Hamath and Arpad; of which see Jer 49:23.
Sepharvaim; of which see 2Ki 17:21.
Hena and Ivah; the names, either,
1. Of idol gods. But why should only these two be named, and not the gods of the other places here mentioned? Or rather,
2. Of cities or countries, as is manifest from 2Ki 19:13, where those words are repeated among other places, whose kings are there mentioned, and where they are rendered, of Hena and Ivah, as they should be here also, the words in the Hebrew being the very same.
Have they delivered Samaria? i.e.
1. Either the gods here mentioned, which, together with other idols, were worshipped in Samaria. Or,
2. Their gods; which is easily understood from the foregoing words.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
[See comments on 2Ki 18:17]
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(34) Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad?Sargon, Sennacheribs father, had reduced these two cities. The reference to my fathers in 2Ki. 19:12, and the use of the general term, the king of Assyria (2Ki. 18:33), are against Schraders supposition that the historian has confused the campaigns of Sargon with those of Sennacherib. (Comp. 2Ki. 17:24; 2Ki. 17:30.) Sargon has recorded that Ya-u-bi-h-di, king of the Hamathites, induced Arpad, Simyra, Damascus, and Samaria to join his revolt against Assyria. The confederacy was defeated at Qarqar, and Yahubihdi taken and flayed alive (B.C. 720).
Arpad.Tell-Erfd, about ten miles north of Aleppo. The question, Where are the gods? &c, may imply that they had been annihilated along with their temples and statues. (Comp. Job. 14:10.) Sometimes, indeed, the Assyrians carried off the idols of conquered nations, but this need not have been an invariable practice, and Isa. 10:11 seems to imply that they were sometimes destroyed, as was likely to be the case when a city was taken by storm, and committed to the flames.
Sepharvaim.See on 2Ki. 17:24. This city revolted with Babylon against Sargon at the beginning of his reign. No account of its fall has been preserved.
Hena, and Ivah.These names do not occur in Isaiah, and are wholly unknown. The words look like two Hebrew verbs (He hath caused to wander, and overturned), as at present vocalised; and the Targum translates them as a question: Have they not made them wander, and carried them away? Hoffmann thinks the two words are really one (the niphal participle of avav), and should be rendered as an epithet of Sepharvaim, the utterly perverted; a nickname given it by the Assyrians, because of its follyin revolting again after its former subjugation. But the mention of Ava and the Avites (2Ki. 17:24; 2Ki. 17:31) is in favour of the same proper name here, and the LXX., Syriac, Arabic, and Vulg. agree with this. (The Syriac reads Avva, as in chap. 7:24.)
Have they delivered Samaria . . .?Rather, How much less have they (i.e., its gods) delivered Samaria out of mine hand! So Ewald, Gram., 256. The Syriac, Vulg., and Arabic render as the Authorised Version. Perhaps the original reading was not k; but hak: Is it the case that they have delivered? &c. (Job. 6:22).
Out of mine hand?Sennacherib speaks as if he were one with his father, a circumstance which lends some support to the suggestion of Schrader, that the successive Assyrian invasions were not kept quite distinct in the Hebrew tradition. If so, the year 714 B.C. , assigned as the date of the present expedition (2Ki. 18:13), may really be that of an earlier expedition under Sargon, who, in fact, invaded the West in 720, 715, and 711 (or 709) B.C.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
34. On Hamath, Sepharvaim, and Ivah, see notes on 2Ki 17:24. From the frequent association of Arpad with Hamath (2Ki 19:13; Isa 10:9; Isa 36:19; Isa 37:13; Jer 49:23) it is probable that it was not far from that city, and is, perhaps, identical with Arfad in Northern Syria. The site of Hena has not been identified with certainty. It is usually supposed to have been in Mesopotamia. Some find it in a town on the Euphrates called Anah, and the Assyrian inscriptions mention a town called Anat, on an island in the Euphrates.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 18:34 Where [are] the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where [are] the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
Ver. 34. Where are the gods? ] Os ferreum! This is a most insolent insultation, and might well become an Aiax flagellifer, who knew no god but his own weapons.
Have they delivered?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Hamath. Compare 2Ki 17:24.
Arpad. A city of Syria, north-west of Aleppo. Now identified with Tell Erfud.
Sepharvairn. On the Euphrates, north of Babylon. See note on 2Ki 17:24.
Hena, and Ivah. Probably the names of gods or goddesses.
Samaria. See note on 2Ki 17:5, 2Ki 17:24. Hamath, Arpad, and Samaria are all mentioned in the inscriptions at Khorsabad. See note on 2Ki 17:21.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the gods: 2Ki 19:13, Num 13:21, 2Sa 8:9, Jer 49:23
Hamath: Hamath, there is little doubt, was the Epiphania of the Greeks, as Josephus, Theodoret, and Jerome, expressly assert. It was a celebrated city of Syria, situated on the Orontes, and the present Hamah doubtless occupies its site; as Abulfeda, who was prince or emir of Hamah about ad 1345, expressly states, in his Description of Syria, that Hamah is an ancient city mentioned in the writings of the Israelites. It is still a considerable town, situated on both sides of the Orontes, about three days’ journey and a half from Tripoli; and must contain, Burckhardt says, at least 30,000 inhabitants.
Arpad: Arpad is probably the town of Arphas, mentioned by Josephus as limiting the province of Gamalitis, Gaulanitis, Batanea, and Trachonitis, to the ne; and the Raphan, or Raphanea, which Stephanus places near Epiphania.
the gods: 2Ki 17:24-33, Ava, Isa 36:18, Isa 36:19, Isa 37:11, Isa 37:12, Isa 37:18, Isa 37:19
have they delivered: 2Ki 17:6, 2Ki 17:23, 2Ki 17:24, 2Ki 17:30, 2Ki 17:31, 2Ki 19:12, 2Ki 19:13
Reciprocal: 2Ki 19:23 – With the multitude Isa 37:13 – Ivah Amo 6:2 – Hamath
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 18:34-35. Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? These were cities or countries which the kings of Assyria had conquered, as were the other places here mentioned. And therefore Rab-shakeh argued that the gods of Assyria were more powerful than the gods of any other nation. Who are they, among all the gods of the countries, &c. He desires them to produce an instance of one god that had been able to save his country, when his master invaded it. And by this he endeavours to persuade them, that it would be their wisdom to deliver up their city to him, insomuch as their God would not be able to preserve it, unless he could do more than any other god had done; which he concluded was unlikely.