Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 36:15
Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
15. The Lord will surely deliver us ] Cf. ch. Isa 37:35.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Make you trust in the Lord – Rabshakeh knew that Hezekiah was professedly devoted to Yahweh, and that he would endeavor to induce the people to trust in him. The Jews had now no other refuge but God, and as long as they put their confidence there, even Rabshakeh knew that it was hazardous to attempt to take and destroy their city. It was his policy, therefore, first to endeavor to undermine their reliance on God, before he could have any hope of success. The enemies of Gods people cannot succeed in their designs against them until they can unsettle their confidence in Him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 15. This city shall not be delivered] velo, AND this city. Ten of Kennicott’s MSS., and nine of De Rossi’s, with one (ancient) of my own, add the conjunction.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
15. The foes of God’s peoplecannot succeed against them, unless they can shake their trust in Him(compare Isa 36:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord,…. Hezekiah trusted in the Lord himself, and he endeavoured, both by his own example, and by arguments, to persuade his people to do so likewise; of this Rabshakeh was sensible, and was more afraid of this than of any thing else, and, therefore laboured this point more than any other; see
2Ch 32:6;
saying, the Lord will surely deliver us, this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria: which he might say with the greatest confidence, since the Lord had promised to defend it,
Isa 31:5 and especially if his sickness, and recovery out of it, and promises then made to him, were before this, as some think; since it is expressly promised by the Lord, that he would deliver him and the city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, Isa 38:6.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
15. And let not Hezekiah make you trust in Jehovah. He quotes the exhortation by which Hezekiah encouraged the people, and speaks lightly of it as an idle and unfounded speech. Hence we see plainly that wicked men, though they assert the power of God, treat it with contempt; for although he does not openly deny that God can assist, if he choose, yet, by sapping the foundations of their faith, he does all that he can to reduce the power of God to nothing. His intention is, to discourage the hearts of the people in such a manner that they may be constrained, as if in despair, to submit and receive laws from a victorious tyrant.
But in order to destroy their confidence in the assistance of God, he employs also another expedient, by flattering their hearts with the allurements of a more comfortable life; for there is nothing to which we are more prone than to revolt from God, when we are drawn away by the appearance of advantage. If the world flatter and caress, the hope of eternal salvation quickly passes away; for our senses are always fixed on the present state of things. Fortified by this resource, Rabshakeh advises, “Do not depend on an uncertain hope, but rather receive what is certain.” And this discourse is powerfully fitted to persuade; for nothing is more agreeable to men than to have in hand what they consider to be desirable; and they are so impatient of delay that they prefer an immediate advantage to what is very distant. Rabshakeh, therefore, reasons thus: “Hezekiah promises to you the assistance of God, but we do not see it; he holds you in suspense about what is uncertain; but my king proraises to you those things which are at hand, and will assuredly bestow them.” This might appear to be a strong argument; but we must observe the sophistry; for by the same stratagem does Satan frequently attack us, and lead us aside from confidence in God.
The Lord calls us to the hope of eternal life; that hope is concealed, “for we hope (Rom 8:25) for what we do not see;” he promises that he will be our deliverer, and yet allows us to languish and hint.; so that it appears that our hope is vain, if we look at the present condition of things. On this ground Satan attacks us. “Why dost thou hope in vain? What is the fruit of thy faith? What dost thou expect beyond the world?” In short, this is our daily lamentation. When Christ calls us to heaven, Satan endeavors to keep us still on the earth; and therefore we must adhere firmly to the promises, that, “hoping against hope,” (Rom 4:18,) we may trust in God, and not suffer ourselves to be drawn away from him by any allurements.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15, 16) Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord . . .Rabshakeh had apparently heard from spies or deserters of Hezekiahs speech to his people (2Ch. 32:7-8). In contrast with what he derides as trust in a God who was against those who trusted Him, he offers tangible material advantages They have only to leave the besieged city, and to go to the Assyrian camp, and they will be allowed provisionally to occupy their own houses and till their own fields, and, instead of dying of thirst, shall have each man the waters of his own cistern; and then, not without a latent sarcasm, worse than the v victis which is the normal utterance of conquerors, he offers the doom of exile as if it were a change for the better, and not the worse, as though the conquered had no love of country as such, no reverence for the sepulchres of their fathers, no yearning for the Temple of their God. The taunt and the promise may, perhaps, be connected with Sennacheribs boast that he had improved the water-supply of the cities of his empire (Records of the Past, i. 32, 9:23, 26, 28).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
this city. Some codices, with two early printed editions, Septuagint, and Syriac, read “and this city”: i.e. “this city”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 36:7, Isa 37:23, Isa 37:24, Psa 4:2, Psa 22:7, Psa 22:8, Psa 71:9-11, Mat 27:43
Reciprocal: 1Sa 17:36 – seeing Isa 36:18 – lest Isa 37:10 – Let not Isa 37:38 – his god