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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 37:21

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Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:

21. The construction of the verse is entirely altered in 2Ki 19:20 by the introduction of the words “I have heard.” It then reads “That which thou hast prayed I have heard.” But the addition is unnecessary; and the text in Isaiah is to be preferred.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

21 35. The answer to the prayer comes in the form of a message from Isaiah. The message as here given really consists of two distinct oracles: (1) a poem, on the pride and the approaching humiliation of Sennacherib ( Isa 37:22-29); to which is appended a short passage in a different rhythm addressed to Hezekiah ( Isa 37:30-32); (2) a definite prediction, in a less elevated style, of the deliverance of Jerusalem ( Isa 37:33-35). The lyrical passage ( Isa 37:22-32) appears to have been inserted in the narrative from some independent source. Although probably a genuine work of Isaiah, the recitation of a somewhat elaborate poem is hardly a natural form for a prophetic communication to take at so critical a juncture. A terse and pregnant oracle, such as we have in Isa 37:33-35 suits the situation better, and since these verses contain a complete and direct answer to the prayer of Hezekiah, we need not hesitate to regard them as the actual message of the prophet on this occasion. A slight indication of the original connexion of the narrative may possibly be found in the “therefore” of Isa 37:33, referring back to the “whereas” of Isa 37:21.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Whereas thou hast prayed – Because thou hast come to me instead of relying on thy own resources and strength. In 2Ki 19:20, it is, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 21. Then Isaiah – sent unto Hezekiah] The Syriac and Septuagint understand and render the verb passively, was sent.

Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib – “Thy prayer unto me concerning Sennacherib – I have heard”] shamati; this word, necessary to the sense, is lost in this place out of the Hebrew text. One MS. of Dr. Kennicott’s and one of De Rossi’s have it written above the line in a later hand. The Septuagint and Syriac found it in their copies; and it is preserved in the other copy; 2Kg 19:20.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

21. Whereas thou hast prayed tomethat is, hast not relied on thy own strength but on Me(compare 2Ki 19:20). “Thatwhich thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib, I have heard”(Ps 65:2).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying,…. Isaiah, by a spirit of prophecy, was made acquainted by the Lord both with the prayer of Hezekiah, and the Lord’s answer to it; and therefore immediately sent to the king, who was either at the temple praying, or was returned to the palace, to let him know, the mind of the Lord in this matter. The Septuagint and Syriac versions render it, “and Isaiah the son of Amoz was sent to Hezekiah”; but this does not agree with the Hebrew text; Isaiah sent messengers to the king, and by them informed him what the Lord had said in answer to his prayer. Why he went not himself cannot be said:

thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Hezekiah had been praying to him under that title and character, Isa 37:16:

whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria: or, “what thou hast prayed”, c. n the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, supply, “I have heard”. It is bad for any to have the prayers of good men against them.

n “quae preeatus es”, Vatablus; “quod attinet ad id quod oravisti”, Piscator.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The prophet’s reply. “And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hizkiyahu, saying, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennacherib the king of Asshur (K. adds, I have heard) : this is the utterance which Jehovah utters concerning him.” He sent, i.e., sent a message, viz., by one of his disciples ( limmudm , Isa 8:16). According to the text of Isaiah, would commence the protasis to (as for that which – this is the utterance); or, as the Vav of the apodosis is wanting, it might introduce relative clauses to what precedes (“I, to whom:” Ges. 123, 1, Anm. 1). But both of these are very doubtful. We cannot dispense with (I have heard), which is given by both the lxx and Syr. in the text of Isaiah, as well as that of Kings.

The prophecy of Isaiah which follows here, is in all respects one of the most magnificent that we meet with. It proceeds with strophe-like strides on the cothurnus of the Deborah style: “The virgin daughter of Zion despiseth thee, laugheth thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head after thee. Whom hast thou reviled and blasphemed, and over whom hast thou spoken loftily, that thou hast lifted up thine eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.” The predicate is written at the head, in Isa 37:22, in the masculine, i.e., without any precise definition; since is a verb , and neither the participle nor the third pers. fem. of . Zion is called a virgin, with reference to the shame with which it was threatened though without success (Isa 23:12); b e thulath bath are subordinate appositions, instead of co-ordinate. With a contented and heightened self-consciousness, she shakes her head behind him as he retreats with shame, saying by her attitude, as she moves her head backwards and forwards, that it must come to this, and could not be otherwise (Jer 18:16; Lam 2:15-16). The question in Isa 37:23 reaches as far as , although, according to the accents, Isa 37:23 is an affirmative clause: “and thou turnest thine eyes on high against the Holy One of Israel” (Hitzig, Ewald, Drechsler, and Keil). The question is put for the purpose of saying to Asshur, that He at whom they scoff is the God of Israel, whose pure holiness breaks out into a consuming fire against all by whom it is dishonoured. The fut. cons. is essentially the same as in Isa 51:12-13, and is the same as in Isa 40:26.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Sennacherib Threatened; Sennacherib Destroyed.

B. C. 710.

21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria: 22 This is the word which 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. 23 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. 24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. 25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places. 26 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 defenced cities into ruinous heaps. 27 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. 28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. 29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I 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. 30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. 31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: 32 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. 33 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 shields, nor cast a bank against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. 35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. 36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

We may here observe, 1. That those who receive messages of terror from men with patience, and send messages of faith to God by prayer, may expect messages of grace and peace from God for their comfort, even when they are most cast down. Isaiah sent a long answer to Hezekiah’s prayer in God’s name, sent it in writing (for it was too long to be sent by word of mouth), and sent it by way of return to his prayer, relation being thereunto had: “Whereas thou hast prayed to me, know, for thy comfort, that thy prayer is heard.” Isaiah might have referred him to the prophecies he had delivered (particularly that ch. x.) and bid him pick out an answer from thence; but, that he might have abundant consolation, a message is sent him on purpose. The correspondence between earth and heaven is never let fall on God’s side. 2. Those who magnify themselves, especially who magnify themselves against God and his people, do really vilify themselves, and made themselves contemptible, in the eyes of all wise men: “The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised Sennacherib, and all his impotent malice and menaces; she knows that, while she preserves her integrity, she is sure of the divine protection, and that though the enemy may bark he cannot bite. All his threats are a jest; it is all but brutum fulmen–a mere flash,” 3. Those who abuse the people of God affront God himself; and he takes what is said and done against them as said and done against himself: “Whom hast thou reproached? Even the Holy One of Israel, whom thou hast therefore reproached because he is a Holy One.” And it aggravated the indignity Sennacherib did to God that he not only reproached him himself, but set his servants on to do the same: By thy servants, the abjects, thou hast reproached me. 4. Those who boast of themselves and their own achievements reflect upon God and his providence: “Thou hast said, I have digged, and drunk water; I have done mighty feats, and will do more; and wilt not own that I have done it,” v. 24-26. The most active men are no more than God makes them, and God makes them no more than of old he designed to make them: “What I have formed of ancient times, in an eternal counsel, now have I brought to pass” (for God does all according to the counsel of his will), “that thou shouldst be to lay waste defenced cities; it is therefore intolerable arrogance to make it thy own doing.” 5. All the malice, and all the motions and projects, of the church’s enemies, are under the cognizance and check of the church’s God. Sennacherib was active and quick, here, and there, and every where, but God knew his going out and coming in, and had always an eye upon him, v. 28. And that was not all; he had a hand upon him too, a strict hand, a strong hand, a hook in his nose and a bridle in his lips, with which, though he was very headstrong and unruly, he could and would turn him back by the way which he came, v. 29. Hitherto he shall come and no further. God had signed Sennacherib’s commission against Judah (ch. x. 6); here he supersedes it. He has frightened them, but he must not hurt them, and therefore is discharged from going any further; nay, his commitment is here signed, by which he is clapped up, to answer for what he had done beyond his commission. 6. God is his people’s bountiful benefactor, as well as their powerful protector, both a sun and a shield to those that trust in him. Jerusalem shall be defended (v. 35), the besiegers shall not come into it, no, nor come before it with any regular attack, but they shall be routed before they begin the siege, v. 33. But this is not all; God will return in mercy to his people, and will do them good. Their land shall be more than ordinarily fruitful, so that their losses shall be abundantly repaired; they shall not feel any of the ill effects either of the enemies’ wasting the country or of their own being taken off from husbandry. But the earth, as at first, shall bring forth of itself, and they shall live and live plentifully upon its spontaneous productions. The blessing of the Lord can, when he pleases, make rich without the hand of the diligent. And let them not think that the desolations of their country would excuse them from observing the sabbatical year, which happened (as it should seem) the year after, and when they were not to plough or sow; no, though they had not now their usual stock beforehand for that year, yet they must religiously observe it, and depend upon God to provide for them. God must be trusted in the way of duty. 7. There is no standing before the judgments of God when they come with commission. (1.) The greatest numbers cannot stand before them: one angel shall, in one night, lay a vast army of men dead upon the spot, when God commissions him so to do, v. 36. Here are 185,000 brave soldiers in an instant turned into so many dead corpses. Many think the 76th Psalm was penned upon occasion of this defeat, where from the spoiling of the stout-hearted, and sending them to sleep their long sleep (v. 5), it is inferred that God is more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey (v. 4), and that he, even he, is to be feared, v. 7. Angels are employed, more than we are aware of, as ministers of God’s justice, to punish the pride and break the power of wicked men. (2.) The greatest men cannot stand before them: The great king, the king of Assyria, looks very little when he is forced to return, not only with shame, because he cannot accomplish what he had projected with so much assurance, but with terror and fear, lest the angel that had destroyed his army should destroy him; yet he is made to look less when his own sons, who should have guarded him, sacrificed him to his idol, whose protection he sought, Isa 37:37; Isa 37:38. God can quickly stop their breath who breathe out threatenings and slaughter against his people, and will do it when they have filled up the measure of their iniquity; and the Lord is known by these judgments which he executes, known to be a God that resists the proud. Many prophecies were fulfilled in this providence, which should encourage us, as far as they look further, and are designed as common and general assurances of the safety of the church and of all that trust in God, to depend upon God for the accomplishment of them. He that has delivered does and will deliver. Lord, forgive our enemies; but, so let all thy enemies perish, O Lord!

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Vs. 21-35: THE LORD’S ANSWER: A PROPHECY AGAINST ASSYRIA

1. Isaiah sends word to king Hezekiah that God has heard and answered his prayer against Sennacherib, (vs. 21).

2. The virgin daughter of Zion has despised, scorned and wagged her head in contempt for the Assyrian who has so presumptuously profaned the name of Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, (vs. 22-23; Psa 9:13-14; Zep 3:14; Zec 2:10; Psa 22:7; Psa 109:25; Mat 27:39).

3. The proud Assyrian has boasted far beyond what he is able to accomplish; he has NEVER been strong! (vs. 24-25; Isa 2:11; Isa 5:15; Isa 5:21; Eze 30:7; Hab 1:12; Isa 8:7-8; Isa 10:33-34).

4. He has been ignorant of the fact that he was a mere instrument, in the hand of Jehovah, for the accomplishment of His own purpose, (vs. 26-27; Isa 40:21; Isa 40:28; Psa 33:11; Pro 19:21; Isa 14:27; Isa 25:1; Isa 46:10-11; Isa 10:6; Isa 40:7-8).

5. Nor has anything, of his attitude or actions, been hidden from the Lord who is about to put a hook in his arrogant nose, and a bridle in his blasphemous mouth, to turn him back to his own land, (vs. 28-29; Psa 139:1; Isa 10:12; Eze 29:4; Eze 38:4).

6. In verses 30-32 the Lord gives a sign and word of encouragement for the remnant of His people; He is still zealous in behalf of His own, (comp. Lev 25:5; Lev 25:11; Isa 4:2; Isa 10:20; Isaiah 27; Isaiah 6; cp. Isa 9:7; Isa 59:17; Joe 2:18; Zec 1:14-17).

7. The king of Assyria will not come into Jerusalem, make war against it, or build a mound against it; the Lord will defend the city for His own name’s sake – and for His servant David’s sake, (vs. 33-35; Isa 31:5; Isa 38:6; Isa 43:25; Isa 48:9-11).

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

21. Then Isaiah sent to Hezekiah. This shews the result of the prayer; for, as soon as matters have come to an extremity, God suddenly holds out his hand to assist the pious king by the Prophet Isaiah. (2Kg 19:20.) Not that he immediately stretches out his arm to drive away the enemies, but he promises deliverance by the mouth of the Prophet, and thus calls even now into exercise the faith of his servant. Isaiah undoubtedly could not of himself render any assistance, and therefore it would have been foolish for him to promise this or that, if Hezekiah had not been convinced that God had sent him. Thus, until God should give a manifestation of his power, he rested satisfied with this consolation.

Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel. Here we are taught that we ought always to ask at the mouth of God, if we wish to obtain any alleviation in our anxieties and distresses; for if we reject the doctrine which he communicates to us by the hand of faithful teachers, we are utterly unworthy of receiving any consolation. Fed and nourished by it, we ought to make continual progress, and to seek from it new confirmations, that new remedies may be constantly found for new distresses, and that we may never be destitute of consolation even amidst the sharpest afflictions; for even they whose resources and means of defense are most extensive cannot be too abundantly supplied with this doctrine. In Hezekiah a striking instance of faith and steadfastness is here exhibited; and yet the Lord does not merely comfort him once or only by a single prophecy, but confirms him by many prophecies, in order that we, who are far removed from such steadfastness, may know that we need many and various aids, to give uninterrupted support to our faith.

Since thou hast prayed to me. In the sacred history (2Kg 19:20) the word I have heard, is used; and consequently in that passage אשר ( asher) is a relative pronoun; but here, as in many other passages, it is introduced either for the sake of explanation or in assigning a reason. (58) To supply the word I have heard, as some commentators do, is harsh and unnatural; and the sentence flows on in unbroken connection, when God declares that he grants it as an answer to the prayers of Hezekiah, that he will frustrate all the efforts of the tyrant, and restrain his violence and rage; as if he had said, that God’s answer corresponded to the prayers of the pious king. And, indeed, whoever addresses prayers to him will at length experience how ready he is to answer; but very frequently he is silent, and offers no consolation from his word, because amidst our distresses we are dumb.

Concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. The prediction amounts to this, that there is no reason why Hezekiah, under a consciousness of destitution and weakness, should faint or despair, when he sees the insolence of this haughty tyrant; because God will interpose between them. Sennacherib having offered those insults to the wretched Jews, God declares that he takes this cause into his own hands, because the affront was directed against himself. By these words he shews that he will take vengeance, when his grace is despised by unbelievers; and he advises believers not to be greatly distressed on account of their being despised by the world, provided that their weakness finds assistance ready prepared in heaven.

(58) That is, it means either since or because. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

4. THE PRONOUNCEMENT

TEXT: Isa. 37:21-35

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria,

this is the word which Jehovah hath spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

Whom hast thou defied and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.

By thy servants hast thou defied the Lord, and hast 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 the fall cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof; and I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field.

I have digged and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.

Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be thine 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, as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as a field of grain before it is grown up.

But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me.

Because of thy raging against me, and because thine arrogancy is come up into mine ears, therefore will I 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.

And this shall be the sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, 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 fruit thereof.

And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they shall escape: the zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.

Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.

By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith Jehovah.

For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant Davids sake.

QUERIES

When did Jerusalem laugh Assyria to scorn?

What hook will God put in the nose of Assyria?

Did the king of Assyria come to Jerusalem or not?

PARAPHRASE

Immediately Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: This is what Jehovah, the God of Israel says: In answer to your prayer to Me concerning Sennacherib, king of Assyria, this is the Word of Jehovah about Sennacherib: The untouchable daughter of Zion laughs and scorns you despicable Assyrians. Jerusalem shows her disdain of you by a shake of her head. Who do you Assyrians think you are defying and mocking? At whom are you railing with your loud boasting and haughtiness? You are defying the Holy One of Israel! You have sent your aides to threaten the Lord, and they have boasted, We have come over the great mountains of Lebanon with thousands of my chariots and have plundered every nation in my path of its treasures. We have taken whatever we wanted from any nation. We have conquered and occupied many nations and dug wells for our occupation forces. Egypt with its Nile River is no obstacle to meI simply walk across it as if it were dry land. How is it you do not know that it was I, The Holy One of Israel, who decreed all of this long ago? How is it you do not acknowledge that you do what you do only by My permissive will? I have allowed you to have all this power to devastate nations and cities. This is the only reason other nations have had no power against you. This is why they were as helpless as grass and tender plants before you and as dead and used-up as the dead grass on a thatched roof. I, the Lord God, know everything you do. I know when you sit down, when you go out, when you come in, and I know every word of defiance you have uttered against me. Now because of your arrogance and challenge to My sovereignty, manifested by your intimidations toward My people, I will lead you in humility and docility back to where you came from like a bull is led with a ring in its nose or a horse is led with a bit in its mouth. And I will prove that I, The Holy One of Israel, am delivering this city by giving this sign to My people: Before the year is over the Assyrians will be gone. The time will again come when you will reap abundantly from the fruits of your toil and your enemy will not plunder your fields. It will not be immediately. It is too late now to plant your crops for this year. You will harvest first only that which comes up from volunteer seed. The next year will be about the same, due to the devastation of the land by the enemy. But in the third year you will once again sow and reap good crops from this land. Those of you who are left in Judah will be firmly established in your land again without interference from foreign occupation, and you will flourish as a nation again. For I, the Lord, have purposed to always preserve, small though it may be, a Messianic people for Myself. And because I am very zealous to fulfill My Messianic covenant, I will deliver Jerusalem from the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria will not be allowed by Jehovah to make war on Jerusalem. In fact, he will not even come to the city, but he will return to his own land by the same route he entered Palestine. I, even I, will defend this city and save it for the vindication of My Name and to fulfill the promise I made to David.

COMMENTS

Isa. 37:21-25 DEFIANCE: Perhaps some of the details of what transpired between Hezekiah and Isaiah are omitted. Perhaps Isaiah was informed in writing or by messenger of Hezekiahs prayer. Or, perhaps God began to answer Hezekiahs prayer even as Hezekiah was praying! (cf. Dan. 9:20-23). The Lord knows our hearts and minds better than weHe is able to answer our prayer before we ask. Whatever the case, the Lord answered in a propositional, verbal message, through a messenger, Isaiah. Hezekiah was not left to try to discern the Lords answer through a mystical feeling or through a providential fleece.

The expression, virgin (Heb. bethulath) daughter of Zion, is probably to symbolize Jerusalems untouchableness by the Assyrian king who desires to ravish the city. Virgin is sometimes used to symbolize faithfulness. It is also used to symbolize covenant relationship between Israel and God. Amos speaks of Israels (the northern kingdom) unfaithfulness and covenant-breaking as a fallen virgins behavior (Amo. 5:1-2; see also Eze. 16:1 ff). Perhaps all of this, untouchableness, faithfulness and covenant relationship, are involved in the figure virgin here. The point may be that Jerusalem, for its persistent refusal to prostitute itself to the Assyrian intimidations and dogged determination to trust faithfully in God, is being despised by its antagonists. But God promises the reversal of that. Soon, very soon, Assyria the despiser will be despised. Gods promise is so certain it may be predicted as having already occurred! The proud, arrogant, powerful Assyrian king will soon return to his own land, his boasting unfulfilled, to die by assassination. For shaking of the head as a gesture of scorn, see Psa. 22:7; Psa. 109:25; Mat. 27:39.

The question of Isa. 37:23 is rhetorical. God is not asking for information, He is challenging the arrogance of Assyria. The king of Assyria, through the servants he sent to Hezekiah, has defied the Sovereign God of the universe. Sennacherib is being warned that he is not dealing with a god of wood or stone, a provincial god of mans making. This is Almighty God, the Only True God. This is The God who holds all kings and potentates mentally and morally responsible to Himself, whether they acknowledge him or not (cf. Amos, ch. 23; Isaiah, ch. 1323; Jeremiah ch. 4651; Ezekiel, ch. 2632; Daniel, ch. 16, etc.). Even in the New Testament, rulers and men of all nations are declared morally responsible to the Sovereign God, whether they believe in Him or not (cf. Rom. 1:18-32; Rom. 2:1-29; etc.).

The Assyrian monarch boasted that nothing could stand in his way if he decided to march with his army. Not even the mountains of Lebanon (a range of mountains 20 miles long, with two of its peaks rising to over 9000 feet, and remaining snow-capped the year round) could stop him. The mountains of Lebanon formed a formidable natural barrier against invasion of Palestine. To go over the mountains was the only alternative to going across the Arabian desert for those Mesopotamian nations who wished to conquer Palestine. Chariots are made for flat open country. To move an army of chariots over forest-laden, snow-capped mountains 10,000 feet in altitude, would be no small task. But Sennacherib did it and considered such a feat proof that he could conquer any land or people he wished. Egypts Nile River would not stop himhe would go across that as if he were walking on dry land. Hezekiahs God would not stop himhe boastedhe considered himself god of the world! Nothing could stand in his way. If it were mountains, he would cross over them; if it were the absence of water, he would dig wells and sustain his army; if it were the presence of waters, he would bridge them and take his armies across. He considered himself sovereign over all circumstances and persons. That is blasphemy!

Isa. 37:26-29 DOWNFALL: How could the king of Assyria have heard of the predetermined plan of God to use him to waste fortified cities? Perhaps God is saying, has it never occurred to you through conscience or common sense that there is Someone greater than you controlling circumstances and lives, There is abundant evidence that God spoke or revealed His will to the ancients, including pagan rulers, in direct ways. He spoke to the Assyrians once through Jonah, the prophet. He spoke to others through dreams, visions, and prophets (cf. Daniel 1-6). He also spoke of His eternal power and deity through nature (cf. Rom. 1:18-32; Act. 14:14-18; Act. 17:22-29, etc.). Whatever the case, the Assyrian nation had plenty of proof (through Jonahs demonstration of the sovereignty of Jehovah and through nature) that man does not control circumstances or destiny. God uses governments and nations as tools to carry out His sovereign purposes (cf. Jer. 27:5-7; Daniel, ch. 712; Rom. 13:1-7; Rev. ch. 122; Isa. 10:5-34, etc.). That the Assyrian monarch did not recognize the certainty of a Higher Power directing history, in light of all the evidence, indicates his pride overcame conscience and common sense. In other words, his unbelief was deliberate and moral. (See Special Study, Unbelief Is Deliberate, pg. 99). It was God who gave other nations into the hand of the Assyrian. They fell because God permitted it. It was the height of moral perversity for Assyria to think they controlled the world. There are men today who think by their scientific expertise (atomic or nuclear physics; genetic restructuring; space exploration) they are approaching the ability to control circumstances and destiny. That is just as intellectually dishonest and morally perverse as Sennacheribs boasting.

Whatever the king of Assyria does is not outside the knowledge of God. God knows Sennacheribs sitting down, and going out, and coming in, (cf. Psa. 11:4; Psa. 44:20-21; Psa. 139:1-12; Jer. 12:3; Jer. 17:9-10). God knows mans thoughts and deeds (Joh. 2:23-25; Mar. 9:33-35; Luk. 9:46-48; Mat. 25:31-46). God knows when arrogant men rage against Him and He deals with them in His own good time (cf. Daniel 4-6). The Lord declares He will put a khakhiy (a hook for animals noses) in the Assyrians nose and a mitheggiy (a bridle for animals) in the Assyrians mouth and turn him back to his own land.

The arrogancy that blasphemes must be dealt with by the Sovereign God. When a human ruler attempts usurpation of Divine sovereignty he must be brought low. God must show that He is still sovereign, so He will intervene through supernatural and providential actions to humiliate the Assyrian braggart and lead him around where God would have him to be. There are bas reliefs in ancient Assyrian monuments depicting prisoners being led by ropes attached to rings in their noses. God will put His own ring in Sennacheribs nose and lead him (slaying 185,000 soldiers, and a rumor from Nineveh that he should come home).

Isa. 37:30-35 DELIVERANCE: One must not forget that Gods central purpose in the Assyrian downfall was the deliverance of His faithful remnant and the fulfillment of His redemptive plan in them. God uses the wicked schemes of wicked men as tools to work out His redemptive purpose. When Gods people became so wicked they needed chastening, He allowed the cruel Assyrians to bring them back to dependence upon Him. Now that Hezekiah has led the nation in a turning back to God, He will punish the arrogant boasting of the Assyrian (cf. Isa. 10:5-34) as further evidence of His power to fulfill His redemptive program.

Isaiah is predicting a complete removal of the Assyrians from the land of Palestinenot just a temporary let-up of the siege of Jerusalem. The massiveness of the Assyrian army, its need to live off the land it occupied and its complete disregard for life or property would have brought unparalleled devastation to the agricultural and economic situation of Palestine! The Assyrians had conquered 46 cities of Judah and had ravaged the whole land except Jerusalem. He had been there for more than a year. But Isaiah predicts the Assyrian will be gone and as soon as can be expected, the people left in Judah will be reaping and harvesting their own crops again. There will be no miraculous, immediate restoration of the agricultural-economic prosperity. For the immediate year and the one following the people will suffer the effects of the Assyrian devastation of their land; that is, they will eat from crops produced by volunteer seed for the first two years. There would not be enough harvest for two years to provide seed for a full sowing. But the third year would see agriculture returned to its normal processes. That would signify to them God had delivered them from the Assyrian.
The remnant will be saved. God has always carried out His work with a left-over segment of mankind. The cosmic work of redemption has always been trusted to a minority. It will not be any different when God closes the historical, human part of this work. The New Testament indicates the way that leads to life is strait and narrow and few will find it. The majority will be found, at any time, on the broad way that leads to destruction. Great men like Isaiah and Hezekiah were able to persuade a few to trust God and make themselves available to Him that He might bring the Messiah into the world. The remnant of this faithful few can be traced throughout the Old Testament right up to Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The zeal (kineath, in Hebrew) of the Lord will accomplish this (see comments on Isa. 9:7). The Lord is jealous for His own work and His own people. He is jealous for His own sovereignty, so He will not let the king of Assyria carry out his boast to ravage Jerusalem. In fact, God will not even permit the king of Assyria to come to the city. No siege mound will be built up surrounding Jerusalem by the Assyrians. God is going to save it to vindicate His own power and fulfill His promise to David (2Sa. 7:12, etc.). This is quite a prediction by Isaiah in view of the fact that the Assyrians at that moment controlled all of Palestine except the immediate city of Jerusalem! But if God is for us, who can be against us?! (cf. Rom. 8:28-39).

QUIZ

What does the use of the term virgin mean in reference to Jerusalem?

Why does God ask Sennacherib who he thinks he is raging against?

How would God expect the king of Assyria to hear of His sovereignty?

Why did God have to put a hook in the nose of the Assyrian?

What is the sign that God had delivered Palestine from the Assyrians?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(21) Then Isaiah the son of Amoz . . .According to the rectified chronology, the grand burst of prophecy which follows was the last of Isaiahs recorded utterances. As such, it will be interesting to note any points of contact that present themselves either with his earlier prophecies or with the great prophetic poem (Isaiah 40-66) traditionally ascribed to him. The prayer of Hezekiah, if he was not present at its utterance, was reported to him, and in the name of Jehovah he was commissioned to reply to it.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Yahweh’s Reply Through Isaiah ( Isa 37:21-35 ).

Isa 37:21-22

‘Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, In lieu of the fact that you have prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, this is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him. ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and laughed you to scorn. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head after you.’ ” ’

God’s reply to him came through Isaiah. It is Isaiah who is in control of things not Hezekiah. God has heard Hezekiah’s prayer, and, because he has put his trust in Him, tells him what His word against Sennacherib is. ‘Yahweh has spoken.’ And being the word of Yahweh it is not only spoken but will be powerfully effective.

His message is in derisory tones. Sennacherib is likened to the great and important suitor who is scorned by the young woman, Jerusalem. She has rejected his offer with laughter because she despises him. She shakes her head at him as he departs, the forlorn and rejected suitor. Such is Jerusalem’s reply to the Great King. He is dismissed as an unsuitable suitor, to walk away with head bowed.

God’s Reply to Sennacherib’s Claim to Omnipotence.

Isa 37:23-25

“Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Israel. By your servants you have reproached the Lord (i.e. the One Who is truly Lord), and have said, ‘With the multitude of my chariots I have 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 furthest height, the forest of his fruitful field. I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt.’ ”

But it is not only his rejection by Jerusalem that needs to be considered. That was dealt with in derisory fashion. Now the more serious charge is to be dealt with. By his actions and words he has brought into disrepute the Unique One, the Holy One of Israel, the Sovereign Lord Who is over all things, and challenged His omnipotence. His words have been a reproach against His very Name and therefore sheer blasphemy. The picture is vivid. He has raised both his voice and his eyes in arrogant defiance. ‘On high’ stresses the crime. He had to lift up his eyes because he was challenging the One Who is on high.

‘Raised your voice and lifted up your eyes on high.’ The verbs were used of God’s glory in Isa 6:1. So the idea may be of one who was seeking to imitate God.

Furthermore he has boasted about what he was going to do with his power and might, his omnipotence (his multitude of chariots, those final proofs of man’s might). He was going to humiliate Lebanon and dry up Egypt. ‘Lebanon’ here includes the whole land of Canaan, as often elsewhere. The destruction of trees except for specific purposes was by general acknowledgement not a part of warfare, but Sennacherib defies convention. He is above them. He comes to destroy the trees, bringing dismay on the population. But he does not only intend to destroy the trees, he sees them and the rivers as also representing the proud peoples who live there whom he will humiliate. So Lebanon will be denuded of both great men and trees. He, Sennacherib, is lord of the land and of what it produces, and will rid Lebanon of its choicest fruit.

And he is also lord of water supplies. Whenever he digs, he drinks water. His diggings never fail. In other words, when he wishes for it, it is always there under his control. And thus he can, and will, dry up the Nile and its tributaries by the use of his foot, by simply treading on it, together with people who live by it (the whole of Egypt). In this way all that Lebanon and Egypt were renowned for will be destroyed by his seemingly omnipotent power, and all their people will be cut or trodden down. All will be humbled before him. He would show the world what he was. It is quite probable that this was based on exact words known to be used by Sennacherib in his diatribes.

And indeed, rather ironically, showing the world what he was is exactly what he did do, and was the reason why God would destroy him.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

5. ISAIAHS MESSAGE TO HEZEKIAH CONCERNING THE DANGER THREATENED BY SENNACHERIB

Isa 37:21-35

21then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, 21Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria: 22this is the word which the Lord hath spoken 22concerning him;

The Virgin, the daughter of Zion hath despised thee,

And laughed thee to scorn;

The daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head 23at thee.

23Whom hast thou reproached and 24blasphemed?

And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice,

And lifted up thine eyes on high?

Even against the Holy One of Israel.

2425By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said,

By the multitude of my chariots am I come up
To the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon;
And I will cut down 26the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof;

And I will enter into the height of his 27border, and 28the forest 29of his Carmel.

25I have digged and drunk water;

And with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers 30of the 31besieged places.

2632Hast thou not 33heard 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 defenced cities into ruinous heaps,

2734Therefore their inhabitants were 35of 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 36as corn blasted before it be grown up,

28iBut I know thy 37abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in,

And 38thy rage against me.

29Because kthy rage against me, and thy 39tumult, is come up into mine ears,

Therefore will I 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.

30And this shall be a sign unto thee,

Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself;

And the second year that which springeth of the same:
And in the third year sow ye, and reap,
And plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

31And 40the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah

Shall again 41take root downward,

And bear fruit upward:

32For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant,

And 42they that escape out of Mount Zion:

The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.

33Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria,

He shall not come into this city,
Nor shoot an arrow 43there,

Nor come before it with 44shields,

Nor cast a bank against it.

34By the way that he came, by the same shall he return,

And shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.

35For I will defend this city to save it

For mine own sake, and for my servant Davids sake.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Isa 37:21. is here, not merely to send generally, but to send a message, as appears from : comp. Gen 38:25; 2Sa 14:32; 1Ki 9:5; 2Ki 5:8, etc.The clause can be construed grammatically as the premise to the apodosis Isa 37:22, or as a relative explanatory clause to Isa 37:21. The latter is possible because in Hebrew, by a prepositive even the casus obliqui of the pronouns of the first and second persons can receive a relative meaning. Comp. Isa 41:8-9; Isa 64:10; Gen 45:4. But the latter explanation seems to me unsuitable because a clause like I to whom thou hast prayed, does not sound well in the mouth of God. For does not that assume that Hezekiah might have prayed to some other? But the harshness of the first explanation, according to which in the premise Jehovah Himself speaks, while in the conclusion He is spoken of, is an objection to it. Hence the reading of 2Ki 19:22, at the end, , which the Isaiah text omits as needless, is the more correct; especially as there appears to be an intentional echo of Gods promise to Solomon 1Ki 9:3.

Isa 37:22. The accents designate the verb as Milra. According to that, it would be either part. fem. from , or 3 pers. masc. Kal from . The latter would be grammatically possible, so far as can be regarded as prepositive predicate. But, although and mean the same, still the latter is more frequently joined with the accusative and the former with the dative. For occurs with only 2Sa 6:16 (1Ch 15:29), whereas mostly appears joined with (Pro 6:30; Pro 11:12; Pro 13:13; Pro 14:21; Pro 23:9; Pro 30:17; Zec 4:10; Son 8:1; Son 8:7). Besides these occurs only Pro 1:7; Pro 23:22. As the Masoretic pointing is not binding, I would rather regard our as 3 pers. fem. Kal. from , corresponding to .Also is mostly joined with ; Psa 2:4; Psa 59:9; Psa 80:7; Pro 17:5; Pro 30:17; Jer 20:7, etc. a gesture of derision as in Psa 22:8; Psa 109:25; Job 16:4; Lam 2:15.

Isa 37:23. and comp. Isa 37:4; Isa 37:6. is a specifically Isaianic expression.

Isa 37:24. This verse contains a number of variations on 2Ki 19:23, that, from the stand-point of our author, represent emendations.On see Isa 10:33.In of an adjective notion is made a substantive. For has here its appellative meaning: fruitful field or garden.

Isa 37:25. comp. on Isa 19:1; Isa 19:6.

Isa 37:26. is, like (simplified from 2Ki 19:25), to be referred to what follows. Properly the prep, before would suffice; but the Hebrew favors the cumulation of prepositions (comp. 2Sa 7:19; Job 36:9; 2Ch 26:15. etc.). By the prefixed is expressed the thought that the divine doing relates to a period beginning far back.On comp. Isa 23:7; Isa 51:9.By (comp. Isa 46:11) the Prophet affirms that precisely what the Assyrian pretended he had done by his own power, was only the accomplishment of Jehovahs thought. Hence must also be construed as 2 pers. masc. and referred to the Assyrian. with following is used in the sense of to serve for something as in Isa 5:5; Isa 44:15. is Hiph. from strepere, tumultuari. But the word means also the noise, the cracking of something falling in, and hence not only Kal (Isa 6:11) and the corresponding Niph. (ibid.) and Hiph. (our text and 2 Kings) have the meaning to fall in ruins, to be laid waste, but also the substantive means interitus, pernicies Psa 40:3; Jer 44:11).The words , according to Heb. usage, express the result of the destruction in the form of apposition with the thing to be destroyed; comp. Isa 6:11; Isa 24:12. is part. Niph. from , and occurs in the sense of waste only here and Jer 4:7.

Isa 37:27. The expression short-handed, i. e., weak, original in Num 11:23, occurs again only Isa 50:2; Isa 59:1, the adjective only here. as in Isa 20:5.Everywhere else the expression grass of the field reads as in Gen 2:5; Gen 3:18, etc. only here; comp. Psa 37:2.In 2Ki 19:26 the fourth comparison is blasting, or blasted field, instead of a field. It is no doubt a stronger figure, and as a climax, more in place. It is far more likely that it is the primitive reading and that our text is secondary.

Isa 37:29. On first depends the infin., which then as in Isa 30:12, continues in the verb fin.Instead of 2Ki 19:27 has . [In some editions it is precisely the reverse.Tr.]. Are both Infin. as Olshausen ( 187, a and 251, b, p. 552) maintains; or is only the former, as Ewald seems to assume ( 157, b, comp. 120, a) [also Green, see 122, 1 and 187, 1, dTr.]? To me the latter seems more probable, for I do not see why, when is infin., it would be pointed whereas this is quite easily explained if be derived from the adjective quiet.

Isa 37:30. in the inf. absol. presents the verbal notion without determining the time or manner. The Prophet thereby affirms simply what actually is, what occurs according to nature. is . . 2Ki 19:29 has . The latter word is devoid of any etymological basis, as there is no root either in Hebrew or the kindred dialects. Moreover there is no agreement about the root of the form . There is no root in Hebrew. Of various explanations, that may deserve the preference which connects with the Arabic schahis, which means scattered, standing thin, unless perhaps the fundamental meaning is to divide itself, to cut loose from, so that would mean that which separates itself from the root, grows out of it. would then be the sprouts of the root (Aquila and Theod. translate ).The imperative in involves so for an exhortation that the Prophet would say to the Israelites to lay aside all anxiety about the enemy for the third year, and carry on agriculture confidently.Instead of Kri has which is also the reading of 2Ki 19:29, and seems to be the more original. For may be suspected of being imitated from the same word beginning the verse, and moreover it would involve a certain emphasis which, accurately considered, would be out of place here. It would = andin shorteat your fruit; thus it would recapitulate and say in brief. It can, however, naturally refer only to (comp. Isa 65:21; Jer 29:5; Jer 29:28; Amo 9:14).

Isa 37:32. The word is wanting in Kthibh of 2Ki 19:31. The books of Kings have this word of the divine name only three times, viz., 1Ki 18:15; 1Ki 19:10; 1Ki 19:14; 2Ki 3:14 in the history of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. In Isaiah, on the other hand, it is of frequent occurrence; see Isa 9:6 (7) the parallel passage and on Isa 1:9.

Isa 37:33. here stands for as in 1Sa 2:14; 1Ki 18:10; Jer 19:14. is never used in the transitive sense = to make come before, cause to meet, so as to construe the word with a double accusative of the place and the nearer object. But as after other verbs the instrument can be designated by the accusative (comp. Isa 1:20), as well as the use of , so also can be used with (comp. Deu 23:5; Isa 21:14; Psa 95:2) and with the simple accus. instrum. as in Psa 21:4. We have here a double accusative of the place and of the instrument.

Isa 37:34. intimates that the Assyrian must be thought of as not in the land, but on the way to Jerusalem.

Isa 37:35. On see on Isa 31:5; Isa 38:6.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. To Hezekiahs prayer (Isa 37:16-20) the Lord gives an answer through Isaiah, which announces the triumph of Jerusalem (Isa 37:22), convicts the Assyrian of blasphemy against God, in that he spoke haughtily against the Holy One of Israel, and ascribed to himself the glory of conquests in which he was only the instrument (Isa 37:23-27). But the Lord knows him thoroughly, and will make him know himself by unmistakable treatment (Isa 37:28-29). To Judah a sign is given, that it is to be free forever from the Assyrian (Isa 37:30-32). For the immediate future it is announced that the Assyrian shall not even come near Jerusalem, but shall return home by the way he came; and God is declared to be the protector of Jerusalem (Isa 37:33-35).

2. Then Isaiahat thee

Isa 37:21-22. See Text. and Gram. Jerusalem shall see the Assyrian retreating with aims unaccomplished. Then it will look after him () with derision. [Hitzig supposes that the shaking of the head, with the Hebrews as with us, was a gesture of negation, and that the expression of scorn consisted in a tacit denial that Sennacherib had been able to effect his purpose. Thus understood, the action is equivalent to saying in words, no, no! i. e., he could not do it. A similar explanation is given by Hentgstenberg, on Psa 22:8.J. A. Alex. For another view see Baehr, on 2Ki 19:21.Tr.].

3. Whom hast thou reproachedbesieged places.

Isa 37:23-25. The question extends to thine eyes; and thus against the Holy, etc., is the answer to all the preceding questions (Vitringa, Gesen., Delitz.). Others construe against the Holy, etc., with the foregoing words and lifted up, etc., as the answer; so that the question ends with voice. But against the latter it may be urged that the question and answer do not correspond; the question is not answered, and the answer given refers to something about which nothing is asked. According to our construction it is asked: Whom hast thou blasphemed, and against whom hast thou insolently raised voice and eyes (comp. Psa 18:28; Psa 101:5; Pro 6:17; Pro 21:4)? The answer is: against the Holy, etc.; wherein, according to familiar usage, the form of the answer corresponds to the final member of question. This appears more evident in 2Ki 19:22, as connects more exactly with [Ewald carries the interrogation through the verse, and renders at the beginning of the last clause, that or so that, while Hitzig makes the whole of that clause an exclamation. This construction is more naturalthe answer begins with the next verse where he is expressly charged with blasphemy against Jehovah.J. A. Alex.].

Isa 37:24-25 express more exactly how he has blasphemed. It was done by his servants. (The hand of figurative expression for organ, service, means generally Isa 20:2; Jer 37:2; Jer 50:1; Hag 1:1; Hag 1:3; Hag 2:1). The emphatic thought is that servants of men have blasphemed the Lord of the world.

This blasphemy consisted mainly (Isa 36:7; Isa 36:15; Isa 36:18) in representing trust in Jehovah as folly, and in the inference that, because they had conquered heathen nations, it was logically necessary that the people of God might be conquered, and thus in placing Jehovah on a level with idols. Moreover what they did, they supposed they had done by their own might, and that what was to be done yet could be done in the same way. Isaiah expresses this thought in Isa 37:24-25, with close adherence to the circumstances, so as to divide as it were the task of the Assyrian into two parts. The first part was the conquest of the Syrian, Phnician and Palestinian districts. All these lands lie about Lebanon. One traveling from Nineveh by Carchemish to Phnicia must in any case go past Lebanon, which, by its lofty, snow-covered summits, gives distant notice of the locality of these lands. Lebanon therefore may serve as an emblem. Moreover in the Scriptures it is not uncommon to represent Zion under the image of Lebanon (comp. Jer 22:6-7; Jer 22:23; Eze 17:3), partly because in general Lebanon is the image of what is lofty and admirable (comp. Isa 2:13; Isa 10:33 sq.; Isa 35:2; Isa 60:13; Hos 14:6 sqq.; Zec 11:1 sq.), partly and especially because the kings palace in Zion had grown on Lebanon, i. e., was built of cedars of Lebanon, (comp. 1Ki 7:2 house of the forest of Lebanon, or house of the forest, Isa 22:8). It is inconceivable that Sennacherib or one of his predecessors ever scaled Lebanon with horse and chariot, and destroyed the cedars. The Prophet rather makes him boast that he had conquered the lands of Lebanon. And Hamath, Arphad, Syria, Phnicia, the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, the greater part of Judah and Philistia, were actually in his possession. With reference to this, one might well represent him as saying: I have ascended up the heights of the mountains, up the sides (properly the shanks, comp. on Isa 14:13) of Lebanon. The chief work seemed done, the chief summits were surmounted. It only remained to penetrate into the inmost part, and there destroy the ornament of Lebanon, its glorious standing timber of cedar and cypress. By the Prophet manifestly refers to what has been accomplished, i. e., the occupation of the Lebanon districts. But and refer to what remains to be done. Only Jerusalem remained for Sennacherib to conquer (comp. on Isa 36:1). Thus the best, the real ornament, the central point of the Palestinian Lebanon lands was not yet his. Jerusalem with its temple and its kings palace, the two Lebanon houses (because with both cedars of Lebanon had so much to do, comp, 1Ki 6:9 sqq.; Isa 7:2 sqq.) might well be compared to the crown of Lebanon with its ornament of cedars. Such is the understanding of Thenius and Baehr, with whom I agree. The expression tall-growth of its cedars, choice of its cypress, quite agrees with the Latin mode of expression, by which can be said e.g.cibum partim unguium tenacitate arripiunt, partim aduncitate rostrorum (Cic.Deor. Nat. II. 47, 122). Comp. Friedr. NaegelsbachsLatein. Stilistik, 74; Isa 1:16; Isa 22:7; Isa 25:12; Isa 30:30. The Prophet does not ascribe to the Assyrian the intention of destroying the height of the cedars, while he would leave them their other qualities, but that he would utterly cut down the high cedars as they are.On , the cypress, comp. on Isa 14:8. The height of his end or border is also no more than his highest summit. The notion height is not already expressed in the uttermost, as Baehr supposes. For a mountain has an uttermost in every direction. One may therefore speak of an uttermost in the direction upward, and of a height of the uttermost.The forest of his garden-land is then the forest that, as it were, forms the garden of Lebanon, that adorns Lebanon like a pleasure park. The most luxuriant, glorious standing forest of Lebanon is meant.

In Isa 37:25 the Prophet speaks of the second task presented to Sennacherib, which was to conquer Egypt. That concerned a certain campaign, not in a mountainous region, but in a level land, partly waste and without water, partly abounding in water. While Sennacherib stood on the south of Palestine the great army had no superabundance of water. When, e. g., we read of Moses request to Edom (Num 20:17 sqq.) it cannot seem strange that the Prophet imputed to Sennacherib the boastful assertion that so far he has provided his mighty host with water in a strange land, that he has dug wells, because the existing ones were insufficient, and had drunk away their water from the inhabitants. For such is the meaning of 2Ki 19:24, which our author has omitted for the sake of simplicity. Had the Assyrian traversed the desert et–Tih, digging wells would, of course, have been a still greater necessity. But on the border of it, whither Sennacherib penetrated, it may have been needful. He boasts, moreover, that where there is much water, and the water is a bulwark for the inhabitants, as the Nile with its canals is to Egypt, he will easily destroy this bulwark. For by the sole of his tramp shall the streams of Egypt be dried up. Thus his warriors will dry up the streams of Egypt like a puddle, merely by the tramp of their feet. The expression sole of the tramp is found only here. It is metonymy. Still in respect to the act of stepping, step and foot are often interchanged. Comp. Psa 140:5 with Psa 116:8; Psa 17:5 with Psa 38:17, etc. [The drying up of the rivers with the soles of the feet is understood by Vitringa as an allusion to the Egyptian mode of drawing water with a tread-wheel (Deu 11:10).J. A. Alex.].

4. Hast thou not heardthou camest?

Isa 37:26-29. The Assyrian imagined that he pushed, and he was pushed. He regarded all he did as the product of his own free fancy, and of his power to do. The Prophet however says to him that he had only been an instrument in the hands of God. With hast thou not heard, the Prophet, so to speak, appeals to the better understanding of the Assyrian. Has it not somehow, if not from without, still from within, come to thy hearing (comp. Psa 62:12) that it is not as thou thinkest? Does not thy conscience, the voice of God within thee say that it was not thou that hast planned and carried out all this, but that I, the Almighty God, long ago (Isa 22:11; Isa 25:1) laid it out and have accomplished it? Therefore the Assyrian was to be a thorough destroyer of things. But when God destroys the things, He intends always a corresponding effect on the persons. The latter is the thought of Isa 37:27. Their inhabitants (i. e., of the cities named Isa 37:26), as short-handed, (i. e., weak), are dismayed and confounded. Then with strong figures this effect is more nearly characterized. The sorely visited inhabitants are compared to the grass of the field, the green herb, the grass on the house tops (in shallow soil, weak rooted; the expression again only Psa 129:6), the grain field before the standing fruit (i. e., all blade and no stalk), and thus soft and tender like grass.But not only is the foregoing true of the Assyrian as the instrument of Gods purpose, but all his doing and not doing has been directed by the Lord without his knowing it: what he proposed at home, his march forth, his coming into the Holy Land, and his hostile raging against the people of God, all was under the notice of the Lord, and must run the course determined by Him. Sitting, going forth, coming home, are expressions for the total activity of a man (comp. Deu 28:6; Psa 121:8; Psa 139:2). stands for every vehement emotion whether of fear, of anger, or of joy (comp. Isa 5:25; Isa 13:13; Isa 14:9; Isa 14:16; Isa 23:11; Isa 28:21, etc.). The Hithp. occurs only here and Isa 37:29. Because the Assyrian with this had sinned against the Lord and rebelled, and would not hear of his being dependent on the Lord, but only the report of his proud security came to the Lord, he must feel his dependence in the most incisive way. He must return home by the way he came, as it were, led by a ring through the nose like a wild beast (comp. Eze 19:4; Eze 19:9; Eze 29:4; Eze 38:4), or by a bridle between the lips, like a tame beast. On the ruins of Chorsabad are figures of prisoners whom the royal victor holds to a rope by means of a ring fastened in their lips. Comp. Thenius on 2Ki 19:28.

5. And this shalldo this.

Isa 37:30-32. The Prophet turns to Hezekiah. In Isa 37:22; Isa 37:29 he had in a general way held out the prospect of the pitiful retreat of the Assyrian out of the Holy Land. Now he names a sign to the king that shall be a pledge of the promise given and place it in the right light. It may be asked: how can this sign, that requires two years for its accomplishment, be a pledge for an event that is to take place at once; according to 2Ki 19:35, even that very night? I believe that two things are to be considered here. First: Israel receives the promise, not merely of a momentary, but of a definite deliverance from the power of Assyria. This appears, evident from our prophecy itself. The scorn with which Zion greets the retreat of the Assyrian (Isa 37:22) would be ill-timed if he could return to take vengeance. According to Isa 37:29 he is so thoroughly led off that he is certain to have no wish to come back. According to Isa 37:33; Isa 37:35 he is not to come before Jerusalem. It is not said, however, that this shall not happen only this time and in the present danger. The Assyrian shall never come any more. Assyria is done away. The Theocracy has nothing more to fear from it. We have shown above that this thought occurs in chaps. 2833, especially in 33. It cannot surprise one that a promise so all-important, that Assyria shall nevermore hurt the Theocracy, is guaranteed by a sign requiring years for its realization. A promise to be fulfilled after some hours properly requires no pledge.

In the second place: it is to be noticed that there is no exact statement in our prophecy as to the way in which Assyria is to be expelled from Judah. It is neither said that it shall be so suddenly, nor in this fashion. Hence the question might arise after the event, whether this sudden expulsion is to be explained by accidental or natural causes, or as the operation of divine omnipotence. Did the Lord give a sign and the sign come about, it would prove that that first mighty blow carried out against Assyria was also intended by the Lord. But it may be asked: how can a series of events serve for a sign, which in fact take a very natural course, which could not happen otherwise? It might be urged that it took mighty little prophetic insight to know that no regular seeding and harvest could be possible before the third year. That is true. Yet only He for whom there is properly no future could know beforehand that in the third year there would certainly be a seeding and harvest. For it was quite possible that the Assyrian invasion would last for years still. What the Prophet predicts here is the favorable aspect of the future that was in general possible. Better could not happen. I construe Isa 37:30 essentially as Drechsler does, and think that the subject has been needlessly made hard. According to the Assyrian monuments, the expedition of Sennacherib against Syria, Palestine and Egypt occupied only the one year, 700 B. C. For in the year 699 we find him on another theatre of war, employed against Suzub of Babylon. Comp. the canon of Regents in Schrader, p. 319, and our remarks on Isa 39:1. If, then, this campaign lasted no longer than a year, still it certainly demanded the whole of the time of a year suitable for warfare. Therefore Sennacherib certainly was in Palestine in Spring before the harvest, and when it was ripe seized on it, for his immense army. He conquered in fact the whole land, and shut up Hezekiah in Jerusalem like a bird in its cage. But he must have remained in Canaan till late in the year. For when one considers that in this year he made the conquest of Phnicia, several Philistine cities (Beth-Dagon, Joppa, Bne-Barak, Azur), forty-six fortified cities of Judah, besides countless castles and smaller places, and then also fought a considerable battle with the Ethiopic army, there is presented a labor for whose accomplishment three-quarters of a year does not appear too much time. But with that the invasion lasted so long that the season for preparing a harvest had passed by; especially when it is considered that the inhabitants needed first to assemble again, put their houses to rights, and provide beasts of labor, as their stock must certainly have fallen a prey to the enemy. Comp. Isa 32:10; Isa 32:12-13 and Isa 33:8-9, which may be taken as a suitable description of the condition brought about by this invasion. For the year after the invasion, therefore, there was no product of the land to be expected in general, but such as would spring up of itself. Not before the third year could there be regular cultivation and a corresponding harvest. And, as already said, that was much, in fact, the best that could happen as things then were. For that end it would be necessary that the Assyrian by the end of the second year should no more be in the land, and have no more power to hinder field-labor. According to this explanation, we have no need of assuming a Sabbatic year, nor a year of jubilee, nor a return of the Assyrian out of Egypt to Palestine, nor an invasion lasting three years, nor that agriculture in Palestine at that time was carried on in the same ceremonious way that, according to Wetstein (in Delitzsch, p. 389 sq.), is the case now-a-days. Naturally, during the invasion, in the first year, there was no fruit of harvest to eat, since the Assyrian had carried it off, but only (Lev 25:5; Lev 25:11; Job 14:19). The word comes from , which undoubtedly means effundere, profundere, infundere (Hab 2:15; Job 30:7; Isa 5:7), in Niph. and Hithp.: to pour (of rivers), to mouth, debouch, i. e., se adjungere, adjungi (Isa 14:1; 1Sa 26:19). , therefore, is effusio, the outpour, what is poured out, spilt. Thus all field produce is meant that comes from spilling at seeding or harvest, or that comes from such spilt fruit. In the present case it would be first the former, like crumbs from the rich mans table, and then the latter, of which the Israelites would get the benefit. On see Text. and Gram. See in Gesen. and Knobel proof that in warm countries grain propagates itself partly by spilt seeds and partly by shoots from the root. [The stooling of winter wheat is familiar to agriculturists.Tr.]

But the Prophet has not only deliverance from ruin to announce to Judah, but also new growth. The escaped (, comp. Isa 4:2; Isa 10:20; Isa 15:9) of the house of Judah ( again only Isa 22:21), the remnant (comp. Isa 11:11; Isa 11:16), shall add on root downwards (Isa 27:6). It shall, however, also bear fruit upwards, thus be a firm-rooted and fruitful tree. It is true that Judah somewhat more than an hundred years later was uprooted. Still it was not, like Israel, quite and forever wrested away from its indigenous soil, but only transplanted for a while, to be replanted again, in order to go and meet a new and final judgment, with which, however, was also combined a transition into a new and higher stage of existence. And precisely for this higher stage of existence the remnant, according to our passage and former statements of the Prophet (Isa 4:3; Isa 6:13; Isa 10:20 sqq.), formed the point of connection. By Isa 37:32 a the Prophet explains how this revivescence of Judah shall be brought about. All Judah fell into the hand of the enemy, and by him was hostilely treated and desolated. Only the capital remained unhurt. Therefore in it had been preserved an untouched nucleus, formed partly of the inhabitants of Jerusalem themselves, partly of such men of Judah as had taken refuge in the capital. Hence the Prophet can say: out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and the escaped from mount Zion. For of course the repeopling and restoration of the land must proceed from Jerusalem, as from the intact core and heart of the land. On the last clause of Isa 37:32 see on Isa 9:6. The words here are evidently intended in a consolatory sense, and to intimate that what the Lord has promised, He will perform with zeal.

6. Therefore thus saithDavids sake.

Isa 37:33-35. In these verses, what was given in the foregoing in a general way is now definitely formulated and applied to the present situation. The Prophet affirms most positively that Jerusalem shall not be besieged by the Assyrian. It is commonly assumed that the Assyrian of course enclosed Jerusalem, and that he met the fearful overthrow narrated Isa 37:36 before its walls. But when Sennacherib received intelligence of the approach of the Ethiopian army, he was at Libnah. From there he retired a little further north to Altakai (Eltekeh), where occurred the battle. Evidently he avoided encountering the Ethiopian near, and especially obliquely south of Jerusalem, so as not to tempt the Jews to aid the enemy, and to avoid having to sustain their attack on his rear. But it is thought that the great army (Isa 36:2) with which Rabshakeh appeared before Jerusalem remained there while he returned to the king (Isa 37:8). The text, however, says nothing of this, and moreover, it is internally not probable. For with the prospect of encountering so great a host as the army of Egypt and Ethiopia doubtless was, Sennacherib would not have weakened himself by sending away a great part of his own army. He might have sent a small corps of observation: but the 185,000 men of which Isa 37:36 speaks certainly did not lie before Jerusalem. There is therefore a climax in Isa 37:33. First it says, Sennacherib shall not come into the city. Then, he shall not shoot an arrow into it. In sieges among the ancients, the shield played a great part as a protection against spears, stones, etc., that were hurled down from the walls, as also against melted pitch (comp. Herz.Real-Encycl. IV. p. 392 sqq.). , the besiegers wall (2Sa 20:15; Jer 6:6; Eze 4:2, etc.). Isa 37:35 is causal as to its contents. The first clause names, as the reason of the Assyrians expulsion, Jehovahs purpose to protect Jerusalem. But the reason for this protection is the promise given to David (2Sa 7:12 sqq.; comp. 1Ki 15:4) whereby the honor of the Lord itself was at stake (comp. Isa 43:25; Isa 48:11) and thus the preservation of Jerusalem was necessary. It is true that Jerusalem was destroyed, after all, at a later period, and the kingdom of David demolished; but this occurred under circumstances that did not exclude a restoration. Had Judah been destroyed at that time by Sennacherib, it would have had the same fate as the kingdom of Israel.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. On Isa 36:4 sqq. Haec proprie est Satanae lingua et sunt non Rabsacis sed ipsissimi Diaboli verba, quibus non muros urbis, sed medullam Ezechiae, hoc est, tenerrimam ejus fidem oppugnat.Luther. In this address the chief-butler, Satan performs in the way he uses when he would bring about our apostacy. 1) He urges that we are divested of all human support, Isa 36:5; Isaiah 2) We are deprived of divine support, Isa 36:7; Isaiah 3) God is angry with us because we have greatly provoked Him by our sins, Isa 36:7; Isaiah 4) He decks out the splendor, and power of the wicked, Isa 36:8-9; Isaiah 5) He appeals to Gods word, and knows how to turn and twist it to his uses. Such poisonous arrows were used by Satan against Christ in the desert, and may be compared with this light (Mat 4:2 sqq.). One needs to arm himself against Satans attack by Gods word, and to resort to constant watching and prayer.Cramer.

The Assyrian urges four particulars by which he would destroy Hezekiahs confidence, in two of which he was right and in two wrong. He was right in representing that Hezekiah could rely neither on Egypt, nor on his own power. In this respect he was a messenger of God and announcer of divine truth. For everywhere the word of God preaches the same (Isa 30:1-3; Isa 31:1-3; Jer 17:5; Psa 118:8-9; Psa 146:3, etc.). But it is a merited chastisement if rude and hostile preachers must preach to us what we were unwilling to believe at the mild and friendly voice of God. But in two particulars the Assyrian was wrong, and therein lay Hezekiahs strength. For just on this account the Lord is for him and against the Assyrian. These two things are, that the Assyrian asserts that Hezekiah cannot put his trust in the Lord, but rather he, the Assyrian is counseled by the Lord against Hezekiah. That, however, was a lie, and because of this lie, the corresponding truth makes all the deeper impression on Hezekiah, and reminds him how assuredly he may build on the Lord and importune Him. And when the enemy dares to say, that he is commissioned by the Lord to destroy the Holy Land, just that must bring to lively remembrance in the Israelite, that the Lord, who cannot lie, calls the land of Israel His land (Joel 4:2; Jer 2:7; Jer 16:18, etc.), and the people of Israel His people (Exo 3:7; Exo 3:10; Exo 5:1, etc.).

2. On Isa 36:12. [In regard to the indelicacy of this passage we may observe: 1) The Masorets in the Hebrew text have so printed the words used, that in reading it the offensiveness would be considerably avoided. 2) The customs, habits and modes of expression of people in different nations and times, differ. What appears indelicate at one time or in one country, may not only be tolerated, but common in another. 3) Isaiah is not at all responsible for the indelicacy of the language here. He is simply an historian. 4) It was of importance to give the true character of the attack which was made on Jerusalem. The coming of Sennacherib was attended with pride, insolence and blasphemy; and it was important to state the true character of the transaction, and to record just what was said and done. Let him who used the language, and not him who recorded it bear the blame.Barnes in loc.].

3. On Isa 36:18 sqq. Observandum hic, quod apud gentes olim viguerit adeo, ut quaevis etiam urbs peculiarem habuerit Deum tutelarem. Cujus ethnicismi exemplum vivum et spirans adhuc habemus apud pontificios, quibus non inscite objici potest illud Jeremiae: Quot civitates tibi, tot etiam Dei (Jer 2:28).Foerster.

4. On Isa 36:21. Answer not a fool according to his folly (Pro 26:4), much less the blasphemer, lest the flame of his wickedness be blown into the greater rage (Sir 8:3). Did not Christ the Lord answer His enemies, not always with words, but also with silence (Mat 26:62; Mat 27:14, etc.)? One must not cast pearls before swine (Mat 7:6). After Foerster and Cramer.

5. On Isa 36:21. Est aureus textus, qui docet nos, ne cum Satana disputemus. Quando enim videt, quod sumus ejus spectatores et auditores, tum captat occasionem majoris fortitudinis et gravius premit. Petrus dicit, eum circuire et quaerere, quem devoret. Nullum facit insidiarum finem. Tutissimum autem est non respondere, sed contemnere eum.Luther.

6. [On Isa 37:1-7. Rabshakeh intended to frighten Hezekiah from the Lord, but it proves that he frightens him to the Lord. The wind, instead of forcing the travelers coat from him, makes him wrap it the closer about him. The more Rabshakeh reproaches God, the more Hezekiah studies to honor Him. On Isa 37:3. When we are most at a plunge we should be most earnest in prayer. When pains are most strong, let prayers be most lively. Prayer is the midwife of mercy, that helps to bring it forth.M. Henry, in loc.]

7. On Isa 37:2 sqq. Hezekiah here gives a good example. He shows all princes, rulers and peoples what one ought to do when there is a great and common distress, and tribulation. One ought with sackcloth, i. e., with penitent humility, to bring prayers, and intercessions to the Lord that He would look on and help.

8. On Isa 37:6 sq. God takes to Himself all the evil done to His people. For as when one does a great kindness to the saints, God appropriates it to Himself, so, too, when one torments the saints, it is an injury done to God, and He treats sin no other way than as if done to Himself. He that torments them torments Him (Isa 64:9). Therefore the saints pray: Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily (Psa 74:22).Cramer.

9. On Isa 37:7. God raises up against His enemies other enemies, and thus prepares rest for His own people. Example: the Philistines against Saul who pursued David, 1Sa 23:27.Cramer.

10. On Isa 37:14. Vitringa here cites the following from Bonfin Rerum Hungar. Dec. III. Lib. VI. p. 464, ad annum Isaiah 1444: Amorathes, cum suos laborare cerneret et ab Vladislao rege non sine magna caede fugari, depromtum e sinu codicem initi sanctissime foederis explicat intentis in coelum oculis. Haec sunt, inquit ingeminans, Jesu Christe, foedera, quae Christiani tui mecum percussere. Per numen tuum sanctum jurarunt, datamque sub nomine tuo fidem violarunt, perfide suum Deum abnegarunt. Nunc Christe, si Deus es (ut ajunt et nos hallucinamur), tuas measque hic injurias, te quaeso, ulciscere et his, qui sanctum tuum nomen nondum agnovere, violatae fidei poenas ostende. Vix haec dixerat . cum proelium, quod anceps ac dubium diu fuerat, inclinare coepit, etc.

[The desire of Hezekiah was not primarily his own personal safety, or the safety of his kingdom. It was that Jehovah might vindicate His great and holy name from reproach, and that the world might know that He was the only true God. We have here a beautiful model of the object which we should have in view when we come before God. This motive of prayer is one that is with great frequency presented in the Bible. Comp. Isa 42:8; Isa 43:10; Isa 43:13; Isa 43:25; Deu 32:39; Psa 83:18; Psa 46:10; Neh 9:6; Dan 9:18-19. Perhaps there could have been furnished no more striking proof that Jehovah was the true God, than would be by the defeat of Sennacherib. The time had come when the great Jehovah could strike a blow which would be felt on all nations, and carry the terror of His name, and the report of His power throughout the earth. Perhaps this was one of the main motives of the destruction of that mighty army.Barnes, on Isa 37:2].

11. On Isa 37:15. Fides Ezechiae verba confirmata magis ac magis crescit. Ante non ausus est orare, jam orat et confutat blasphemias omnes Assyrii. Adeo magna vis verbi est, ut longe alius per verbum, quod Jesajas ei nunciari jussit, factus sit.Luther.

12. On Isa 37:17. [It is bad to talk proudly and profanely, but it is worse to write so, for this argues more deliberation and design, and what is written spreads further and lasts longer, and does the more mischief. Atheism and irreligion, written, will certainly be reckoned for another day.M. Henry].

13. On Isa 37:21 sqq. [Those who receive messages of terror from men with patience, and send messages of faith to God by prayer, may expect messages of grace and peace from God for their comfort, even when they are most cast down. Isaiah sent a long answer to Hezekiahs prayer in Gods name, sent it in writing (for it was too long to be sent by word of mouth), and sent it by way of return to his prayer, relation being thereunto had: Whereas thou hast prayed to me, know, for thy comfort, that thy prayer is heard. Isaiah might have referred him to the prophecies he had delivered (particularly to that of chap. 10), and bid him pick out an answer from thence. The correspondence between earth and heaven is never let fall on Gods side.M. Henry.].

14. On Isa 37:31 sqq. This is a promise of great extent. For it applies not only to those that then remained, and were spared the impending destruction and captivity by the Assyrians, but to all subsequent times, when they should enjoy a deliverance; as after the Babylonish captivity, and after the persecutions of Antiochus. Yea, it applies even to New Testament times from the first to the last, since therein, in the order of conversion to Christ, the Jews will take root and bring forth fruit, and thus in the Jews (as also in the converted Gentiles) will appear in a spiritual and corporal sense, what God at that time did to their fields in the three following years.Starke.

15. On Isa 38:1. Isaiah, although of a noble race and condition, does not for that regard it disgraceful, but rather an honor, to be a pastor and visitor of the sick, I would say, a prophet, teacher and comforter of the sick. God save the mark! How has the world become so different in our day, especially in our evangelical church Let a family be a little noble, and it is regarded as a reproach and injury to have a clergyman among its relations and friends, not to speak of a son studying theology and becoming a servant of the church. I speak not of all; I know that some have a better mind; yet such is the common course. Jeroboams maxim must rather obtain, who made priests of the lowest of the people (1Ki 12:31). For thus the parsons may be firmly held in rein (sub ferula) and in political submission. It is not at all good where the clergy have a say, says an old state-rule of our Politicorum. Feuerlein, pastor in Nuremberg, in his Novissimorum primum, 1694, p. 553. The same quotes Spener: Is it not so, that among the Roman Catholics the greatest lords are not ashamed to stand in the spiritual office, and that many of them even discharge the spiritual functions? Among the Reformed, too, persons born of the noblest families are not ashamed of the office of preacher. But, it seems, we Lutherans are the only ones that hold the service of the gospel so low, that, where from a noble or otherwise prominent family an ingenium has an inclination to theological study, almost every one seeks to hinder him, or, indeed, afterwards is ashamed of his friendship, as if it were something much too base for such people, by which more harm comes to our church than one might suppose. That is to be ashamed of the gospel.

16. On Isa 38:1. [We see here the boldness and fidelity of a man of God. Isaiah was not afraid to go in freely and tell even a monarch that he must die. The subsequent part of the narrative would lead us to suppose that, until this announcement, Hezekiah did not regard himself as in immediate danger. It is evident here, that the physician of Hezekiah had not informed him of itperhaps from the apprehension that his disease would be aggravated by the agitation of his mind on the subject. The duty was, therefore, left, as it is often, to the minister of religiona duty which even many ministers are slow to perform, and which many physicians are reluctant to have performed.

No danger is to be apprehended commonly from announcing to those who are sick their true condition. Physicians and friends often err in this. There is no species of cruelty greater than to suffer a friend to lie on a dying bed under a delusion. There is no sin more aggravated than that of designedly deceiving a dying man, and flattering him with the hope of recovery, when there is a moral certainty that he will not and cannot recover. And there is evidently no danger to be apprehended from communicating to the sick their true condition. It should be done tenderly and with affection; but it should be done faithfully. I have had many opportunities of witnessing the effect of apprising the sick of their situation, and of the moral certainty that they must die. And I cannot now recall an instance in which the announcement has had any unhappy effect on the disease. Often, on the contrary, the effect is to calm the mind, and to lead the dying to look up to God, and peacefully to repose on Him. And the effect of that is always salutary. Barnes in loc.]

17. On Isa 38:2. It is an old opinion, found even in the Chald., that by the wall is meant the wall of the temple as a holy direction in which to pray, as the Mahometans pray in the direction of Mecca. But cannot mean that. Rather that is correct which is said by Forerius: Nolunt pii homines testes habere suarum lacrymarum, ut eas liberius fundant, neque sensu distrahi, cum orare Deum ex animo volunt.

18. On Isa 38:8 :

Non Deus est numen Parcarum carcere clausum.
Quale putabatur Stoicus esse Deus.

Ille potest Solis cursus inhibere volantes,

At veluti scopulos flumina stare facit.

Melanchthon.

19. On Isa 38:12. Beautiful parables that picture to us the transitoriness of this temporal life. For the parable of the shepherds tent means how restless a thing it is with us, that we have here no abiding place, but are driven from one locality to another, until at last we find a resting-spot in the church-yard. The other parable of the weavers thread means how uncertain is our life on earth. For how easily the thread breaks. Cramer. When the weavers work is progressing best, the thread breaks before he is aware. Thus when a man is in his best work, and supposes he now at last begins really to live, God breaks the thread of his life and lets him die. The rational heathen knew something of this when they, so to speak, invented the three goddesses of life (the three Parcas minime parcas) and included them in this little verse:

Clotho colum gestat, Lachesis trahit,

Atropos occat

But what does the weaver when the thread breaks? Does he stop his work at once? O no! He knows how to make a clever weavers knot, so that one cannot observe the break. Remember thereby that when thy life is broken off, yet the Lord Jesus, as a master artisan, can bring it together again at the last day. He will make such an artful, subtle weavers-knot as shall make us wonder through all eternity. It will do us no harm to have died. Ibid.Omnia sunt hominum tenui pendentia filo.

[As suddenly as the tent of a shepherd is taken down, folded up, and transferred to another place. There is doubtless the idea here that he would continue to exist, but in another place, as the shepherd would pitch his tent in another place. He was to be cut off from the earth, but he expected to dwell among the dead. The whole passage conveys the idea that he expected to dwell in another state. Barnes in loc.].

20. On Isa 38:17. [Note 1) When God pardons sin, He casts it behind His back as not designing to look upon it with an eye of justice and jealousy. He remembers it no more, to visit for it. The pardon does not make the sin not to have been, or not to have been sin, but not to be punished as it deserves. When we cast our sins behind our back, and take no care to repent of them, God sets them before His face, and is ready to reckon for them; but when we set them before our face in true repentance, as David did when his sin was ever before him, God casts them behind His back. 2) When God pardons sin, He pardons all, casts them all behind His back, though they have been as scarlet and crimson. 3) The pardoning of sin is the delivering the soul from the pit of corruption. 4) It is pleasant indeed to think of our recoveries from sickness when we see them flowing from the remission of sin; then the cause is removed, and then it is in love to the soul. M. Henry in loc.]

21. On Isa 38:18. [Cannot hope for thy truth. They are shut out from all the means by which Thy truth is brought to mind, and the offers of salvation are presented. Their probation is at an end; their privileges are closed; their destiny is sealed up. The idea is, it is a privilege to live because this is a world where the offers of salvation are made, and where those who are conscious of guilt may hope in the mercy of God. Barnes in loc.] God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2Pe 3:9). Such is the New Testament sense of these Old Testament words. For though Hezekiah has primarily in mind the preferableness of life in the earthly body to the life in Hades, yet this whole manner of representation passes away with Hades itself. But Hezekiahs words still remain true so far as they apply to heaven and hell. For of course in hell, the place of the damned, one does not praise God. But those that live praise Him. These, however, are in heaven. Since then God wills rather that men praise Him than not praise Him, so He is not willing that men should perish, but that all should turn to repentance and live.

22. On Isa 39:2. Primo (Deus) per obsidionem et bellum, deinde per gravem morbum Ezechiam servaverat, ne in praesumtionem laberetur. Nondum tamen vinci potuit antiquus serpens, sed redit et levat caput suum. Adeo non possumus consistere, nisi Deos nos affligat. Vides igitur hic, quis sit afflictionum usus, ut mortificent scilicet carnem, quae non potest res ferre secundas. Luther.

23. On Isa 39:7. God also punishes the misdeeds of the parents on the children (Exo 20:5) because the children not only follow the misdeeds of their parents, but they also increase and heap them up, as is seen in the posterity of Hezekiah, viz.: Manasseh and Amon.Cramer.

HOMILETICAL HINTS

[The reader is referred to the ample hints covering the same matter to be found in the volume on 2 Kings 18-20. It is expedient to take advantage of that for the sake of keeping the present volume within reasonable bounds. Therefore but a minimum is here given of what the Author offers, much of which indeed is but the repetition in another form of matter already given.Tr.]

1. On Isa 37:36. 1) The scorn and mockery of the visible world. 2) The scorn and mockery of the unseen world. Sermon of Domprediger Zahn in Halle, 1870.

2. On the entire 38. chapter, beside the 22 sermons in FEUERLEINS Novissimorum primum, there is a great number of homiletical elaborations of an early date; Walther Magirus, Idea mortis et vitae in two parts, the second of which contains 20 penitential and consolatory sermons on Isaiah 38. Danzig, 1640 and 1642. Daniel Schaller (Stendal) 4 sermons on the sick Hezekiah, on Isaiah 38. Magdeburg, 1611. Peter Siegmund Pape in Gott geheilighte Wochenpredigten, Berlin, 1701, 4 sermons. Jacob Tichlerus (Elburg) Hiskiae Aufrichtigkeit bewiesen in Gesundheit, Krankheit und Genesung, 18 sermons on Isaiah 38. (Dutch), Campen, 1636. These are only the principal ones.

3. On Isa 38:1. I will set my house in order. This, indeed, will not be hard for me to do. My debt account is crossed out; my best possession I take along with me; my children I commit to the great Father of orphans, to whom heaven and earth belongs, and my soul to the Lord, who has sued for it longer than a human age, and bought it with His blood. Thus I am eased and ready for the journey. Tholuck, Stunden der Andacht, p. 620.

4. On Isa 38:1. Now thou shouldest know that our word order his house has a very broad meaning. It comprehends reconciliation to God by faith, the final confession of sin, the last Lords Supper, the humble committing of the soul to the grace of the Lord, and to death and the grave in the hope of the resurrection. In one word: There is an ordering of the house above. In reliance on the precious merit of my Saviour, I order my house above in which I wish to dwell. Moreover taking leave of loved ones, and the blessing of them belongs to ordering the house. And finally order must be taken concerning the guardianship of children, the abiding of the widow, and the friend on whom she must especially lean in her loneliness, also concerning earthly bequests. Ahlfeld, Das Leben im Lichte des Wortes Gottes, Halle, 1867, p. 522.

5. On Isa 38:2-8. This account has much that seems strange to us Christians, but much, too, that quite corresponds to our Christian consciousness. Let us contemplate the difference between an Old Testament, and a New Testament suppliant, by noticing the differences and the resemblances. I. The resemblances. 1) Distress and grief there are in the Old, as in the New Testament (Isa 38:3). 2) Ready and willing to help beyond our prayers or comprehension (Isa 38:5-6) is the Lord in the Old as in the New Testament. II. The differences. 1) The Old Testament suppliant appealed to his having done nothing bad (Isa 38:3). The New Testament suppliant says: God be merciful to me a sinner, and Give me through grace for Christs sake what it pleases Thee to give me. 2) The Old Testament suppliant demands a sign (Isa 38:7-8; comp. Isa 38:22); the New Testament suppliant requires no sign but that of the crucified Son of man, for He knows that to those who bear this sign is given the promise of the hearing of all their prayers (Joh 16:23). 3) In Hezekiahs case, the prayer of the Old Testament suppliant is indeed heard (Isa 38:5), yet in general it has not the certainty of being heard, whereas the New Testament suppliant has this certainty.

Footnotes:

[21]regarding that that thou hast prayed to me respecting Sennacherib.

[22]against.

[23]after.

[24]reviled.

[25]Heb. By the hand of thy servants.

[26]Heb. the tallness of the cedars thereof, and the choice of the fir trees thereof.

[27]summit.

[28]his most luxuriant forest.

[29]Or, and his fruitful field.

[30]of Egypt.

[31]Or, fenced and closed.

[32]Or, Hast thou not heard how I have made it long ago, and formed if of ancient times? should I now bring it to be laid waste, and defenced cities to be ruinous heaps?

[33]heard I from far back I have done it, from ancient days I have formed, etc.

[34]And.

[35]Heb. short of hand.

[36]a field before the stalk.

[37]Or, sitting.

[38]thy raging.

[39](haughty) security.

[40]Heb. the escaping of the house of Judah that remaineth.

[41]add.

[42]Heb. the escaping.

[43]into it.

[44]Heb. shield.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 37:21-29

21Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria,

22this is the word that the LORD has spoken against him:

She has despised you and mocked you,

The virgin daughter of Zion;

She has shaken her head behind you,

The daughter of Jerusalem!

23Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?

And against whom have you raised your voice

And haughtily lifted up your eyes?

Against the Holy One of Israel!

24Through your servants you have reproached the LORD,

And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains,

To the remotest parts of Lebanon;

And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses.

And I will go to its highest peak, its thickest forest.

25I dug wells and drank waters,

And with the sole of my feet I dried up

All the rivers of Egypt.’

26Have you not heard?

Long ago I did it,

From ancient times I planned it.

Now I have brought it to pass,

That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

27Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength,

They were dismayed and put to shame;

They were as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb,

As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.

28But I know your sitting down

And your going out and your coming in

And your raging against Me.

29Because of your raging against Me

And because your arrogance has come up to My ears,

Therefore I will put My hook in your nose

And My bridle in your lips,

And I will turn you back by the way which you came.

Isa 37:21-24 This is YHWH’s response to Hezekiah’s faith and the resulting message to Assyria, who went beyond YHWH’s purpose (cf. Isa 10:5) and became arrogant and blasphemous.

1. Isa 37:22, she despised (BDB 100, KB 114, Qal PERFECT), mocked (BDB 541, KB 532, Qal PERFECT), and shook her head at (BDB 631, KB 681, Hiphil PERFECT) Judah, here called

a. the virgin daughter of Zion

b. the daughter of Jerusalem

The Peshitta, TEV, and REB see this verse as referring to Judah’s actions toward retreating Sennacherib, but I think it refers to Assyria’s arrogance against Judah that YHWH is reacting to. The question is who does she refer to. Sennacherib is the him of Isa 37:22 a, but she could refer to

a. Assyria

b. Judah

2. Isa 37:23, she attacked Judah’s God (i.e., the Holy One of Israel)

a. reproached, BDB 357, KB 355, Piel PERFECT

b. blasphemed, BDB 154, KB 180, Piel PERFECT

c. raised your voice, BDB 926, KB 1202, Hiphil PERFECT

d. haughtily lifted your eyes, BDB 669, KB 724, Qal IMPERFECT, cf. Isa 10:12

3. Isa 37:24, lauds her activities

a. with many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains, to the remotest parts of Lebanon

b. cut down its tall cedars and choicest cypresses (Isaiah used many allusions to trees)

c. I will go to its highest peak, its thickest forest

Isa 37:24 is similar to the arrogance of the King of Babylon (that I think refers to Merodach- baladan, cf. Isa 39:1), mentioned in Isa 14:13. If so, then possibly the language here also refers to the northern mountain of the gods of Canaanite mythology, see note at Isa 14:13-14.

Isa 37:21 Because you have prayed to Me Hezekiah responds in faith and trust in YHWH, so different from his father, Ahaz. This shows the theological significance of intercessory prayer. I believe that God has limited Himself to act in response to the prayers of His children. Therefore, we have not because we ask not.

SPECIAL TOPIC: INTERCESSORY PRAYER

Isa 37:22 She has shaken her head behind you This VERB (BDB 631, KB 681, Hiphil PERFECT) denotes a Hebrew idiom of shaking one’s head as a sign of contempt (cf. 2Ki 19:21; Job 16:4; Psa 22:7; Psa 109:25; Lam 2:15; Mat 27:39; Mar 15:29).

Isa 37:25-29 At this point the focus turns from Assyria’s accomplishments (although it is possible that Isa 37:25 refers to the arrogant claims of Sennacherib, but Isa 37:26 cannot) to YHWH’s accomplishments.

1. Isa 37:25, YHWH’s control of water (i.e., life, cf. Isa 11:15; Isa 44:27)

2. Isa 37:26-27, YHWH’s ancient plans to use Assyria to punish His people (cf. Isa 10:5). Isa 37:27 refers to Israel and Judah’s humiliation and defeat.

3. Isa 37:28, YHWH’s foreknowledge (very similar to Psalms 139)

4. Isa 37:29, the consequences of arrogance against YHWH

a. put a hook in your nose

b. put a bridle in your lips (these are metaphors for exile)

c. turn you back by the way which you came (cf. Isa 37:37)

Isa 37:26 Have you not heard?

Long ago I did it,

From ancient times I planned it This shows that God has always had a plan for dealing, not only with Assyria (Isa 10:5; Jer 18:11; see full note at Isa 12:5), but also with the entire world (cf. Isa 14:24; Isa 14:26; Isa 22:11; Isa 25:1; Isa 46:10-11; see full note at Isa 12:5). History is not moving in a haphazard manner, but is on a teleological track to an end-time confrontation and restoration.

The word translated long ago (BDB 935) can refer to time or space. It also can refer to

1. long past time, here

2. future time, cf. 2Sa 7:19; 1Ch 17:17

Isa 37:28 your raging against Me This VERB (BDB 919, KB 1182, Hithpael INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) is repeated in Isa 37:29. Notice the personal element!

This VERB in the Hiphil stem is often used of fear and trembling (cf. Isa 14:16; Isa 23:11) or eschatological events (cf. Isa 13:13). It is used of YHWH Himself in Eze 16:43.

Isa 37:29 I will put My hook in your nose This is exactly what Assyria did to others. She tried to frighten them by boasting of the cruelty that she had done to other nations. She tied the conquered people together using hooks in their noses, lips, or tongues and marched them into exile (cf. 2Ki 19:28). God will now do the same thing to them.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

thou hast prayed. See note on “lift up” (Isa 37:4).

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Isa 37:21-25

“Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word which Jehovah hath spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou defied and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. By thy servants hast thou defied the Lord, and hast 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 the tall cedars thereof; and I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field; I have digged and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.”

This paragraph is only part of the message that Isaiah sent to Hezekiah, giving the answer of the Lord to Hezekiah’s prayer. Note that the reason for God’s favorable answer was based upon Hezekiah’s earnest prayer against Sennacherib.

The whole substance of God’s answer may be seen at once in the fact of the daughters of Zion and of Jerusalem shaking their heads and despising Sennacherib. The rest of the paragraph deals largely with God’s acknowledgment of the arrogant and sinful ambition and boasting of the Assyrian invader.

Such expressions as “the virgin daughter of Zion,” are not references to the moral excellence of the people. “They mean that the city, or cities, referred to have not been conquered, or raped, by a conqueror.

The last verses here are a continuation of the boastful threats of Sennacherib. He brags about what he has done and will do! He will even dry up all the rivers of Egypt with the sole of his feet. What a terror he is to the people of all nations. There is an amazing amount of truth in what this beast of a heathen was saying. As a matter of fact, no other nation of human history ever surpassed the sadistic cruelty and ruthless passion for destruction that marked the ravages of Assyria. They were referred to throughout the world as “the breakers.” The monuments they left behind show how they gloried in the suffering of their captives and the injustices heaped upon the helpless people by their wicked conquerors. It is amazing that God tolerated their existence as a world power as long as he did. Such merciless behavior on their part deserved the sentence that God executed upon them as foretold in the prophecy of Nahum.

Isa 37:21-25 DEFIANCE: Perhaps some of the details of what transpired between Hezekiah and Isaiah are omitted. Perhaps Isaiah was informed in writing or by messenger of Hezekiahs prayer. Or, perhaps God began to answer Hezekiahs prayer even as Hezekiah was praying! (cf. Dan 9:20-23). The Lord knows our hearts and minds better than we-He is able to answer our prayer before we ask. Whatever the case, the Lord answered in a propositional, verbal message, through a messenger, Isaiah. Hezekiah was not left to try to discern the Lords answer through a mystical feeling or through a providential fleece.

The expression, virgin (Heb. bethulath) daughter of Zion, is probably to symbolize Jerusalems untouchableness by the Assyrian king who desires to ravish the city. Virgin is sometimes used to symbolize faithfulness. It is also used to symbolize covenant relationship between Israel and God. Amos speaks of Israels (the northern kingdom) unfaithfulness and covenant-breaking as a fallen virgins behavior (Amo 5:1-2; see also Eze 16:1 ff). Perhaps all of this, untouchableness, faithfulness and covenant relationship, are involved in the figure virgin here. The point may be that Jerusalem, for its persistent refusal to prostitute itself to the Assyrian intimidations and dogged determination to trust faithfully in God, is being despised by its antagonists. But God promises the reversal of that. Soon, very soon, Assyria the despiser will be despised. Gods promise is so certain it may be predicted as having already occurred! The proud, arrogant, powerful Assyrian king will soon return to his own land, his boasting unfulfilled, to die by assassination. For shaking of the head as a gesture of scorn, see Psa 22:7; Psa 109:25; Mat 27:39.

The question of Isa 37:23 is rhetorical. God is not asking for information, He is challenging the arrogance of Assyria. The king of Assyria, through the servants he sent to Hezekiah, has defied the Sovereign God of the universe. Sennacherib is being warned that he is not dealing with a god of wood or stone, a provincial god of mans making. This is Almighty God, the Only True God. This is The God who holds all kings and potentates mentally and morally responsible to Himself, whether they acknowledge him or not (cf. Amos, ch. 2-3; Isaiah, ch. 13-23; Jeremiah ch. 46-51; Ezekiel, ch. 26-32; Daniel, ch. 1-6, etc.). Even in the New Testament, rulers and men of all nations are declared morally responsible to the Sovereign God, whether they believe in Him or not (cf. Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:1-29; etc.).

The Assyrian monarch boasted that nothing could stand in his way if he decided to march with his army. Not even the mountains of Lebanon (a range of mountains 20 miles long, with two of its peaks rising to over 9000 feet, and remaining snow-capped the year round) could stop him. The mountains of Lebanon formed a formidable natural barrier against invasion of Palestine. To go over the mountains was the only alternative to going across the Arabian desert for those Mesopotamian nations who wished to conquer Palestine. Chariots are made for flat open country. To move an army of chariots over forest-laden, snow-capped mountains 10,000 feet in altitude, would be no small task. But Sennacherib did it and considered such a feat proof that he could conquer any land or people he wished. Egypts Nile River would not stop him-he would go across that as if he were walking on dry land. Hezekiahs God would not stop him-he boasted-he considered himself god of the world! Nothing could stand in his way. If it were mountains, he would cross over them; if it were the absence of water, he would dig wells and sustain his army; if it were the presence of waters, he would bridge them and take his armies across. He considered himself sovereign over all circumstances and persons. That is blasphemy!

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Whereas: Isa 38:3-6, Isa 58:9, Isa 65:24, 2Sa 15:31, 2Sa 17:23, 2Ki 19:20, 2Ki 19:21, Job 22:27, Psa 91:15, Dan 9:20-23, Act 4:31

Reciprocal: 2Ki 2:12 – My father 2Ch 6:35 – maintain 2Ch 32:21 – the Lord Psa 46:6 – heathen Isa 38:1 – And Isaiah

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

The Lord explained that it was Hezekiah’s trust in Him, expressed through his prayer, that led to his receiving information about what He would do. Hezekiah would see the Lord’s hand at work more clearly because he had prayed.

Assyria had mocked a "person" who was especially dear to the Lord, namely, His "virgin daughter," Jerusalem (cf. Isa 1:8; Isa 47:1). No foreign foe had penetrated Jerusalem. Thus Assyria had incurred His anger.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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