Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 37:26
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 defensed cities [into] ruinous heaps.
26. The verse reads, with a slight change of pointing: Hast thou not heard? Long ago have I made it, from the days of old have I formed it: now I bring it to pass, and so hast thou been ( able) to lay waste in ruined heaps defenced cities. Cf. ch. Isa 22:11, Isa 44:7, Isa 46:11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
26, 27. In all his successes the Assyrian has been but the unconscious instrument of Jehovah’s eternal purpose. Cf. ch. Isa 10:5-15.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hast thou not heard – This is evidently the language of God addressed to Sennacherib. It is designed to state to him that he was under his control; that this was the reason Isa 37:27 why the inhabitants of the nations had been unable to resist him; that he was entirely in his hands Isa 37:28; and that lie would control him as he pleased Isa 37:29.
Long ago how I have done it – You boast that all this is by your own counsel and power. Yet I have done it; that is, I have purposed, planned, arranged it long ago (compare Isa 22:11).
That thou shouldest be to lay waste – I have raised you up for this purpose, and you have been entirely under my control (see the note at Isa 10:5).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 26. Lay waste defended cities into ruinous heaps – “Lay waste warlike nations; strong fenced cities.”] gallim nitstsim. It is not easy to give a satisfactory account of these two words, which have greatly embarrassed all the interpreters, ancient and modern. For gallim I read goyim, as the Septuagint do in this place, . The word netsim the Vulgate renders in this place compugnantium; in the parallel place, 2Kg 19:25, pugnantium; and the Septuagint , fighting, warlike. This rendering is as well authorized as any other that I know of; and, with the reading of the Septuagint, perfectly clears up the construction. See the margin on all the preceding verses.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
26. Reply of God to Sennacherib.
long agojoin, rather,with “I have done it.” Thou dost boast that it is all bythy counsel and might: but it is I who, long ago, haveordered it so (Isa 22:11);thou wert but the instrument in My hands (Isa 10:5;Isa 10:15). This was the reasonwhy “the inhabitants were of small power before thee” (Isa37:27), namely, that I ordered it so; yet thou art in My hands,and I know thy ways (Isa 37:28),and I will check thee (Isa 37:29).Connect also, “I from ancient times have arranged(‘formed’) it.” However, English Version is supported byIsa 33:13; Isa 45:6;Isa 45:21; Isa 48:5.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Hast thou not heard long ago?…. By report, by reading the history of ancient times, or by means of the prophets; these are the words of the Lord to Sennacherib. The Targum adds,
“what I did to Pharaoh king of Egypt;”
it follows:
how I have done it; and of ancient times that I have formed it? meaning either the decree in his own breast from all eternity, and which he had published by his prophets, of raising up him, this wicked prince, to be the scourge of nations; or by the “it” are meant the people of the Jews, God’s Israel, whom he had made, formed into a body politic, and into a church state, and had done great things for, in bringing them out of Egypt, leading them through the Red sea, providing for them, and protecting them in the wilderness, subduing nations under them, and settling them in the land of Canaan;
now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps t; which some render interrogatively,
now should I bring, it to be laid waste, and fenced cities to be ruinous heaps? that is, the people of the Jews, the city of Jerusalem, and other fenced cities? no, I will not: or the meaning is, that that decree, which he had framed and formed in his own mind from all eternity, he was now bringing to pass; which was, that this king of Babylon should be a waster and destroyer of fortified cities, which he should reduce to heaps of ruin; wherefore he had no reason to vaunt as he had done, for he was only an instrument of executing the purposes and designs of God, though it was not in his heart, nor did he so mean.
t “in acervos et flores”, “into heaps and flowers”, that is, into heaps of dust, which being moved, and raised by the wind, fly away like flowers and blossoms of trees; so Gussetius, “in acervos volantes, aut ad volandum excitatos, scil. dum redacti in pulveres, magna ex parte, volant, excitati a ventis”, Comment. Ebr. p. 502.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And yet what he was able to do was not the result of his own power, but of the counsel of God, which he subserved. Fourth turn, “Hast thou not heart? I have done it long ago, from (K. l e min , since) the days of ancient time have I formed it, and now brought it to pass ( , K. ): that thou shouldst lay waste fortified cities into desolate stone heaps; and their inhabitants, powerless, were terrified, and were put to shame ( , K. ): became herb of the field and green of the turf, herb of the house-tops, and a corn-field ( , K. and blighted corn) before the blades.” L’meracoq (from afar) is not to be connected with the preceding words, but according to the parallel with those which follow. The historical reality, in this instance the Assyrian judgment upon the nations, had had from all eternity an ideal reality in God (see at Isa 22:11). The words are addressed to the Assyrian; and as his instrumentality formed the essential part of the divine purpose, does not mean “there should,” but “thou shouldest,” e!mellej e)chremw=sai (cf., Isa 44:14-15, and Hab 1:17). K. has instead of (though not as chethib, in which case it would have to be pointed ), a singularly syncopated hiphil (for ). The point of comparison in the four figures is the facility with which they can be crushed. The nations in the presence of the Assyrian became, as it were, weak, delicate grasses, with roots only rooted in the surface, or like a cornfield with the stalk not yet formed ( sh e demah , Isa 16:8), which could easily be rooted up, and did not need to be cut down with the sickle. This idea is expressed still more strikingly in Kings, “like corn blighted ( sh e dephah , compare shiddapon , corn-blight) before the shooting up of the stalk;” the Assyrian being regarded as a parching east wind, which destroys the seed before the stalk is formed.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
26. Hast thou not heard? The greater part of commentators explain this verse as if the Lord declared that nothing was now done, or had formerly been done by this tyrant, which he had not foretold by the mouth of the Prophet, and thus affirmed that he was the author of those things. But I explain it in a different manner, which is, that Jerusalem will be preserved by the assistance of God, because he is the protector of it.
That I made it long ago. For the sake of giving greater emphasis, he suppresses the name of the city, and employs the demonstrative pronoun it, as if all other cities had been of no value in the sight of God. (60) Others view the pronoun it as referring to the deliverance which depended on the secret decree of God; but whoever examines judiciously the design and words of the Prophet, will acknowledge that it rather denotes Jerusalem. God had complained that he was dishonored by base reproaches; and yet, in repeating the words of Sennacherib, he mentioned only “Lebanon” and the adjacent country. In order now to shew that under the name “Lebanon” war has been declared against himself, he affirms, as in many other passages of Scripture, that Jerusalem was founded by his own hand and built by his direction, and therefore that, until he was conquered, Sennacherib could not overthrow it.
This doctrine is found everywhere, and frequently repeated in the Scriptures, (Psa 48:8; Isa 14:32,) and contains a remarkable consolation, by which the godly may be sustained amidst the severest afflictions that can befall them; and that consolation is, that they will continually be under God’s protection, because he has elected them. He employs this argument, “I have founded the Church, and therefore the salvation of the Church shall always be my care; because I will not leave unfinished the work which I have begun, but will carry it forward to perfection.” In short, the Lord testifies that he defends and preserves his work, because it involves his honor and our salvation. Yet he is called “the maker of the Church,” in a different sense from that in which he is commonly called the Creator of heaven and earth; for we are his peculiar work, “his workmanship, ( τὸ ποίημα,) created anew by his Spirit,” as Paul speaks, and as we have formerly explained on other passages. (61) This work is, therefore, more excellent than the whole creation of the world; that no one may ascribe it to his own exertions or power that he has been adopted into the Church of God; for it is not without good reason that we are called “his workmanship.”
It may be asked, “Why does the Lord say that he formed Jerusalem from ancient days? for there were other cities far more ancient.” I reply, this must not be viewed as referring to the outward form or structure of the city, but to that eternal decree by which he chose it to be his dwelling-place; for although it was declared, even when the ark was built, “This is my rest, here will I dwell,” (Psa 132:14😉 and again by Moses,
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Wherever I shall record my name, I will come to thee and will bless thee,” (Exo 20:24😉
yet it had been ordained by God long before. “We were chosen,” as Paul also informs us,
“
before the foundations of the world were laid,” (Eph 1:4😉
and James declares that
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we were begotten by the word of truth, that we might be as it were the first-fruits of all the creatures.” (Jas 1:18.)
He will, therefore, preserve us above all creatures, and will never allow us to perish; and indeed, for the same reason that Christ is called “the firstborn of every creature,” (Col 1:15) “the Church, which is his body,” (Eph 1:22,) possesses the highest honor and dignity in the whole world. I leave to the Rabbins their dreams, that God created the Messiah and Jerusalem with a throne of glory before he created heaven and earth. But we must maintain this doctrine, that God will be the faithful guardian of his Church, because he has deigned to prefer her to the whole world.
And should I now bring it to be desolation? Others take these words in a different sense. I acknowledge that the Prophet’s words are in the past tense, Now have I brought and placed it; but as the change of tenses is frequent in the Hebrew language, the Prophet, after having said that God is the founder of his Church, and that it is the most illustrious of all his works, undoubtedly argues from it that it is impossible that he shall involve his Church in the same ruin as ordinary things. We must therefore read it as a question, “Shall I now bring it?” or, “Shall I now have brought it? ” As if he had said, “Should I allow it to be ruined, like other cities that have been destroyed and razed?” (62) For he compares Jerusalem to other cities which had been overthrown by the king of Assyria, and subjected to his power, that no one may think that the tyrant can so easily overturn it; because it holds a different position from other cities which have been destroyed and levelled with the ground. It ought not therefore to be compared even to the best fortified cities, for they quickly fall with their earthly strength; but the Church, though small and feeble, has a firm and solid foundation.in the election of God, and cannot be overturned by any billows or tempests.
We see wonderful changes that have often taken place throughout the whole world, republics subverted, empires overthrown, very powerful nations subdued, their name extinguished, and their glory effaced. Where is now the majesty of the Roman Empire? Where is the grandeur of that nation which was mistress of the whole world? If there are any remains of it, (and they are few,) do they not aid the wretched bondage of that detestable monster, Antichrist, whose tyranny is exercised over the whole world? Where is now the liberty of Rome? Where is the beauty of that illustrious republic? May not Rome be justly called the workshop of iniquity, and the lodginghouse of every crime?
But amidst those frightful changes, the Lord declares that he will assist Jerusalem, that is, his Church, and that although amidst those changes she may be afflicted and tossed in various ways, yet she shall stand erect, or at least the shaking and oppression which she may suffer shall not hinder her from being renewed and multiplied from age to age by various resurrections. Although there are not always in the world the same members of the Church, yet it is the same body joined to the same head, that is, Christ. The Lord will therefore defend his city, and will cause
“
the children of his servants to continue, that their seed may be established for ever.” (Psa 102:28.)
(60) “ Comme si toutes les autres villes n’estoyent rien derant Dieu au pris de cesteci.” “As if all other cities were nothing before God in comparison of this.”
(61) Commentary on Isaiah, vol. 2, pp. 26 and 83.
(62) “The marginal reading of the English version runs thus, “Hast thou not heard how I have made it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Should I now bring it to be laid waste, and defenced cities to be ruinous heaps?” The coincidence with the version given by Calvin is striking. Was it accidental? — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26) Hast thou not heard . . .The speech of Sennacherib ends, and that of Jehovah begins. The adverb long ago should be connected with the words that follow. The events of history had all been foreseen and ordered, as in the remote past, by the counsels of Jehovah. Kings and armies were but as His puppets in the drama of the worlds history. The words hast thou not heard suggest the thought that Isaiah assumes that Sennacherib had heard of his prophecies, or those of his fore-runners, as to the purposes of Jehovahan assumption which, looking to the fact that he had ministers who were well acquainted with Hebrew (Isa. 36:12), was in itself probable enough.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. Through the prophet God now speaks to Sennacherib.
Hast thou not heard Is it real ignorance on thy part, that Jehovah is the only true God, and has control of Assyria; that she is his instrument, the rod of his anger, (Isa 10:5; Isa 10:15,) to lay waste peoples who submit not to warning and correction? Thou dost boast that it is all by thy command and might, but it is I, who long ago have done it. (Isa 22:11.) Because I so ordered it, the people were of small power before thee.
Of ancient times I have formed it The idea of overruling evil men and their acts is eternal with God. How the Eternal consists with the finite historical, or the absolute with the relative, is doubtless to be forever unknown to men.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Yahweh’s Reply. The King of Assyria Is But Yahweh’s Tool And Will Be Dealt With Accordingly ( Isa 37:26-29 ).
Yahweh’s reply to Sennacherib is to point out what He has accomplished in the past. He wants it to be clear that Assyria is not the only one that can cite prior victories, and that indeed Assyria are the new boys on the block.
Isa 37:26-27
‘Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I have brought it about that you should be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps. That is why their inhabitants were of little 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 a field before it is grown.’
Yahweh points out to Sennacherib that he ought rather to recognise that he himself is but a recent phenomenon. Let him therefore now consider what Yahweh has done. Who was it Who formed the world in the first place? It was He, Yahweh, who set up the world and shaped it, and Who is Lord of fruit and water. And Sennacherib should recognise that it is only because it is within Yahweh’s plans that he has even been permitted to make ruins out of defenced cities. That is the real reason why the peoples have been so easy to deal with. It is because Yahweh has brought it about. In that he had spoken truly (Isa 36:10).
‘That you should be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.’ Bringing cities into a condition of ruin has already been shown to be part of God’s final purposes (Isa 17:9; Isa 24:10-12; Isa 26:5; Isa 27:10), Sennacherib is thus but helping on God’s process.
‘They were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops and as a field before it is grown.’ That is, they were temporary and passing (Psa 37:2; Psa 103:15-16; Psa 129:6), soon withered and struggling to survive. Note the fourfold description which is a prominent feature of this passage, pointing to universality.
Isa 37:28
‘But I know your sitting down, and your going out, and your coming in, and your raging against me.’
Again the fourfold structure. God wants him to know that He knows everything about him. He may try to hide his movements and his plans from men, but he cannot hide them from God. He knows all that he does. He knows when he sits down, He knows when he goes out, He knows when he comes in, and He is privy to every word he speaks. And He is especially aware of his diatribes against Himself. ‘All things are open to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.’
Isa 37:29
‘Because of your raging against me, and because your insolence 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 by which you came.’
God wants him to know that He has noted his words and his insolence and will therefore deal with him for what he is, a recalcitrant. The picture language expresses the reality of what is happening. He may think that he is going back to Assyria of his own volition, but it is actually because God is ‘dragging’ him there. The hook in the nose was, as monuments reveal, Assyria’s regular bestial way of controlling prisoners, and the bridle was especially for guiding and holding back the horses of which he was so proud. So, as Sennacherib’s master, Yahweh will drag him along towards his homeland, in the same way as many prisoners have been dragged, and, as Sennacherib’s rider, He will pull on the reins and direct him back to where he came from. Yahweh would accept Sennacherib’s offer of horses to ride on so contemptuously made. He will use the king himself as a horse to ride on. Sennacherib’s contemptuous offer has rebounded on him (compare Isa 36:8).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 37:26. Hast thou not heard long ago The address of God to the Assyrian is here continued from Isa 37:23 wherein he answers the boastings of this proud prince, and convinces him that all his counsel and power were nothing, since these events wholly depended on a superior cause; namely, his sovereign will and over-ruling providence, whereof he had made the Assyrian the instrument in his Almighty hand.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
formed = purposed. Compare Isa 10:5, Isa 10:15; Isa 30:32.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 37:26-29
Isa 37:26-29
“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, and 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 has 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.”
“Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago …” (Isa 37:26). “Jehovah is here the speaker”; and the message is addressed to Sennacherib. He is not to believe for a moment that his conquests were due to any special ability on his part, but to the fact that God was merely using him as an instrument, such as a saw, or a razor, and that his conduct was so offensive to God that he would be sorely punished and that God would use another instrument to punish him, and that he would be rewarded with the same kind of cruel and inhumane punishment he had so ruthlessly meted out to his unfortunate victims.
Douglas pointed out that, “Isa 37:29 here is God’s explanation a little more fully of what he had already prophesied in Isa 37:7. As we have frequently observed this procedure of adding details with each subsequent mention of prophesies or commandments in the word of God is followed throughout the Bible.
“I will put my hook in his nose …” (Isa 37:29).. Assyrian sculptures represent both captives and beasts as being led in this manner. Some of these ancient sculptures may be seen at a place called, “Khorsabad, where captives are led before the king by a cord attached to a hook or ring passing through the underlip, the upper lip, or the nose. The ear was also used for such purposes. Archer noted that animals, especially bulls, were led in this manner, and that God here promised to humiliate Assyria by treating her like a wild beast, “And compelling her to return home with her objectives unrealized.
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. 7-12; Rom 13:1-7; Rev. ch. 1-22; 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).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
long ago: etc. or, how I have made it long ago, and formed it of ancient times, Should I now bring it to be laid waste, and defenced cities to be ruinous heaps.
how I: Isa 10:5, Isa 10:6, Isa 10:15, Isa 45:7, Isa 46:10, Isa 46:11, Gen 50:20, Psa 17:13, Psa 76:10, Amo 3:6, Act 2:23, Act 4:27, Act 4:28, 1Pe 2:8, Jud 1:4
Reciprocal: Num 22:35 – Go Jdg 3:12 – and the Lord 1Ki 11:23 – God 2Ki 3:25 – beat down 2Ki 19:25 – Hast thou not Psa 9:6 – thou hast Isa 17:1 – a ruinous Isa 22:11 – ye have Isa 54:16 – I have Jer 33:2 – the maker Jer 34:22 – I will command Jer 47:7 – the Lord Jer 51:20 – art Eze 28:14 – and I Hab 1:12 – thou hast ordained Rev 6:4 – power Rev 13:7 – and power
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
37:26 Hast thou not heard long ago, [how] I have done it; [and] of ancient times, {r} that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fortified cities [into] ruinous heaps.
(r) Signifying that God did not make his Church to destroy it, but to preserve it: and therefore he says that he formed it of old, even in his eternal counsel which cannot be changed.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Assyria had not heard the truth. She lacked the divine revelation that helps people see the realities of life. It was the Lord, not the Assyrians, who was responsible for all of Assyria’s conquests. He not only planned them long ago, but He also brought them to pass. That explains why she was able to subdue her enemies and take over their territories. God is sovereign.