2 Kings 19

1 went into the house of the Lord. Hezekiah’s faith prompted him to refer this cause to the Eternal, whom he had always acknowledged as his Sovereign, and had made it his chief care to serve and honour (see 2 Chron. xxix.-xxxi.), and against whom Rab-shakeh’s blasphemies were directed.

2. Isaiah. The first mention in this history of the great prophet’s name. But he had evidently before this taken an active part in counselling king and people.

3 rebuke. Rather, “chastisement”; i.e., Divine correction: see 2 Chron. xxxii.

4 the living God. In contrast to the gods of the surrounding nations, with whom the Assyrian had blasphemously confounded Him.

for the remnant. This expression probably refers to Jerusalem, and the few fortresses, with their inhabitants, which had as yet escaped the general desolation: see Isa. i. 8.

7. I will send a blast. The Hebrew word here used is generally rendered “wind” or “spirit.” “I will put a spirit in him” (R.V.); i.e., “I will make him alter his feelings and purposes.”

a rumour. This is generally supposed to refer to the report of Tirhakah’s approach (9). As Sennacherib only took occasion from that to utter fresh blasphemies (10-13), God inflicted upon him, as He had formerly done upon Pharaoh, a most terrible punishment.

8. Libnah. Its site has not yet been identified.

9. Tirhakah. Tirhakah was the last king but one of the Ethiopian or 25th dynasty of Egypt.

10. Thus shall ye speak, etc. Sennacherib wished to induce Hezekiah to capitulate before the Ethiopians arrived, or perhaps before the Jews heard of their approach.

12 my fathers have destroyed. See xvii. 5, 24.

Thelasar. “The Hill of Asshur.” The exact site, though probably on the Euphrates, has not been identified.

13. Hamath, etc. See note on xvii. 24.

14 spread it before the Lord. Implying that childlike confidence which impels the believer to lay open all his concerns before the all-seeing God.

15. And Hezekiah prayed. In this prayer Hezekiah, like Solomon (1 Kings viii. 23), recognises at once God’s special protection of His people, and His universal presence and sovereignty over all things.

18 cast their gods into the fire. A frequent practice of the Eastern conquerors, unlike the policy of the Romans, who admitted the gods of the nations whom they conquered among their own. See Psa. cxv.; Jer. x. 3, 9, 15.

21 hath shaken her head. In token of scorn and exultation: see Psa. xxii. 7; xliv. 14; Lam. ii. 15; Matt. xxvii. 39.

23 and hast said, etc. A specimen is given, in the prophet’s words, of the vaunting language

24 all the rivers of besieged places. Better, “all the rivers of Egypt” (R.V.). The proud king boasts that he can easily overcome the obstacles which opposed his expedition against Egypt. In the wilderness he digs, and drinks foreign waters; and the rivers of Egypt are to dry up under the tramp of his feet. The past tense is used only to denote the assumed certainty of the anticipated event.

25. Hast thou not heard, etc. Read, “Hast thou not heard? Long ago I have done it; and from the days of old I have fashioned it.” God’s answer to the boastful monarch. “Be not proud of thy victories: thou art merely an instrument in My hand by which I have punished wicked cities, as I long ago had determined and have predicted by My prophets”: see Isa. x. 5, 6.

27 thy abode, etc. These expressions signify all the actions of his life, as in Psa. cxxxix. 2, etc.

28 thy tumult, etc. Rather, “thy arrogance,” see R.V.

hook. Or, “ring.” It was customary to put a ring in the nose of wild animals, and is still done in our own country with bulls, for the purpose of curbing and governing them: see Job xli. 1, 2; and some Assyrian and Babylonian sculptures represented prisoners as so treated.

29 a sign unto thee. God’s message now turns from the invader to Hezekiah and his people, promising them an entire deliverance from the Assyrians, and assuring them, as a sign or pledge of that event, that there should be an abundant supply of provisions for two years, from the spontaneous productions of the land.

30 bear fruit upward. Like an olive, which, when cut down, sends up fresh and fertile shoots.

32 nor shoot, etc. The sculptures at Nineveh contain representations of the Assyrian methods of conducting a siege, which are in exact accordance with these words.

35 the angel of the Lord went out. Some have supposed that this destruction was effected by a pestilence, some by a storm of hail, and others by a destructive wind; see note on ver. 7. But it seems best to understand the term “angel” as meaning a celestial agent, divinely commissioned to accomplish this work of judgement and deliverance, who may, however, have made use of some secondary cause (see 2 Sam. xxiv. 15, 16; Acts xii. 23). The Egyptians (to whom also this supernatural interposition was a timely deliverance) preserved the tradition of it, though in a greatly corrupted form: see Herodotus, b. 2, c. 41. This event appears to be commemorated in Psa. lxxvi.: see note on its title. Where the Assyrian army was, is not ascertained. The inscriptions at Nineveh take no notice of Sennacherib’s unsuccessful attempt upon Jerusalem, or of the catastrophe. Naturally, the Assyrians do not record their own defeat.

when they (“men,” R.V.) arose early in the morning. That is, at the time of rising in the morning. See Byron’s poem on “The Destruction of Sennacherib’s Host.”

36 dwelt at Nineveh. According to the Assyrian chronology he reigned eighteen years after this time; and the records show that he made many expeditions, but not into Judæa.

37. Nicroch. This name is believed by Mr. T. G. Pinches, of the British Museum, following Schrader, to be a corruption of Asshur or Asuraku.

Armenia. In the original, “Ararat,” so R.V. (see Gen. viii. 4).