The king of Assyria B. C. 723. B. C. 723. CHAPTER XVIII. A. M. 3281. 8'He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, m from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. 9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. B. C. 721. 10 And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, (that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel,) Samaria was taken. 11 'And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: 12 Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them. 11 Chron. iv. 41; Isa. xiv. 29.- Heb. Azzah.- m Chap. mi 19 Chap. xvii. 3.—o Chap. xvii. 6.- Chap. xvii. 6-41 Chron. v. 26. commanded either Hezekiah or his people to be subject to him. And as to the word rebel here used, it means no more than to depart from that subjection which had been performed to another, which sometimes may be justly done, and certainly might in this case. Indeed, that Hezekiah did not sin in revolting from the king of Assyria seems evident, because God owned and assisted him in it, and did not at all reprove him for it in that message which he sent to him by Isaiah, nor afterward, though he did particularly reprove him for his vain-glory and Ostentation, 2 Chron. xxxii. 25, 26. Verse 8. He smote the Philistines even unto Gaza -And recovered from them what his father had lost, and more, 2 Chron. xxviii. 18. From the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city-That is, all the Country over, both the country villages and fortified towns. When he had purged out the corruptions which his father had brought in, he might expect to recover the possessions which his father had lost. These his victories over the Philistines had been foretold by Isaiah, chap. xiv. 28. Verse 13. Sennacherib king of Assyria-Who succeeded Shalmaneser, probably his son. He was encouraged to make this attempt against Judah by his predecessor's success against Israel, whose homours he wished to emulate, and whose victories he would push forward. This invasion of Judah was great calamity to that kingdom, by which God thed the faith of Hezekiah, and chastised the people, who are called a hypocritical nation, (Isa. x. 6,) because they did not heartily concur with Hezekiah in effecting a reformation, nor willingly part with much less did they give up all their their idols; invades Samaria and Judah. B. C. 713. 13 Now in the fourteenth year A. M. 3291. of King Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me I will bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. About B. C. 710. Chap. xvii. 7; Dan. ix. 6, 10.2 Chron. xxxii. 1, &c.; Isa. xxxvi. 1, &c.; Ecclesiastes xlviii. 18. Heb. Sanherib. Chap. xvi. 8.- Heb. them. sins, and turn to God in true repentance. Against the fenced cities of Judah, and took them-That is, most of them: for that they were not all taken appears from chap. xix. 8. When he had made himself master of the frontier towns and garrisons, most of the others fell into his hands of course. By this success he was lifted up to his own greater and more shameful destruction, and an eminent occasion was afforded for the manifestation of God's power and glory in that miraculous deliverance which he designed to effect for his people. Verse 14. Hezekiah sent to the king of Assyria, saying, I have offended-Namely, against thee, in revolting, and denying the usual tribute. I have given thee occasion to make war against me, of which I now repent, and am ready to make the satisfaction that shall be demanded. "Where," says Henry, "was Hezekiah's courage? Where his confidence in God? Why did he not advise with Isaiah, before he sent this sneaking message?" Three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold-About two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling, a vast sum, not however to be paid annually, but as a present ransom. To raise this sum he was forced, not only to empty the public treasures, (verse 15,) but to take the gold plates off from the doors of the temple, and from the pillars, being driven, as he judged, by hard necessity to make this use of these sacred things, to prevent the enemy from burning the city and temple. No doubt Hezekiah designed to restore this treasure in full, as soon as he should be able. Verse 17. The king of Assyria sent TartanHaving received the money, upon which he agreed The blasphemous message of B. C. 710. u B. C. 710. A. M. 3294. from Lachish to King Hezekiah with || staff of this bruised reed, even upon A. M. 3294. 7 a great host against Jerusalem: and Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will they went up, and came to Jerusalem: and go into his hand, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh when they were come up, they came and stood king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. by the conduit of the upper pool, “ which is in 22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the the highway of the fuller's field. LORD our God: is not that he "whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? 18 And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. 8 23 Now therefore I pray thee, give 13 pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 24 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen ? 25 Am I now come up without the LORD 21 Now behold, thou 12 trustest upon the against this place to destroy it? The LORD Heb. heavy.- Isa. vii. 3.- 8 Or, secretary.- * 2 Chronicles xxxii. 10, &c.—9 Or, talkest.- 10 Hebrew, word of the lips. to depart from Hezekiah and his land, he breaks his faith with him; thereby justifying his revolt, and preparing the way for his own destruction. They came and stood, &c.-They took up their headquarters, as we now speak, by the conduit or canal, into which water was derived from the upper fishpond or pool, which was in the highway to the field where the fullers, after they had washed their clothes in that pool, were wont to spread them. This was a most unjust behaviour of the king of Assyria, since Hezekiah had paid the fine he had imposed on him. Verse 18. When they had called to the king-That is, had sent a message to him to come and treat with them; there went out to him Eliakim, &c.-Of|| whom see Isa. xxii. 15, 20. 11 Or, but counsel and strength are for the war. Ezek. xxix. 6, 7.- 12 Hebrew, trustest thee. Verse 4; 2 Chron. xxxi. 1; xxxii. 12.- 13 Or, hostages. Sennacherib probably thought that Hezekiah depended on Egypt for help, and therefore represents the power of that kingdom to be as weak as the canes or reeds that grew on the banks of the Nile, (to which he seems to allude,) on which, if a man leaned, they brake, and the splinters ran into his hand. Such is Pharaoh, says he; a man gets no help, but mischief, by relying on him. Whoever trusts in man, leans on a broken reed; but God is the Rock of ages. Verse 22. But if ye say, We trust in the LordHis weak arguing here proceeds from his ignorance of that God in whom Hezekiah trusted, and of his law. Is not that he whose high places, &c., Hezekiah hath taken away?-Thereby robbing him of that worship and service which he had in those places. Thus he speaks boldly of those things which he understood not, calling that a crime which was a great virtue, and judging of the great God by their false and petty gods, and of God's worship according to the vain fancies of the heathen, who measured piety by the multitude of altars. Verses 19, 20. Thus saith the great king, What confidence is this, &c.—What is it thou canst trust in to defend thee from my great power? Thou sayest-Either to thy people, to encourage them, or rather, within thy own heart. But, (or, surely,) they are vain words-Unprofitable, idle talk, without any effect: or they come not from thy heart; thou Verses 23, 24. Now, therefore, give pledges to my speakest this against thy knowledge. I have coun- lord the king-That is, give hostages to ensure thy sel and strength for the war-Counsel to contrive,|| future obedience and subjection. And I will deliver strength, or courage, to execute; which two things thee two thousand horses, &c.-There is so little are of greatest necessity and use in war. But the likelihood of thy being able to withstand the power original words may be rendered, Thou speakest of my master, who has thousands of chariots and surely words of the lips; that is, thou encouragest horses, that I challenge thee to produce two thouthyself and thy people with words, but counsel and sand skilful horsemen that know how to manage strength are for war-Are necessary for thy dele-horses, and I will give thee two thousand horses for fence; neither of which thou hast within thyself, but them. How then wilt thou turn away the face of must seek them from others, and where wilt thou one captain, &c.-How wilt thou force him to turn find them? On whom, as it follows, dost thou trust? his back to thee, and flee away from thee? Verse 21. Thou trustest upon this bruised reed-Verse 25. Am I now come up without the Lord? Rab-shakeh incites the CHAPTER XVIII. people to revolt. B. C. 710. A. M. 3294. said to me, Go up against this land, || into the hand of the king of Assy- A. M. 3294. B. C. 710. 26 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. 27 But Rab-shakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink 14 their own piss with you? 28 Then Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: 29 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: 30 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered 31 Hearken not unto Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, 15 Make 16 an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his 17 cistern: b 32 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil-olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he 18 persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. 33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Henah, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? е 35 Who are they among all the gods of the 17 Or, pit.- -Without his consent and commission? The Lord Verses 30, 31. Neither let Hezekiah make you Verse 32. Until I take you away to a land like your own-That is, a fruitful and pleasant land. Because he could not conceal from them his intentions of transplanting them into another land, having already discovered these intentions in his dealing with the Israelites and other nations; he assures them they should be no losers by it, and should only change their place, but not their condition and comforts, which they should enjoy in that land no less than in their own. Verses 34, 35. Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad ?-These were cities or countries which the kings of Assyria had conquered, as were the other places here mentioned. And therefore Rab-shakeh argued that the gods of Assyria were more powerful than the gods of any other nation. Who are they, among all the gods of the countries, &c.-He desires them to produce an instance of one god that had been able to save his country, when his master invaded it. And by this he endeavours to persuade them, that it would be their wisdom to deliver up their city to him, insomuch as their God would not be able to preserve it, unless he could do more than any other god had done; which he concluded was unlikely. Verse 36. But the people held their peace-That 5 Isa. xxxiii. 7. is, both these three men, and the people that were with them upon the wall, especially the people to whom he had chiefly spoken, and from whom he expected an answer. For the king's command was, Answer him not-This was wisely ordered, lest by their words they should betray their fears, or provoke their enemies to greater injuries or blasphemies, or give them some advantage or direction for their further proceedings; as also that by this instance of obedience and calmness, the king of Assyria might see the resolution of the people to cleave unto their king, and the vanity of his attempts to seduce them to a defection from him. CHAPTER XIX. Hezekiah sends to Isaiah to desire his prayers, 1-5; and receives from him an answer of peace, 6, 7. Sennacherib sends a threatening letter to Hezekiah, 8-13; who recommends his case to God, 14-19. God, by Isaiah, sends him a comfortable message, 20–34. The army of the Assyrians is destroyed, 35–37. A. M. 3294. B. C. 710. A ND it came to pass, when King || rebuke, and 1 blasphemy: for the chil- A. M. 3294. his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, | 2 And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of a Isa. xxxvii. 1, &c.- — Luke iii. 4, called Esaias. Or, provocation. NOTES ON CHAPTER XIX. Verse 1. When Hezekiah heard it, he rent his clothes-Good men were wont to do so, when they heard of any reproach cast on God's name; and great men must not think it any disparagement to them to sympathize with the injured honour of the great God. d 4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left. ried on that work to some maturity, and, as we thought, brought it to the birth; but now we have no might to finish. We have begun a happy refor mation, and are hindered by this insolent Assyrian from bringing it to perfection. Verse 4. It may be, &c.--He speaks doubtfully, because he knew not whether God would not deliver Verse 3. This is a day of rebuke and blas- them all up into the hands of the Assyrians, as he phemy--From the Assyrian, who reviles and re- knew he and his people deserved. That the Lord proaches us. For the children, &c.-We are like thy God-To whom thou art dear and precious, and a poor travailing woman in great extremity, having who will regard thy petitions: will hear all the no strength left to help herself, and to bring forth words of Rab-shakeh-Will show by his actions her infant into the world. We have attempted to that he hath heard them with just indignation. Hedeliver ourselves from the Assyrian yoke, and car-zekiah does not say our God, because God seemed 6¶And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and 8¶So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. B. C. 710. 9 And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying, to Hezekiah. B. C. 710. 10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah A. M. 3294. 11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah? 14 P And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. to have forsaken and rejected them; and they, by Verses 10, 11. Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah- taken. Verse 7. I will send a blast upon him-Hebrew, avind, a storm or tempest, by which name God's judgments are often called: that is, a violent, sudden, and terrible stroke; namely, that miraculous destruction of his army, recorded verse 35. Verse 8. Rab-shakeh returned-To the king, to give him an account of what had been done, and to receive further orders; leaving behind him the army under the other commanders, mentioned chap. xviii. 17. For it seems most probable, from the other threatening message here following, that the siege was not raised. He was departed from Lachish-Not being able to take it. not Hezekiah deceive you. Sennacherib writes to Verse 13. Where is the king of Hamath, &c.- prove. Verse 14. Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord-Into the outward court of the temple, for further he might not go, and at the entrance of the court of the priests, he looked toward the sanctuary, where God was peculiarly present, and spread the letter before him; which he did, not to acquaint God |