Isaiah 36
36
XXXVI
1Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. 2And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the high-way of the fuller’s field. 3Then came forth unto him Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder.
4And Rabshakeh said unto them: Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 5I say, sayest thou, (but they are vain words) there is counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? 6Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man lean, it will pierce his hand, and go through it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. 7But if thou say to me, We trust in Jehovah our God: is it not He, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, 8Ye shall worship before this altar? Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria; and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 9How 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 horsemen? 10And am I now come up without Jehovah against this land to destroy it? Jehovah hath said unto me, Go up against this land and destroy it.
11Then said Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh: Speak, we beseech thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it; and speak not unto us in the Jewish language, in the hearing of the people who are on the wall. 12But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? Hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own filth, and drink their own urine with you?
13Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said: Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14Thus saith the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you. 15And let not Hezekiah make you trust in Jehovah; saying, Jehovah will certainly deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 16Hearken not unto Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make peace with me and come out unto me. And eat ye every one of his own vine, and every one of his own fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; 17until I come and take you to a land like your own land, a land of corn and of wine, a land of bread and of vineyards. 18Let not Hezekiah seduce you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us. Have the gods of the nations delivered, each his own land, from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their own lands out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? 21But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's command was, saying, Answer him not.
22Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
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Isaiah 36: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaiah 36
36
Two Kings
1In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, # 36:1 This would be approximately 701 BC. Hezekiah means “strengthened of Yah,” “captured by Yah,” “Yah has made firm,” or “power of Yah.” The prophets who lived during his reign included Isaiah, Micah, and Hosea. Hezekiah ascended Judah’s throne at the age of twenty-five and reigned a total of twenty-nine years. He was considered to be a godly king and released the greatest period of restoration in Israel’s history. He repaired the doors of the temple, cleansed it, and made atonement for the altar. He consecrated the priesthood, ordered the observance of the Feast of Passover, and removed idolatry from the land. He supported the priesthood through tithes and offerings, and the nation prospered. He was buried with great honor in the sepulchers of the sons of David. See 2 Kings 18–20; 2 Chron. 29–32. Sennacherib, # 36:1 Sennacherib means “the thorn laid waste.” king of Assyria, attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them. 2After defeating Lachish, Sennacherib sent his chief commander # 36:2 Or “Rabshakeh,” a possible title of a military official. with his massive army from there to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. He took up a position on the road to the Washerman’s Field, # 36:2 Or “Fuller’s Field,” where cloth was washed and bleached. In Mark 9:3, the Greek text uses the phrase “whiter than any fuller can make them.” See also Isa. 7:3; Mal. 3:1–3. at the end of the aqueduct where it empties into the upper pool. # 36:2 This was possibly Hezekiah’s “tunnel.” 3And coming out to meet him were three officials of the king: Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna, the scribe; and Joah, son of Asaph, the secretary.
4Sennacherib’s commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah, this is what the exalted king, the king of Assyria, says: ‘What makes you so confident? 5You think you have a strategy and defensive might, but mere words are no match for my army! In whom are you trusting for help that you rebel against me? 6I know—you are relying on Egypt, that broken staff full of splinters. If anyone leans on it, it will pierce his hand. Pharaoh himself, king of Egypt, is like that splintered staff to those who put their trust in him! But you tell me that you are trusting in Yahweh, your God. For Hezekiah went around destroying every sacred altar from the land. Didn’t he insist that Judah and Jerusalem had to worship only at this altar in your temple? 8Now it’s time to make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses if you’re able to come up with as many men to ride them. 9You’re no match against even one officer of the least of my master’s officials! Why put your confidence in Egypt’s chariots and horsemen? 10What’s more, do you really think I’ve marched against this land to destroy it on my own without Yahweh’s approval?’ ”
11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah replied, “Please speak to us, your servants, in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew, for the people on the wall are listening to us, and they will overhear our conversation.”
12But the commander answered them, “Do you think I came to deliver this message from my master only to you and your king? It is also meant for the men sitting there on the wall to hear! They are the ones who will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine!”
13So the commander stood and shouted out in a loud voice in Hebrew to the men listening on the wall, “Hear the words of the great King Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, 14for he has sent me with these words: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for there is nothing he can do to save you. 15Don’t be deceived when he tries to persuade you to trust in Yahweh, saying to you, “Yahweh will come to our rescue and our city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 16Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for the king of Assyria says to you, “Make your peace with me and surrender so that you may continue to eat from your own grapes and figs and drink the water from your own cisterns 17until I come and take you away to a land like your own. It is a good land of grain and wine, bread and vineyards.” 18Don’t be deceived by Hezekiah’s empty words when he says to you, “Yahweh will save us.” Has any god ever saved a nation from the mighty hand of the king of Assyria? 19Where were the gods of Hamath # 36:19 This is modern Hama, a city of west-central Syria. and Arphad? # 36:19 Or “Arpad,” an ancient city of northwestern Syria. Where were the gods of Sepharvaim? Did any god save your northern kingdom of Samaria from me? 20Where is there a god that could save its people from my mighty hand?’ ”
21But they were silent, and no one answered him a word, for King Hezekiah had ordered them, “Do not answer him.”
22So the three officials of Hezekiah—Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna, the scribe; and Joah, son of Asaph the secretary—came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn as a sign of despair and reported what the Assyrian commander had said.
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