CHAPTER 19
. HEZEKIAH IN
DEEP AFFLICTION.
1-3. when king Hezekiah heard it, he
rent his clothes—The rending of his clothes was a mode of
expressing horror at the daring blasphemy—the assumption of
sackcloth a sign of his mental distress—his entrance into the
temple to pray the refuge of a pious man in affliction—and the
forwarding an account of the Assyrian's speech to Isaiah was to
obtain the prophet's counsel and comfort. The expression in which the
message was conveyed described, by a strong figure, the desperate
condition of the kingdom, together with their own inability to help
themselves; and it intimated also a hope, that the blasphemous
defiance of Jehovah's power by the impious Assyrian might lead to
some direct interposition for the vindication of His honor and
supremacy to all heathen gods.
4. the living God—"The
living God" is a most significant expression taken in connection
with the senseless deities that Rab-shakeh boasted were unable to
resist his master's victorious arms.
2 Kings 19:6;
2 Kings 19:7. COMFORTED
BY ISAIAH.
6. Isaiah said . . . Be not
afraid—The prophet's answer was most cheering, as it held out
the prospect of a speedy deliverance from the invader. The blast, the
rumor, the fall by the sword, contained a brief prediction that was
soon fulfilled in all the three particulars—namely, the alarm that
hastened his retreat, the destruction that overtook his army, and the
violent death that suddenly ended his career.
. SENNACHERIB
SENDS A BLASPHEMOUS
LETTER TO HEZEKIAH.
8. So Rab-shakeh . . . found the
king of Assyria warring against Libnah—Whether Lachish had
fallen or not, is not said. But Sennacherib had transferred his
battering-rams against the apparently neighboring fortress of Libnah
(Joshua 10:29; compare Joshua 10:31;
Joshua 15:42), where the
chief-cup-bearer reported the execution of his mission.
9-13. when he heard say of Tirhakah
. . ., Behold, he is come out to fight against thee, &c.—This
was the "rumor" to which Isaiah referred []. Tirhakah reigned in Upper Egypt, while So (or Sabaco)
ruled in Lower Egypt. He was a powerful monarch, another Sesostris,
and both he and Sabaco have left many monuments of their greatness.
The name and figure of Tirhakah receiving war captives, are still
seen in the Egyptian temple of Medinet Abou. This was the expected
succor which was sneered at by Rab-shakeh as "a bruised reed"
(2 Kings 18:21). Rage against
Hezekiah for allying himself with Egypt, or the hope of being better
able to meet this attack from the south, induced him, after hearing
the rumor of Tirhakah's advance, to send a menacing letter to
Hezekiah, in order that he might force the king of Judah to an
immediate surrender of his capital. This letter, couched in the same
vaunting and imperious style as the speech of Rab-shakeh, exceeded it
in blasphemy, and contained a larger enumeration of conquered places,
with the view of terrifying Hezekiah and showing him the utter
hopelessness of all attempts at resistance.
2 Kings 18:21. HEZEKIAH'S
PRAYER.
14-19. Hezekiah received the letter
. . . and went up into the house of the Lord—Hezekiah, after
reading it, hastened into the temple, spread it in the childlike
confidence of faith before the Lord, as containing taunts deeply
affecting the divine honor, and implored deliverance from this proud
defier of God and man. The devout spirit of this prayer, the
recognition of the Divine Being in the plenitude of His majesty—so
strikingly contrasted with the fancy of the Assyrians as to His
merely local power; his acknowledgment of the conquests obtained over
other lands; and of the destruction of their wooden idols which,
according to the Assyrian practice, were committed to the
flames—because their tutelary deities were no gods; and the object
for which he supplicated the divine interposition—that all the
kingdoms of the earth might know that the Lord was the only God—this
was an attitude worthy to be assumed by a pious theocratic king of
the chosen people.
20. Then Isaiah . . . sent—A
revelation having been made to Isaiah, the prophet announced to the
king that his prayer was heard. The prophetic message consisted of
three different portions:—First, Sennacherib is
apostrophized () in a highly poetical strain, admirably descriptive of
the turgid vanity, haughty pretensions, and presumptuous impiety of
the Assyrian despot. Secondly, Hezekiah is addressed (), and a sign is given him of the promised
deliverance—namely, that for two years the presence of the enemy
would interrupt the peaceful pursuits of husbandry, but in the third
year the people would be in circumstances to till their fields and
vineyards and reap the fruits as formerly. Thirdly, the issue
of Sennacherib's invasion is announced ().
33. shall not come into this
city—nor approach near enough to shoot an arrow, not even from
the most powerful engine which throws missiles to the greatest
distance, nor shall he occupy any part of the ground before the city
by a fence, a mantelet, or covering for men employed in a siege, nor
cast (raise) a bank (mound) of earth, overtopping the city walls,
whence he may see and command the interior of the city. None of
these, which were the principal modes of attack followed in ancient
military art, should Sennacherib be permitted to adopt. Though the
army under Rab-shakeh marched towards Jerusalem and encamped at a
little distance with a view to blockade it, they delayed laying siege
to it, probably waiting till the king, having taken Lachish and
Libnah, should bring up his detachment, that with all the combined
forces of Assyria they might invest the capital. So determined was
this invader to conquer Judah and the neighboring countries (), that nothing but a divine interposition could have saved
Jerusalem. It might be supposed that the powerful monarch who overran
Palestine and carried away the tribes of Israel, would leave
memorials of his deeds on sculptured slabs, or votive bulls. A long
and minute account of this expedition is contained in the Annals of
Sennacherib, a translation of which has recently been made into
English, and, in his remarks upon it, COLONEL
RAWLINSON says the
Assyrian version confirms the most important features of the
Scripture account. The Jewish and Assyrian narratives of the campaign
are, indeed, on the whole, strikingly illustrative of each other
[Outlines of Assyrian History].
2 Kings 19:35;
2 Kings 19:36. AN
ANGEL DESTROYS
THE ASSYRIANS.
35. in the morning . . . they were
all dead corpses—It was the miraculous interposition of the
Almighty that defended Jerusalem. As to the secondary agent employed
in the destruction of the Assyrian army, it is most probable that it
was effected by a hot south wind, the simoon, such as to this day
often envelops and destroys whole caravans. This conjecture is
supported by 2 Kings 19:7; Jeremiah 51:1.
The destruction was during the night; the officers and soldiers,
being in full security, were negligent; their discipline was relaxed;
the camp guards were not alert, or perhaps they themselves were the
first taken off, and those who slept, not wrapped up, imbibed
the poison plentifully. If this had been an evening of dissolute
mirth (no uncommon thing in a camp), their joy (perhaps for a
victory), or "the first night of their attacking the city,"
says JOSEPHUS, became, by
its effects, one means of their destruction [CALMET,
Fragments].
36. So Sennacherib king of Assyria .
. . went and returned—the same way as he came (). The route is described (). The early chariot track near Beyrout is on the rocky
edge of Lebanon, which is skirted by the ancient Lycus (Nahr-el
Kelb). On the perpendicular face of the limestone rock, at different
heights, are seen slabs with Assyrian inscriptions, which having been
deciphered, are found to contain the name of Sennacherib. Thus, by
the preservation of these tablets, the wrath of the Assyrian invaders
is made to praise the Lord.
dwelt at Nineveh—This
statement implies a considerable period of time, and his Annals carry
on his history at least five years after his disastrous campaign at
Jerusalem. No record of his catastrophe can be found, as the Assyrian
practice was to record victories alone. The sculptures give only the
sunny side of the picture.
. SENNACHERIB
SLAIN.
37. as he was worshipping in the
house of Nisroch—Assarae, or Asshur, the head of the Assyrian
Pantheon, represented not as a vulture-headed figure (that is now
ascertained to be a priest), but as a winged figure in a circle,
which was the guardian deity of Assyria. The king is represented on
the monuments standing or kneeling beneath this figure, his hand
raised in sign of prayer or adoration.
his sons smote him with the
sword—Sennacherib's temper, exasperated probably by his
reverses, displayed itself in the most savage cruelty and intolerable
tyranny over his subjects and slaves, till at length he was
assassinated by his two sons, whom, it is said, he intended to
sacrifice to pacify the gods and dispose them to grant him a return
of prosperity. The parricides taking flight into Armenia, a third
son, Esar-haddon, ascended the throne.
CHAPTER 19
. HEZEKIAH IN DEEP AFFLICTION.
1-3. when king Hezekiah heard it, he rent his clothes—The rending of his clothes was a mode of expressing horror at the daring blasphemy—the assumption of sackcloth a sign of his mental distress—his entrance into the temple to pray the refuge of a pious man in affliction—and the forwarding an account of the Assyrian's speech to Isaiah was to obtain the prophet's counsel and comfort. The expression in which the message was conveyed described, by a strong figure, the desperate condition of the kingdom, together with their own inability to help themselves; and it intimated also a hope, that the blasphemous defiance of Jehovah's power by the impious Assyrian might lead to some direct interposition for the vindication of His honor and supremacy to all heathen gods.
4. the living God—"The living God" is a most significant expression taken in connection with the senseless deities that Rab-shakeh boasted were unable to resist his master's victorious arms.
2 Kings 19:6; 2 Kings 19:7. COMFORTED BY ISAIAH.
6. Isaiah said . . . Be not afraid—The prophet's answer was most cheering, as it held out the prospect of a speedy deliverance from the invader. The blast, the rumor, the fall by the sword, contained a brief prediction that was soon fulfilled in all the three particulars—namely, the alarm that hastened his retreat, the destruction that overtook his army, and the violent death that suddenly ended his career.
. SENNACHERIB SENDS A BLASPHEMOUS LETTER TO HEZEKIAH.
8. So Rab-shakeh . . . found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah—Whether Lachish had fallen or not, is not said. But Sennacherib had transferred his battering-rams against the apparently neighboring fortress of Libnah (Joshua 10:29; compare Joshua 10:31; Joshua 15:42), where the chief-cup-bearer reported the execution of his mission.
9-13. when he heard say of Tirhakah . . ., Behold, he is come out to fight against thee, &c.—This was the "rumor" to which Isaiah referred []. Tirhakah reigned in Upper Egypt, while So (or Sabaco) ruled in Lower Egypt. He was a powerful monarch, another Sesostris, and both he and Sabaco have left many monuments of their greatness. The name and figure of Tirhakah receiving war captives, are still seen in the Egyptian temple of Medinet Abou. This was the expected succor which was sneered at by Rab-shakeh as "a bruised reed" (2 Kings 18:21). Rage against Hezekiah for allying himself with Egypt, or the hope of being better able to meet this attack from the south, induced him, after hearing the rumor of Tirhakah's advance, to send a menacing letter to Hezekiah, in order that he might force the king of Judah to an immediate surrender of his capital. This letter, couched in the same vaunting and imperious style as the speech of Rab-shakeh, exceeded it in blasphemy, and contained a larger enumeration of conquered places, with the view of terrifying Hezekiah and showing him the utter hopelessness of all attempts at resistance.
2 Kings 18:21. HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER.
14-19. Hezekiah received the letter . . . and went up into the house of the Lord—Hezekiah, after reading it, hastened into the temple, spread it in the childlike confidence of faith before the Lord, as containing taunts deeply affecting the divine honor, and implored deliverance from this proud defier of God and man. The devout spirit of this prayer, the recognition of the Divine Being in the plenitude of His majesty—so strikingly contrasted with the fancy of the Assyrians as to His merely local power; his acknowledgment of the conquests obtained over other lands; and of the destruction of their wooden idols which, according to the Assyrian practice, were committed to the flames—because their tutelary deities were no gods; and the object for which he supplicated the divine interposition—that all the kingdoms of the earth might know that the Lord was the only God—this was an attitude worthy to be assumed by a pious theocratic king of the chosen people.
20. Then Isaiah . . . sent—A revelation having been made to Isaiah, the prophet announced to the king that his prayer was heard. The prophetic message consisted of three different portions:—First, Sennacherib is apostrophized () in a highly poetical strain, admirably descriptive of the turgid vanity, haughty pretensions, and presumptuous impiety of the Assyrian despot. Secondly, Hezekiah is addressed (), and a sign is given him of the promised deliverance—namely, that for two years the presence of the enemy would interrupt the peaceful pursuits of husbandry, but in the third year the people would be in circumstances to till their fields and vineyards and reap the fruits as formerly. Thirdly, the issue of Sennacherib's invasion is announced ().
33. shall not come into this city—nor approach near enough to shoot an arrow, not even from the most powerful engine which throws missiles to the greatest distance, nor shall he occupy any part of the ground before the city by a fence, a mantelet, or covering for men employed in a siege, nor cast (raise) a bank (mound) of earth, overtopping the city walls, whence he may see and command the interior of the city. None of these, which were the principal modes of attack followed in ancient military art, should Sennacherib be permitted to adopt. Though the army under Rab-shakeh marched towards Jerusalem and encamped at a little distance with a view to blockade it, they delayed laying siege to it, probably waiting till the king, having taken Lachish and Libnah, should bring up his detachment, that with all the combined forces of Assyria they might invest the capital. So determined was this invader to conquer Judah and the neighboring countries (), that nothing but a divine interposition could have saved Jerusalem. It might be supposed that the powerful monarch who overran Palestine and carried away the tribes of Israel, would leave memorials of his deeds on sculptured slabs, or votive bulls. A long and minute account of this expedition is contained in the Annals of Sennacherib, a translation of which has recently been made into English, and, in his remarks upon it, COLONEL RAWLINSON says the Assyrian version confirms the most important features of the Scripture account. The Jewish and Assyrian narratives of the campaign are, indeed, on the whole, strikingly illustrative of each other [Outlines of Assyrian History].
2 Kings 19:35; 2 Kings 19:36. AN ANGEL DESTROYS THE ASSYRIANS.
35. in the morning . . . they were all dead corpses—It was the miraculous interposition of the Almighty that defended Jerusalem. As to the secondary agent employed in the destruction of the Assyrian army, it is most probable that it was effected by a hot south wind, the simoon, such as to this day often envelops and destroys whole caravans. This conjecture is supported by 2 Kings 19:7; Jeremiah 51:1. The destruction was during the night; the officers and soldiers, being in full security, were negligent; their discipline was relaxed; the camp guards were not alert, or perhaps they themselves were the first taken off, and those who slept, not wrapped up, imbibed the poison plentifully. If this had been an evening of dissolute mirth (no uncommon thing in a camp), their joy (perhaps for a victory), or "the first night of their attacking the city," says JOSEPHUS, became, by its effects, one means of their destruction [CALMET, Fragments].
36. So Sennacherib king of Assyria . . . went and returned—the same way as he came (). The route is described (). The early chariot track near Beyrout is on the rocky edge of Lebanon, which is skirted by the ancient Lycus (Nahr-el Kelb). On the perpendicular face of the limestone rock, at different heights, are seen slabs with Assyrian inscriptions, which having been deciphered, are found to contain the name of Sennacherib. Thus, by the preservation of these tablets, the wrath of the Assyrian invaders is made to praise the Lord.
dwelt at Nineveh—This statement implies a considerable period of time, and his Annals carry on his history at least five years after his disastrous campaign at Jerusalem. No record of his catastrophe can be found, as the Assyrian practice was to record victories alone. The sculptures give only the sunny side of the picture.
. SENNACHERIB SLAIN.
37. as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch—Assarae, or Asshur, the head of the Assyrian Pantheon, represented not as a vulture-headed figure (that is now ascertained to be a priest), but as a winged figure in a circle, which was the guardian deity of Assyria. The king is represented on the monuments standing or kneeling beneath this figure, his hand raised in sign of prayer or adoration.
his sons smote him with the sword—Sennacherib's temper, exasperated probably by his reverses, displayed itself in the most savage cruelty and intolerable tyranny over his subjects and slaves, till at length he was assassinated by his two sons, whom, it is said, he intended to sacrifice to pacify the gods and dispose them to grant him a return of prosperity. The parricides taking flight into Armenia, a third son, Esar-haddon, ascended the throne.