Chapter 37

1 Hezekiah mourning sendeth to Isaiah to pray for them. 6 Isaiah comforteth them. 8 Sennacherib, going to encounter Tirhakah, sendeth a blasphemous letter to Hezekiah. 14 Hezekiah’s prayer. 21 Isaiah’s prophecy of the pride and destruction of Sennacherib, and the good of Zion. 36 An angel slayeth the Assyrians. 37 Sennacherib is slain at Nineveh by his own sons.

1. Rent his clothes. See on 2 Kings 19:1. Hezekiah’s resort to “the house of the Lord” was in keeping with the counsel of Joel 1:8–14, given at another time of crisis.

2. Unto Isaiah. The king was in a dilemma from which none but a prophet of the true God could point a way of escape.

3. Day of trouble. See on 2 Kings 19:3. As God answered the earnest prayers of His people in the days of Isaiah, so He will always hear and deliver them (see Ps. 46:5–11; 91).

4. God will hear. See on 2 Kings 19:4. God is able to save “to the uttermost” all that come to Him, “seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25).

6. Be not afraid. See on 2 Kings 19:6.

7. I will send a blast. See on 2 Kings 19:7.

8. Libnah.See on 2 Kings 19:8.

9. Tirhakah. See on 2 Kings 19:9; see also Vol. II, pp. 53, 64. The approach of Tirhakah (Taharka) made it advisable for Sennacherib to renew his efforts to secure Hezekiah’s immediate submission.

He sent messengers. Dead Sea scroll 1QIs reads, “he sent messengers again.”

10. Deceive thee. See on 2 Kings 19:10. Having failed to take Jerusalem by arms, Sennacherib was making a desperate effort to take it by words. His message this time was much the same as the previous one (Isa. 36:15, 18–20), only more desperate and defiant.

11. To all lands. See on 2 Kings 19:11. The Assyrian kings were heartless and cruel, and proud of their cruelty. By the sheer horror of their bloody deeds they hoped to strike terror into the hearts of men and nations, and thus bring the world under their control.

12. Gozan, and Haran. See on 2 Kings 19:12.

13. Of Hamath. See on 2 Kings 19:13. The same question had already been asked regarding the gods of Hamath and Arpad (Isa. 36:19), and now, of the kings of these cities. The implied answer is that they had met with the terrible fate of all who dared to resist Assyrian arms. Dead Sea scroll 1QIs adds Samaria after Ivah.

14. Received the letter. See on 2 Kings 19:14.

16. Between the cherubims. See on 2 Kings 19:15.

17. To reproach. See on 2 Kings 19:16. Hezekiah regarded the words of Sennacherib as addressed not so much to himself as to God. Hezekiah ruled as the representative of God on earth.

18. Laid waste all the nations. Assyria was now at the very height of its power. Tiglath-pileser III (745–727), Shalmaneser V (727–722), Sargon II (722–705), and Sennacherib (705–681) were the greatest kings that Assyria ever knew, and under their sway the nations of Western Asia were crushed and left desolate. If Sennacherib boasted, Hezekiah now frankly acknowledged that his boasting was not without reason. Dead Sea scroll 1QIs omits “and their countries.”

19. No gods. See on 2 Kings 19:18.

20. All the kingdoms. See on 2 Kings 19:19.

21. Thus saith the Lord. It appears that Isaiah was not present when Hezekiah offered his earnest prayer, but that the Lord informed His prophet of the prayer, and of the favorable answer that would be given. At this time of national crisis God would not leave His people without hope. See on 2 Kings 19:20.

22. The virgin. Like a virgin, Zion had been threatened by Sennacherib, who was determined to humiliate her before the world. But Zion courageously refused to submit to the Assyrian, and God would reward her for her fidelity to Him. See on 2 Kings 19:21.

23. The Holy One. See on 2 Kings 19:22. It was to Him that Zion was betrothed, and in reproaching her the Assyrian was reproaching God. For the honor of His own holy name God would come to the defense of Zion.

24. Hast said. See on 2 Kings 19:23. Man was setting himself and his puny strength against the might of an omnipotent God. Sennacherib, like Lucifer, was guilty of self-glorification. His emphasis was on himself—“my chariots,” “am I come,” “I will cut down,” and “I will enter” (cf. Isa. 14:13, 14). The inscriptions of Sennacherib are replete with boasts such as this. But once more it was to be demonstrated that “pride goeth before destruction” (Prov. 16:18), and that “God resisteth the proud” (James 4:6).

25. Digged, and drunk. Sennacherib continues boasting of his power and his invincibility. Nothing can stop him. For him the difficulties that checkmate ordinary mortals are as nothing. See on 2 Kings 19:24.

Water. Dead Sea scroll 1QIs reads “strange waters,” as in the parallel passage in 2 Kings 19:24.

26. I have done it. See on 2 Kings 19:25. Had God not withdrawn His protecting care from men and nations, the arms of Assyria would have been powerless against them.

27. Of small power. See on 2 Kings 19:26.

28. I know thy abode. Dead Sea scroll 1QIs reads, “I know your rising up and your sitting down” (see Lam. 3:63). God warns Sennacherib that He is perfectly informed concerning all his activities and his intentions. The phrases “going out” and “coming in” include every activity of life (see Ps. 121:8; 139:2, 3).

29. Hook in thy nose. See on 2 Kings 19:28. The Assyrians frequently resorted to the utmost barbarity in their treatment of their victims. Sennacherib will be treated as he has treated others. The same figure is used of the treatment that will ultimately be meted out to all workers of iniquity (Isa. 30:28; Eze. 38:4).

30. A sign. See on 2 Kings 19:29. Hezekiah and the people of Judah are assured that God will give them a sign, as He often did (Isa. 7:11, 14; 38:8), in pledge of the fulfillment of the accompanying prediction. The Assyrian invasion had put a stop to all normal agricultural activities, but the people are assured of an adequate supply of food. The following year may have been a sabbatical year, during which enough food would grow of itself. The third year, however, would bring a resumption of normal life and activities. The fulfillment of this prediction within the specified time would be a token of the certain fulfillment of the wider promise in vs. 31, 32.

31. The remnant. See on 2 Kings 19:30.

32. The zeal of the Lord. See on 2 Kings 19:31. Only divine intervention would save Judah. Without God there was no hope. Israel had already been destroyed, and it now seemed that nothing could prevent Judah from suffering a similar fate.

33. Cast a bank. See on 2 Kings 19:32. The soldiers of Sennacherib were already encamped about the city, but would not proceed with the usual operations of a siege. No embankment would be thrown against the walls to allow the advance of siege engines and bowmen, and none of the enemy would succeed in entering the city. It appeared that Jerusalem was on the verge of a desperate siege, but that siege would not materialize.

35. Mine own sake. In coming to the defense of Jerusalem, God was defending His own majesty and honor against the blasphemy of Sennacherib (see on v. 24).

36. The angel of the Lord. See on 2 Kings 19:35. Angels are more commonly sent to save than to destroy. Nothing is known of the method employed by the angel upon this occasion, but whatever the method the visitation was sudden, and obliterated the besieging force. In accord with the ancient reluctance to enter unfavorable information in the national chronicles, the Assyrian records make no mention of this catastrophe. Various legendary explanations are without value.

37. Sennacherib. It is significant that Sennacherib was spared. He seems to have been with the portion of his army that was sent against Taharka (v. 9; see 2 Kings 19:9, and map, Vol. II, p. 954). Perhaps the Lord intended him to return to his homeland in shame and disgrace, as an object lesson of what happens to a man who sets himself against God. See on 2 Kings 19:36.

38. His sons smote him. See on 2 Kings 19:37. Although Sennacherib was permitted to return to Assyria, he did not escape a violent death. Assyrian and Babylonian records confirm the Biblical account of his assassination at the hands of his sons. It was in 681 that Sennacherib was slain and Esarhaddon began to reign. How long this was after his return is not known (see Vol. II, pp. 64, 65).

Ellen G. White comments

16  PP 62

23   GC 287

38   PK 361