2 Raja-raja 15:29
Konteks15:29 During Pekah’s reign over Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, 1 Gilead, and Galilee, including all the territory of Naphtali. He deported the people 2 to Assyria.
2 Raja-raja 17:6-23
Konteks17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the people of Israel 3 to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes.
17:7 This happened because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt and freed them from the power of 4 Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped 5 other gods; 17:8 they observed the practices 6 of the nations whom the Lord had driven out from before Israel, and followed the example of the kings of Israel. 7 17:9 The Israelites said things about the Lord their God that were not right. 8 They built high places in all their cities, from the watchtower to the fortress. 9 17:10 They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. 17:11 They burned incense on all the high places just like the nations whom the Lord had driven away from before them. Their evil practices made the Lord angry. 10 17:12 They worshiped 11 the disgusting idols 12 in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command. 13
17:13 The Lord solemnly warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and all the seers, “Turn back from your evil ways; obey my commandments and rules that are recorded in the law. I ordered your ancestors to keep this law and sent my servants the prophets to remind you of its demands.” 14 17:14 But they did not pay attention and were as stubborn as their ancestors, 15 who had not trusted the Lord their God. 17:15 They rejected his rules, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the laws he had commanded them to obey. 16 They paid allegiance to 17 worthless idols, and so became worthless to the Lord. 18 They copied the practices of the surrounding nations in blatant disregard of the Lord’s command. 19 17:16 They abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God; they made two metal calves and an Asherah pole, bowed down to all the stars in the sky, 20 and worshiped 21 Baal. 17:17 They passed their sons and daughters through the fire, 22 and practiced divination and omen reading. They committed themselves to doing evil in the sight of the Lord and made him angry. 23
17:18 So the Lord was furious 24 with Israel and rejected them; 25 only the tribe of Judah was left. 17:19 Judah also failed to keep the commandments of the Lord their God; they followed Israel’s example. 26 17:20 So the Lord rejected all of Israel’s descendants; he humiliated 27 them and handed them over to robbers, until he had thrown them from his presence. 17:21 He tore Israel away from David’s dynasty, and Jeroboam son of Nebat became their king. 28 Jeroboam drove Israel away 29 from the Lord and encouraged them to commit a serious sin. 30 17:22 The Israelites followed in the sinful ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and did not repudiate 31 them. 17:23 Finally 32 the Lord rejected Israel 33 just as he had warned he would do 34 through all his servants the prophets. Israel was deported from its land to Assyria and remains there to this very day.
2 Raja-raja 18:9-13
Konteks18:9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah’s reign (it was the seventh year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea, son of Elah), King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched 35 up against Samaria 36 and besieged it. 18:10 After three years he captured it (in the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign); in the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign over Israel Samaria was captured. 18:11 The king of Assyria deported the people of Israel 37 to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes. 18:12 This happened because they did not obey 38 the Lord their God and broke his agreement with them. 39 They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded. 40
18:13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.
2 Raja-raja 18:2
Konteks18:2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. 41 His mother 42 was Abi, 43 the daughter of Zechariah.
2 Raja-raja 1:1
Konteks1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 44
2 Raja-raja 1:1
Konteks1:1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 45
2 Raja-raja 1:11
Konteks1:11 The king 46 sent another captain and his fifty soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, 47 “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” 48
Yesaya 7:17-20
Konteks7:17 The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s family a time 49 unlike any since Ephraim departed from Judah – the king of Assyria!” 50
7:18 At that time 51 the Lord will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. 52 7:19 All of them will come and make their home 53 in the ravines between the cliffs, and in the crevices of the cliffs, in all the thorn bushes, and in all the watering holes. 54 7:20 At that time 55 the sovereign master will use a razor hired from the banks of the Euphrates River, 56 the king of Assyria, to shave the head and the pubic hair; 57 it will also shave off the beard.
Yesaya 8:7-8
Konteks8:7 So look, the sovereign master 58 is bringing up against them the turbulent and mighty waters of the Euphrates River 59 – the king of Assyria and all his majestic power. It will reach flood stage and overflow its banks. 60 8:8 It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, 61 O Immanuel.” 62
Yesaya 10:5-7
Konteks10:5 Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead, 63
a cudgel with which I angrily punish. 64
10:6 I sent him 65 against a godless 66 nation,
I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry, 67
to take plunder and to carry away loot,
to trample them down 68 like dirt in the streets.
10:7 But he does not agree with this,
his mind does not reason this way, 69
for his goal is to destroy,
and to eliminate many nations. 70
Yesaya 36:1--37:38
Konteks36:1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, 71 King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 36:2 The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser 72 from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, 73 along with a large army. The chief adviser 74 stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. 75 36:3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet him.
36:4 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence? 76 36:5 Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk. 77 In whom are you trusting, that you would dare to rebel against me? 36:6 Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him! 36:7 Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar.’ 36:8 Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. 36:9 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. 78 36:10 Furthermore it was by the command of the Lord that I marched up against this land to destroy it. The Lord told me, ‘March up against this land and destroy it!’”’” 79
36:11 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, 80 for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect 81 in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 36:12 But the chief adviser said, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. 82 His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!” 83
36:13 The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect, 84 “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria. 36:14 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you! 36:15 Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 36:16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. 85 Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 36:17 until I come and take you to a land just like your own – a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 36:18 Hezekiah is misleading you when he says, “The Lord will rescue us.” Has any of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? 86 36:19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? 87 Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria 88 from my power? 89 36:20 Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’” 90 36:21 They were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”
36:22 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in grief 91 and reported to him what the chief adviser had said. 37:1 When King Hezekiah heard this, 92 he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord’s temple. 37:2 Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, 93 clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz: 37:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: 94 ‘This is a day of distress, insults, 95 and humiliation, 96 as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. 97 37:4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. 98 When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. 99 So pray for this remnant that remains.’” 100
37:5 When King Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah, 37:6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Don’t be afraid because of the things you have heard – these insults the king of Assyria’s servants have hurled against me. 101 37:7 Look, I will take control of his mind; 102 he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down 103 with a sword in his own land.”’”
37:8 When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning. 104 37:9 The king 105 heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia 106 was marching out to fight him. 107 He again sent 108 messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them: 37:10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 37:11 Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands. 109 Do you really think you will be rescued? 110 37:12 Were the nations whom my predecessors 111 destroyed – the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar – rescued by their gods? 112 37:13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the kings of Lair, 113 Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
37:14 Hezekiah took the letter 114 from the messengers and read it. 115 Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord. 37:15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: 37:16 “O Lord who commands armies, O God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubim! 116 You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky 117 and the earth. 37:17 Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to this entire message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God! 118 37:18 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations 119 and their lands. 37:19 They have burned the gods of the nations, 120 for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. 121 37:20 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.” 122
37:21 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Because you prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria, 123 37:22 this is what the Lord says about him: 124
“The virgin daughter Zion 125
despises you – she makes fun of you;
daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you. 126
37:23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted
and looked so arrogantly? 127
At the Holy One of Israel! 128
37:24 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, 129
‘With my many chariots I climbed up
the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions, 130
its thickest woods.
37:25 I dug wells
and drank water. 131
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.’
37:26 132 Certainly you must have heard! 133
Long ago I worked it out,
in ancient times I planned 134 it,
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins. 135
37:27 Their residents are powerless; 136
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field
or green vegetation. 137
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops 138
when it is scorched by the east wind. 139
37:28 I know where you live
and everything you do
and how you rage against me. 140
37:29 Because you rage against me
and the uproar you create has reached my ears, 141
I will put my hook in your nose, 142
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back
the way you came.”
37:30 143 “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: 144 This year you will eat what grows wild, 145 and next year 146 what grows on its own. But the year after that 147 you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. 148 37:31 Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit. 149
37:32 “For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;
survivors will come out of Mount Zion.
The intense devotion of the Lord who commands armies 150 will accomplish this.
37:33 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
‘He will not enter this city,
nor will he shoot an arrow here. 151
He will not attack it with his shielded warriors, 152
nor will he build siege works against it.
37:34 He will go back the way he came –
he will not enter this city,’ says the Lord.
37:35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’” 153
37:36 The Lord’s messenger 154 went out and killed 185,000 troops 155 in the Assyrian camp. When they 156 got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses! 157 37:37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. 158 37:38 One day, 159 as he was worshiping 160 in the temple of his god Nisroch, 161 his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. 162 They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.
[15:29] 1 map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.
[17:6] 3 tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” as the object of the verb.
[17:7] 4 tn Heb “and from under the hand of.” The words “freed them” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:8] 6 tn Heb “walked in the customs.”
[17:8] 7 tn Heb “and [the practices of] the kings of Israel which they did.”
[17:9] 8 tn The meaning of the verb וַיְחַפְּאוּ (vayÿkhappÿ’u), translated here “said,” is uncertain. Some relate it to the verbal root חָפַה (khafah), “to cover,” and translate “they did it in secret” (see BDB 341 s.v. חָפָא). However, the pagan practices specified in the following sentences were hardly done in secret. Others propose a meaning “ascribe, impute,” which makes good contextual sense but has little etymological support (see HALOT 339 s.v. חפא). In this case Israel claimed that the
[17:9] 9 sn That is, from the city’s perimeter to the central citadel.
[17:11] 10 tn Heb “and they did evil things, angering the
[17:12] 12 sn See the note at 1 Kgs 15:12.
[17:12] 13 tn Heb “about which the
[17:13] 14 tn Heb “obey my commandments and rules according to all the law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets.”
[17:14] 15 tn Heb and they stiffened their neck like the neck of their fathers.”
[17:15] 16 tn Or “and his warnings he had given them.”
[17:15] 17 tn Heb “They went [or, ‘followed’] after.” This idiom probably does not mean much if translated literally. It is found most often in Deuteronomy or in literature related to the covenant. It refers in the first instance to loyalty to God and to His covenant or His commandments (1 Kgs 14:8; 2 Chr 34:31) with the metaphor of a path or way underlying it (Deut 11:28; 28:14). To “follow other gods” was to abandon this way and this loyalty (to “abandon” or “forget” God, Judg 2:12; Hos 2:13) and to follow the customs or religious traditions of the pagan nations (2 Kgs 17:15). The classic text on “following” God or another god is 1 Kgs 18:18, 21 where Elijah taunts the people with “halting between two opinions” whether the
[17:15] 18 tn Heb “they followed after the worthless thing/things and became worthless.” The words “to the
[17:15] 19 tn Heb “and [they walked] after the nations which were around them, concerning which the
[17:16] 20 tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsÿva’ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.
[17:17] 22 sn See the note at 2 Kgs 16:3.
[17:17] 23 tn Heb “they sold themselves to doing what was evil in the eyes of the
[17:18] 24 tn Heb “very angry.”
[17:18] 25 tn Heb “turned them away from his face.”
[17:19] 26 tn Heb “they walked in the practices of Israel which they did.”
[17:21] 28 tn Heb “and they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king.”
[17:21] 29 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) assumes the verb is נָדָא (nada’), an alternate form of נָדָה (nadah), “push away.” The marginal reading (Qere) assumes the verb נָדָח (nadakh), “drive away.”
[17:21] 30 tn Heb “a great sin.”
[17:22] 31 tn Heb “turn away from.”
[17:23] 33 tn Heb “the
[17:23] 34 tn Heb “just as he said.”
[18:9] 35 tn Heb “went” (also in v. 13).
[18:9] 36 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[18:11] 37 tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” as the object of the verb.
[18:12] 38 tn Heb “listen to the voice of.”
[18:12] 39 tn Heb “his covenant.”
[18:12] 40 tn Heb “all that Moses, the
[18:2] 41 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[18:2] 42 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
[18:2] 43 tn The parallel passage in 2 Chr 29:1 has “Abijah.”
[1:1] 44 sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.
[1:1] 45 sn This statement may fit better with the final paragraph of 1 Kgs 22.
[1:11] 46 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:11] 47 tc The MT reads, “he answered and said to him.” The verb “he answered” (וַיַּעַן, vayya’an) is probably a corruption of “he went up” (וַיַּעַל, vayya’al). See v. 9.
[1:11] 48 sn In this second panel of the three-paneled narrative, the king and his captain are more arrogant than before. The captain uses a more official sounding introduction (“this is what the king says”) and the king adds “at once” to the command.
[7:17] 49 tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB); NASB, NRSV “such days.”
[7:17] 50 sn Initially the prophecy appears to be a message of salvation. Immanuel seems to have a positive ring to it, sour milk and honey elsewhere symbolize prosperity and blessing (see Deut 32:13-14; Job 20:17), verse 16 announces the defeat of Judah’s enemies, and verse 17a could be taken as predicting a return to the glorious days of David and Solomon. However, the message turns sour in verses 17b-25. God will be with his people in judgment, as well as salvation. The curds and honey will be signs of deprivation, not prosperity, the relief announced in verse 16 will be short-lived, and the new era will be characterized by unprecedented humiliation, not a return to glory. Because of Ahaz’s refusal to trust the Lord, potential blessing would be transformed into a curse, just as Isaiah turns an apparent prophecy of salvation into a message of judgment. Because the words “the king of Assyria” are rather awkwardly tacked on to the end of the sentence, some regard them as a later addition. However, the very awkwardness facilitates the prophet’s rhetorical strategy here, as he suddenly turns what sounds like a positive message into a judgment speech. Actually, “the king of Assyria,” stands in apposition to the earlier object “days,” and specifies who the main character of these coming “days” will be.
[7:18] 51 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[7:18] 52 sn Swarming flies are irritating; bees are irritating and especially dangerous because of the pain they inflict with their sting (see Deut 1:44; Ps 118:12). The metaphors are well chosen, for the Assyrians (symbolized by the bees) were much more powerful and dangerous than the Egyptians (symbolized by the flies). Nevertheless both would put pressure on Judah, for Egypt wanted Judah as a buffer state against Assyrian aggression, while Assyrian wanted it as a base for operations against Egypt. Following the reference to sour milk and honey, the metaphor is especially apt, for flies are attracted to dairy products and bees can be found in the vicinity of honey.
[7:19] 53 tn Heb “and shall rest” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “and settle.”
[7:19] 54 tn The meaning of this word (נַהֲלֹל, nahalol) is uncertain; some understand this as referring to another type of thorn bush. For bibliography, see HALOT 676 s.v. I *נַהֲלֹל.
[7:20] 55 tn Heb “in that day” (so ASV, NASB); KJV “In the same day.”
[7:20] 56 tn Heb “the river” (so KJV); NASB “the Euphrates.” The name of the river has been supplied in the present translation for clarity.
[7:20] 57 tn Heb “the hair of the feet.” The translation assumes that the word “feet” is used here as a euphemism for the genitals. See BDB 920 s.v. רֶגֶל.
[8:7] 58 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[8:7] 59 tn Heb “the mighty and abundant waters of the river.” The referent of “the river” here, the Euphrates River, has been specified in the translation for clarity. As the immediately following words indicate, these waters symbolize the Assyrian king and his armies which will, as it were, inundate the land.
[8:7] 60 tn Heb “it will go up over all its stream beds and go over all its banks.”
[8:8] 61 tn Heb “and the spreading out of his wings [will be over] the fullness of the breadth of your land.” The metaphor changes here from raging flood to predatory bird.
[8:8] 62 sn The appearance of the name Immanuel (“God is with us”) is ironic at this point, for God is present with his people in judgment. Immanuel is addressed here as if he has already been born and will see the judgment occur. This makes excellent sense if his birth has just been recorded. There are several reasons for considering Immanuel and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz one and the same. 8:3 is a birth account which could easily be understood as recording the fulfillment of the birth prophecy of 7:14. The presence of a formal record/witnesses (8:1-2) suggests a sign function for the child (cf. 7:14). As in 7:14-16, the removal of Judah’s enemies would take place before the child reached a specified age (cf. 8:4). Both 7:17-25 and 8:7-8 speak of an Assyrian invasion of Judah which would follow the defeat of Israel/Syria. The major objection to this view is the fact that different names appear, but such a phenomenon is not without parallel in the OT (cf. Gen 35:18). The name Immanuel may emphasize the basic fact of God’s presence, while the name Maher focuses on the specific nature of God’s involvement. In 7:14 the mother is viewed as naming the child, while in 8:3 Isaiah is instructed to give the child’s name, but one might again point to Gen 35:18 for a precedent. The sign child’s age appears to be different in 8:4 than in 7:15-16, but 7:15-16 pertains to the judgment on Judah, as well as the defeat of Israel/Syria (cf. vv. 17-25), while 8:4 deals only with the downfall of Israel/Syria. Some argue that the suffixed form “your land” in 8:8 points to a royal referent (a child of Ahaz or the Messiah), but usage elsewhere shows that the phrase does not need to be so restricted. While the suffix can refer to the king of a land (cf. Num 20:17; 21:22; Deut 2:27; Judg 11:17, 19; 2 Sam 24:13; 1 Kgs 11:22; Isa 14:20), it can also refer to one who is a native of a particular land (cf. Gen 12:1; 32:9; Jonah 1:8). (See also the use of “his land” in Isa 13:14 [where the suffix refers to a native of a land] and 37:7 [where it refers to a king].)
[10:5] 63 tn Heb “Woe [to] Assyria, the club of my anger.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.
[10:5] 64 tn Heb “a cudgel is he, in their hand is my anger.” It seems likely that the final mem (ם) on בְיָדָם (bÿyadam) is not a pronominal suffix (“in their hand”), but an enclitic mem. If so, one can translate literally, “a cudgel is he in the hand of my anger.”
[10:6] 65 sn Throughout this section singular forms are used to refer to Assyria; perhaps the king of Assyria is in view (see v. 12).
[10:6] 66 tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “impious”; NCV “separated from God.”
[10:6] 67 tn Heb “and against the people of my anger I ordered him.”
[10:6] 68 tn Heb “to make it [i.e., the people] a trampled place.”
[10:7] 69 tn Heb “but he, not so does he intend, and his heart, not so does it think.”
[10:7] 70 tn Heb “for to destroy [is] in his heart, and to cut off nations, not a few.”
[36:1] 71 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[36:2] 72 sn For a discussion of this title see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 229-30.
[36:2] 73 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[36:2] 74 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the chief adviser) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[36:2] 75 tn Heb “the field of the washer”; traditionally “the fuller’s field” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
[36:4] 76 tn Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?”
[36:5] 77 tn Heb “you say only a word of lips, counsel and might for battle.” Sennacherib’s message appears to be in broken Hebrew at this point. The phrase “word of lips” refers to mere or empty talk in Prov 14:23.
[36:9] 78 tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 8-9 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 6. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”
[36:10] 79 sn In v. 10 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 7. He claims that Hezekiah has offended the Lord and that the Lord has commissioned Assyria as his instrument of discipline and judgment.
[36:11] 80 sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the Assyrian empire.
[36:11] 81 tn Or “in Hebrew” (NIV, NCV, NLT); NAB, NASB “in Judean.”
[36:12] 82 tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.
[36:12] 83 tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”
[36:12] sn The chief adviser alludes to the horrible reality of siege warfare, when the starving people in the besieged city would resort to eating and drinking anything to stay alive.
[36:13] 84 tn The Hebrew text includes “and he said.”
[36:16] 85 tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”
[36:18] 86 tn Heb “Have the gods of the nations rescued, each his land, from the hand of the king of Assyria?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not!”
[36:19] 87 tn The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”
[36:19] 88 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[36:19] 89 tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 18, 20).
[36:20] 90 tn Heb “that the Lord might rescue Jerusalem from my hand?” The logic runs as follows: Since no god has ever been able to withstand the Assyrian onslaught, how can the people of Jerusalem possibly think the Lord will rescue them?
[36:22] 91 tn Heb “with their clothes torn”; the words “in grief” have been supplied in the translation to indicate that this was done as a sign of grief and mourning.
[37:1] 92 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[37:2] 93 tn Heb “elders of the priests” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NCV “the older priests”; NRSV, TEV, CEV “the senior priests.”
[37:3] 94 tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).
[37:3] 95 tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”
[37:3] 96 tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”
[37:3] 97 tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”
[37:4] 98 tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”
[37:4] 99 tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”
[37:4] 100 tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”
[37:6] 101 tn Heb “by which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me.”
[37:7] 102 tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the Lord’s sovereignty over the king is apparent.
[37:7] 103 tn Heb “cause him to fall” (so KJV, ASV, NAB), that is, “kill him.”
[37:8] 104 tn Heb “and the chief adviser returned and he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish.”
[37:9] 105 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[37:9] 106 tn Heb “Cush” (so NASB); NIV, NCV “the Cushite king of Egypt.”
[37:9] 107 tn Heb “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘He has come out to fight with you.’”
[37:9] 108 tn The Hebrew text has, “and he heard and he sent,” but the parallel in 2 Kgs 19:9 has וַיָּשָׁב וַיִּשְׁלַח (vayyashav vayyishlakh, “and he returned and he sent”), i.e., “he again sent.”
[37:11] 109 tn Heb “Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them.”
[37:11] 110 tn Heb “and will you be rescued?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No, of course not!”
[37:12] 111 tn Heb “fathers” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “forefathers”; NCV “ancestors.”
[37:12] 112 tn Heb “Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed rescue them – Gozan and Haran, and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who are in Telassar?”
[37:13] 113 sn Lair was a city located in northeastern Babylon. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 235.
[37:14] 114 tc The Hebrew text has the plural, “letters.” The final mem (ם) may be dittographic (note the initial mem on the form that immediately follows). Some Greek and Aramaic witnesses have the singular. If so, one still has to deal with the yod that is part of the plural ending. J. N. Oswalt refers to various commentators who have suggested ways to understand the plural form (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:652).
[37:14] 115 tn In the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:14 the verb has the plural suffix, “them,” but this probably reflects a later harmonization to the preceding textual corruption (of “letter” to “letters”).
[37:16] 116 sn Cherubim (singular “cherub”) refers to the images of winged angelic creatures that were above the ark of the covenant.
[37:16] 117 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
[37:17] 118 tn Heb “Hear all the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”
[37:18] 119 tn The Hebrew text here has “all the lands,” but the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:17 has “the nations.”
[37:19] 120 tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”
[37:19] 121 tn Heb “so they destroyed them” (NASB similar).
[37:20] 122 tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:19 reads, “that you, Lord, are the only God.”
[37:21] 123 tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:20 reads, “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in Isa 37:21, where אֲשֶׁר (’asher) probably has a causal sense: “because.”
[37:22] 124 tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”
[37:22] 125 sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.
[37:22] 126 sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
[37:23] 127 tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?” Cf. NIV “lifted your eyes in pride”; NRSV “haughtily lifted your eyes.”
[37:23] 128 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[37:24] 129 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[37:24] 130 tn Heb “the height of its extremity”; ASV “its farthest height.”
[37:25] 131 tc The Hebrew text has simply, “I dug and drank water.” But the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:24 has “foreign waters.” זָרִים (zarim, “foreign”) may have accidentally dropped out of the Isaianic text by homoioteleuton (cf. NCV, NIV, NLT). Note that the preceding word, מַיִם (mayim, “water) also ends in mem (ם). The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has “foreign waters” for this line. However, in several other passages the 1QIsaa scroll harmonizes with 2 Kgs 19 against the MT (Isa 36:5; 37:9, 20). Since the addition of “foreign” to this text in Isaiah by a later scribe would be more likely than its deletion, the MT reading should be accepted.
[37:26] 132 tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
[37:26] 133 tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.
[37:26] 134 tn Heb “formed” (so KJV, ASV).
[37:26] 135 tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְהִי (tÿhi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.
[37:27] 136 tn Heb “short of hand”; KJV, ASV “of small power”; NASB “short of strength.”
[37:27] 137 tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.
[37:27] 138 tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.
[37:27] 139 tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah, “standing grain”) to קָדִים (qadim, “east wind”) with the support of 1Q Isaa; cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:657, n. 8.
[37:28] 140 tc Heb “your going out and your coming in and how you have raged against me.” Several scholars have suggested that this line is probably dittographic (note the beginning of the next line). However, most English translations include the statement in question at the end of v. 28 and the beginning of v. 29. Interestingly, the LXX does not have this clause at the end of v. 28 and the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa does not have it at the beginning of v. 29. In light of this ambiguous manuscript evidence, it appears best to retain the clause in both verses.
[37:29] 141 tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (sha’anankha, “your complacency”) is emended to שְׁאוֹנְךָ (shÿ’onÿkha, “your uproar”). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38. However, the LXX seems to support the MT and Sennacherib’s cavalier dismissal of Yahweh depicts an arrogant complacency (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:658, n. 10).
[37:29] 142 sn The word-picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.
[37:30] 143 tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 22-29) ends and the Lord again addresses Hezekiah and the people directly (see v. 21).
[37:30] 144 tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) is a future reminder of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.
[37:30] 145 sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.
[37:30] 146 tn Heb “and in the second year” (so ASV).
[37:30] 147 tn Heb “in the third year” (so KJV, NAB).
[37:30] 148 tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 30b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity.
[37:31] 149 tn Heb “The remnant of the house of Judah that is left will add roots below and produce fruit above.”
[37:32] 150 tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to protect and restore them.
[37:33] 151 tn Heb “there” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). In terms of English style “here” is expected in collocation with “this” in the previous line.
[37:33] 152 tn Heb “[with] a shield” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV).
[37:35] 153 tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
[37:36] 154 tn Traditionally, “the angel of the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[37:36] 155 tn The word “troops” is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.
[37:36] 156 tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.
[37:36] 157 tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies”; NLT “they found corpses everywhere.”
[37:37] 158 tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”
[37:38] 159 sn The assassination of King Sennacherib probably took place in 681
[37:38] 160 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[37:38] 161 sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a corruption of Nusku.
[37:38] 162 sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.
