Isaiah 36:1-10

Sennacherib Invades Judah

1 ¹In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, ²Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.

2 ³And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh^[a] from ⁴Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood ⁵by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field.

3 And there came out to him ⁶Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ⁷Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

4 And the Rabshakeh said to them, "Say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the ⁸great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours?

5 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me?

6 ⁹Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

7 But if you say to me, "We trust in the LORD our God," is it not he ¹⁰whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, "You shall worship before this altar"?

8 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

9 How then can you repulse ¹¹a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when ¹²you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

10 Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it? ¹³The LORD said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.'"

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Isaiah 36:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 36

In this chapter we have an account of the king Assyria's invasion of Judea, and of the railing speech of Rabshakeh his general, to discourage the ministers and subjects of the king of Judah. The time and success of the invasion are observed in Isa 36:1 the messenger the former king sent to the latter, and from whence, and with whom, he conferred, Isa 36:2,3, the speech of the messenger, which consists of two parts; the first part is directed to the ministers of Hezekiah, showing the vain confidence of their prince in his counsels and strength for war, in the king of Egypt, and in his chariots and horsemen, and even in the Lord himself, pretending that he came by his orders to destroy the land, Isa 36:4-10. The other part is directed to the common people on the wall, he refusing to speak in the Syrian language, as desired, Isa 36:11,12, dissuading them from hearkening to Hezekiah to their own deception; persuading them to come into an agreement with him for their own safety and good; observing to them that none of the gods of the nations could deliver them out of his master's hands, and therefore it was in vain for them to expect deliverance from the Lord their God, Isa 36:13-20, to which neither ministers nor people returned any answer; but the former went with their clothes rent to Hezekiah, and reported what had been said, Isa 36:21,22.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 13

1. For ver. 1-22, see 2 Kings 18:13, 17-37
2. [2 Chronicles 32:1]
3. 2 Chronicles 32:9
4. Joshua 15:20, 39
5. Isaiah 7:3
6. Isaiah 22:15, 20, 21
7. Isaiah 22:15, 20, 21
8. [Isaiah 10:8]
9. Ezekiel 29:6, 7
10. 2 Kings 18:4; See Deuteronomy 12:2-5
11. [Isaiah 10:8]
12. [Isaiah 20:5; Isaiah 30:3, 7; Isaiah 31:1]
13. Isaiah 10:5, 6

Footnotes 1

[a]. Rabshakeh is the title of a high-ranking Assyrian military officer

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.