2 Kings 19:1-11

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

1 ¹And when King Hezekiah heard it, he ²tore his clothes, ³covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the LORD.

2 Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ⁴covered with sackcloth, to ⁵Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

3 They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver.

4 '⁶Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ⁷to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ⁸the remnant that is left.' "

5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6 Isaiah said to them, "Thus you shall say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD, "Do not be afraid because * of the words that you have heard, with which the ⁹servants of the king of Assyria ¹⁰have blasphemed Me.

7 "Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that ¹¹he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And ¹²I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.""'

Sennacherib Defies God

8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ¹³Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left ¹⁴Lachish.

9 When he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, "Behold, he has come out to fight against you," he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying,

10 "Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, 'Do not ¹⁵let your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, "¹⁶Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."

11 'Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be spared?

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2 Kings 19:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 19

This chapter relates that King Hezekiah, on a report made to him of Rabshakeh's speech, sent a message to the prophet Isaiah to pray for him, who returned him a comfortable and encouraging answer, 2Ki 19:1-7 and that upon Rabshakeh's return to the king of Assyria, he sent to Hezekiah a terrifying letter, 2Ki 19:8-13, which Hezekiah spread before the Lord, and prayed unto him to save him and his people out of the hands of the king of Assyria, 2Ki 19:14-19, to which he had a gracious answer sent him by the prophet Isaiah, promising him deliverance from the Assyrian army, 2Ki 19:20-34, which accordingly was destroyed by an angel in one night, and Sennacherib fleeing to Nineveh, was slain by his two sons, 2Ki 19:35-37.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 16

1. 2 Chronicles 32:20-22; Isaiah 37:1
2. 2 Kings 18:37
3. 1 Kings 21:27
4. 2 Samuel 3:31
5. Isaiah 1:1; Isaiah 2:1
6. Joshua 14:12; 2 Samuel 16:12
7. 2 Kings 18:35
8. Isaiah 1:9
9. 2 Kings 18:17
10. 2 Kin 18:22-25, 30, 35
11. 2 Kings 7:6
12. 2 Kings 19:37
13. Joshua 10:29
14. 2 Kings 18:14
15. 2 Kings 18:5
16. 2 Kings 18:30

Footnotes 4

[a]. Lit "he"
[b]. Or "Ethiopia"
[c]. Lit "Judah, saying,"
[d]. Lit "delivered"