Isaiah 37:33

33 “And this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: “‘His armies will not enter Jerusalem. They will not even shoot an arrow at it. They will not march outside its gates with their shields nor build banks of earth against its walls.

Isaiah 37:33 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 37:33

Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria,
&c.] The issue of his expedition, and the fruitfulness of it; how vain his attempts would be, and how successless in this undertaking:

he shall not come into this city;
shall not enter into it, and take possession of it, though so sure of it; or, "shall not come unto it {w}"; for some think he never was any nearer it than Libnah, from whence he sent his letters to Hezekiah, ( Isaiah 37:8 Isaiah 37:9 ) ,

nor shoot an arrow there;
neither he nor his archers, so as to annoy or kill anyone person in it:

nor come before it with shields;
or, "with a shield"; that is, he himself with one; otherwise his army under Rabshakeh was before it with men armed with shields; or the sense is, he shall not prevent it, or seize upon it, with his shielded men:

nor cast a bank against it;
raise a mount, in order to fix his batteries upon, and play his artillery from, and shoot his arrows in to greater advantage.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 (tazh ryeh la aby al) "non veniet ad civitatem hanc", Oecolampadius, Musculus, Gataker; "ad urbem hanc": Vitringa.

Isaiah 37:33 In-Context

31 And you who are left in Judah, who have escaped the ravages of the siege, will put roots down in your own soil and grow up and flourish.

32 For a remnant of my people will spread out from Jerusalem, a group of survivors from Mount Zion. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

33 “And this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: “‘His armies will not enter Jerusalem. They will not even shoot an arrow at it. They will not march outside its gates with their shields nor build banks of earth against its walls.

34 The king will return to his own country by the same road on which he came. He will not enter this city,’ says the LORD .

35 ‘For my own honor and for the sake of my servant David, I will defend this city and protect it.’”