Isaiah 36:1-10

1 In Hezekiah's fourteenth year as king, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.

2 Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. He stood at the channel for the Upper Pool on the road to Laundryman's Field.

3 Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace and was the son of Hilkiah, Shebna the scribe, and Joah, who was the royal historian and the son of Asaph, went out to the field commander.

4 He said to them, "Tell Hezekiah, 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What makes you so confident?

5 You give useless advice about getting ready for war. Whom, then, do you trust for support in your rebellion against me?

6 Look! When you trust Egypt, you're trusting a broken stick for a staff. If you lean on it, it stabs your hand and goes through it. This is what Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) is like for everyone who trusts him.

7 Suppose you tell me, "We're trusting the LORD our God." He's the god whose places of worship and altars Hezekiah got rid of. Hezekiah told Judah and Jerusalem, "Worship at this altar."'

8 "Now, make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I'll give you 2,000 horses if you can put riders on them.

9 How can you defeat my master's lowest-ranking officers when you trust Egypt for chariots and horses?

10 "Have I come to destroy this country without the LORD on my side? The LORD said to me, 'Attack this country, and destroy it.'"

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.