Isaiah 36:10-20

10 and now whether I ascended to this land without the Lord, that I should destroy it? The Lord said to me, Ascend thou on this land, and destroy thou it. (and now have I come against this land without the Lord's consent, to destroy it? Nay! The Lord himself said to me, Go thou out against this land, and destroy thou it.)
11 And Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, Speak thou to thy servants by the language of Syria, for we understand; speak thou not to us by the language of Jews, in the ears of the people, which is on the wall. (And Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, Speak thou to thy servants by the Syrian language, or in Aramaic, for we shall understand; speak thou not to us by the language of the Jews, or in Hebrew, in the hearing of all the people who be on the wall.)
12 And Rabshakeh said to them, Whether my lord sent me to thy lord, and to thee, that I should speak all these words, and not rather to the men that sit on the wall, that they eat their turds, and drink the piss off their feet, with you? (And Rabshakeh said to them, Hath my lord sent me only to thy lord, and to thee, that I should speak all these words, and not rather to all those who sit on the wall, who shall have to eat their own turds, and drink their own piss from off their own feet, yea, like you will?)
13 And Rabshakeh stood, and cried with [a] great voice in the language of Jews, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyrians (the king of Assyria).
14 The king saith these things, Hezekiah deceive not you, for he may not deliver you; (The king saith these things, Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot save you;)
15 and Hezekiah give not to you trust on the Lord, and say, The Lord delivering shall deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyrians. (and let not Hezekiah make you to trust in the Lord, and say, The Lord rescuing shall save us; and this city shall not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.)
16 Do not ye hear Hezekiah. For why the king of Assyrians saith these things, Make ye blessing with me, and go ye out to me; and eat ye each man his vinery, and each man his fig tree, and drink ye each man the water of his cistern, (Do not ye listen to Hezekiah. For the king of Assyria saith these things, Make ye peace with me, and come ye out to me; and then each person shall eat the fruit of his own vine, and the figs from his own fig tree, and drink the water from his own cistern,)
17 till I come, and take away you to a land which is as your land; to a land of wheat and of wine, to a land of loaves and of vineries. (until I come, and take you away to a land which is like your land; to a land full of corn, or of grain, and wine, a land full of loaves and of vineyards.)
18 Hezekiah trouble not you, and say, The Lord shall deliver us. Whether the gods of folks delivered (to) each his land from the hand of the king of Assyrians? (Let not Hezekiah trouble you, and say, The Lord shall save us. Did any of the gods of these other nations rescue their lands from the hands, or the power, of the king of Assyria?)
19 Where is the god of Hamath, and of Arphad? Where is the god of Sepharvaim? Whether they delivered Samaria from mine hand?
20 Who is of all [the] gods of these lands, that delivered his land from mine hand, (and so give thou reason to believe) that the Lord (shall) deliver Jerusalem from mine hand?

Isaiah 36:10-20 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.