Isaiah 36:7-17

7 But if thou wilt answer me: We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away, and hath said to Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar?

8 And now deliver thyself up to my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give thee two thousand horses, and thou wilt not be able on thy part to find riders for them.

9 And how wilt thou stand against the face of the judge of one place, of the least of my master’s servants? But if thou trust in Egypt, in chariots and in horsemen:

10 And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up against this land, and destroy it.

11 And Eliacim, and Sobna, and Joahe said to Rabsaces: Speak to thy servants in the Syrian tongue: for we understand it: speak not to us in the Jews’ language in the hearing of the people, that are upon the wall.

12 And Rabsaces said to them: Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee, to speak all these words; and not rather to the men that sit on the wall; that they may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you?

13 Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said: Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians.

14 Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you.

15 And let not Ezechias make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.

16 Do not hearken to Ezechias: for thus said the king of the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out to me, and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the water of his cistern,

17 Till I come and take you away to a land, like to your own, a land of corn and of wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

Isaiah 36:7-17 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.