Isaiah 37:8

8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against 1Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left 2Lachish.

Isaiah 37:8 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 37:8

So Rabshakeh returned
To the king of Assyria his master, to give him an account how things went at Jerusalem, and that he could get no direct answer from the king of Judah, and to consult with him what was proper to be done in the present situation of things; leaving the army before Jerusalem, under the command of the other two generals. For that he should take the army with him does not seem reasonable, when Hezekiah and his people were in such a panic on account of it; besides, the king of Assyria's letters to Hezekiah clearly suppose the army to be still at Jerusalem, or his menacing letters would have signified nothing; and after this the destruction of the Assyrian army before Jerusalem is related: and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah;
a city in the tribe of Judah, ( Joshua 10:29 ) ( 15:42 ) , and lay nearer to Jerusalem than Lachish, where Rabshakeh left him; so that he seemed to be drawing his army towards that city, on which his heart was set. Josephus F21 makes him to be at this time besieging Pelusium, a city in Egypt, but wrongly; which has led some into a mistake that Libnah and Pelusium are the same: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish;
where he was, when he sent him to Jerusalem, ( Isaiah 36:2 ) , having very probably taken it.


FOOTNOTES:

F21 Antiqu. l. 10. c. 1. sect. 4.

Isaiah 37:8 In-Context

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 servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
7 "Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.""'
8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.
9 When he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, "He has come out to fight against you," and when he heard it he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 "Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, "Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."

Cross References 2

  • 1. Numbers 33:20; Joshua 10:29
  • 2. Joshua 10:31, 32

Footnotes 1

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