Isaiah 37:14

14 And Hezekiah took the books from the hand of the messengers, and read them; and he went up into the house of the Lord, and spreaded abroad them before the Lord; (And Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers, and read it; and he went up into the House of the Lord, and spread it out before the Lord;)

Isaiah 37:14 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 37:14

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the
messengers, and read it
Or books F11, in which the above things were written; and everyone of these he read, as Kimchi interprets it; though the Targum is,

``he took the letters from the hand of the messengers, and read one of them;''
that is, as Kimchi's father explains it, in which was the blasphemy against God; this he read over carefully to himself, observed the contents of it, and then did with it as follows: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of God;
the temple, the outward court of it, further than that he could not go: and spread it before the Lord;
not to read it, as he had done, or to acquaint him with the contents of it, which he fully knew; but, as it chiefly regarded him, and affected his honour and glory, he laid it before him, that he might take notice of it, and vindicate himself, and avenge his own cause; he brought it as a proof of what he had to say to him in prayer, and to support him in his allegations, and as a means to quicken himself in the discharge of that duty.
FOOTNOTES:

F11 (Myrpo ta) "libros", V. L.

Isaiah 37:14 In-Context

12 Whether the gods of folks delivered them, which my fathers destroyed (Did the gods of the nations whom my forefathers destroyed, save them); Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, that were in Telassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena, and of Ivah?
14 And Hezekiah took the books from the hand of the messengers, and read them; and he went up into the house of the Lord, and spreaded abroad them before the Lord; (And Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers, and read it; and he went up into the House of the Lord, and spread it out before the Lord;)
15 and prayed to the Lord, and said,
16 Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that sittest on cherubim (Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sittest between the cherubim), thou art God alone of all the realms of [the] earth; thou madest heaven and earth.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.