2 Kings 19:1-13

Isaiah’s Message of Deliverance

1 On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD. ¹

2 And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz

3 to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.

4 Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”

5 So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,

6 who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words 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, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”

Sennacherib’s Blasphemous Letter

8 When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah. ²

9 Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: ^[a] “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

10 “Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. ^[b] Will you then be spared?

12 Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?

13 Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

2 Kings 19:1-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 19

This chapter relates that King Hezekiah, on a report made to him of Rabshakeh's speech, sent a message to the prophet Isaiah to pray for him, who returned him a comfortable and encouraging answer, 2Ki 19:1-7 and that upon Rabshakeh's return to the king of Assyria, he sent to Hezekiah a terrifying letter, 2Ki 19:8-13, which Hezekiah spread before the Lord, and prayed unto him to save him and his people out of the hands of the king of Assyria, 2Ki 19:14-19, to which he had a gracious answer sent him by the prophet Isaiah, promising him deliverance from the Assyrian army, 2Ki 19:20-34, which accordingly was destroyed by an angel in one night, and Sennacherib fleeing to Nineveh, was slain by his two sons, 2Ki 19:35-37.

Cross References

• 1. (Isaiah 37:1–7)
• 2. (Isaiah 37:8–13)

Footnotes

• [a] That is, the upper Nile region
• [b] Forms of the Hebrew cherem refer to the giving over of things or persons to the LORD, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.