Isaiah 37 Footnotes

37:26,28 Some question whether God knows the future and doubt that he has planned what will happen in history. The Lord revealed to Isaiah the comforting news that all of Sennacherib’s past and future actions were known and planned, so that he is sovereignly in control of history, not Sennacherib (vv. 24-25).

37:36 Some find the claim that 185,000 fighters died in one night unbelievable, particularly since it is unconfirmed by any Assyrian document. But it was standard practice for Assyrian rulers like Sennacherib to omit mention of embarrassing defeats in their annals. This was a large number of soldiers, so some prefer to interpret the Hebrew word ’eleph not as a numeral but a term for a military unit, not necessarily equaling a thousand men in strength. Whatever the case, the incident was a clear demonstration of the Lord’s power over the Assyrians.