Isaiah 36 Study Notes

36:11 The Assyrians spoke a dialect of Akkadian, and the Judeans spoke Hebrew at this time. The spokesman probably had been speaking Hebrew to the Judean delegation. The leaders of Judah did not want the people to be frightened by the spokesman’s speech. Perhaps because they did not know how to speak Akkadian, they requested that the conversation take place in Aramaic. This language was closely related to Hebrew. It was known more broadly throughout the ancient Near East, but not by the people who were listening to this conversation.

36:12 However, it served the spokesman’s propagandistic purpose to have the people hear and be frightened by the coming Assyrian army, so he refused this request. He reminded them of the consequences of a long siege. They would run out of water and have to drink their urine; they would run out of food and have to eat their excrement.

36:13-14 Sennacherib was a “great king,” but the Lord was the king maker (Dn 2:37).

36:15 The spokesman mocked the idea of trusting in God to rescue Judah from Assyria. But as the previous chapters have asserted many times, trusting God is precisely what the people of Judah needed to do in this situation.

36:16-17 Assyria’s imperialistic policy called for the deportation of a subjugated people. The spokesman presented his ultimatum for surrender. For the time being, the Judeans would stay in their own land, but after a while, they would be deported to another land. Such a policy was put into place in 722 BC when the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom and deported the vast majority of the native population and then brought in foreigners to live there. This policy was intended to break the connection between a people and the god of their land.

36:18-20 The spokesman argued that the God of Judah, Yahweh, could not save Judah any more than the gods of other nations and cities that had been defeated by Assyria. He specifically mentioned the defeat of three cities whose gods were unable to rescue their inhabitants. Arpad and Hamath were cities in northern Syria known to have been defeated by Assyria at an earlier time. The exact identification of Sepharvaim is unknown.

36:21-22 Hezekiah did not give his officials authority to negotiate with Assyria. They simply reported the proceedings to the king. Their clothes that were torn were a customary sign of mourning, showing their deep distress.