2 Kings 19:1-11

1 And when king Hezekiah had heard these things, he rent his clothes, and was covered with a sackcloth; and he entered into the house of the Lord. (And when King Hezekiah had heard these things, he tore his clothes, and was covered with a sackcloth; and he went to the House of the Lord.)
2 And he sent Eliakim, [the] sovereign of the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and [the] eld men of the priests, covered with sackcloths, to Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz.
3 The which said to him, Hezekiah saith these things, This day is a day of tribulation, and of blaming, and of blasphemy; (for the) sons came unto the birth, and the mother travailing hath not strength thereto (for we be like a woman come to the childbirth, but who hath no strength to bring forth her child).
4 If peradventure thy Lord God hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyrians, his lord hath sent, that he should despise the Lord living, and reprove by words, which thy Lord God (hath) heard; and (so) make thou prayer for these remnants of the people, that be found. (Perhaps the Lord thy God hath heard all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his lord, hath sent, his insulting words towards the living Lord; and he shall rebuke him for those words, that he, the Lord thy God, hath heard; so pray thou for these remnants of the people, who be found here.)
5 Therefore the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah; (And so the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah;)
6 and Isaiah said to them, Say ye these things to your lord, The Lord saith these things, Do not thou dread of the face, or (the) showing, of the words, that thou heardest (Do not thou fear the words which thou hast heard), by which the servants of the king of Assyrians blasphemed me.
7 Lo! I shall send to him a spirit, and he shall hear a messenger, and he shall turn again into his land; and I shall cast him down by sword in his own land. (Lo! I shall send a spirit to him, and he shall hear a message, and he shall return to his own land; and then I shall throw him down by the sword in his own land.)
8 Therefore Rabshakeh turned again (And so Rabshakeh returned), and found the king of Assyrians fighting against Libnah; for he had heard, that the king had gone away from Lachish.
9 And when he had heard of Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, men saying, Lo! he went out, that he fight against thee; that he should go against that king, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, and said, (And when he had heard men saying of Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia, Lo! he went out, so that he could fight against thee; then before he went out against Tirhakah, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, and said,)
10 Say ye these things to Hezekiah, king of Judah, Thy Lord God, in whom thou hast trust, deceive not thee (deceive thee not), neither say thou, Jerusalem shall not be betaken into the hands of the king of Assyrians;
11 for thou thyself hast heard what things the kings of Assyrians have done in all lands, how they have wasted them; whether therefore thou alone mayest be delivered? (and so can thou alone escape?)

2 Kings 19:1-11 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.