Isaiah 37:7

7 Lo! I shall give to him a spirit, and he shall hear a messenger; and he shall turn again to his land, and I shall make him to fall down by sword in his land.

Isaiah 37:7 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 37:7

Behold, I will send a blast upon him
The king of Assyria; a pestilential one, as he afterwards did, which destroyed his army: or, I will put a spirit into him
^F19; a spirit of fear and dread, which will oblige him to desist from his purposes, and flee; though some interpret it only of an inclination, a will ^F20 in him, to return: it may be understood of an angel, a ministering spirit, and be rendered "I will send a spirit against him"; an angelic spirit, as he did, which cut off his army in one night: and he shall hear a rumour;
of the sudden and total destruction of his army; though some refer this to the rumour of the king of Ethiopia coming out to make war against him, ( Isaiah 37:9 ) , but upon this he did not return to his own land, nor was he slain with the sword, as follows: and return to his own land;
as he did, immediately upon the slaughter of his army by the angel: and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land:
as he did, being slain by his own sons, ( Isaiah 37:37 Isaiah 37:38 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 (xwr wb Ntwn) "indam ei Spiritum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
F20 So Ben Melech explains it by (Nwur) , "will", "desire", "purpose".

Isaiah 37:7 In-Context

5 And the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah;

6 and Isaiah said to them, Ye shall say these things to your lord, The Lord saith these things, Dread thou not of the face of [the] words which thou heardest, by which the servants of the king of Assyrians blasphemed me. (and Isaiah said to them, Ye shall say these things to your lord, The Lord saith these things, Fear thou not the words which thou hast heard, by which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.)

7 Lo! I shall give to him a spirit, and he shall hear a messenger; and he shall turn again to his land, and I shall make him to fall down by sword in his land.

8 Forsooth Rabshakeh turned again, and found the king of Assyrians fighting against Libnah; for he had heard, that the king was gone from Lachish. (And Rabshakeh turned back, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah; for he had heard, that the king had left Lachish.)

9 And (then) the king heard (from) messengers saying of Tirhakah, king of Ethiopians, He is gone out to fight against thee. And when he had heard this thing, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, and said,