36:4-6Chapter 19 describes Isaiah’s prophecy of judgment upon Egypt, while chapters 30 and 31 pronounce woe on those from Judah who would ally themselves with Egypt in the face of Assyria’s impending attack. Sennacherib of Assyria was taunting Judah for trusting in Egypt. Even the Assyrians knew that Egypt Could not help Judah.
Life Application Study BibleIsaiahChapter 36
Isaiah 36
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1145, 1146
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
36Isaiah 36
Assyria Invades Judah
130 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign,* King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them. 2Then the king of Assyria sent his chief of staff* from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.* 3These are the officials who went out to meet with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian. Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem. 4Then the Assyrian king’s chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident? 5Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Who are you counting on, that you have rebelled against me? 6On Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed that splinters beneath your weight and pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is completely unreliable! 7“But perhaps you will say to me, ‘We are trusting in the LORD our God! 9But isn’t he the one who was insulted by Hezekiah? Didn't Hezekiah tear down his shrines and altars and make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem worship only at the altar here in Jerusalem? 8"T'll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them! 9 With your tiny army, how can you think of challenging even the weakest contingent of my master’s troops, even with the help of Egypt’s chariots and charioteers? 10What’s more, do you think we have invaded your land without the LORD’s direction? The LORD himself told us, ‘Attack this land and destroy it!’”” 1 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff,Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don’t speak in Hebrew,* for the people on the wall will hear.” 12But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied, “Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine.” 13Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, “Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria! 14This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you. 'SDon’t let him fool you into trusting in the LORD by saying, ‘The LORD will surely rescue us. This city will never fall into the hands of the Assyrian king!’ 16“Don't listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me—open the gates and come out. Then each of you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well. 17Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one—a land of grain and new wine, bread and vineyards. 18“Don't let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, ‘The LORD will rescue us!’ Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria? 1?What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power? 20What god of any nation has ever beer able to save its people from my power? So what makes you think that the LORD can rescue Jerusalem from me?” 21But the people were silent and did not utter a word because Hezekiah had commanded them, “Do not answer him.” 22Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian, went back to Hezekiah. They tore their clothes in despair, and they went in to see the king and told him what the Assyrian chief of staff had said.
Textual footnotes
- 36:1 The fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign was 701 8.c.
- 36:2a Or the rabshakeh; also in 36:4, 11, 12, 22.
- 36:2b Or bleached.
- 36:11 Hebrew in the dialect of Judah; also in 36:13.
Life Application Notes 6 notes
36:7The Assyrian king's chief of staff claimed that Hezekiah had insulted God by tearing down his altars and making the people worship only in Jerusalem. But Hezekiah’s reform sought to eliminate idol worship (which occurred mainly on high hills} so that the people worshiped only the true God. Efther the Assyrians didn't know about the religion of the true God, or they wanted to deceive the people into thinking they had angered a powerful god. In the same way, Satan tries to confuse or deceive us. People don't necessarily need to be sinful to be ineffective for God; they need only be confused about what God wants. To avoid Satan’s deceit, study God’s Word carefully and regularly. When you know what God says, you will not fall for Satan’s lies.
36:10Sennacherib continued his demoralization campaign by sending his chief of staff to try to convince the people of Judah that God had turned against them. The Assyrians hoped to convince the people of Judah to surrender without fighting. But Isaiah had already said that the Assyrians would not destroy Jerusalem, so the people did not need to be afraid of them (10:24-27; 29:5-8).
36:11Aramaic was an international janguage at this time. See also 22:15-25 for Isaiah’s prophecies concerning Eliakim and Shebna.
36:17Sennacherib’s representative tried yet another ploy to demoralize the people. He appealed to the starving city under siege by offering to take them to a land with plenty of food if they surrendered. The Assyrian policy for deating with conquered nations was to resettle the inhabitants and then to move other conquered peoples into the recently conquered area. This provided manpower for their armies and prevented revolts in conquered territories.
36:19,208The king's representative said that the gods of the other cities he had conquered had not been able to save their people, so how could the God of Jerusalem save them? The LORD was supposedly the God of Samaria (the northern kingdom), and it fell. But the LORD was the God of Samaria in name only because the people were not worshiping him. That is why prophets foretotd the fall of Samaria. But for the LORD's own sake and for the sake of David, the LORD would rescue Jerusalem from the Assyrian army (37:35).