Isaiah 37:38
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One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
The king and the deputation apply to Isaiah. "And it came to pass, when king Hizkiyahu had heard, he rent his clothes, and wrapped himself in mourning linen, and went into the house of Jehovah. And sent Eliakim the house-minister, and Shebna (K. omits את) the chancellor, and the eldest of the priests, wrapped in mourning linen, to Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet (K. has what is inadmissible: the prophet son of Amoz). And they said to him, Thus saith Hizkiyahu, A day of affliction, and punishment, and blasphemy is this day; for children are come to the matrix, and there is no strength to bring them forth. Perhaps Jehovah thy God will hear the words (K. all the words) of Rabshakeh, with which the king of Asshur his lord has sent him to revile the living God; and Jehovah thy God will punish for the words which He hath heard, and thou wilt make intercession for the remnant that still exists." The distinguished embassy is a proof of the distinction of the prophet himself (Knobel). The character of the deputation accorded with its object, which was to obtain a consolatory word for the king and people. In the form of the instructions we recognise again the flowing style of Isaiah. תּוכחה, as a synonym of מוּסר, נקם, is used as in Hos 5:9; נאצה (from the kal נאץ) according to Isa 1:4; Isa 5:24; Isa 52:5, like נאצה (from the piel נאץ), Neh 9:18, Neh 9:26 (reviling, i.e., reviling of God, or blasphemy). The figure of there not being sufficient strength to bring forth the child, is the same as in Isa 66:9. משׁבּר (from שׁבר, syn. פּרץ, Gen 38:29) does not signify the actual birth (Luzzatto, punto di dover nascere), nor the delivering-stool (Targum), like mashbēr shel-chayyâh, the delivering-stool of the midwife (Kelim xxiii. 4); but as the subject is the children, and not the mo…
Open source ↗In this chapter we have a further repetition of the story which we had before in the book of Kings concerning Sennacherib. In the foregoing chapter we had him conquering and threatening to conquer. In this chapter we have him falling, and at last fallen, in answer to prayer, and in fulfillment of many of the prophecies which we have met with in the foregoing chapters. Here we have, I. Hezekiah's pious reception of Rabshakeh's impious discourse (Isa 37:1). II. The gracious message he sent to Isaiah to desire his prayers (Isa 37:2-5). III. The encouraging answer which Isaiah sent to him from God, assuring him that God would plead his cause against the king of Assyria (Isa 37:6, Isa 37:7). IV. An abusive letter which the king of Assyria sent to Hezekiah, to the same purport with Rabshakeh's speech (Isa 37:8-13). V. Hezekiah's humble prayer to God upon the receipt of this letter (Isa 37:14-20). VI. The further full answer which God sent him by Isaiah, promising him that his affairs should shortly take a happy turn, that the storm should blow over and every thing should appear bright and serene (v. 21-35). VII. The immediate accomplishment of this prophecy in the ruin of his army (v. 36) and the murder of himself (v. 37, 38). All this was largely opened, 2 Kings 19.
Open source ↗37:38 One day: Sennacherib was probably killed in 681 BC, about twenty years after his withdrawal from Jerusalem. • Esarhaddon was king of Assyria from 680–669 BC. It is ironic that Sennacherib, who mocked the Lord, was killed by his sons in the temple of his god.
Open source ↗Cross-references
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On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
“Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her— Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.
they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, “Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”
“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
Sheol beneath is eager to meet you upon your arrival. It stirs the spirits of the dead to greet you— all the rulers of the earth. It makes all the kings of the nations rise from their thrones.
Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers devoted to destruction has been able to deliver his people from my hand? How then can your God deliver you from my hand?
They spoke against the God of Jerusalem as they had spoken against the gods of the peoples of the earth—the work of human hands.
and the LORD sent an angel who annihilated every mighty man of valor and every leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons struck him down with the sword.