Isaiahchapter 36

A.Rabshakeh at the Conduit: On Whom Dost Thou Trust?vv. 1-10

1 In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah. 2 And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. 3 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to him. 4 The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours? 5 You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me? 6 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7 But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before this altar’? 8 Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 9 For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”

B.Shouting in the Jews' Language, but the People Held Their Peacevv. 11-22

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.” 12 But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?” 13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot deliver you. 15 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.’ 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” 21 But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

← Back: Isaiah 35 Continue: Isaiah 37 →

Chapter summary

Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴

Sennacherib king of Assyria takes the fortified cities of Judah in Hezekiah's fourteenth year and sends the Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem with a great army; he stands by the conduit of the upper pool (vv. 1–2). Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah go out to hear a calculated speech: Egypt is a bruised reed that pierces the hand leaning on it, Hezekiah's reforms removed Jehovah's own high places and altars, Judah could not man two thousand horses, and Jehovah himself (the Rabshakeh claims), sent Assyria against the land (vv. 3–10). When the officials ask him to speak Aramaic to spare the listeners on the wall, he answers in Hebrew for all to hear, offering surrender terms and naming the gods of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, and Samaria that failed to deliver (vv. 11–20). The people keep silent at Hezekiah's command, and the three return with clothes rent to report (vv. 21–22).

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Prophecy · Isaiah — Isaiah overview

A. 1–10 Rabshakeh at the Conduit: On Whom Dost Thou Trust?
B. 11–22 Shouting in the Jews' Language, but the People Held Their Peace

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

2 Kings 1813 verses
- 2 Kings 18:4He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.
- 2 Kings 18:7And the LORD was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.
- 2 Kings 18:9In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.
- 2 Kings 18:13In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.
- 2 Kings 18:17Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.
- 2 Kings 18:19The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
- Read 2 Kings 18: 7 more there →
2 Chronicles 326 verses
- 2 Chronicles 32:1After all these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, intending to conquer them for himself.
- 2 Chronicles 32:9Later, as Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces besieged Lachish, he sent his servants to Jerusalem with a message for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem:
- 2 Chronicles 32:13Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Have the gods of these nations ever been able to deliver their land from my hand?
- 2 Chronicles 32:14Who 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?
- 2 Chronicles 32:18Then the Assyrians called out loudly in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them in order to capture the city.
- 2 Chronicles 32:19They spoke against the God of Jerusalem as they had spoken against the gods of the peoples of the earth—the work of human hands.
- Read 2 Chronicles 32 →
Isaiah 103 verses
- Isaiah 10:5Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
- Isaiah 10:8“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
- Isaiah 10:9“Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
- Read Isaiah 10 →
Isaiah 372 verses
- Isaiah 37:17Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
- Isaiah 37:23Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
- Read Isaiah 37 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Isaiah 362 verses
- Isaiah 36:3Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to him.
- Isaiah 36:15Do 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.’
- Read Isaiah 36 →
Isaiah 201 verse
- Isaiah 20:5Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.
- Read Isaiah 20 →
Isaiah 71 verse
- Isaiah 7:3Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,
- Read Isaiah 7 →
2 Samuel 81 verse
- 2 Samuel 8:16Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
- Read 2 Samuel 8 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.