2 Chronicles 32:17
in 2 Chronicles 32He also wrote letters mocking the LORD, the God of Israel, and saying against Him: “Just as the gods of the nations did not deliver their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He wrote also letters, to rail on Jehovah, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of the lands, which have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of my hand.
KJV
He wrote also letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 32
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
spoke further against the LORD God
on 2 Chronicles 32:16-19
Sennacherib’s servants press the same argument in writing and aloud. Letters go out “mocking the LORD, the God of Israel”. Verse 19 states the blasphemy: “They spoke against the God of Jerusalem as they had spoken against the gods of the peoples of the earth”.
This site's exposition
He also wrote letters mocking the LORD
Chronicles adds letters to the spoken taunt, and 2 Kings 19:14 tells how Hezekiah took one into the temple and spread it before the LORD. The letter set the God of Israel beside gods already beaten. Hezekiah answered it with prayer.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
After, &c. - An emphatical preface, signifying, that notwithstanding all his zeal for God, God saw fit to exercise him with a sore trial. And God ordered it at this time, that he might have an opportunity of shewing himself strong, on the behalf of his returning people. It is possible, we may be in the way of our duty, and yet meet with trouble and danger.
He wrote also letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel,.... See 2Ki 19:9.
The real answer God gave to Sennacherib's blasphemies, and to Hezekiah's prayers, in the total rout of the Assyrian army, to the shame of Sennacherib and the honour of Hezekiah,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Wrote also letters - See 2Ki 19:9, 2Ki 19:14.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
with a loud voice in Judean, etc. to frighten them and to terrify them Here he relates the matter in generalities, but in II Kings (19) and in Isaiah (37) it is thoroughly elaborated upon.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
24 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּסְפָרִ֣ים | usefarim | and letters | H5612 → | 186 times |
| כָּתַ֔ב | katav | he wrote | H3789 → | 224 times |
| לְחָרֵ֕ף | lecharef | to taunt | H2778 → | |
| לַיהוָ֖ה | layahweh | <to> Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֣י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְלֵֽאמֹ֨ר | velemor | and to say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| עָלָ֜יו | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| לֵאמֹ֗ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כֵּֽאלֹהֵ֞י | kelohei | like [the] gods of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| גּוֹיֵ֤ | goye | [the] nations of | H1471 → | 561 times |
| הָאֲרָצוֹת֙ | haaratzot | the lands | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הִצִּ֤ילוּ | hitzilu | they delivered | H5337 → | 212 times |
| עַמָּם֙ | ʾamam | people their | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| מִיָּדִ֔י | miyadi | from hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| כֵּ֣ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַצִּ֞יל | yatzil | he will deliver | H5337 → | 212 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֧י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יְחִזְקִיָּ֛הוּ | yechizkiyahu | Hezekiah | H2396 → | 127 times |
| עַמּ֖וֹ | amo | people his | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| מִיָּדִֽי׃ | miyadi | from hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
וּסְפָרִ֣יםand letters
usefarimH5612 →186 times
כָּתַ֔בhe wrote
katavH3789 →224 times
לְחָרֵ֕ףto taunt
lecharefH2778 →
לַיהוָ֖ה<to> Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְלֵֽאמֹ֨רand to say
velemorH559 →5305 times
עָלָ֜יוon him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
כֵּֽאלֹהֵ֞יlike [the] gods of
keloheiH430 →2601 times
גּוֹיֵ֤[the] nations of
goyeH1471 →561 times
הָאֲרָצוֹת֙the lands
haaratzotH776 →2504 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הִצִּ֤ילוּthey delivered
hitziluH5337 →212 times
עַמָּם֙people their
ʾamamH5971 →1873 times
מִיָּדִ֔יfrom hand my
miyadiH3027 →1618 times
כֵּ֣ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַצִּ֞ילhe will deliver
yatzilH5337 →212 times
אֱלֹהֵ֧י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יְחִזְקִיָּ֛הוּHezekiah
yechizkiyahuH2396 →127 times
עַמּ֖וֹpeople his
amoH5971 →1873 times
מִיָּדִֽי׃from hand my
miyadiH3027 →1618 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 19:14So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
it leads to
- Psalms 123:1–4
I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 37:14
So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
- Psalms 91:1–2
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
- Ezra 9:5
At the evening offering, I got up from my humiliation with my tunic and cloak torn, and I fell on my knees, spread out my hands to the LORD my God,
- 1 Kings 8:28–30
Yet regard the prayer and plea of Your servant, O LORD my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying before You today.
- Psalms 123:1–4
Through
2 Kings 19:12Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
it leads to
- 2 Kings 17:6
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the…
- Ezekiel 27:23
Haran, Canneh, and Eden traded with you, and so did the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad.
- Genesis 11:31
And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan.…
- 2 Kings 17:6
Where this verse is studied
About 2 Chronicles
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.