2 Kings 19:15
in 2 Kings 19And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, that sittest above the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
KJV
And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
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This verse in 2 Kings 19
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Which dwellest between the cherubims - The reference is to the shechinah, or miraculous glory, which from time to time appeared above the mercy-seat from between the two cherubims, whose wings overshadowed the ark of the covenant (1Ki 6:23-27; compare Exo 25:22; Lev 16:2, etc.). Thou art the God, even thou alone - This is the protest of the pure theist against the intense polytheism of Sennacherib’s letter, which assumes that gods are only gods of particular nations, and that Hezekiah’s God is but one out of an indefinite number, no stronger or more formidable than the rest.
This site's exposition
enthroned between the cherubim
on 2 Kings 19:15-19
The prayer moves to a universal claim, "You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth", the claim the letter denied. He turns the letter's record back: the gods were cast "into the fire" as "only wood and stone". The nations' gods failed because "they were not gods".
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Prayer sometimes brings the dead back to life, but sometimes it may slay the living, as happened with the godly Peter: he brought Tabitha back to life by prayer, but he effected the death of Ananias and Sapphira. Elisha, that spiritual man, brought to life …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), calls him the God of Israel, because Israel was his peculiar people, and the God that dwelt between the cherubim, because there was the peculiar residence of his glory upon earth; but he gives glory to him as the God of the whole earth, and not, as Sennacherib fancied him to be, the God of Israel only, and confined to the temple.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
), Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? It is surely absurd for the fly upon the wheel to say, What a dust do I make! or for the sword in the hand to say, What execution I do! If God be the principal agent in all that is done, boasting is for ever excluded.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Hezekiah received the letter . . . and went up into the house of the Lord--Hezekiah, after reading it, hastened into the temple, spread it in the childlike confidence of faith before the Lord, as containing taunts deeply affecting the divine honor, and implored deliverance from this proud defier of God and man.
Thou art the God, etc. - Thou art not only God of Israel, but God also of Assyria, and of all the nations of the world.
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּתְפַּלֵּ֨ל | vaiyitpalel | and he prayed | H6419 → | 84 times |
| חִזְקִיָּ֜הוּ | chizkiyahu | Hezekiah | H2396 → | 127 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָה֮ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיֹּאמַר֒ | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֞ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֤י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| יֹשֵׁ֣ב | yoshev | [who] sits | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הַכְּרֻבִ֔ים | hakeruvim | the cherubim | H3742 → | |
| אַתָּה־ | ʾatah- | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| ה֤וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ | haelohim | [are] <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לְבַדְּךָ֔ | levadekha | to alone you | H905 → | 200 times |
| לְכֹ֖ל | lekhol | of all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מַמְלְכ֣וֹת | mamlekhot | [the] kingdoms of | H4467 → | 117 times |
| הָאָ֑רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אַתָּ֣ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| עָשִׂ֔יתָ | ʾasita | you made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
וַיִּתְפַּלֵּ֨לand he prayed
vaiyitpalelH6419 →84 times
חִזְקִיָּ֜הוּHezekiah
chizkiyahuH2396 →127 times
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָה֮Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיֹּאמַר֒and he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֞הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֤י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
יֹשֵׁ֣ב[who] sits
yoshevH3427 →1079 times
הַכְּרֻבִ֔יםthe cherubim
hakeruvimH3742 →
אַתָּה־you
ʾatah-H859 →1094 times
ה֤וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙[are] <the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
לְבַדְּךָ֔to alone you
levadekhaH905 →200 times
לְכֹ֖לof all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
מַמְלְכ֣וֹת[the] kingdoms of
mamlekhotH4467 →117 times
הָאָ֑רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
אַתָּ֣הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
עָשִׂ֔יתָyou made
ʾasitaH6213 →2628 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַשָּׁמַ֖יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the earth
haaretzH776 →2504 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
Isaiah 44:6Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:4
Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”
- Isaiah 43:10–11
“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed,…
- Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
- Revelation 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
- Isaiah 44:8
Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”
- Isaiah 41:4
Through
Isaiah 44:8Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:10
“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed,…
- 1 Samuel 2:2
There is no one holy like the LORD. Indeed, there is no one besides You! And there is no Rock like our God.
- Deuteronomy 4:35
You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him.
- Isaiah 43:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
On this chapter
About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Keil, The Books of the Kings; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Sahdona the Syrian, BOOK OF PERFECTION 41.