2 Kings 19:18
in 2 Kings 19They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.
KJV
And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
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This verse in 2 Kings 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Have cast their gods into the fire - In general the Assyrians carried off the images of the gods from the temples of the conquered nations, and deposited them in their own shrines, as at once trophies of victory and proof of the superiority of the Assyrian deities over those of their enemies. But sometimes the gods are said to have been “destroyed” or “burnt with fire;” which was probably done when the idols were of rude workmanship or coarse material; and when it was inconvenient to encumber an army with spoils so weighty and difficult, of transport.
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".
This site's exposition
only wood and stone
Barnes notes that Assyria usually carried the images of conquered gods home to its own temples as trophies, and burned them only at times. Deuteronomy 4:28 calls such gods man-made gods of wood and stone. Isaiah 44:15 mocks the same wood, half fuel and half idol.
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 Awakening1 voice
But those are deceived who think they can therefore be too hard for him. He is none of the gods whom men's hands have made, but he has himself made all things, Ps. cxv.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Indeed. It is true that the kings of Ashur destroyed the peoples and put their deities in fire.
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. 6 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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנָתְנ֥וּ | venatenu | and they have put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֖ם | ʾeloheihem | gods their | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בָּאֵ֑שׁ | baesh | in the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| כִּי֩ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֨א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֜ים | ʾelohim | [were] gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| הֵ֗מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| מַעֲשֵׂ֧ה | maaseh | [the] work of | H4639 → | 236 times |
| יְדֵֽי־ | yedei- | [the] hands of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| אָדָ֛ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| עֵ֥ץ | ʾetz | wood | H6086 → | 328 times |
| וָאֶ֖בֶן | vaeven | and stone | H68 → | 273 times |
| וַֽיְאַבְּדֽוּם׃ | vayabedum | and they have destroyed them | H6 → | 184 times |
וְנָתְנ֥וּand they have put
venatenuH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֖םgods their
ʾeloheihemH430 →2601 times
בָּאֵ֑שׁin the fire
baeshH784 →378 times
כִּי֩for
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֨אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֱלֹהִ֜ים[were] gods
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
הֵ֗מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
מַעֲשֵׂ֧ה[the] work of
maasehH4639 →236 times
יְדֵֽי־[the] hands of
yedei-H3027 →1618 times
אָדָ֛םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
עֵ֥ץwood
ʾetzH6086 →328 times
וָאֶ֖בֶןand stone
vaevenH68 →273 times
וַֽיְאַבְּדֽוּם׃and they have destroyed them
vayabedumH6 →184 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Acts 17:29Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:25
“To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
- Exodus 20:4
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Isaiah 46:5–6
To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?
- Psalms 115:4–8
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- Habakkuk 2:19–20
Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
- Isaiah 40:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
This page draws on 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.