2 Kings 19:26
in 2 Kings 19Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as grain blasted before it is grown up.
KJV
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
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This verse in 2 Kings 19
Commentary
3 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The weakness of the nations exposed to the Assyrian attacks was as much owing to the divine decrees as was the strength of the Assyrians themselves. The grass on the house tops - Compare the marginal reference. The vegetation on the flat roofs of Oriental houses is the first to spring up and the first to fade away.
This site's exposition
Long ago I ordained it
on 2 Kings 19:25-26
The oracle turns Sennacherib's career into evidence against him: his conquests were a plan the LORD made "Long ago". Isaiah states the same doctrine elsewhere of Assyria as a rod in another hand. The nations he crushed are "grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown".
This site's exposition
grass on the rooftops
Barnes holds that the weakness of these nations came from the same decree of verse 25 that gave Assyria its strength. He notes that grass on the flat roofs of the East springs up first and fades first. Psalm 129:6 uses the same picture.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיֹֽשְׁבֵיהֶן֙ | veyosheveihen | and inhabitants their | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| קִצְרֵי־ | kitzrei- | [were] short of | H7116 → | |
| יָ֔ד | yad | hand | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| חַ֖תּוּ | chatu | they were dismayed | H2865 → | |
| וַיֵּבֹ֑שׁוּ | vaiyevoshu | and they were ashamed | H954 → | 127 times |
| הָי֞וּ | hayu | they were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עֵ֤שֶׂב | ʾesev | [the] vegetation of | H6212 → | |
| שָׂדֶה֙ | sadeh | [the] field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| וִ֣ירַק | virak | and greenery of | H3419 → | |
| דֶּ֔שֶׁא | deshe' | grass | H1877 → | |
| חֲצִ֣יר | chatzir | grass of | H2682 → | |
| גַּגּ֔וֹת | gagoyt | roofs | H1406 → | |
| וּשְׁדֵפָ֖ה | ushedefah | and scorching | H7711 → | |
| לִפְנֵ֥י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| קָמָֽה׃ | kamah | standing grain | H7054 → |
וְיֹֽשְׁבֵיהֶן֙and inhabitants their
veyosheveihenH3427 →1079 times
קִצְרֵי־[were] short of
kitzrei-H7116 →
יָ֔דhand
yadH3027 →1618 times
חַ֖תּוּthey were dismayed
chatuH2865 →
וַיֵּבֹ֑שׁוּand they were ashamed
vaiyevoshuH954 →127 times
הָי֞וּthey were
hayuH1961 →3559 times
עֵ֤שֶׂב[the] vegetation of
ʾesevH6212 →
שָׂדֶה֙[the] field
sadehH7704 →334 times
וִ֣ירַקand greenery of
virakH3419 →
דֶּ֔שֶׁאgrass
deshe'H1877 →
חֲצִ֣ירgrass of
chatzirH2682 →
גַּגּ֔וֹתroofs
gagoytH1406 →
וּשְׁדֵפָ֖הand scorching
ushedefahH7711 →
לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
קָמָֽה׃standing grain
kamahH7054 →
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
Psalms 127:1Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:9
A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
- 1 Corinthians 3:7
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
- Proverbs 21:30–31
There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- 1 Corinthians 3:9–15
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
- Psalms 33:16–18
No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
- Proverbs 16:9
Through
1 Peter 1:24For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:6–8
A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
- Psalms 103:15
As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field;
- James 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
- Isaiah 40:6–8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.