2 Kings 18:27
in 2 Kings 18But 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?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own water with you?
KJV
But Rab–shakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
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This verse in 2 Kings 18
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
That they may eat ... - “My master hath sent me,” the Rab-shakeh seems to say, “to these men, whom I see stationed on the wall to defend the place and bear the last extremities of a prolonged siege - these men on whom its worst evils will fall, and who have therefore the greatest interest in avoiding it by a timely surrender.” He expresses the evils by a strong coarse phrase, suited to the rude soldiery, and well calculated to rouse their feelings. The author of Chronicles has softened down the words 2Ch 32:11.
This site's exposition
to thy servants in the Syrian language
on 2 Kings 18:26-27
Eliakim asks for Syrian, the diplomatic language the officials share, so the people on the wall will not hear a threat in their own tongue, and the request itself concedes how much the speech has already landed. Rab-shakeh refuses in the coarsest terms the text records, naming the siege's own coming horror, that the men on the wall will eat their own dung and drink their own urine with the defenders, a threat aimed at the common soldiers rather than at the throne. The refusal is the turn on which the speech moves from private negotiation to public psychological warfare.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
As I have already said, Sennacherib is a type of the devil, and this hypothesis is perfectly confirmed by the words that in this passage the Rabshakeh boastfully speaks against God when he makes false promises to the people, trying to take away from [God] …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
What an idol did he make of that prince whose creature he was! God is the great King, but Sennacherib was in his eye a little god, and he would possess them with the same veneration for him that he had, and thereby frighten them into a submission to him. But to those who by faith see the King of kings in his power and glory even the king of Assyria looks mean and little.
His great piety, which was the more wonderful because his father was very wicked and vile, one of the worst of the kings, yet he was one of the best, which may intimate to us that what good there is in any is not of nature, but of grace, free grace, sovereign grace, which, contrary to nature, grafts into the good olive that which was wild by nature ( Rom. xi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Against all the rules of decency and honour, instead of treating with the commissioners, he menaces the soldiery, persuades them to desert or mutiny, threatens if they hold out to reduce the to the last extremities of famine, and then goes on with his discourse, the scope of which is to persuade Hezekiah, and his princes and people, to surrender the city.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
that they may eat, &c.--This was designed to show the dreadful extremities to which, in the threatened siege, the people of Jerusalem would be reduced.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
That they may eat their own dung - That they may be duly apprised, if they hold on Hezekiah’s side, Jerusalem shall be most straitly besieged, and they be reduced to such a state of famine as to be obliged to eat their own excrements.
The words behind it
26 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶ֜ם | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| רַב־ | rav- | [the] chief | H7262 → | 32 times |
| שָׁקֵ֗ה | shakeh | commander | H7262 → | 32 times |
| הַעַ֨ל | haal | ¿ to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֲדֹנֶ֤יךָ | ʾadoneikha | master<s> your | H113 → | 333 times |
| וְאֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ | veeleikha | and to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| שְׁלָחַ֣נִי | shelachani | has he sent me | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֲדֹנִ֔י | ʾadoni | master my | H113 → | 333 times |
| לְדַבֵּ֖ר | ledaber | to speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַדְּבָרִ֣ים | hadevarim | the words | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הָאֵ֑לֶּה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| הֲלֹ֣א | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאֲנָשִׁ֗ים | haanashim | the men | H582 → | 566 times |
| הַיֹּֽשְׁבִים֙ | haiyoshevim | who are sitting | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַ֣חֹמָ֔ה | hachomah | the wall | H2346 → | 133 times |
| לֶאֱכֹ֣ל | leekhol | to eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| אֶת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| צוֹאָתָ֗ם | chareihem | own excrement their | H6675 → | |
| וְלִשְׁתּ֛וֹת | velishtot | and to drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מימֵ֥י רַגְלֵיהֶ֖ם | mimei ragleihem | [the] water of feet their | H4325 →H7272 → | 247 times |
| עִמָּכֶֽם׃ | ʾimakhem | with you | H5973 → | 1050 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵיהֶ֜םto them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
רַב־[the] chief
rav-H7262 →32 times
שָׁקֵ֗הcommander
shakehH7262 →32 times
הַעַ֨ל¿ to
haalH5921 →5755 times
אֲדֹנֶ֤יךָmaster<s> your
ʾadoneikhaH113 →333 times
וְאֵלֶ֙יךָ֙and to you
veeleikhaH413 →5510 times
שְׁלָחַ֣נִיhas he sent me
shelachaniH7971 →845 times
אֲדֹנִ֔יmaster my
ʾadoniH113 →333 times
לְדַבֵּ֖רto speak
ledaberH1696 →1141 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַדְּבָרִ֣יםthe words
hadevarimH1697 →1440 times
הָאֵ֑לֶּה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
הֲלֹ֣א¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָאֲנָשִׁ֗יםthe men
haanashimH582 →566 times
הַיֹּֽשְׁבִים֙who are sitting
haiyoshevimH3427 →1079 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַ֣חֹמָ֔הthe wall
hachomahH2346 →133 times
לֶאֱכֹ֣לto eat
leekholH398 →810 times
אֶת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
צוֹאָתָ֗םown excrement their
chareihemH6675 →
וְלִשְׁתּ֛וֹתand to drink
velishtotH8354 →217 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מימֵ֥י רַגְלֵיהֶ֖ם[the] water of feet their
עִמָּכֶֽם׃with you
ʾimakhemH5973 →1050 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
Psalms 73:8They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.
it leads to
- Jude 1:16
These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.
- Psalms 17:10
They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
- Jude 1:16
Through
Lamentations 4:5Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets; those brought up in crimson huddle in ash heaps.
it leads to
- Luke 16:19
Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.
- Luke 15:16
He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.
- Proverbs 31:21
When it snows, she has no fear for her household, for they are all clothed in scarlet.
- Luke 16:19
Through
2 Kings 6:25So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 14:13–15
“Ah, Lord GOD!” I replied, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine, but I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”
- Jeremiah 52:6
By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
- Jeremiah 14:18
If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land…
- Jeremiah 14:13–15
Where this verse is studied
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); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 18:19; F. W. Farrar, The Second Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
