2 Kings 18:28

Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

Then Rab–shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:

ASV

Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spake, saying, Hear ye the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

YLT

And the chief of the butlers standeth and calleth with a great voice in Jewish, and speaketh and saith, `Hear ye a word of the great king, the king of Asshur:

DBT

And Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish [language], and spoke and said, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!

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Commentary voices

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Voices5

On this verse

Hear the word of the great king - of Assyria - This was all intended to cause the people to revolt from their allegiance to their king.

Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical

Related commentary

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] …

Ephrem the Syrian· ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 18:19, 373patristic

We must never dishonour God, in honour to our earthly parents. Brazen serpent - Which had been hitherto kept as a memorial of God's mercy; but being now commonly abused to superstition, was destroyed. To it - Not doubtless as to a God, but only as to an instrument of God's mercy, by and through which, their adoration was directed to God, and given to that only for God's sake.

John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765evangelical

Jews language - The tradition of the Jews is, that Rabshaketh was an apostate Jew. If so, his ignorance of the God of Israel was the less excusable, and his enmity the less strange: for apostates are usually the most bitter and spiteful enemies.

John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765evangelical

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.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

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Cross-references

10 linked verses

The verses this one reaches10

Isaiah 36:13–18
Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!
Ezekiel 31:3–10
Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds.
Psalms 47:2
How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!
Revelation 19:6
And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’
Isaiah 10:8–13
“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
Ezra 7:12
Artaxerxes, king of kings. To Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: Greetings.
2 Kings 18:19
The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
2 Chronicles 32:18
Then the Assyrians called out loudly in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them in order to capture the city.
2 Kings 19:22
Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Around this verse

Word doors

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

Who & where

PlaceUpper MesopotamiaAssyriaMesopotamian empire whose capital Nineveh repented at Jonah's preaching and fell to Nahum's burden in 612 BC; the rod of God's ang…

About this book

Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

2 Kings — Two kingdoms on parallel but diverging arcs. Elisha's ministry; Samaria falls to Assyria in 722 BC; Jerusalem falls to Babylon in 586 BC. Prophets interpose; kings refuse; the exile comes — and closes on a whisper of covenant hope.

Canon: Old Testament
Author: Compiler anonymous; Jewish tradition attributes to Jeremiah (same as 1 Kings)
Date: Events c. 852–560 BC; closing coda places composition in the mid-exile, c. 560 BC

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Revelation 19:6
And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the…
leads to
- Psalms 97:1
  The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the distant shores be glad.
- Revelation 14:2
  And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of many waters and the loud rumbling of thunder. And the sound I heard was like harpists strumming their harps.
Through
Psalms 47:2
How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!
leads to
- Psalms 95:3
  For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods.
- Psalms 99:3
  Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy!
- Malachi 1:14
  “But cursed is the deceiver who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the…
- Psalms 68:35
  O God, You are awesome in Your sanctuary; the God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!
Through
Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…
leads to
- Ezekiel 32:2
  “Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash…
- Isaiah 27:1
  In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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