2 Kings 18:36
in 2 Kings 18But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
KJV
But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
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This verse in 2 Kings 18
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnswer him not - The blasphemy is too barefaced; Jehovah is insulted, not you; let him avenge his own quarrel. See the succeeding chapter, 2 Kings 19 (note).
This site's exposition
held their peace, and answered
on 2 Kings 18:36-37
The king's own command, answer him not, holds the people silent under a speech built to provoke exactly that kind of answer, and the silence is obedience rather than defeat. Eliakim, Shebna and Joah return to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, the ordinary sign of grief and dismay used across the book of Kings for news too heavy for words. The chapter ends without Hezekiah's reply; 2 Kings 19 opens with what he does instead, spreading the matter before the Lord in the temple he had just stripped to pay Assyria's price.
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 Awakening2 voices
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
One interruption they gave him in his discourse, which was only to desire that he would speak to them now in the Syrian language, and they would consider what he said and report it to the king, and, if they did not give him a satisfactory answer, then he might appeal to the people, by speaking in the Jews' language,
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהֶחֱרִ֣ישׁוּ | vehecherishu | and they kept silent | H2790 → | |
| הָעָ֔ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עָנ֥וּ | ʾanu | they answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| אֹת֖וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דָּבָ֑ר | davar | anything | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מִצְוַ֨ת | mitzvat | [was] [the] command of | H4687 → | 181 times |
| הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| הִ֛יא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לֵאמֹ֖ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲנֻֽהוּ׃ | taanuhu | you must answer him | H6030 → | 331 times |
וְהֶחֱרִ֣ישׁוּand they kept silent
vehecherishuH2790 →
הָעָ֔םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
עָנ֥וּthey answered
ʾanuH6030 →331 times
אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
דָּבָ֑רanything
davarH1697 →1440 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
מִצְוַ֨ת[was] [the] command of
mitzvatH4687 →181 times
הַמֶּ֥לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
הִ֛יאit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
לֵאמֹ֖ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲנֻֽהוּ׃you must answer him
taanuhuH6030 →331 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
Matthew 7:6Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
it leads to
- Proverbs 9:7–8
He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself.
- Proverbs 23:9
Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
- Matthew 10:14–15
And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.
- Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
- Matthew 15:26
But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
- Proverbs 9:7–8
Through
Psalms 39:1I said, “I will watch my ways so that I will not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle as long as the wicked are present.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 21:23
He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.
- Psalms 141:3
Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.
- James 1:26
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless.
- Proverbs 21:23
Where this verse is studied
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; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 18:19; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.