2 Kings 19:25
in 2 Kings 19Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
KJV
Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
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This verse in 2 Kings 19
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Hast thou not heard long ago ... - Rather, “Hast thou not heard, that from long ago I did this, from ancient times I fashioned it? etc.” The former part of the verse refers to the secret divine decrees, whereby the affairs of this world are determined and ordered from the very beginning of things. Sennacherib’s boasting, however, proved that he did not know this, that he did not recognize himself simply as God’s instrument - “the rod of His anger” Isa 10:5 - but regarded his victories as gained by his own “strength and wisdom” Isa 10:13.
This site's exposition
of ancient times that I have formed it
on 2 Kings 19:25-26
The oracle turns Sennacherib's own career into evidence against him: his conquests were not his own genius but a plan formed long ago and only now brought to pass, the same doctrine Isaiah states elsewhere of Assyria as a rod in another hand. The nations he flattened are pictured as grass on the housetops, green for a morning and scorched before it can grow, an image that answers the king's claim to unstoppable strength with a plant that never had a root.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Hast thou not, &c. - Hast thou not long since learned, that which some of thy philosophers could teach thee; that there is a supreme and powerful God, by whose decree and providence all these wars and calamities were sent, and ordered; whose mere instrument thou art, so that thou hast no cause for these vain boastings? This work is mine, not thine.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Hast thou not heard - Here Jehovah speaks, and shows this boasting king that what he had done was done by the Divine appointment, and that of his own counsel and might he could have done nothing. It was because God had appointed them to this civil destruction that he had overcome them; and it was not through his might; for God had made their inhabitants of small power, so that he only got the victory over men whom God had confounded, dismayed, and enervated, 2Ki 19:26.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲלֹֽא־ | halo'- | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁמַ֤עְתָּ | shama'ta | have you heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| לְמֵֽרָחוֹק֙ | lemerachok | <to> from distant [time] | H7350 → | 84 times |
| אֹתָ֣הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עָשִׂ֔יתִי | ʾasiti | I appointed | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לְמִ֥ימֵי | lemimei | <to> from days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| קֶ֖דֶם | kedem | antiquity | H6924 → | |
| וִֽיצַרְתִּ֑יהָ | vitzartiha | and I planned it | H3335 → | |
| עַתָּ֣ה | ʾatah | now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| הֲבֵיאתִ֗יהָ | haveitiha | I have brought it | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וּתְהִ֗י | utehi | and you are | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לַהְשׁ֛וֹת | lahshot | [about] to make desolate | H7582 → | |
| גַּלִּ֥ים | galim | heaps | H1530 → | |
| נִצִּ֖ים | nitzim | ruined | H5327 → | |
| עָרִ֥ים | ʾarim | cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| בְּצֻרֽוֹת׃ | betzurot | fortified | H1219 → |
הֲלֹֽא־¿ not
halo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁמַ֤עְתָּhave you heard
shama'taH8085 →1159 times
לְמֵֽרָחוֹק֙<to> from distant [time]
lemerachokH7350 →84 times
אֹתָ֣הּ<obj.> it
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
עָשִׂ֔יתִיI appointed
ʾasitiH6213 →2628 times
לְמִ֥ימֵי<to> from days of
lemimeiH3117 →2304 times
קֶ֖דֶםantiquity
kedemH6924 →
וִֽיצַרְתִּ֑יהָand I planned it
vitzartihaH3335 →
עַתָּ֣הnow
ʾatahH6258 →433 times
הֲבֵיאתִ֗יהָI have brought it
haveitihaH935 →2568 times
וּתְהִ֗יand you are
utehiH1961 →3559 times
לַהְשׁ֛וֹת[about] to make desolate
lahshotH7582 →
גַּלִּ֥יםheaps
galimH1530 →
נִצִּ֖יםruined
nitzimH5327 →
עָרִ֥יםcities
ʾarimH5892 →1090 times
בְּצֻרֽוֹת׃fortified
betzurotH1219 →
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
Isaiah 45:7I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 7:13–14
Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?
- Amos 3:6
If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
- Psalms 75:7
but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.
- Job 2:10
“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
- Isaiah 31:2
Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers.
- Ecclesiastes 7:13–14
Through
Isaiah 54:16Behold, I have created the craftsman who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its task; and I have created the destroyer to wreak havoc.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:4
The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.
- Exodus 9:16
But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
- Isaiah 46:11
I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it,…
- Proverbs 16:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.