2 Kings 19:34
in 2 Kings 19‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
KJV
For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
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This verse in 2 Kings 19
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For mine own sake - God’s honor was concerned to defend His own city against one who denied His power in direct terms, as did Sennacherib 2Ki 18:35; 2Ki 19:10-12. His faithfulness was also concerned to keep the promise made to David Psa 132:12-18.
This site's exposition
for my servant David’s sake
The chapter's engine surfaces by name here: the deliverance is granted not for Judah's own righteousness but for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake, the same covenant clause running from 1 Ki 11:12-13 through 2 Ki 8:19 to this verse. Hezekiah, whom 18:5 already ranks above every king before or after him, is still saved on David's account and not his own, which is the argument the whole book keeps making about grace running under merit. The phrase reaches its stated height here and the deliverance that follows makes it concrete.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The Lord's goodness is immense, and frequently he finds his way to grant the salvation of the majority on account of a few just people. Why do I say on account of a few just people? Frequently, when a just person cannot be found in the present life, he takes pity on the living on account of the virtue of the departed and cries aloud in the words, "I will protect this city for my own sake and the sake of my servant David." Even if they do not deserve to be saved, he is saying, and have no claim on salvation, yet since showing love is habitual with me and I am prompt to have pity and rescue them from disaster, for my own sake and the sake of my servant David I will act as a shield; he who passed on from this life many years before will prove the salvation of those who have fallen victim to their own indifference.
A commentator
John ChrysostomLETTER TO THE FALLEN THEODORE 1.14 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
For the blessed David also had a fall like that which has now happened to you; and not this only but another also that followed it. I mean that of murder. What then? Did he remain prostrate? Did he not immediately rise up again with energy and place himself in position to fight the enemy? In fact, he wrestled with him so bravely that even after his death he was the protector of his offspring. For when Solomon had perpetrated great iniquity and had deserved countless deaths, God said that he would leave him the kingdom intact, thus speaking: "I will surely rend the kingdom out of your hand and will give it to your servant. Nevertheless I will not do this in your days." Wherefore? "For David your father's sake, I will take it out of the hand of your son." And again when Hezekiah was about to run the greatest possible risk, although he was a righteous man, God said that he would aid him for the sake of this saint. "For I will cast my shield," he says, "over this city to save it for my own sake and for my servant David's sake." So great is the force of repentance.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the L ORD . 34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. We have here the gracious copious answer which God gave to Hezekiah's prayer.
), and that person, that place, cannot but be safe, the protection of which he undertakes. The honour and truth of God are engaged for the doing of all this. These are great things, but how will they be effected?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. Sometimes it was long ere prophecies were accomplished and promises performed; but here the word was no sooner spoken than the work was done.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:43w-of-67
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגַנּוֹתִ֛י | veganoti | and I will defend | H1598 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | <to> | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָעִ֥יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַזֹּ֖את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| לְהֽוֹשִׁיעָ֑הּ | lehoshiah | to deliver it | H3467 → | 206 times |
| לְמַֽעֲנִ֔י | lemaani | for own sake my | H4616 → | 272 times |
| וּלְמַ֖עַן | ulemaan | and for [the] sake of | H4616 → | 272 times |
| דָּוִ֥ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| עַבְדִּֽי׃ | ʾavdi | servant my | H5650 → | 799 times |
וְגַנּוֹתִ֛יand I will defend
veganotiH1598 →
אֶל־<to>
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָעִ֥ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
הַזֹּ֖את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
לְהֽוֹשִׁיעָ֑הּto deliver it
lehoshiahH3467 →206 times
לְמַֽעֲנִ֔יfor own sake my
lemaaniH4616 →272 times
וּלְמַ֖עַןand for [the] sake of
ulemaanH4616 →272 times
דָּוִ֥דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
עַבְדִּֽי׃servant my
ʾavdiH5650 →799 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
Isaiah 31:5Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 37:35
‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 91:4
He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.
- Psalms 37:40
The LORD helps and delivers them; He rescues and saves them from the wicked, because they take refuge in Him.
- Isaiah 37:35
Through
Jeremiah 33:26then I would also reject the descendants of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:37
This is what the LORD says: “Only if the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below searched out would I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they…
- Isaiah 14:1
For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The foreigner will join them and unite with the house of Jacob.
- Hosea 2:23
And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they…
- Jeremiah 31:37
Through
1 Kings 15:4Nevertheless, for the sake of David, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and to make Jerusalem strong.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 11:36
I will give one tribe to his son, so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name.
- 2 Chronicles 21:7
Yet the LORD was unwilling to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant He had made with David, and since He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants…
- 1 Kings 11:36
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 42.24; John Chrysostom, LETTER TO THE FALLEN THEODORE 1.14; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.