2 Kings 19:9
in 2 Kings 19Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee, he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,
KJV
And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,
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This verse in 2 Kings 19
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Tirhakah king of Ethiopia - The Tehrak or Teharka of the hieroglyphics. He was the last king of the 25th or Ethiopian dynasty, which commenced with Shebek or Sabaco, and he reigned upward of 26 years. The Assyrian inscriptions show that he still ruled in Egypt as late as 667 B.C., when Esarhaddon 2Ki 19:37 died, and his son Asshur-bani-pal succeeded him. He probably ascended the Egyptian throne about 692 B.C., having previously ruled over Ethiopia before he became king of Egypt (compare Isa 37:9).
This site's exposition
warring against Libnah
on 2 Kings 19:8-9
Rabshakeh's return finds the king already pulled off Lachish and warring at Libnah, the first half of Isaiah's rumour already moving before the oracle is even given in full. Tirhakah king of Ethiopia is the second half, a Cushite-backed Egyptian force Sennacherib must now answer, and Assyrian records name a campaign against Egypt at Eltekeh in this same period. Sennacherib sends messengers a second time rather than an army, and the letter that follows repeats his speech in writing.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Sennacherib sent a letter to Hezekiah, a railing letter, a blaspheming letter, to persuade him to surrender Jerusalem, because it would be to no purpose for him to think of standing it out. His letter is to the same purport with Rabshakeh's speech; there is nothing new offered in it.
Hezekiah thereupon, by a very solemn prayer, recommended his case to God, the righteous Judge, and begged help from him,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
He was a powerful monarch, another Sesostris, and both he and Sabaco have left many monuments of their greatness. The name and figure of Tirhakah receiving war captives, are still seen in the Egyptian temple of Medinet Abou. This was the expected succor which was sneered at by Rab-shakeh as "a bruised reed" (2Ki 18:21).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁמַ֗ע | vaiyishma' | and he heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | concerning | H413 → | 5510 times |
| תִּרְהָ֤קָה | tirhakah | Tirhakah | H8640 → | |
| מֶֽלֶך־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| כּוּשׁ֙ | kush | Cush | H3568 → | |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הִנֵּ֥ה | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| יָצָ֖א | yatza' | he has come out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| לְהִלָּחֵ֣ם | lehilachem | to do battle | H3898 → | 177 times |
| אִתָּ֑ךְ | ʾitakh | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
| וַיָּ֙שָׁב֙ | vaiyashov | and he returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וַיִּשְׁלַ֣ח | vaiyishlach | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| מַלְאָכִ֔ים | malakhim | messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| חִזְקִיָּ֖הוּ | chizkiyahu | Hezekiah | H2396 → | 127 times |
| לֵאמֹֽר׃ | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
וַיִּשְׁמַ֗עand he heard
vaiyishma'H8085 →1159 times
אֶל־concerning
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
תִּרְהָ֤קָהTirhakah
tirhakahH8640 →
מֶֽלֶך־[the] king of
melekh-H4428 →2525 times
כּוּשׁ֙Cush
kushH3568 →
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הִנֵּ֥הthere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
יָצָ֖אhe has come out
yatza'H3318 →1067 times
לְהִלָּחֵ֣םto do battle
lehilachemH3898 →177 times
אִתָּ֑ךְwith you
ʾitakhH854 →929 times
וַיָּ֙שָׁב֙and he returned
vaiyashovH7725 →1056 times
וַיִּשְׁלַ֣חand he sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
מַלְאָכִ֔יםmessengers
malakhimH4397 →213 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
חִזְקִיָּ֖הוּHezekiah
chizkiyahuH2396 →127 times
לֵאמֹֽר׃<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 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
2 Kings 18:17Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by…
it leads to
- Isaiah 7:3
Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,
- 2 Kings 20:20
As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, along with all his might and how he constructed the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are they not written in…
- Isaiah 20:1
Before the year that the chief commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it,
- Isaiah 36:2
And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the…
- 2 Chronicles 32:9
Later, as Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces besieged Lachish, he sent his servants to Jerusalem with a message for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah who were…
- Isaiah 7:3
Through
1 Samuel 23:27Then a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly, for the Philistines have raided the land!”
it leads to
- Psalms 116:3
The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.
- Deuteronomy 32:36
For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.
- Genesis 22:14
And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
- Psalms 116:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
What the record shows
1 entry- Tirhakah (Taharqa) — attested in contemporary inscriptionundisputed
Egyptian hieroglyphic and Assyrian records
Biblical figure (Pharaoh (Cush), 690-664 BC) identified in extra-biblical epigraphy.
Counterpoint: Taharqa is richly attested, but he did not become pharaoh until about 690 BC, roughly a decade after Sennacherib's 701 BC campaign, so 2 Kings 19:9 calls him king before he held the throne. Kitchen answers that Scripture calls him only "king of Cush" and uses the title he was known by when the account was written.
About 2 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonDivided kingdomHezekiahThe reforming king of Judah who trusted Jehovah against Sennacherib, spread the Assyrian letter before the LORD, was granted fifte…
- PersonDivided kingdomSennacheribKing of Assyria whose siege of Jerusalem in 701 BC ended with the angel of Jehovah in the camp — and whose own annals boast of shu…
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alfred Edersheim, Bible History: Old Testament; F. W. Farrar, The Second Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.