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Isaiah 36:7

in Isaiah 36

But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before this altar’?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But if thou say unto me, We trust in Jehovah our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

KJV

But if thou say to me, We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

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This verse in Isaiah 36

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
But if thou say to me - If you shall make this plea, that you believe Yahweh will protect you in your revolt. The word ‘thou’ here refers to Hezekiah, or to the ambassadors speaking in his name. In 2Ki 18:22, it is, ‘but if ye say unto me;’ that is, you ambassadors. The sense is substantially the same. Is it not he ... - This is given as a reason why they should not put their confidence in Yahweh.

This site's exposition

We trust in the LORD our God

on Isaiah 36:7-10

Rabshakeh turns the king's own reform against him: is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed? Then he claims the LORD sent him with the words, Go up against this land and destroy it, a claim the narrative exposes only later.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Chapter 36—Verse 1 and following) And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the washer's field. And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him. And Rabshakeh said to them, "Say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours?' By what plan and courage do you prepare to rebel? On whom do you have confidence, because you have turned away from me? Look, you trust in this broken reed staff, in Egypt: if a man leans on it, it will enter into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all who trust in him. But if you say to me, 'We trust in the LORD our God,' is it not he whose heights and altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar'? And now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, and you will not be able to provide riders for them. And how will you withstand the face of one judge from my lord's servants? And if you rely on Egypt: and on chariots, and on horsemen: and now, did I ascend to this land without the Lord, to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up on this land and destroy it. The history is clear and does not require interpretation: and this same thing is reported more fully in the volumes of Kings and Chronicles. In the third year of Hosea the son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. […]

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

proposed

And Rabsaces said to them. Here the discussion of the messengers is set out. And concerning this, he sets out two things: first, the preamble of Rabsaces to the Jewish messengers; second, to the others, where it says, then Rabsaces stood (Isa 36:13). Concerning the …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

The history related here, and in the three following chapters, is, almost in the same words contained 2 Kings 18, 19, 20. It is inserted here, to explain and confirm some of the foregoing predictions.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

, We may say thus to presuming sinners, who say that they trust in the Lord and in his mercy. Is not this he whose commandments they have lived in the contempt of, whose name they have dishonoured, and whose ordinances they have slighted?

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation

But if thou say to me, we trust in the Lord our God,....
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Some of the high places may have been dedicated to Jehovah, but worshipped under the form of an image in violation of the second commandment: the "brazen serpent," also (broken in pieces by Hezekiah, and called Nehushtan, "a piece of brass," because it was worshipped by Israel) was originally set up by God's command.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

But if thou say “But if ye say” - Two ancient MSS. have תאמרו tomeru in the plural number; so likewise the Septuagint, Chaldee, and the other copy, 2Ki 18:22. Ye shall worship before this altar “To worship only before this altar” - See 2Ch 32:12.

The words behind it

23 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְכִי־and if

    vekhi-H3588 →4482 times

  • תֹאמַ֣רyou will say

    tomarH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלַ֔יto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • יְהוָ֥הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּGod our

    ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times

  • בָּטָ֑חְנוּwe trust

    batachenuH982 →120 times

  • הֲלוֹא־¿ not

    halo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • ה֗וּא[is] he

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֨ר[the one] whom

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • הֵסִ֤ירhe has removed

    hesirH5493 →299 times

  • חִזְקִיָּ֙הוּ֙Hezekiah

    chizkiyahuH2396 →127 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • בָּמֹתָ֣יוhigh places his

    bamotavH1116 →102 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • מִזְבְּחֹתָ֔יוaltars his

    mizbechotavH4196 →401 times

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he has said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • לִֽיהוּדָה֙to Judah

    lihudahH3063 →819 times

  • וְלִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םand to Jerusalem

    velirushalimH3389 →643 times

  • לִפְנֵ֛י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הַמִּזְבֵּ֥חַthe altar

    hamizbeachH4196 →401 times

  • הַזֶּ֖ה<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • תִּֽשְׁתַּחֲוֽוּ׃you will bow down

    tishtachavuH7812 →172 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

17 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Kings 18:4–5He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.4 works1 Corinthians 2:15The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.3 worksPsalms 42:5Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.3 worksPsalms 42:10–11Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”3 worksIsaiah 36:18Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?3 works1 Chronicles 5:20And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God, He answered their prayers.2 works
The other 11 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 Chronicles 16:7–9At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and told him, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.2 works2 Chronicles 30:14They proceeded to remove the altars in Jerusalem and to take away the incense altars and throw them into the Kidron Valley.2 works2 Chronicles 31:1When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own property.2 works2 Chronicles 32:12Did not Hezekiah himself remove His high places and His altars and say to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn sacrifices’?2 worksDeuteronomy 12:13–14Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see;2 works2 Chronicles 32:7–8“Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged before the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater One with us than with him.2 works2 Kings 18:22But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?2 worksDeuteronomy 12:2–6Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.2 worksPsalms 22:4–5In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them.2 works2 Kings 18:19The 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 worksIsaiah 36:15Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Psalms 42:5

    Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 37:7

      Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.

    • Hebrews 10:36–37

      You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.

    • Psalms 61:2

      From the ends of the earth I call out to You whenever my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

    • Matthew 1:23

      “Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).

    • Psalms 27:13–14

      Still I am certain to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

  • Through

    1 Chronicles 5:20

    And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God,…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 22:4–5

      In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them.

    • Psalms 9:10

      Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

    • 2 Chronicles 18:31

      When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “This is the king of Israel!” So they turned to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him. God drew them away…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Isaiah: the study guide →Read Isaiah 36 →
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.

Read on in Isaiah 36 →