Isaiah 37:12
in Isaiah 37Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar?
KJV
Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?
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This verse in Isaiah 37
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
My fathers - My predecessors on the throne. Gozan - This was a region or country in the northern part of Mesopotamia, and on the river Chaboras. There was a river of the name of Gozan in Media, which ran through the province, and gave it its name. The river fell probably into the Chaboras. This region is known to have been under the dominion of Assyria, for Shalmaneser, when he had subdued the ten tribes, carried them away beyond the Euphrates to a country bordering on the river Gozan 2Ki 17:
This site's exposition
Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee
on Isaiah 37:10-13
The written letter repeats Rabshakeh's speech in a shorter, colder form, naming Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the roll call of cities whose gods did not save them. The argument assumes the Lord is one more national god among the conquered, no different in kind from the idols of Hamath or Sepharvaim, which is the exact error the king's own prayer will answer in the next unit. Gill notes that the letter is meant to reach Hezekiah in writing precisely because the spoken word had already failed to break him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 8 and following) But when Rabshakeh returned, he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. And he heard that Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia, had come out to fight against him. When he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah saying: 'Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying: Do not let your God deceive you, in whom you trust, saying: Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed,.... They have not. But what then? is the God of Israel to be put upon a level with such dunghill gods? so Sennacherib reckoned him, as Rabshakeh before, in his name, Isa 36:18, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden, which were in Telassar.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Eden--There is an ancient village, Adna, north of Baghdad. Some think Eden to be the name of a region (of Mesopotamia or its vicinity) in which was Paradise; Paradise was not Eden itself (Ge 2:8).
As Gozan, and Haran - חרן Charan: but הרן Haran is the reading of four of Kennicott’s MSS. and one of De Rossi’s.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַהִצִּ֨ילוּ | hahitzilu | ¿ did they deliver | H5337 → | 212 times |
| אוֹתָ֜ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֤י | ʾelohei | [the] gods of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| הַגּוֹיִם֙ | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הִשְׁחִ֣יתוּ | hishchitu | they destroyed | H7843 → | 146 times |
| אֲבוֹתַ֔י | ʾavotai | ancestors my | H1 → | 1212 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| גּוֹזָ֖ן | gozan | Gozan | H1470 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| חָרָ֑ן | charan | Haran | H2771 → | |
| וְרֶ֥צֶף | veretzef | and Rezeph | H7530 → | |
| וּבְנֵי־ | uvenei- | and [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עֶ֖דֶן | ʾeden | Eden | H5729 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בִּתְלַשָּֽׂר׃ | bitlasar | [were] in Telassar | H8515 → |
הַהִצִּ֨ילוּ¿ did they deliver
hahitziluH5337 →212 times
אוֹתָ֜ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
אֱלֹהֵ֤י[the] gods of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
הַגּוֹיִם֙the nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הִשְׁחִ֣יתוּthey destroyed
hishchituH7843 →146 times
אֲבוֹתַ֔יancestors my
ʾavotaiH1 →1212 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
גּוֹזָ֖ןGozan
gozanH1470 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
חָרָ֑ןHaran
charanH2771 →
וְרֶ֥צֶףand Rezeph
veretzefH7530 →
וּבְנֵי־and [the] people of
uvenei-H1121 →4930 times
עֶ֖דֶןEden
ʾedenH5729 →
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בִּתְלַשָּֽׂר׃[were] in Telassar
bitlasarH8515 →
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
Genesis 11:31And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan.…
it leads to
- Nehemiah 9:7
You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 7:2–4
And Stephen declared: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
- Genesis 24:10
Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all manner of good things from his master in hand. And he set out for Nahor’s hometown in Aram-naharaim.
- Genesis 15:7
The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
- Nehemiah 9:7
Through
Acts 7:2And Stephen declared: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
it leads to
- Genesis 11:31
And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan.…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 22:1
“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”
- Genesis 11:31
Through
2 Kings 17:6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 5:26
So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 5:26
Through
2 Kings 19:12Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
it leads to
- 2 Kings 17:6
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 17:6
About Isaiah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceUpper MesopotamiaHaranThe city in upper Mesopotamia where Terah died and Abram received his call, where Jacob served Laban twenty years for his wives an…
- PlaceMesopotamia (traditional)EdenThe garden God planted in the east with the tree of life and a river, lost at the fall and opened again in the New Jerusalem.
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 Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).