Isaiah 37:7
in Isaiah 37Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall return unto his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
KJV
Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
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This verse in Isaiah 37
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Behold, I will send a blast upon him - Margin, ‘Put a spirit into him.’ The word rendered ‘blast’ (רוח rûach) is commonly rendered ‘spirit.’ It may denote breath, air, soul, or spirit. There is no reason to think that the word is used here in the sense of blast of wind, as our translators seem to have supposed.
This site's exposition
Do not be afraid of the words
on Isaiah 37:6-7
Isaiah's answer comes, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor. All three steps, the spirit, the rumor, and the sword, fall on Sennacherib and none on Jerusalem. The promise that ends it is kept in the chapter's last two verses.
This site's exposition
I will put a spirit in him
Barnes takes the Hebrew ruach here in its common sense of spirit, an impulse the LORD sets in the king's mind. The rumour of verse 9 and the sword of verse 38 both answer this word. The prophecy runs to the chapter's end.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 37, Verse 1 and following) Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him what the field commander had said. When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, 'This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them.' If you want to know how the Lord your God heard the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians, his lord, sent to blaspheme the living God and to reproach the words that the Lord your God heard, lift up a prayer for the remainder that have been found. Then the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, and Isaiah said to them: 'Thus you shall say to your master: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria blasphemed me.' Behold, I will give to him the spirit, and he will hear the message, and he will return to his land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his land. Leaving aside the clear things, let us discuss only those in which the hidden meaning is present. They tear their clothes because they hear Rabshekah blaspheming. The king himself tears his own clothes because he believed it to be his and the people's sins that Rabshekah has come all the way to the gate of Jerusalem and has spoken such things against the Lord. Whereupon, the high priest, because he believed that he had blasphemed the Savior, tore his garments (Matt. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
And he foretells the death of king Sennacherib: behold, I will send a spirit upon him. He that shall kill by the sword must be killed by the sword (Rev 13:10).
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The curses that come upon sinners shall overtake them. 8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. 9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:88%@v7-9
Behold, I will send a blast upon him,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
1Ki 22:23) into him," that is, so influence his judgment that when he hears the report (Isa 37:9, concerning Tirhakah), he shall return [GESENIUS]; the "report" also of the destruction of his army at Jerusalem, reaching Sennacherib, while he was in the southwest of Palestine on the borders of Egypt, led him to retreat. by the sword-- (Isa 37:38).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I will send a blast “I will infuse a spirit into him” - “נותין בו רוח nothen bo roach never signifies any thing but putting a spirit into a person: this was πνευμα δειλιας, the spirit of deceit.” - Secker. “I will send a blast” - I do not think that Archbishop Secker has hit the true meaning of these words. I believe רוח ruach means here a pestilential wind, such as the Arabs call simoom, that instantly suffocates both man and beast; and is what is termed “the angel of the Lord,” God’s messenger of death to the Assyrians, Isa 37:36.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנְנִ֨י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| נוֹתֵ֥ן | noten | [am] about to put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| בּוֹ֙ | bo | in him | ||
| ר֔וּחַ | ruach | a spirit | H7307 → | 378 times |
| וְשָׁמַ֥ע | veshama' | and he will hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| שְׁמוּעָ֖ה | shemuah | a report | H8052 → | 27 times |
| וְשָׁ֣ב | veshav | and he will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַרְצ֑וֹ | ʾartzo | own land his | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְהִפַּלְתִּ֥יו | vehipaltiv | and I will make fall him | H5307 → | 435 times |
| בַּחֶ֖רֶב | bacherev | by the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| בְּאַרְצֽוֹ׃ | beartzo | in own land his | H776 → | 2504 times |
הִנְנִ֨יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
נוֹתֵ֥ן[am] about to put
notenH5414 →2011 times
בּוֹ֙in him
bo
ר֔וּחַa spirit
ruachH7307 →378 times
וְשָׁמַ֥עand he will hear
veshama'H8085 →1159 times
שְׁמוּעָ֖הa report
shemuahH8052 →27 times
וְשָׁ֣בand he will return
veshavH7725 →1056 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַרְצ֑וֹown land his
ʾartzoH776 →2504 times
וְהִפַּלְתִּ֥יוand I will make fall him
vehipaltivH5307 →435 times
בַּחֶ֖רֶבby the sword
bacherevH2719 →413 times
בְּאַרְצֽוֹ׃in own land his
beartzoH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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 Chronicles 32:21and the LORD sent an angel who annihilated every mighty man of valor and every leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he withdrew to his own land in…
it leads to
- Psalms 76:5
The valiant lie plundered; they sleep their last sleep. No men of might could lift a hand.
- Isaiah 37:36–38
Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
- Isaiah 10:8
“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
- Isaiah 37:21
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,
- Isaiah 10:33–34
Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.
- Psalms 76:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.