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Isaiah 36:16

in Isaiah 36

Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;

KJV

Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;

This verse in Isaiah 36

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

(Vers. 16 seqq.) Join me in blessing, and come out to me, and each one eat his own vineyard, and each one eat his own fig tree, and each one drink the water of his own cistern. This is what is read in the Book of Kings: 'Do with me what is beneficial, and come out to me' (2 Kings 18:31). Therefore, the meaning is the same. 'Do what is profitable for you,' he says, 'and may it contribute to your blessing.'

This site's exposition

stood and called out loudly in Hebrew

on Isaiah 36:13-17

Rabshakeh does the very thing he was asked to avoid and calls out in Hebrew so the whole wall can hear. His appeal is material, Make peace with me and come out to me. The offer ends in exile dressed as prosperity, a land of grain and new wine.

This site's exposition

Make peace with me and come

Make peace translates the Hebrew for make a blessing, as Clarke notes. The offer that every one of you will eat from his own vine is Israel's picture of peace at 1 Kings 4:25. Assyria offers it on loan.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

proposed

Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews' language. Here his address to the people is set out. And first, his foolish words are set out, in which he frightens them with threats: he shall not be able to deliver …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 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.
Hearken not to Hezekiah,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Make an agreement - ברכה berachah, make a blessing with me; i.e., Give me a ransom for the city, and I will not destroy it; give me the yearly tribute thou hast promised.
Hearken not to Hezekiah - Do not listen to his entreaties to confide in him, and in Yahweh; do not unite with him in endeavoring to make any resistance or opposition to us. Make an agreement with me by a present - The Septuagint read this, Ει ̓ βούλεσθε εὐλογηθῆναι Ei boulesthe eulogēthēnai - ‘If you wish to be blessed, or happy, come out to me.’ The Hebrew is literally, ‘Make with me a blessing’ (ברכה berâkâh). The idea of its being done ‘by a present,’ is not in the Hebrew text. The word ‘blessing’ here probably means the same as peace. ‘Make peace with me,’ perhaps because peace was regarded as a blessing; and perhaps the word is used with a reference to one of the significations of: ברך bārak, which is to kneel down, and this word may refer to their kneeling down; that is, to their offering allegiance to the king of Assyria. The former is, however, the more probable sense, that the word means peace, because this was an evident blessing, or would be the source of rich blessings to them. It is not, however, used in this sense elsewhere in the Bible. The Chaldee renders it, ‘Make peace (שׁלמא shālâmâ') with me.’ And come out to me - Surrender yourselves to me. It is evident, however, that he did not mean that be would then remove them from their city and country, but he demanded a surrender, intending to come and remove them at some other period Isa 36:17. And eat ye every one of his own vine - An emblem of safety, when every man might be permitted to partake of the fruit of his own labor. All that he now professed to desire was, that they should surrender the city, and give up their means of defense, and then he would leave them in security and quietness, until it should please his master to come and remove them to a land as fertile as their own. And drink ye every one - Another emblem of security and happiness. […]

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

Make peace with me (בְרָכָה, lit., a blessing.) Come out to me for peace and greet me and bring me a gift of peace.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Isaiah 36:16:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

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.

  • אַֽל־may not

    ʾal-H408 →724 times

  • תִּשְׁמְע֖וּyou listen

    tishmeuH8085 →1159 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • חִזְקִיָּ֑הוּ סHezekiah

    chizkiyahuH2396 →127 times

  • כִּי֩for

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • כֹ֨הthus

    khohH3541 →577 times

  • אָמַ֜רhe says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • הַמֶּ֣לֶךְthe king of

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • אַשּׁ֗וּרAssyria

    ʾashurH804 →151 times

  • עֲשֽׂוּ־make

    ʾasu-H6213 →2628 times

  • אִתִּ֤יwith me

    ʾitiH854 →929 times

  • בְרָכָה֙a blessing

    verakhahH1293 →69 times

  • וּצְא֣וּand come out

    utzeuH3318 →1067 times

  • אֵלַ֔יto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • וְאִכְל֤וּand eat

    veikhluH398 →810 times

  • אִישׁ־everyone

    ʾish-H376 →1663 times

  • גַּפְנוֹ֙own vine his

    gafnoH1612 →55 times

  • וְאִ֣ישׁand everyone

    veishH376 →1663 times

  • תְּאֵנָת֔וֹown fig tree his

    teenatoH8384 →39 times

  • וּשְׁת֖וּand drink

    ushetuH8354 →217 times

  • אִ֥ישׁeveryone

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • מֵי־[the] water of

    mei-H4325 →581 times

  • בוֹרֽוֹ׃own cistern his

    voroH953 →66 times

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

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

    Micah 4:4

    And each man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, with no one to frighten him. For the mouth of the LORD of Hosts has spoken.

    it leads to

    • Zechariah 3:10

      On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, you will each invite your neighbor to sit under your own vine and fig tree.’”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Kings 4:25

      Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Ezekiel 39:26

      They will forget their disgrace and all the treachery they committed against Me, when they dwell securely in their land, with no one to frighten them.

    • Isaiah 1:20

      But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

  • Through

    Zechariah 3:10

    On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, you will each invite your neighbor to sit under your own vine and fig tree.’”

    it leads to

    • Micah 4:4

      And each man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, with no one to frighten him. For the mouth of the LORD of Hosts has spoken.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    2 Kings 5:15

    Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, “Now I know for sure that there is no God in all the earth except in…

    it leads to

    • Daniel 2:47

      The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”

    • Daniel 6:26–27

      I hereby decree that in every part of my kingdom, men are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: For He is the living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will…

  • Through

    1 Samuel 25:27

    Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 30:26

      When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”

Where this verse is studied

On this page

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; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.