Isaiah 37:18
in Isaiah 37Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these countries and their lands.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries, and their land,
KJV
Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
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This verse in Isaiah 37
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe nations - הארצות haratsoth, “the lands; “instead of this word, which destroys the sense, ten of Kennicott’s and five of De Rossi’s MSS. (one ancient) have here גוים goyim, “nations;” which is undoubtedly the true reading, being preserved also in the other copy; 2Ki 19:17. Another MS. suggests another method of rectifying the sense in this place, by reading מלכם malcam, “their king, “instead of ארצם artsam, “their land;” but it ought to be מלכיהם malcheyhem, “all the countries and their kings.”
This site's exposition
have laid waste all these countries
on Isaiah 37:18-20
The prayer concedes the letter's facts, and explains them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone. The petition rests on that concession, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God. Deliverance is asked as a public demonstration.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verses 14ff.) And Hezekiah took the letters from the hand of the messengers, and he read them, and he went up to the house of the Lord, and he spread them out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, saying: Lord, God of hosts, God of Israel, who resides above the cherubim, you are the only God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. And hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he sent to blaspheme the living God.
The Medieval Church1 voice
He proves with this the foolishness of his blasphemy: for of a truth, O Lord: the idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men (Ps 113:12[115:4]).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Of a truth Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Of a truth - It is as he has said, that all the nations had been subjected to the arms of the Assyrian. He now intends to add Jerusalem to the number of vanquished cities and kingdoms, and to boast; that he has subdued the nation under the protection of Yahweh, as he had done the nations under the protection of idol-gods. Have laid waste all, the nations - Hebrew, as Margin, ‘All the lands.’ But this is evidently an elliptical form of expression, meaning all the inhabitants or people of the lands. In 2Ki 19:17, it is thus expressed. ‘The kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands.’
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Indeed, O Lord It is true that the kings of Assyria destroyed
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. 7 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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָמְנָ֖ם | ʾamenam | truly | H551 → | |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הֶחֱרִ֜יבוּ | hecherivu | they have made desolate | H2717 → | 40 times |
| מַלְכֵ֥י | malkhei | [the] kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אַשּׁ֛וּר | ʾashur | Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאֲרָצ֖וֹת | haaratzot | the lands | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַרְצָֽם׃ | ʾartzam | land their | H776 → | 2504 times |
אָמְנָ֖םtruly
ʾamenamH551 →
יְהוָ֑הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הֶחֱרִ֜יבוּthey have made desolate
hecherivuH2717 →40 times
מַלְכֵ֥י[the] kings of
malkheiH4428 →2525 times
אַשּׁ֛וּרAssyria
ʾashurH804 →151 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָאֲרָצ֖וֹתthe lands
haaratzotH776 →2504 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
אַרְצָֽם׃land their
ʾartzamH776 →2504 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
1 Chronicles 5:26So 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…
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 15:19
Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver in order to gain his support and strengthen his own grip on the kingdom.
- 2 Kings 15:29
In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people…
- 2 Kings 18:11
The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
- 1 Chronicles 5:6
and Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria carried into exile.
- 2 Kings 17:6
Through
2 Kings 15:29In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people…
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 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
- Hosea 13:16
Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
- Deuteronomy 28:64
Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you…
- Hosea 13:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.