Isaiah 37:37
in Isaiah 37So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
KJV
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
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This verse in Isaiah 37
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
So Sennacherib departed - Probably with some portion of his army and retinue with him, for it is by no means probable that the whole army had been destroyed. In 2Ch 32:21, it is said that the angel ‘cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria.’ His army was thus entirely disabled, and the loss of so large a part of it, and the consternation produced by their sudden destruction, would of course lead him to abandon the siege.
This site's exposition
He returned to Nineveh and stayed there
on Isaiah 37:37-38
Sennacherib withdrew, then returned to Nineveh, the ending Isaiah named at verse 7. His death came while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, when his sons put him to the sword. The king who mocked gods of wood and stone fell inside the house of one.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vrs. 36 seqq.) However, the Angel of God went out and struck down in the Assyrian camp 185,000 men; and when they arose in the morning, behold, all the dead bodies. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned to Nineveh, and he lived there. And it came about as he was worshiping in the temple of Nesrach his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, as to the confusion and flight of those who were left: and they arose in the morning, above: there shall be trouble: the morning shall come, and he shall not be (Isa 17:14).
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
When pains are most strong let prayers be most lively; and, when we meet with the greatest difficulties, then is a time to stir up not ourselves only, but others also, to take hold on God. Prayer is the midwife of mercy, that helps to bring it forth. It is an encouragement to pray though we have but some hopes of mercy (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went, and returned,.... Being informed of the destruction of his army in this miraculous manner, he departed from the place where he was in all haste, fearing lest he himself should be destroyed in like manner; and having no forces to pursue his designs, or wherewith to make an attempt elsewhere, he made the best of his way at once into his own country, whither he returned with great shame and confusion: and dwelt at Nineveh; the metropolis of his kingdom; see Gen 10:11.
Many prophecies were fulfilled in this providence, which should encourage us, as far as they look further, and are designed as common and general assurances of the safety of the church and of all that trust in God, to depend upon God for the accomplishment of them.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
dwelt at Nineveh--for about twenty years after his disaster, according to the inscriptions. The word, "dwelt," is consistent with any indefinite length of time.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּסַּ֣ע | vaiyisa' | and he set out | H5265 → | 146 times |
| וַיֵּ֔לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וַיָּ֖שָׁב | vaiyashov | and he returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| סַנְחֵרִ֣יב | sancheriv | Sennacherib | H5576 → | 13 times |
| מֶֽלֶךְ־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אַשּׁ֑וּר | ʾashur | Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
| וַיֵּ֖שֶׁב | vaiyeshev | and he remained | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בְּנִֽינְוֵֽה׃ | benineveh | in Nineveh | H5210 → |
וַיִּסַּ֣עand he set out
vaiyisa'H5265 →146 times
וַיֵּ֔לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
וַיָּ֖שָׁבand he returned
vaiyashovH7725 →1056 times
סַנְחֵרִ֣יבSennacherib
sancherivH5576 →13 times
מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of
melekh-H4428 →2525 times
אַשּׁ֑וּרAssyria
ʾashurH804 →151 times
וַיֵּ֖שֶׁבand he remained
vaiyeshevH3427 →1079 times
בְּנִֽינְוֵֽה׃in Nineveh
beninevehH5210 →
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
Jonah 4:11So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”
it leads to
- Jonah 1:2
“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 18:33
Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’
- Luke 15:28–32
The older son became angry and refused to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.
- Psalms 36:6
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains; Your judgments are like the deepest sea. O LORD, You preserve man and beast.
- Psalms 145:8–9
The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
- Jonah 1:2
Through
Jonah 1:2“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
it leads to
- Genesis 18:20–21
Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,
- Genesis 10:11
From that land he went forth into Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,
- Genesis 18:20–21
Through
Matthew 12:41The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.
it leads to
- Matthew 12:42
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One…
- Matthew 12:42
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonDivided kingdomSennacheribKing of Assyria whose siege of Jerusalem in 701 BC ended with the angel of Jehovah in the camp — and whose own annals boast of shu…
- PlaceUpper MesopotamiaAssyriaMesopotamian empire whose capital Nineveh repented at Jonah's preaching and fell to Nahum's burden in 612 BC; the rod of God's ang…
- PlaceAssyriaNinevehThe great city of Assyria that repented in sackcloth at Jonah’s preaching, that Sennacherib returned to after Jerusalem was spared…
This page draws on 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 (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.