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Selected Verse: Isaiah 36:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Isa 36:1	Strong Concordance	Now it came to pass in the fourteenth [0702] [06240] year [08141] of king [04428] Hezekiah [02396], that Sennacherib [05576] king [04428] of Assyria [0804] came up [05927] against all the defenced [01219] cities [05892] of Judah [03063], and took [08610] them.
	King James	Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
SENNACHERIB'S INVASION; BLASPHEMOUS SOLICITATIONS; HEZEKIAH IS TOLD OF THEM. (Isa. 36:1-22) fourteenth--the third of Sennacherib's reign. His ultimate object was Egypt, Hezekiah's ally. Hence he, with the great body of his army (Ch2 32:9), advanced towards the Egyptian frontier, in southwest Palestine, and did not approach Jerusalem.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

SENNACHERIB'S INVASION; BLASPHEMOUS SOLICITATIONS; HEZEKIAH IS TOLD OF THEM. (Isa. 36:1-22)

fourteenth--the third of Sennacherib's reign. His ultimate object was Egypt, Hezekiah's ally. Hence he, with the great body of his army (Ch2 32:9), advanced towards the Egyptian frontier, in southwest Palestine, and did not approach Jerusalem.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah - Of his reign, 709 b.c. That Sennacherib - Sennacherib was son and successor of Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and began to reign A.M. 3290, or 714 b.c., and reigned, according to Calmet, but four years, according to Prideaux eight years, and according to Gesenius eighteen years. The immediate occasion of this war against Judah was the fact that Hezekiah had shaken off the yoke of Assyria, by which his father Ahaz and the nation had suffered so much under Tiglath-pileser, or Shalmaneser Kg2 18:7. To reduce Judea again to subjection, as well as to carry his conquests into Egypt, appears to have been the design of this celebrated expedition. He ravaged the country, took the strong towns and fortresses, and prepared then to lay siege to Jerusalem itself. Hezekiah, however, as soon as the army of Sennacherib had entered Judea, prepared to put Jerusalem into a state of complete defense. At the advice of his counselors he stopped the waters that flowed in the neighborhood of the city, and that might furnish refreshment to a besieging army, built up the broken walls, enclosed one of the fountains within a wall, and prepared shields and darts in abundance to repel the invader Ch2 32:2-5. Sennacherib, seeing that all hope of easily taking Jerusalem was taken away, apparently became inclined to hearken to terms of accommodation. Hezekiah sent to him to propose peace, and to ask the conditions on which he would withdraw his forces. He confessed his error in not paying the tribute stipulated by his father, and his willingness to pay now what should be demanded by Sennacherib. Sennacherib demanded three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold. This was paid by Hezekiah, by exhausting the treasury, and by stripping even the temple of its gold Kg2 18:13-16. It was evidently understood in this treaty that Sennacherib was to withdraw his forces, and return to his own land. But this treaty he ultimately disregarded (see the note at Isa 33:8). He seems, however, to have granted Hezekiah some respite, and to have delayed his attack on Jerusalem until his return from Egypt. This war with Egypt he prosecuted at first with great success, and with a fair prospect of the conquest of that country. But having laid siege to Pelusium, and having spent much time before it without success, he was compelled at length to raise the siege, and to retreat. Tirhakah king of Ethiopia having come to the aid of Sevechus, the reigning monarch of Egypt, and advancing to the relief of Pelusium, Sennacherib was compelled to raise the siege, and retreated to Judea. Here, having taken Lachish, and disregarding his compact with Hezekiah, he sent an army to Jerusalem under Rabshakeh to lay siege to the city. This is the point in the history of Sennacherib to which the passage before us refers (see Prideaux's "Connection," vol. i. pp. 138-141; Jos. "Ant." x. 1; Gesenius "in loc;" and Robinson's Calmet). All the defended cities - All the towns on the way to Egypt, and in the vicinity of Jerusalem (see the notes at Isa 10:28-32).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah - Of his reign, 709 b.c.

That Sennacherib - Sennacherib was son and successor of Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and began to reign A.M. 3290, or 714 b.c., and reigned, according to Calmet, but four years, according to Prideaux eight years, and according to Gesenius eighteen years. The immediate occasion of this war against Judah was the fact that Hezekiah had shaken off the yoke of Assyria, by which his father Ahaz and the nation had suffered so much under Tiglath-pileser, or Shalmaneser Kg2 18:7. To reduce Judea again to subjection, as well as to carry his conquests into Egypt, appears to have been the design of this celebrated expedition. He ravaged the country, took the strong towns and fortresses, and prepared then to lay siege to Jerusalem itself. Hezekiah, however, as soon as the army of Sennacherib had entered Judea, prepared to put Jerusalem into a state of complete defense. At the advice of his counselors he stopped the waters that flowed in the neighborhood of the city, and that might furnish refreshment to a besieging army, built up the broken walls, enclosed one of the fountains within a wall, and prepared shields and darts in abundance to repel the invader Ch2 32:2-5.

Sennacherib, seeing that all hope of easily taking Jerusalem was taken away, apparently became inclined to hearken to terms of accommodation. Hezekiah sent to him to propose peace, and to ask the conditions on which he would withdraw his forces. He confessed his error in not paying the tribute stipulated by his father, and his willingness to pay now what should be demanded by Sennacherib. Sennacherib demanded three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold. This was paid by Hezekiah, by exhausting the treasury, and by stripping even the temple of its gold Kg2 18:13-16. It was evidently understood in this treaty that Sennacherib was to withdraw his forces, and return to his own land. But this treaty he ultimately disregarded (see the note at Isa 33:8). He seems, however, to have granted Hezekiah some respite, and to have delayed his attack on Jerusalem until his return from Egypt. This war with Egypt he prosecuted at first with great success, and with a fair prospect of the conquest of that country.

But having laid siege to Pelusium, and having spent much time before it without success, he was compelled at length to raise the siege, and to retreat. Tirhakah king of Ethiopia having come to the aid of Sevechus, the reigning monarch of Egypt, and advancing to the relief of Pelusium, Sennacherib was compelled to raise the siege, and retreated to Judea. Here, having taken Lachish, and disregarding his compact with Hezekiah, he sent an army to Jerusalem under Rabshakeh to lay siege to the city. This is the point in the history of Sennacherib to which the passage before us refers (see Prideaux's "Connection," vol. i. pp. 138-141; Jos. "Ant." x. 1; Gesenius "in loc;" and Robinson's Calmet).

All the defended cities - All the towns on the way to Egypt, and in the vicinity of Jerusalem (see the notes at Isa 10:28-32).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Marcus V. Niebuhr, in his History of Asshur and Babel (p. 164), says, "Why should not Hezekiah have revolted from Asshur as soon as he ascended the throne? He had a motive for doing this, which other kings had not - namely, that as he held his kingdom in fief from his God, obedience to a temporal monarch was in his case sin." But this assumption, which is founded upon the same idea as that in which the question was put to Jesus concerning the tribute money, is not at all in accordance with Isaiah's view, as we may see from chapters 28-32; and Hezekiah's revolt cannot have occurred even in the sixth year of his reign. For Shalmanassar, or rather Sargon, made war upon Egypt and Ethiopia after the destruction of Samaria (Isa 20:1-6; cf., Oppert, Les Inscriptions des Sargonides, pp. 22, 27), without attempting anything against Hezekiah. It was not till the time of Sargon, who overthrew the reigning house of Assyria, that the actual preparations for the revolt were commenced, by the formation of an alliance between the kingdom of Judah on the one hand, and Egypt, and probably Philistia, on the other, the object of which was the rupture of the Assyrian yoke. (Note: The name Amgarron upon the earthenware prism of Sennacherib does not mean Migron (Oppert), but Ekron (Rawlinson).) The campaign of Sennacherib the son of Sargon, into which we are transported in the following history, was the third of his expeditions, the one to which Sennacherib himself refers in the inscription upon the prism: "dans ma ̄e campagne je marchai vers la Syrie." The position which we find Sennacherib taking up between Philistia and Jerusalem, to the south-west of the latter, is a very characteristic one in relation to both the occasion and the ultimate object of the campaign. (Note: We shall show the variations in the text of Kg2 18:13., as far as we possibly can, in our translation. K. signifies the book of Kings. But the task of pronouncing an infallible sentence upon them all we shall leave to those who know everything.) Isa 32:1 "And it came to pass in the (K. and in the) fourteenth year of king Hizkyahu, Sancherb king of Asshur came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. (K. adds: Then Hizkiyah king of Judah sent to the king of Asshur to Lachish, saying, I have sinned, withdraw from me again; what thou imposest upon me I will raise. And the king of Asshur imposed upon Hizkiyah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold. And Hizkiyah gave up all the silver that was in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house. At the same time Hizkiyah mutilated the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and the pillars which Hizkiyah king of Judah had plated with gold, and gave it to the king of Asshur)." This long addition, which is distinguished at once by the introduction of חזיקה in the place of חזקיהו, is probably only an annalistic interpolation, though one of great importance in relation to Isa 33:7. What follows in Isaiah does not dovetail well into this addition, and therefore does not presuppose its existence. Isa 36:2 "Then the king of Asshur sent Rabshakeh (K.: Tartan, and Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh) from Lachish towards Jerusalem to king Hizkiyahu with a great army, and he advanced (K.: to king H. with a great army to Jerusalem; and they went up and came to Jerusalem, and went up, and came and advanced) to the conduit of the upper pool by the road of the fuller's field." Whereas in K. the repeated ויבאו ויעלו (and went up and came) forms a "dittography," the names Tartan and Rab-saris have apparently dropped out of the text of Isaiah, as Isa 37:6, Isa 37:24 presuppose a plurality of messengers. The three names are not names of persons, but official titles, viz., the commander-in-chief (Tartan, which really occurs in an Assyrian list of offices; see Rawlinson, Monarchies, ii. 412), the chief cup-bearer (רבשׁקה with tzere = רבשׁקא)). The situation of Lachish is marked by the present ruins of Umm Lakis, to the south-west of Bet-Gibrin ((Eleutheropolis) in the Shephelah. The messengers come from the south-west with the ultima ratio of a strong detachment (חיל a connecting form, from חיל, like גדולה גּיא, Zac 14:4; Ewald, 287, a); they therefore halt on the western side of Jerusalem (on the locality, see at Isa 7:3; Isa 22:8-11; compare Keil on Kings).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Marcus V. Niebuhr, in his History of Asshur and Babel (p. 164), says, "Why should not Hezekiah have revolted from Asshur as soon as he ascended the throne? He had a motive for doing this, which other kings had not - namely, that as he held his kingdom in fief from his God, obedience to a temporal monarch was in his case sin." But this assumption, which is founded upon the same idea as that in which the question was put to Jesus concerning the tribute money, is not at all in accordance with Isaiah's view, as we may see from chapters 28-32; and Hezekiah's revolt cannot have occurred even in the sixth year of his reign. For Shalmanassar, or rather Sargon, made war upon Egypt and Ethiopia after the destruction of Samaria (Isa 20:1-6; cf., Oppert, Les Inscriptions des Sargonides, pp. 22, 27), without attempting anything against Hezekiah. It was not till the time of Sargon, who overthrew the reigning house of Assyria, that the actual preparations for the revolt were commenced, by the formation of an alliance between the kingdom of Judah on the one hand, and Egypt, and probably Philistia, on the other, the object of which was the rupture of the Assyrian yoke.

(Note: The name Amgarron upon the earthenware prism of Sennacherib does not mean Migron (Oppert), but Ekron (Rawlinson).)

The campaign of Sennacherib the son of Sargon, into which we are transported in the following history, was the third of his expeditions, the one to which Sennacherib himself refers in the inscription upon the prism: "dans ma ̄e campagne je marchai vers la Syrie." The position which we find Sennacherib taking up between Philistia and Jerusalem, to the south-west of the latter, is a very characteristic one in relation to both the occasion and the ultimate object of the campaign.

(Note: We shall show the variations in the text of Kg2 18:13., as far as we possibly can, in our translation. K. signifies the book of Kings. But the task of pronouncing an infallible sentence upon them all we shall leave to those who know everything.)

Isa 32:1 "And it came to pass in the (K. and in the) fourteenth year of king Hizkyahu, Sancherb king of Asshur came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. (K. adds: Then Hizkiyah king of Judah sent to the king of Asshur to Lachish, saying, I have sinned, withdraw from me again; what thou imposest upon me I will raise. And the king of Asshur imposed upon Hizkiyah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold. And Hizkiyah gave up all the silver that was in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house. At the same time Hizkiyah mutilated the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and the pillars which Hizkiyah king of Judah had plated with gold, and gave it to the king of Asshur)." This long addition, which is distinguished at once by the introduction of חזיקה in the place of חזקיהו, is probably only an annalistic interpolation, though one of great importance in relation to Isa 33:7. What follows in Isaiah does not dovetail well into this addition, and therefore does not presuppose its existence. Isa 36:2 "Then the king of Asshur sent Rabshakeh (K.: Tartan, and Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh) from Lachish towards Jerusalem to king Hizkiyahu with a great army, and he advanced (K.: to king H. with a great army to Jerusalem; and they went up and came to Jerusalem, and went up, and came and advanced) to the conduit of the upper pool by the road of the fuller's field." Whereas in K. the repeated ויבאו ויעלו (and went up and came) forms a "dittography," the names Tartan and Rab-saris have apparently dropped out of the text of Isaiah, as Isa 37:6, Isa 37:24 presuppose a plurality of messengers. The three names are not names of persons, but official titles, viz., the commander-in-chief (Tartan, which really occurs in an Assyrian list of offices; see Rawlinson, Monarchies, ii. 412), the chief cup-bearer (רבשׁקה with tzere = רבשׁקא)). The situation of Lachish is marked by the present ruins of Umm Lakis, to the south-west of Bet-Gibrin ((Eleutheropolis) in the Shephelah. The messengers come from the south-west with the ultima ratio of a strong detachment (חיל a connecting form, from חיל, like גדולה גּיא, Zac 14:4; Ewald, 287, a); they therefore halt on the western side of Jerusalem (on the locality, see at Isa 7:3; Isa 22:8-11; compare Keil on Kings).

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⁹ After [0310] this did Sennacherib [05576] king [04428] of Assyria [0804] send [07971] his servants [05650] to Jerusalem [03389], (but he himself laid siege against Lachish [03923], and all his power [04475] with him,) unto Hezekiah [03169] king [04428] of Judah [03063], and unto all Judah [03063] that were at Jerusalem [03389], saying [0559],

²⁸ He is come [0935] to Aiath [05857], he is passed [05674] to Migron [04051]; at Michmash [04363] he hath laid up [06485] his carriages [03627]:
²⁹ They are gone over [05674] the passage [04569]: they have taken up their lodging [04411] at Geba [01387]; Ramah [07414] is afraid [02729]; Gibeah [01390] of Saul [07586] is fled [05127].
³⁰ Lift up [06670] thy voice [06963], O daughter [01323] of [01530] Gallim [01554]: cause it to be heard [07181] unto Laish [03919], O poor [06041] Anathoth [06068].
³¹ Madmenah [04088] is removed [05074]; the inhabitants [03427] of Gebim [01374] gather themselves to flee [05756].
³² As yet shall he remain [05975] at Nob [05011] that day [03117]: he shall shake [05130] his hand [03027] against the mount [02022] of the daughter [01323] [01004] of Zion [06726], the hill [01389] of Jerusalem [03389].

⁸ The highways [04546] lie waste [08074], the wayfaring man [05674] [0734] ceaseth [07673]: he hath broken [06565] the covenant [01285], he hath despised [03988] the cities [05892], he regardeth [02803] no man [0582].

¹³ Now in the fourteenth [0702] [06240] year [08141] of king [04428] Hezekiah [02396] did Sennacherib [05576] king [04428] of Assyria [0804] come up [05927] against all the fenced [01219] cities [05892] of Judah [03063], and took [08610] them.
¹⁴ And Hezekiah [02396] king [04428] of Judah [03063] sent [07971] to the king [04428] of Assyria [0804] to Lachish [03923], saying [0559], I have offended [02398]; return [07725] from me: that which thou puttest [05414] on me will I bear [05375]. And the king [04428] of Assyria [0804] appointed [07760] unto Hezekiah [02396] king [04428] of Judah [03063] three [07969] hundred [03967] talents [03603] of silver [03701] and thirty [07970] talents [03603] of gold [02091].
¹⁵ And Hezekiah [02396] gave [05414] him all the silver [03701] that was found [04672] in the house [01004] of the LORD [03068], and in the treasures [0214] of the king's [04428] house [01004].
¹⁶ At that time [06256] did Hezekiah [02396] cut off [07112] the gold from the doors [01817] of the temple [01964] of the LORD [03068], and from the pillars [0547] which Hezekiah [02396] king [04428] of Judah [03063] had overlaid [06823], and gave [05414] it to the king [04428] of Assyria [0804].

² And when Hezekiah [03169] saw [07200] that Sennacherib [05576] was come [0935], and that he was purposed [06440] to fight [04421] against Jerusalem [03389],
³ He took counsel [03289] with his princes [08269] and his mighty men [01368] to stop [05640] the waters [04325] of the fountains [05869] which were without [02351] the city [05892]: and they did help [05826] him.
⁴ So there was gathered [06908] much [07227] people [05971] together [06908], who stopped [05640] all the fountains [04599], and the brook [05158] that ran [07857] through the midst [08432] of the land [0776], saying [0559], Why should the kings [04428] of Assyria [0804] come [0935], and find [04672] much [07227] water [04325]?
⁵ Also he strengthened [02388] himself, and built up [01129] all the wall [02346] that was broken [06555], and raised it up [05927] to the towers [04026], and another [0312] wall [02346] without [02351], and repaired [02388] Millo [04407] in the city [05892] of David [01732], and made [06213] darts [07973] and shields [04043] in abundance [07230].

⁷ And the LORD [03068] was with him; and he prospered [07919] whithersoever he went forth [03318]: and he rebelled [04775] against the king [04428] of Assyria [0804], and served [05647] him not.

⁸ And he discovered [01540] the covering [04539] of Judah [03063], and thou didst look [05027] in that day [03117] to the armour [05402] of the house [01004] of the forest [03293].
⁹ Ye have seen [07200] also the breaches [01233] of the city [05892] of David [01732], that they are many [07231]: and ye gathered together [06908] the waters [04325] of the lower [08481] pool [01295].
¹⁰ And ye have numbered [05608] the houses [01004] of Jerusalem [03389], and the houses [01004] have ye broken down [05422] to fortify [01219] the wall [02346].
¹¹ Ye made [06213] also a ditch [04724] between the two walls [02346] for the water [04325] of the old [03465] pool [01295]: but ye have not looked [05027] unto the maker [06213] thereof, neither had respect [07200] unto him that fashioned [03335] it long ago [07350].

³ Then said [0559] the LORD [03068] unto Isaiah [03470], Go forth [03318] now to meet [07125] Ahaz [0271], thou, and Shearjashub [07610] thy son [01121], at the end [07097] of the conduit [08585] of the upper [05945] pool [01295] in the highway [04546] of the fuller's [03526] field [07704];

⁴ And his feet [07272] shall stand [05975] in that day [03117] upon the mount [02022] of Olives [02132], which is before [06440] Jerusalem [03389] on the east [06924], and the mount [02022] of Olives [02132] shall cleave [01234] in the midst [02677] thereof toward the east [04217] and toward the west [03220], and there shall be a very [03966] great [01419] valley [01516]; and half [02677] of the mountain [02022] shall remove [04185] toward the north [06828], and half [02677] of it toward the south [05045].

²⁴ By [03027] thy servants [05650] hast thou reproached [02778] the Lord [0136], and hast said [0559], By the multitude [07230] of my chariots [07393] am I come up [05927] to the height [04791] of the mountains [02022], to the sides [03411] of Lebanon [03844]; and I will cut down [03772] the tall [06967] cedars [0730] thereof, and the choice [04005] fir trees [01265] thereof: and I will enter [0935] into the height [04791] of his border [07093], and the forest [03293] of his Carmel [03760].

⁶ And Isaiah [03470] said [0559] unto them, Thus shall ye say [0559] unto your master [0113], Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], Be not afraid [03372] of [06440] the words [01697] that thou hast heard [08085], wherewith the servants [05288] of the king [04428] of Assyria [0804] have blasphemed [01442] me.

² And the king [04428] of Assyria [0804] sent [07971] Rabshakeh [07262] from Lachish [03923] to Jerusalem [03389] unto king [04428] Hezekiah [02396] with a great [03515] army [02426]. And he stood [05975] by the conduit [08585] of the upper [05945] pool [01295] in the highway [04546] of the fuller's [03526] field [07704].

⁷ Behold, their valiant ones [0691] shall cry [06817] without [02351]: the ambassadors [04397] of peace [07965] shall weep [01058] bitterly [04751].

¹ Behold, a king [04428] shall reign [04427] in righteousness [06664], and princes [08269] shall rule [08323] in judgment [04941].

¹ In the year [08141] that Tartan [08661] came [0935] unto Ashdod [0795], (when Sargon [05623] the king [04428] of Assyria [0804] sent [07971] him,) and fought [03898] against Ashdod [0795], and took [03920] it;
² At the same time [06256] spake [01696] the LORD [03068] by [03027] Isaiah [03470] the son [01121] of Amoz [0531], saying [0559], Go [03212] and loose [06605] the sackcloth [08242] from off thy loins [04975], and put off [02502] thy shoe [05275] from thy foot [07272]. And he did so [06213], walking [01980] naked [06174] and barefoot [03182].
³ And the LORD [03068] said [0559], Like as my servant [05650] Isaiah [03470] hath walked [01980] naked [06174] and barefoot [03182] three [07969] years [08141] for a sign [0226] and wonder [04159] upon Egypt [04714] and upon Ethiopia [03568];
⁴ So shall the king [04428] of Assyria [0804] lead away [05090] the Egyptians [04714] prisoners [07628], and the Ethiopians [03568] captives [01546], young [05288] and old [02205], naked [06174] and barefoot [03182], even with their buttocks [08357] uncovered [02834], to the shame [06172] of Egypt [04714].
⁵ And they shall be afraid [02865] and ashamed [0954] of Ethiopia [03568] their expectation [04007], and of Egypt [04714] their glory [08597].
⁶ And the inhabitant [03427] of this isle [0339] shall say [0559] in that day [03117], Behold, such [03541] is our expectation [04007], whither we flee [05127] for help [05833] to be delivered [05337] from [06440] the king [04428] of Assyria [0804]: and how shall we escape [04422]?