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2 KINGS 19

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. The prophetic parallel for this account is found in Isaiah 36 ‒ 37.
   
   
2. There has been much discussion among commentators as to the number of invasions by Sennacherib, king of Assyria, which are discussed in the literary unit of 2 Kings 18-19. Some see one invasion described in 18:17-19:8, and a second invasion in 19:8-35. See Edwin Yamauchi, The Stones and the Scriptures, pp. 97-80.
   
   
3. It is obvious from Assyrian records that Sennacherib invaded Judah around 701 B.C. However, this seems to contradict the dating found in 2 Kgs. 18:13 and Isa. 36:1. Even someone as conservative as Gleason Archer, in his book Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, concedes the fact that a scribe probably has made a numbering error in the dates found in the Bible. The relationship between the events of these two chapters is very uncertain. It is possible that we have a respite in the siege of Jerusalem by the threat of an imminent invasion of Ethiopian and Egyptian forces and not two distinct military campaigns. The invasion of 701 B.C. is a certainty and no other invasion is mentioned in the Assyrian documents.
   
   
4. The Assyrian documents assert that Sennacherib invaded Phoenicia, Judah, and Egypt in 701 B.C. They state that forty-six walled cities of Judah fell and that 200,146 Judeans were exiled during this invasion. They further state that Hezekiah, king of Judah, was "pinned up in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage."
   
   
5. Allusions to Assyria's military campaigns against
   1. Jerusalem ‒ 2 Kgs. 18:13-25; 19:29-36
   2. Syria and other northern kingdoms ‒ 2 Kgs. 18:34-35
   3. coastal Judea ‒ 2 Kgs. 19:8,12-13
   4. Lebanon ‒ 2 Kgs. 19:23
   5. Egypt ‒ 2 Kgs. 19:24 (or possibly against a northern place named Mt. Musri)
   
   
6. The funeral dirge of vv. 21-28 is hard to outline, as far as who is addressing whom (i.e., ambiguous PRONOUN antecedents).

   SPECIAL TOPIC: WISDOM LITERATURE

   SPECIAL TOPIC: HEBREW POETRY

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:1-7
  ¹And when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord. ²Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. ³They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver. ⁴Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant that is left.'" ⁵So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶Isaiah said to them, "Thus you shall say to your master, 'Thus says the Lord, "Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. ⁷Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land."'"

19:1 Hezekiah's first response to the threats from Assyria was to go to YHWH's temple (cf. 1 Kings 8) and call for Isaiah. He wanted to know YHWH's will. He trusted YHWH!

SPECIAL TOPIC: PROPHECY (OT)

▣ "tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth" These are two signs of mourning in Jewish culture. The king is following the actions of his officials who related the message from King Sennacherib (cf. 1 Kgs. 18:37). It is significant to note that when Hezekiah heard these words he immediately went to the house of the Lord. Hezekiah was one of the godly kings of Judah.

SPECIAL TOPIC: GRIEVING RITES

19:2 A delegation is sent to the prophet Isaiah from some of the leaders in the Judean government and some of the senior priests. This is a rather unusual title for the priests (i.e., "elders of the priests"). It does not seem to refer to the High Priest but to some of the older, respected priests of the Zadokian family group (cf. Jer. 19:1).

▣ "Shebna the scribe" He (BDB 987) was a "royal steward" under Hezekiah's reign (i.e., Isa. 22:15), but apparently was demoted to scribe. See IVP Bible Background Commentary (OT), pp. 405-406 and ABD, pp. 1172-1173.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SCRIBE

19:3 Notice the series of FEMININE NOUNS describing the current situation.

1. distress ‒ BDB 865 (cf. Isa. 37:3)
2. rebuke ‒ BDB 407 (rare term, cf. Isa. 37:3)
3. rejection (lit. "contempt") ‒ BDB 611 (also a rare term, found only here and Isa. 37:3)

The pain of child birth is a recurrent biblical image of distress (cf. Exod. 15:14; 2 Kgs. 19:3; Isa. 13:8; 21:3; 26:17; Jer. 4:31; 6:24; 13:21; 22:23; 50:43; Hos. 13:13).

▣ 2 Kings 19:3c is apparently a popular proverb of the day involving one's inability to perform a needed task. The same type of proverb is in Hosea 13:13.

19:4 "Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God" Sennacherib's boastful, blasphemous assertions about the inability of YHWH to save His own people are the subject of this entire encounter (cf. 2 Kgs. 18:29,30-33-35; 19:10,12).

The term "living God" is from the etymology of the term "YHWH." In this chapter He is contrasted with the dead idols of the impotent gods of the nations.

SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, D.

▣ "remnant" Most of the covenant people had been killed or captured. Only Jerusalem is left. They are the remnant of YHWH's promise in 2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE REMNANT, THREE SENSES

19:6 "with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me" The term "servants" (BDB 654) here, is not the normal term but one which had derogatory implication of menial slaves. The fact that God felt they had blasphemed (BDB 154, KB 180, Piel PERFECT; NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 829, #1) Him is significant to the interpretation of this entire chapter (cf. vv. 10 and 30).

19:7 "I will put a spirit in him" The KJB has the word "blast" (i.e., of wind), which follows the Peshitta. Some say this refers to the disastrous defeat of the Assyrian army mentioned in v. 35. This is a possible translation because it is used in this sense in Exod. 15:8.

Others believe God is going to put a spirit of fear in the Assyrian king (cf. 1 Sam. 16:14,15; 1 Kgs. 22:19-23) and cause him to return home and be killed there (cf. vv. 36-37).

The NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 752, has a good list of how "spirit" (BDB 924) sent by YHWH is used.

1. the giving of His Spirit ‒ Num. 11:25; Isa. 42:1; Ezek. 36:27; 37:14
2. the giving of a "new" spirit ‒ Ezek. 11:19; 18:31; 36:26
3. YHWH putting a spirit in someone for negative purposes ‒ 2 Kgs. 19:7; 2 Chr. 18:22; Isa. 37:7

SPECIAL TOPIC: SPIRIT IN THE BIBLE

▣ "he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land" There are several possibilities concerning this phrase.

1. It refers to v. 35 where the Assyrian army is defeated
2. It refers to vv. 36 and 37 where two of Sennacherib's own sons will kill him some twenty years later
3. It refers to v. 9 regarding the threatened invasion of the king of Ethiopia and Egypt

▣ "And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land" We learn that this happened by his own family some twenty years later (cf. vv. 36,37). It is the delay in the fulfillment of this event that causes some scholars to think that there was a second invasion closer to the time of his death.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:8-13
  ⁸Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. ⁹When he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, "Behold, he has come out to fight against you," he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying, ¹⁰"Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, "Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." ¹¹Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be spared? ¹²Did the gods of those nations which my fathers destroyed deliver them, even Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? ¹³Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?'"

19:9 "Tirhakah king of Cush" This is one of the powerful kings of Ethiopia and Egypt (twenty-fifth dynasty). His brother, Shebteko, was king of Egypt and later he himself became king of Egypt (cf. Isa. 37:9). Judah was told over and over again not to trust in the military might of Egypt and this is an example of the folly of trusting in horses and chariots. See K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and the OT, pp. 82-84.

SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF EGYPT

19:10 "Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, "Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king"'" This shows some of the theological mocking and psychological techniques employed to discourage Hezekiah (cf. 2 Kgs. 18:30).

19:11-13 The king of Assyria enumerates the number of countries and their gods which he has destroyed. He asks Hezekiah why he thinks that he should fare any better.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:14-19
  ¹⁴Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, "O Lord, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁶Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. ¹⁷Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands ¹⁸and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ¹⁹Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God."

19:14 "Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it" Because earlier in this chapter the message was orally delivered and here we have a written letter, some have assumed that these are two different accounts, and therefore, possibly two different invasions. Since we do not have any historical information about this second invasion, it is impossible to speculate about it at this point. Notice that Hezekiah spread it before the Lord.

1. Did he spread the letter before the Lord?
2. Is this a symbol of Hezekiah spreading his hands in prayer?

19:15 "who are enthroned above the cherubim" The cherubim are angelic creatures on the lid of the ark of the covenant. They are described in Exod. 25:22. YHWH symbolically dwelt between the wings of these cherubim (cf. 1 Sam. 4:4; 2 Sam. 6:2; 1 Chr. 13:6; Ps. 80:1; 99:1). This was the place of His footstool, while the third heaven was the place of His abode. We learn from 1 Kgs. 6:23-28 the shape and size of these cherubim in Solomon's temple.

SPECIAL TOPIC: CHERUBIM

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE HEAVENS AND THE THIRD HEAVEN

▣ "You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth." Here is a series of affirmations about the supremacy and uniqueness of YHWH. Notice that this is very monotheistic. YHWH is not only the creator of heaven and earth, but He is the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. There is even a universal implication here that YHWH is in control of all human events (i.e., Deut. 32:8; Isa. 55:8-11).

SPECIAL TOPIC: MONOTHEISM

SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN

19:16 This verse has five IMPERATIVES.

1. Incline Your ear, O Lord ‒ BDB 639, KB 692, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
2. Hear ‒ BDB 1033, KB 1570, Qal IMPERATIVE
3. Open Your eyes O Lord ‒ BDB 824, KB 959, Qal IMPERATIVE
4. See ‒ BDB 906, KB 1157, Qal IMPERATIVE
5. Listen ‒ BDB 1033, KB 1570, like #2

Hezekiah is entreating YHWH to hear the blasphemous words of Sennacherib and respond in power and deliverance, thereby demonstrating Who is the only, true God (v. 19)!

SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE USED TO DESCRIBE GOD

▣ "the living God" This is literally Elohim, but it refers to YHWH. This is a word play on the covenant name for Israel's Deity. YHWH is from the VERB "to do." He is the ever-living, only-living God!

SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, C. and D.

19:17-18 Hezekiah agrees with the list of Assyrian victories but he recognizes that the gods of the other nations are simply vain idols.

19:18 "and they are not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone" Here is the folly of man made gods (cf. Ps. 115:3-8; 135:15-18; Isa. 40:19-20; 41:7; 42:17; 44:9-20; 45:16; 46:6,7; Jer. 10:3-10; Rom. 1:18-23).

▣ "So they have destroyed them" From the Assyrian documents and archaeological discoveries we know that Assyria took the idols of gold, silver, and precious stones and placed them in their temples as symbols of their victories over these other national gods. However, the bronze, wooden, and stone idols of the people were destroyed.

19:19 "that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God" We must remember that Israel's purpose from the very beginning was to be a kingdom of priests to bring all the world to God (cf. Exod. 19:4,5; Ps. 22:27; Isa. 45:22; 52:10; Jer. 16:19; Micah 5:4). All that God was doing through and for Israel was to be a witness to the world (cf. Gen. 12:3; Josh. 4:24; 1 Sam. 17:46; 1 Kgs. 8:42-43,60; and Ps. 59:13).

SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:20-24
  ²⁰Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.' ²¹This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
 'She has despised you and mocked you,
 The virgin daughter of Zion;
 She has shaken her head behind you,
 The daughter of Jerusalem!
 ²²'Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?
 And against whom have you raised your voice,
 And haughtily lifted up your eyes?
 Against the Holy One of Israel!
 ²³Through your messengers you have reproached the Lord,
 And you have said, "With my many chariots
 I came up to the heights of the mountains,
 To the remotest parts of Lebanon;
 And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses.
 And I entered its farthest lodging place, its thickest forest.
 ²⁴"I dug wells and drank foreign waters,
 And with the sole of my feet I dried up
 All the rivers of Egypt."'"

19:20 "Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib" Notice that our prayers do affect God. Intercessory prayer is a way of changing the way events would normally come about. Theologically I think we must say that God has chosen to limit Himself to the prayers of His children. "We have not because we ask not" (James 4:2). God affirms that He will act in a distinctive way.

1. because Hezekiah prayed
2. because of His name's sake
3. because of His promises to David

SPECIAL TOPIC: EFFECTIVE PRAYER

SPECIAL TOPIC: INTERCESSORY PRAYER

19:21-28 These verses are in poetic form and seem to be outlined as follows.

1. vv. 21-22 ‒ a mockery by the Assyrian army before Jerusalem
2. vv. 23-24 ‒ the arrogant words of the Assyrian king
3. vv. 25-28 ‒ YHWH's words to the king of Assyria
4. vv. 29-34 ‒ YHWH's promises to Hezekiah

Surprisingly, these statements are not found in the Isaiah parallel. A book that has really helped me in interpreting prophecy (here in poetic form) is D. Brent Sandy, Plowshares and Pruning Hooks: Rethinking the Language of Biblical Prophecy and Apocalyptic. For this verse see p. 150, #7.

SPECIAL TOPIC: HEBREW POETRY

19:21 "the virgin daughter of Zion" This is a common personification of Jerusalem (cf. Ps. 9:14; Isa. 1:8; 16:1; 62:11; Jer. 6:23; Lam. 4:22; Micah 4:8; Zeph. 3:14).

SPECIAL TOPIC: ZION

▣ "She has shaken her head behind you" This is a sign of derision (cf. Job 16:4; Ps. 22:7; 109:25; Isa. 37:22; Jer. 18:16; 48:27; Lam. 2:15; Matt. 27:39; Mark 15:29; NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 62, #1).

19:22 "Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?" This is the essence of this entire confrontation. Sennacherib had not only reviled the people of God, but Judah's God (cf. vv. 4, 6, 10, 27, 28).

▣ "the Holy One of Israel" This is a recurrent title in Isaiah. See NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 882, #2 (b).

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE HOLY ONE

19:23 "Through your messengers" See 2 Kings 18:17-37.

▣ "Lord" This is the term Adon (BDB 10), not YHWH (Lord). Adon in 2 Kings usually does not refer to YHWH. There are several Hebrew MSS that do have "YHWH."

The NASB follows the MT text. The others follow the suggestion of the Masoretic scholars (Qere). The UBS Text Project, p. 368, gives the MT a "B" rating (some doubt). The Qere is found in the parallel in Isa. 37:24.

▣ "I came up to the heights of the mountains. . .forest. . .rivers" This is a brag that no natural barrier can stop the military advance of the king of Assyria. However, there seems to be a possible undercurrent in these verses that speak of the ostentatious pride of the king of Assyria. This is very similar to the pride of the king of Babylon discussed in Isaiah 14 and the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28. There even seems to be a possible allusion in these verses to the mysterious mountain in the far north where gods lived (cf. Ps. 48:2; Isa. 14:13; Ezek. 28:14). As Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 are used as examples of human prideful attitudes, this passage may be a parallel.

The MT has the CONSTRUCT (BDB 481 and BDB 384) plus "Egypt" (poetic form, BDB 596). This is PLURAL because of the many outlets of the Nile River (the only river of Egypt) in the delta region.

Because of the mentioning of Lebanon, this term (BDB 586) may refer to Mt. Musri in the north of Assyria, whose run off was diverted for agricultural purposes for Nineveh (AB, p. 237). For a good brief discussion see The Expositor's Bible Commentary, p. 269.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:25-28
 ²⁵"'Have you not heard?
 Long ago I did it;
 From ancient times I planned it.
 Now I have brought it to pass,
 That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
 ²⁶Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength,
 They were dismayed and put to shame;
 They were as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb,
 As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.
 ²⁷But I know your sitting down,
 And your going out and your coming in,
 And your raging against Me.
 ²⁸Because of your raging against Me,
 And because your arrogance has come up to My ears,
 Therefore I will put My hook in your nose,
 And My bridle in your lips,
 And I will turn you back by the way which you came.'"

19:25 "Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it;
From ancient times I planned it.
Now I have brought it to pass"

This is affirmation that YHWH is in control of history (i.e., Isa. 22:11; 45:7; 46:11). The victories of the Assyrians are God-appointed victories (cf. Isa. 10:55ff, where Assyria is called the "rod of God's anger"). See note at v. 15.

19:26 "shame" See SPECIAL TOPIC: SHAME.

▣ "They were as the vegetation of the field" This is a common metaphor of the frailty of humankind (cf. Ps. 37:2; 90:5-6; 103:15-16; Isa. 40:6,8). I have included my note from Isa. 40:6.

Isa. 40:6 "All flesh is grass" This recurrent metaphor refers to the frailty and transitoriness of human corporal existence compared to the eternality of God (cf. Gen. 6:3; Job 10:4; 14:1-2; Ps. 78:39; 90:5-6; 103:15-18; 1 Pet. 1:24-25).

To whom is the voice speaking?

1. all humans
2. world powers

It seems to be God's message to human governments. They may be temporarily powerful, but in time and in reality (i.e., in light of God's power) they are not!!

The parallel in Isa. 37:27 is slightly different.

▣ "it is grown up" This is imagery related to the grass that grows on thatched or dirt roofs (NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 818, #3). The UBS Text Project, p. 368, gives this a "C" rating (considerable doubt). JPSOA footnote suggests an emendation to "the east wind" (REB, NET Bible).

1. קמה ‒ BDB 879
2. קדים ‒ BDB 870, found in DSS parallel of Isa. 37:27

19:27 "But I know your sitting down,
And your going out and your coming in"

This parallels the same truth said so beautifully in Psalm 139. God knows all events, both individual and national. I reject "Open Theism"!

19:27-28 "Your raging against Me. . .
Because of your raging against Me"

Here, we see the problem. Not only had the king of Assyria attacked the forces of Judah but he was attacking the God of Judah. This is much like the confrontation between Nebuchadnezzar and the three Hebrew children (cf. Daniel 3).

The MT has "arrogance" (BDB 983, #4, cf. Isa. 37:29). The NET Bible, p. 624, #2, suggests that the poetic parallelism is improved if we emend this to "uproar."

1. arrogance ‒ שׁאננך (BDB 953)
2. uproar ‒ שׁאונך (BDB 981)

SPECIAL TOPIC: HEBREW POETRY

▣ "I will put My hook in your nose,
 And My bridle in your lips"

We know from Assyrian and Babylonian documents that these methods of torture were practiced by these two kingdoms. They would bring important prisoners before the king with nose rings and lip hooks as a sign of their utter defeat and humiliation. The nose rings can be seen in 2 Chr. 33:11; Ezek. 29:4; and 38:4. The lip hooks can be seen in Isa. 30:28.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:29-31
  ²⁹"'Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ³⁰The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³¹For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the Lord will perform this.'"

19:29 "Then this shall be a sign for you" This basically is Isaiah the prophet providing a sign for the king of Judah (cf. 1 Sam. 2:34; 14:10; 2 Kgs. 20:9), much as he did for King Ahaz, as recorded in Isaiah 7. The sign for Hezekiah was the promise of agricultural stability as a metaphor for the security of Judah against Assyria. It would take two growing seasons for life to return to normal.

This verse used four Qal IMPERATIVES as confirmation of YHWH's sign in the third year.

1. sow ‒ BDB 281, KB 282
2. reap ‒ BDB 894, KB 1126
3. plant ‒ BDB 642, KB 694
4. eat ‒ BDB 37, KB 46

By the third year all the agricultural problems caused by Assyria's "scorched earth" invasion will be gone.

▣ "what grows of itself" This NOUN (BDB 705 II) refers to what grew up from seeds which were accidently lost in harvesting the previous year. This rare root occurs only in

1. Lev. 25:5,11
2. 2 Kgs. 19:29
3. Isa. 37:30 (parallel)

19:30 "The surviving remnant of the house of Judah" See SPECIAL TOPIC: THE REMNANT, THREE SENSES.

▣ "root. . .fruit" We must remember the OT is an agricultural society. Its proverbs and promises are rural and herd/crop oriented (i.e., Job 18:16; Hosea 9:16).

19:31 "The zeal of the Lord shall perform this" The term "zeal" (BDB 888) is a very important Hebrew word. It can be translated as "jealousy," which makes it a love word. Basically this is the affirmation that God will accomplish His will in human history (cf. Isa. 9:7; 37:32; 45:7; 55:9-11).

The Masoretic scholars suggested that "the zeal of the Lord" be changed to "the zeal of the Lord of hosts" (cf. 1 Kgs. 18:15; 19:10,14; 2 Kgs. 3:14, Qere)

SPECIAL TOPIC: Lord OF HOSTS

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:32-34
  ³²"'Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, "He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. ³³By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,"' declares the Lord. ³⁴'For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake.'"

19:32 This is a series of terms describing a siege. This is the affirmation that the Assyrian army will come nowhere close to the city of Jerusalem. We know from historical records that this is absolutely accurate and that the Assyrians invaded Judah through the coastal plain and returned the same way without besieging Jerusalem (v. 33).

19:34 "For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake" This is a very significant truth. YHWH is going to act because of His own name's sake (cf. Ezek. 36:22-36). He is trying to reveal Himself to the world through Israel. Israel was meant to be a kingdom of priests, Exod. 19:5,6, so that the entire world might know and come to YHWH. Also, God had made a covenant promise with Abraham, later with Israel, uniquely personified in David (cf. 2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17), and He is faithful to His covenant promises (1 Kgs. 11:12,13).

However, YHWH's promises function on two levels.

1. He has a redemptive plan for humanity, created in His image, which is unconditonal
2. He gives humans the dignity and responsibility of choosing to be in fellowship with Him. This is conditional. choices have consequences in time and eternity.
3. Why some humans respond and some do not is a question not related to the character of God, but to the mystery of iniquity within a fallen world.

SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN

SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL'S GOD (OT)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 19:35-37
  ³⁵Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead. ³⁶So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh. ³⁷It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.

19:35 "the angel of the Lord" This is similar to the angel who performed the death of the firstborn in the Passover experience of Exodus 11-12. It is significant for us to note that death is not a servant of the evil one, but a servant of God!

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE ANGEL OF THE Lord

▣ "struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians" We are not sure where the camp of the Assyrians was located. Some believe it was at Libnah (cf. 19:18), but others, following Herodotus (Herodotus 2.141), say it was in the Nile delta at a city called Pelusium. It is interesting to note that Herodotus records an Egyptian account that the vast army of the Assyrians was reduced by an invasion of field mice which ate their weapons. Others have asserted from this that there may have been a bubonic plague. However, from the account of the Bible, it seems to have been a much more rapid demise that occurred silently in one night. I really think that the supernatural aspect of this is much more plausible from the biblical account than the theories of disease.

The large number has always caused questions. It may be related to "thousand" used in several senses.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THOUSAND (eleph)

19:37 "in the house of Nisroch his god" We have found no mention of this deity (BDB 652) in the Assyrian records.

1. Josephus says that this is a form of "Ashur" (or Enlil, ABD, vol. 4, p. 1122), which was the chief god of Syria.
2. Josephus also says this was not the name of the god but of a particular temple (Antiq. 10.1.5).

We know from Assyrian documents that they named their temples with specific titles. This may be the answer to this enigma.

▣ "that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him" From Isa. 37:38 and the Septuagint we learn that these were his sons. It is interesting that the Assyrian documents record that early in the reign of Esarhaddon, 681-669 B.C., that he fought a battle in the north with some of his brothers. This seems to fit the historical context exactly. This happened in history some twenty years after the 701 B.C. invasion. This is another reason why some believe there were two invasions of Palestine by Assyria which are combined in chapters 18 and 19.

▣ "the land of Ararat" This was a major national power to the north of Assyria (today Armenia). It was an ever present enemy or possible invader between 900-600 B.C. See IVP Bible Background Commentary (OT), p. 407.

▣ "Esarhaddon" See SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF ASSYRIA.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. How is 2 Kings 18 related to chapter 19?
2. Why is there an oral report in chapter 18 and a written report in chapter 19?
3. Explain the dating problems between 2 Kgs. 18:18; Isa. 36:1; and the Assyrian documents listing 701 B.C. as the date of this invasion.
4. List the ways in 2 Kings 18 and 19 that the king of Assyria blasphemes and reproaches YHWH.
5. Why is v. 19 so significant in seeing God's purpose for Israel?
6. How are vv. 23 and 24 related to the arrogant pride of the king of Babylon (Isaiah 14) and the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28)?
7. How do vv. 2 Kgs. 19:35-37 fit into our understanding of ANE history?

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