¹map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
²tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
³tn The parallel passage in 2 Chr 29:1 has “Abijah.”
⁴tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, according to all which David his father had done.”
⁵tn Heb “until those days.”
⁶tn In Hebrew the name sounds like the phrase tv#j)N+h^ vj^n+ (n^ekhash hann^ekhoshet), “bronze serpent.”
⁷tn Heb “and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, and those who were before him.”
⁸tn Heb “he hugged.”
⁹tn Heb “and did not turn aside from after him.”
¹⁰tn Heb “had commanded.”
¹¹tn Heb “in all which he went out [to do], he was successful.”
¹²tn Heb “and did not serve him.”
¹³sn See the note at 2 Kgs 17:9.
¹⁴tn Heb “went” (also in v. 13).
¹⁵map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
¹⁶tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” as the object of the verb.
¹⁷tn Heb “listen to the voice of.”
¹⁸tn Heb “his covenant.”
¹⁹tn Heb “all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded, and they did not listen and they did not act.”
²⁰tn Or “I have done wrong.”
²¹tn Heb “Return from upon me; what you place upon me, I will carry.”
²²sn See the note at 1 Kgs 9:14.
²³tn Heb “that was found.”
²⁴tn Heb “At that time Hezekiah stripped the doors of the Lord’s temple, and the posts which Hezekiah king of Judah had plated.”
²⁵sn For a discussion of these titles see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 229-30.
²⁶map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
²⁷tn Heb “and they went up and came.”
²⁸tn Heb “the field of the washer.”
²⁹tn Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?”
³⁰tn Heb “you say only a word of lips, counsel and might for battle.” Sennacherib’s message appears to be in broken Hebrew at this point. The phrase “word of lips” refers to mere or empty talk in Prov 14:23.
³¹tn Heb “exchange pledges.”
³²tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 23-24 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 21. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”
³³tn Heb “Go.”
³⁴sn In v. 25 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 22. He claims that Hezekiah has offended the Lord and that the Lord has commissioned Assyria as his instrument of discipline and judgment.
³⁵sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the empire.
³⁶tn Or “Hebrew.”
³⁷tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.
³⁸tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”
sn The chief adviser alludes to the horrible reality of siege warfare, when the starving people in the besieged city would resort to eating and drinking anything to stay alive.
³⁹tn The Hebrew text also has, “and he spoke and said.”
⁴⁰tc The MT has “his hand,” but this is due to graphic confusion of vav (w) and yod (y). The translation reads “my hand,” along with many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate.
⁴¹tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”
⁴²tn Heb “Have the gods of the nations really rescued, each his land, from the hand of the king of Assyria?” The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the main verb. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not!”
⁴³tn The parallel passage in Isa 36:19 omits “Hena and Ivvah.” The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”
⁴⁴map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
⁴⁵tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 33, 35).
⁴⁶tn Heb “that the Lord might rescue Jerusalem from my hand?” The logic runs as follows: Since no god has ever been able to withstand the Assyrian onslaught, how can the people of Jerusalem possibly think the Lord will rescue them?
⁴⁷sn As a sign of grief and mourning.