¹tn Heb “elders of the priests.”
²tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him.”
³tn Or “rebuke,” “correction.”
⁴tn Or “contempt.”
⁵tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”
⁶tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”
⁷tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”
⁸tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”
⁹tn Heb “by which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me.”
¹⁰tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of j~Wr (ruakh), “spirit,” is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the Lord’s sovereignty over the king is apparent.
¹¹tn Heb “hear.”
¹²tn Heb “cause him to fall,” that is, “kill him.”
¹³tn Heb “and the chief adviser returned and he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish.”
¹⁴tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹⁵tn Heb “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘Look, he has come out to fight with you.’”
¹⁶tn Heb “will not be given.”
¹⁷tn Heb “Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them.”
¹⁸tn Heb “and will you be rescued?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No, of course not!”
¹⁹tn Heb “Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed rescue them—Gozan and Haran, and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who are in Telassar?”
²⁰sn Lair is a city located in northeastern Babylon. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 235.
²¹tc The MT has the plural, “letters,” but the final mem is probably dittographic (note the initial mem on the form that immediately follows). Some Greek and Aramaic witnesses have the singular.
²²tc The MT has the plural suffix, “them,” but this probably reflects a later harmonization to the preceding textual corruption (of “letter” to “letters”). The parallel passage in Isa 37:14 has the singular suffix.
²³sn This refers to the cherub images that were above the ark of the covenant.
²⁴tn Or “the heavens.”
²⁵tn Heb “Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”
²⁶tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”
²⁷tn Heb “so they destroyed them.”
²⁸tn Heb “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in the parallel passage in Isa 37:21, where rv#a& (’asher) probably has a causal sense, “because.”
²⁹tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”
³⁰sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.
³¹sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
³²tn Heb “have you raised a voice.”
³³tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?”
³⁴tn Heb “the holy one of Israel.” This divine title pictures the Lord as the sovereign king who rules over his covenant people and exercises moral authority over them. See the note at Isa 6:3.
³⁵tn The word is yn`d)a& (’adonai), “lord,” but some Hebrew mss have hw`hy+ (yehvah), “Lord.”
³⁶tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has bk#r#B= (b^erekhev), but this must be dittographic (note the following yB!k=r] [rikhbi], “my chariots”). The marginal reading (Qere) br)B= (b^erov), “with many,” is supported by many Hebrew mss and ancient versions, as well as the parallel passage in Isa 37:24.
³⁷tn Heb “the lodging place of its extremity.”
³⁸tn Heb “I dug and drank foreign waters.”
³⁹tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
⁴⁰tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.
⁴¹tn Heb “formed.”
⁴²tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb yh!T= (t^ehi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.
⁴³tn Heb “short of hand.”
⁴⁴tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.
⁴⁵tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.
⁴⁶tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend hm*q* (qamah), “standing grain,” to <yd]q* (qadim), “east wind” (with the support of 1Q Isa^a in Isa 37:27).
⁴⁷tc Heb “your going out and your coming in.” The MT also has here, “and how you have raged against me.” However, this line is probably dittographic (note the beginning of the next line).
⁴⁸tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if En+n~a&v^ (sha’anankh), “your complacency,” is emended to En+w~a&v^ (sha’avankh), “your uproar.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38.
⁴⁹sn The word picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.
⁵⁰tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 21-28) ends and the Lord again directly addresses Hezekiah and the people (see v. 20).
⁵¹tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the toa (’ot), “sign,” is a future reminder of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.
⁵²sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.
⁵³tn Heb “and in the second year.”
⁵⁴tn Heb “in the third year.”
⁵⁵tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 29b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity. See IBHS 572 §34.4.c.
⁵⁶tn Heb “The remnant of the house of Judah that is left will add roots below and produce fruit above.”
⁵⁷tn Traditionally “the Lord of hosts.”
⁵⁸tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord.” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to protect and restore them. The Qere, along with many medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions, has “the zeal of the LORD of hosts” rather than “the zeal of the LORD” (Kethib). The translation follows the Qere here.
⁵⁹tn Heb “there.”
⁶⁰tn Heb “[with] a shield.”
⁶¹tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
⁶²tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.
⁶³tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies.”
⁶⁴tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”
⁶⁵sn The assassination probably took place in 681 b.c.
⁶⁶sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name is a corruption of Nusku.
⁶⁷tc Although “his sons” is absent in the Kethib, it is supported by the Qere, along with many medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions. Cf. Isa 37:38.
⁶⁸sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.