He also sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna, the scribe, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
They said to him, “Thus said Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, of chastisement, and of disgrace. The babes have reached the birthstool, but the strength to give birth is lacking.aThe babes have reached the birthstool, but the strength to give birth is lacking I.e., the situation is desperate, and we are at a loss.
Perhaps the ETERNAL your God will take note of the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to blaspheme the living God, and will mete out judgment for the words that the ETERNAL your God has heard—if you will offer up prayer for the surviving remnant.”
Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master as follows: Thus said GOD: Do not be frightened by the words of blasphemy against Me that you have heard from the minions of the king of Assyria.
Word-by-Word Analysis
ויאמר
257
אליהם
86
ישעיהו
401
כה
25
תאמרון
697
אלאדניכם
156
כה
25
אמר
241
יהוה
26
אלתירא
642
מפני
180
הדברים
261
אשר
501
שמעת
810
אשר
501
גדפו
93
נערי
330
מלךאשור
597
אותי
417
Isaiah 37:7
Gematria: 3364
הננינותןבורוחושמעשמועהושבאלארצווהפלתיובחרבבארצו
I will deludebdelude Lit. “put a spirit in.” him: He will hear a rumor and return to his land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his land.”
Word-by-Word Analysis
הנני
115
נותן
506
בו
8
רוח
214
ושמע
416
שמועה
421
ושב
308
אלארצו
328
והפלתיו
537
בחרב
212
בארצו
299
Isaiah 37:8
Gematria: 3435
וישברבשקהוימצאאתמלךאשורנלחםעללבנהכישמעכינסעמלכיש
The Rabshakeh, meanwhile, heard that [the king] had left Lachish; he turned back and found the king of Assyria attacking Libnah.
“Tell this to King Hezekiah of Judah: Do not let your God, on whom you are relying, mislead you into thinking that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hands of the king of Assyria.
Word-by-Word Analysis
כה
25
תאמרון
697
אלחזקיהו
167
מלךיהודה
120
לאמר
271
אלישאך
362
אלהיך
66
אשר
501
אתה
406
בוטח
25
בו
8
לאמר
271
לא
31
תנתן
900
ירושלם
586
ביד
16
מלך
90
אשור
507
Isaiah 37:11
Gematria: 4857
הנהאתהשמעתאשרעשומלכיאשורלכלהארצותלהחרימםואתהתנצל
You yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, how they have annihilated them; and can you escape?
Were the nations that my predecessorscpredecessors Lit. “fathers.” destroyed—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the Bethedenites in Telassar—saved by their gods?
Word-by-Word Analysis
ההצילו
146
אותם
447
אלהי
46
הגוים
64
אשר
501
השחיתו
729
אבותי
419
אתגוזן
467
ואתחרן
665
ורצף
376
ובניעדן
192
אשר
501
בתלשר
932
Isaiah 37:13
Gematria: 1949
איהמלךחמתומלךארפדומלךלעירספרויםהנעועוה
Where is the king of Hamath? and the king of Arpad? and the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”
O ETERNAL One, incline Your ear and hear, open Your eye and see. Hear all the words that Sennacherib has sent to blaspheme the living God!
Word-by-Word Analysis
הטה
19
יהוהאזנך
104
ושמע
416
פקח
188
יהוה
26
עינך
150
וראה
212
ושמע
416
את
401
כלדברי
266
סנחריב
330
אשר
501
שלח
338
לחרף
318
אלהים
86
חי
18
Isaiah 37:18
Gematria: 2886
אמנםיהוההחריבומלכיאשוראתכלהארצותואתארצם
True, O ETERNAL One, the kings of Assyria have annihilated all the nationsdnations So 2 Kings 19.17, and 13 mss. here; most mss. and editions read “lands.” and their lands
But now, O ETERNAL One our God, deliver us from his hands, and let all the kingdoms of the earth know that You, O ETERNAL One, alone [are God].”e[are God] Supplied from 2 Kings 19.19.
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “Thus said GOD, the God of Israel, to whom you have prayed, concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria—
Through your servants you have blasphemed the Sovereign.Because you thought,‘Thanks to my vast chariotry,It is I who have climbed the highest mountains,To the remotest parts of the Lebanon,And have cut down its loftiest cedars,Its choicest cypresses,And have reached its highest peak,Its densest forest.fIts densest forest Lit. “Its farmland forest”; exact meaning of Heb. uncertain.
Word-by-Word Analysis
ביד
16
עבדיך
106
חרפתאדני
753
ותאמר
647
ברב
204
רכבי
232
אני
61
עליתי
520
מרום
286
הרים
255
ירכתי
640
לבנון
138
ואכרת
627
קומת
546
ארזיו
224
מבחר
250
ברשיו
518
ואבוא
16
מרום
286
קצו
196
יער
280
כרמלו
296
Isaiah 37:25
Gematria: 3113
אניקרתיושתיתימיםואחרבבכףפעמיכליארימצור
It is I who have drawngdrawn Or “dug”; meaning of Heb. uncertain. And drunk water.I have dried up with the soles of my feetAll the streams of Egypt.’
Have you not heard? Of oldI planned that very thing,I designed it long ago,And now have fulfilled it.And it has come to pass,Laying fortified towns waste in desolate heaps.
Their inhabitants are helpless,Dismayed and shamed.They were but grass of the fieldAnd green herbage,Grass of the roofs that is blastedBefore the east wind.hthat is blasted / Before the east wind So ms. 1QIsᵃ; cf. 2 Kings 19.26. The usual reading in our passage means, literally, “and a field [?] before standing grain.”
Word-by-Word Analysis
וישביהן
383
קצרייד
414
חתו
414
ובשו
314
היו
21
עשב
372
שדה
309
וירק
316
דשא
305
חציר
308
גגות
412
ושדמה
355
לפני
170
קמה
145
Isaiah 37:28
Gematria: 2857
ושבתךוצאתךובואךידעתיואתהתרגזךאלי
I know your stayingsAnd your goings and comings,And how you have raged against Me,
Because you have raged against Me,And your tumult has reached My ears,I will place My hook in your noseAnd My bit between your jaws;And I will make you go back by the roadBy which you came.
“And this is the sign for you:iyou I.e., Hezekiah. This year you eat what grows of itself, and the next year what springs from that, and in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Word-by-Word Analysis
וזהלך
68
האות
412
אכול
57
השנה
360
ספיח
158
ובשנה
363
השנית
765
שחיס
378
ובשנה
363
השלישית
1055
זרעו
283
וקצרו
402
ונטעו
141
כרמים
310
ואכול
63
ואכלו
63
פרים
330
Isaiah 37:31
Gematria: 3423
ויספהפליטתביתיהודההנשארהשרשלמטהועשהפרילמעלה
And the survivors of the House of Judah that have escaped shall renew its trunk below and produce boughs above.
“Assuredly, thus said GOD concerning the king of Assyria:He shall not enter this city;He shall not shoot an arrow at it,Or advance upon it with a shield,Or pile up a siege mound against it.
Word-by-Word Analysis
לכן
100
כהאמר
266
יהוה
26
אלמלך
121
אשור
507
לא
31
יבוא
19
אלהעיר
316
הזאת
413
ולאיורה
258
שם
340
חץ
98
ולאיקדמנה
246
מגן
93
ולאישפך
447
עליה
115
סללה
125
Isaiah 37:34
Gematria: 1957
בדרךאשרבאבהישובואלהעירהזאתלאיבואנאםיהוה
He shall go backBy the way he came,He shall not enter this city—declares GOD;
Word-by-Word Analysis
בדרך
226
אשרבא
504
בה
7
ישוב
318
ואלהעיר
322
הזאת
413
לא
31
יבוא
19
נאםיהוה
117
Isaiah 37:35
Gematria: 2255
וגנותיעלהעירהזאתלהושיעהלמעניולמעןדודעבדיס
I will protect and save this city for My sakeAnd for the sake of My servant David.”
[That night]j[That night] Supplied from 2 Kings 19.35. an angel of GOD went out and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp, and the following morning they were all dead corpses.
Word-by-Word Analysis
ויצא
107
מלאך
91
יהוה
26
ויכה
41
במחנה
105
אשור
507
מאה
46
ושמנים
446
וחמשה
359
אלף
111
וישכימו
392
בבקר
304
והנה
66
כלם
90
פגרים
333
מתים
490
Isaiah 37:37
Gematria: 1898
ויסעוילךוישבסנחריבמלךאשורוישבבנינוה
So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and retreated, and stayed in Nineveh.
While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, he was struck down with the sword by his sons Adrammelech and Sarezer. They fled to the land of Ararat, and his son Esarhaddon succeeded him as king.