Isaiah 36

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 36

The prophet Isaiah is, in this and the three following chapters, an historian; for the scripture history, as well as the scripture prophecy, is given by inspiration of God, and was dictated to holy men. Many of the prophecies of the foregoing chapters had their accomplishment in Sennacherib's invading Judah and besieging Jerusalem, and the miraculous defeat he met with there; and therefore the story of this is here inserted, both for the explication and for the confirmation of the prophecy.... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 36:1-10

We shall here only observe some practical lessons. 1. A people may be in the way of their duty and yet meet with trouble and distress. Hezekiah was reforming, and his people were in some measure reformed; and yet their country is at that time invaded and a great part of it laid waste. Perhaps they began to grow remiss and cool in the work of reformation, were doing it by halves, and ready to sit down short of a thorough reformation; and then God visited them with this judgment, to put life... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 36:11-22

We may hence learn these lessons:?1. That, while princes and counsellors have public matters under debate, it is not fair to appeal to the people. It was a reasonable motion which Hezekiah's plenipotentiaries made, that this parley should be held in a language which the people did not understand (Isa. 36:11), because reasons of state are secret things and ought to be kept secret, the vulgar being incompetent judges of them. It is therefore an unfair practice, and not doing as men would be done... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 36

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 36 In this chapter we have an account of the king Assyria's invasion of Judea, and of the railing speech of Rabshakeh his general, to discourage the ministers and subjects of the king of Judah. The time and success of the invasion are observed in Isaiah 36:1 the messenger the former king sent to the latter, and from whence, and with whom, he conferred, Isaiah 36:2 , the speech of the messenger, which consists of two parts; the first part is directed to the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 36:1

Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah ,.... The following piece of history is inserted from the books of Kings and Chronicles, as an illustration of some preceding prophecies, and as a confirmation of them; see 2 Kings 18:13 . that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah ; who in the Apocrypha: "And if the king Sennacherib had slain any, when he was come, and fled from Judea, I buried them privily; for in his wrath he killed... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 36:2

And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto King Hezekiah with a great army ,.... Notwithstanding he had taken Hezekiah's money to withdraw his army out of his country, yet sends it out to his very capital; along with this Rabshakeh he sent two other generals, Tartan and Rabsaris, 2 Kings 18:17 though they are not mentioned, only Rabshakeh, because he was the principal person, however the chief speaker. Lachish was a city in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:39 ,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 36:3

Then came forth unto him ,.... Being sent by Hezekiah; for otherwise Rabshakeh had the impudence to call to him, in order to parley, and treat with him about the surrender of the city; but as this was not thought either safe or honourable for the king to go in person, his following ministers went; see 2 Kings 18:18 , Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house ; not over the house of the Lord, the temple, as some, but the king's house, being high steward of if, or "major domo".... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 36:4

And Rabshakeh said unto them ,.... The three ministers above mentioned: say ye now to Hezekiah ; tell him what follows; he does not call him king, as he does his own master: thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria ; this he said boastingly of his master, and in order to terrify Hezekiah and his subjects; whom he would represent as little in comparison of him, who had subdued many kingdoms, and aimed at universal monarchy; so the eastern kings used to be called, as now the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 36:5

I say, (sayest thou,) but they are but vain words ,.... Or, "word of lips" F6 דבר שפתים "verbum labiorum", Montanus; "vel, sermo labiorum", Vatablus. ; meaning the following, which he suggests were only the fruit of his lips, not of his heart; or were vain and foolish, and without effect, and stood for nothing; so the first part of the words are Hezekiah's, "I say (sayest thou)"; and the latter, Rabshakeh's note upon them; though they may be understood as Hezekiah's, or what he is... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 36:6

Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt ,.... His ally and auxiliary; and which is rightly called "the staff of a broken reed", if trusted to, and leaned upon, being weak and frail, and an insufficient ground of confidence to depend upon; the allusion seems to be to the cane or reed which grew upon the banks of the river Nile, in Egypt: whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it ; the splinters of the broken reed being leaned on, will enter into a... read more

Group of Brands