Isaiah 37:18

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 37:8-20

We may observe here, 1. That, if God give us inward satisfaction in his promise, this may confirm us in our silently bearing reproaches. God answered Hezekiah, but it does not appear that he, after deliberation, sent any answer to Rabshakeh; but, God having taken the work into his own hands, he quietly left the matter with him. So Rabshakeh returned to the king his master for fresh instructions. 2. Those that delight in war shall have enough of it. Sennacherib, without provocation given to him... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:18

Of a truth Lord ,.... This is a truth and will be readily owned what the king of Assyria has said that his ancestors have destroyed all lands, or at least have endeavoured to do it, and have had it in their hearts to do it: the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries : or "all the lands and their land" F13 כל הארצות ואת ארצם "omnes terras, et terram eorum", Pagninus, Montanus; "vel terram inquam eorum", Vatablus. ; the Targum is, "all... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 37:18

The nations - הארצות haratsoth , "the lands; "instead of this word, which destroys the sense, ten of Kennicott's and five of De Rossi's MSS. (one ancient) have here גוים goyim , "nations;" which is undoubtedly the true reading, being preserved also in the other copy; 2 Kings 19:17 . Another MS. suggests another method of rectifying the sense in this place, by reading מלכם malcam , "their king, "instead of ארצם artsam , "their land;" but it ought to be מלכיהם malcheyhem ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 37:1-18

Hezekiah's resources. The conduct of the king on hearing the haughty message of the Assyrian is that of a man of habitually religious mind and religious practice. 1 . He rends his garments and covers himself with sackcloth. This was significant of sorrow and of self-humiliation: "Humble yourselves beneath the mighty hand of God, and he will exalt you in due time." Instead of searching far and wide for the causes of our distress, it were well to look first into our own hearts, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 37:1-38

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 37:14-20

Taking our cross to God, and casting all our care upon him. Deep afflictions seem to pass beyond the reach of human aid. Whether it be bereavement, or sense of sin, or coming trouble of any heavy kind, the profoundly afflicted soul for the most part feels human hell) vain, human sympathy impertinent, and finds no refuge, no consolation, except in pouring itself out before God. We know that "he careth for us" (1 Peter 6:7); we know that he can understand us. It is true wisdom to fly to him,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 37:14-20

Righteousness in prayer. Hezekiah's was the effectual prayer of a righteous man. It was effectual because it was right-minded. Had he gone to the Lord in an unacceptable spirit, he would have met with a very different response. Our prayers may be unexceptionable, so far as time, place, demeanour, and even language are concerned, and yet they may be fruitless, because our mind is not attuned to the true spirit of devotion. We have here five features which should always characterize our... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 37:18

Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations . This was a stubborn fact, which it was impossible to deny. From the time of Asshur-izir-pal at any rate, about b.c. 880, Assyria had pursued for nearly two centuries a steady career of conquest, reducing the nations which were her neighbors, almost without exception, and gradually spreading her power from the tract immediately about Nineveh to the Persian Gulf on the south, the great plateau of Iran on the east, the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 37:18-19

Faith neither blind to seemingly adverse facts, nor chary of admitting them. Sennacherib thought to destroy Hezekiah's trust in Jehovah by an array of facts which he regarded as having the force of an induction. Hezekiah fully admitted the facts ("Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries"), but did not suffer his faith to be shaken by them. His faith rested upon another distinct set of facts, which Sennacherib's did not and could not... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 37:18

Of a truth - It is as he has said, that all the nations had been subjected to the arms of the Assyrian. He now intends to add Jerusalem to the number of vanquished cities and kingdoms, and to boast; that he has subdued the nation under the protection of Yahweh, as he had done the nations under the protection of idol-gods.Have laid waste all, the nations - Hebrew, as Margin, ‘All the lands.’ But this is evidently an elliptical form of expression, meaning all the inhabitants or people of the... read more

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