Isaiah 37:9-20 NIV

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 37:9

And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia ,.... Not Rabshakeh, but the king of Assyria heard a rumour of this Ethiopian king coming out to war against him: his name, in Josephus F23 Antiqu. l. 10. c. 1. sect. 4. , is Tharsices; in the Septuagint version it is Tharaca; and by Africanus F24 Apud Euseb. Chron. he is called Taracus; and is the same, who, by Strabo F25 Geograph. l. 15. p. 472. , out of Megasthenes, is named Tearcon the Ethiopian: the Ethiopia of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:10

Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying ,.... This was the direction, and these the instructions he gave to his messengers, in which he gives Hezekiah the title of king, and owns him to be king of Judah; which was more than Rabshakeh his servant would do: let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee ; than which, nothing could be more devilish and satanical, to represent the God of truth, that cannot lie, as a liar and deceiver: in this the king of Assyria outdid... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:11

Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly ,.... He boasts of the achievements of himself and his ancestors, and of more than was true; and which, if it had been true, was more to their disgrace than honour, namely, utterly to destroy kingdoms, and their inhabitants, to gratify their lusts; but though many had been destroyed by them, yet not all; not Ethiopia, whose king was come out to make war with him, and of whom he seems to be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:12

Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed ,.... They have not. But what then? is the God of Israel to be put upon a level with such dunghill gods? so Sennacherib reckoned him, as Rabshakeh before, in his name, Isaiah 36:18 , as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden, which were in Telassar . Gozan was the same, it may be, with the Gausanitis of Ptolemy F26 Geograph, l. 5. c. 18. which he makes mention of in his description of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:13

Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim ,.... The same, as some think, with the gods or idols of those places; see Gill on Isaiah 36:19 ; though it may be the princes that ruled over those cities are meant, who were either slain, or become tributary to the king of Assyria. It is added, Henah and Ivah : which some take to be the names of the gods or kings of Sepharvaim; but rather, since Sepharvaim is of the dual number, it was a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:14

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it ,.... Or books F11 את ספרים "libros", V. L. , in which the above things were written; and everyone of these he read, as Kimchi interprets it; though the Targum is, "he took the letters from the hand of the messengers, and read one of them;' that is, as Kimchi's father explains it, in which was the blasphemy against God; this he read over carefully to himself, observed the contents of it, and then did... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:15

And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying. He did not return railing for railing, but committed himself and his cause to him that judgeth righteously; he did not write an answer to the letter himself, but lays it before the Lord, and prays him to answer it, who was most principally reflected on in it. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:16

O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubim ,.... Or, "the inhabitant of the cherubim" F12 ישב הכרבים "cherubim inhabitator", Forerius. ; which were over the mercy seat, the residence of the Shechinah, or Majesty of God, the symbol of the divine Presence in the holy of holies; a title which the God of Israel, the Lord of armies in heaven, and earth bears, and distinguishes him from all other gods, and which several titles carry in them arguments to strengthen... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:17

Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear ,.... The prayer which Hezekiah was now presenting to him, as also the reproach of the enemy: open thine eyes, O Lord, and see ; the letter he spread before him, and take notice of the blasphemies in it; and punish for them. Both these clauses are to be understood after the manner of men, and in a way becoming the being and perfections of God, to whom ears and eyes are not properly to be ascribed, and so likewise the bowing of the one, and the opening... read more

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

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:12

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:13

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:14

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:15

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:16

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 37:17

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