2 Kings 19:9-14 - Exposition

Sennacherib ' s letter to Hezekiah . Sennacherib seems to have been induced to write to Hezekiah by the fact that he could not march against him at once. A forward movement on the part of Tirhakah was reported to him ( 2 Kings 19:9 ), and he thought it necessary to meet, or at least watch it. But he must vent his anger on the rebel Judaean monarch in some way. He sends a letter, therefore, as more weighty and impressive than a mere message. He warns Hezekiah against being himself deceived by Jehovah ( 2 Kings 19:10 ); and he expands his inductive argument in proof of the irresistible might of Assyria, by an enumeration of four more recent conquests ( 2 Kings 19:12 ). Otherwise, he does little but repeat what Rabshakeh had already urged.