Isaiah 37:29 - Exposition

Therefore will I put my hook in thy nose (comp. Ezekiel 29:4 ; Ezekiel 38:4 ; 2 Chronicles 33:11 ). The Assyrians were in the habit of passing "hooks" or "rings" through the noses or lips of their more distinguished prisoners, and attaching a thong to the hook or ring, by which they led the prisoners into the royal presence. The expressions used derive their force from these practices, but are not in the present place to be understood literally. God "turned Sennacherib back" and reconducted him to Nineveh. not with an actual "hook" or "thong," but by the "bridle" of necessity.