Verse 10
Am I now come up without the Lord - Probably some apostate Israelitish priest might have encouraged the king of Assyria by telling him that Jehovah had given him a commission against Jerusalem.
Verse 12
That they may eat their own dung "Destined to eat their own dung" - לאכל leechol, that they may eat, as our translation literally renders it. But the Syriac reads מאכל meechol, that they may not eat, perhaps rightly, and afterward ומשתות umishshethoth, or ושתות ushethoth, to the same purpose. Seventeen of Dr. Kennicott's MSS., ten of De Rossi's and two of my own, read מימי meymey, the water; mine have מימי שניהם meymey sheneyhem, and write in the margin מימי רגליהם meymey regaleyhem, the water of their feet, a modest way of expressing urine.
Verse 15
This city shall not be delivered - ולא velo, And this city. Ten of Kennicott's MSS., and nine of De Rossi's, with one (ancient) of my own, add the conjunction.
Verse 16
Make an agreement - ברכה berachah, make a blessing with me; i.e., Give me a ransom for the city, and I will not destroy it; give me the yearly tribute thou hast promised.
Verse 17
And vineyards - The other copy, [2Kgs 18:32], adds here: "A land of oil-olive, and of honey; that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah when he seduceth you."
Verse 19
Where are the gods - Many MSS. add the conjunction here also: And, or But, where are the gods, etc.
For other matters relative to this chapter, see the notes on [2Kgs 18:13] (note), etc.
Of Sepharvaim - The other copy, [2Kgs 18:34], adds, of "Henah and Ivah."
Have they delivered - וכי vechi. The copulative is not expressed here by the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and three MSS.; nor is it in any other copy. Ib. Houbigant reads הכי hachi, with the interrogative particle; a probable conjecture, which the ancient Versions above quoted seem to favor.
Verse 21
But they held their peace "But the people held their peace" - The word העם haam, the people, is supplied from the other copy, and is authorized by a MS. which inserts it after אתו otho.
Introduction
Hezekiah is greatly distressed, and sends to Isaiah the prophet to pray for him, [Isa 37:1-4]. Isaiah returns a comfortable answer, and predicts the destruction of the king of Assyria and his army, [Isa 37:5-7]. Sennacherib, hearing that his kingdom was invaded by the Ethiopians, sends a terrible letter to Hezekiah, to induce him to surrender, [Isa 37:9-13]. Hezekiah goes to the temple, spreads the letter before the Lord, and makes a most affecting prayer, [Isa 37:14-20]. Isaiah is sent to him to assure him that his prayer is heard; that Jerusalem shall be delivered; and that the Assyrians shall be destroyed, [Isa 37:21-35]. That very night a messenger of God slays one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians, [Isa 37:36]. Sennacherib returns to Nineveh, and is slain by his own sons, [Isa 37:37], [Isa 37:38].
Verse 6
Thus shall ye say - כה תאמרון ko tomerun, "thus shall ye (explicitly, earnestly, and positively) say. "The paragogic nun deepens and increases the sense.
Verse 7
I will send a blast "I will infuse a spirit into him" - "נותין בו רוח nothen bo roach never signifies any thing but putting a spirit into a person: this was πνευμα δειλιας, the spirit of deceit." - Secker. "I will send a blast" - I do not think that Archbishop Secker has hit the true meaning of these words. I believe רוח ruach means here a pestilential wind, such as the Arabs call simoom, that instantly suffocates both man and beast; and is what is termed "the angel of the Lord," God's messenger of death to the Assyrians, [Isa 37:36].
Verse 8
Rabshakeh returned - From [Isa 36:2], we learn that the king of Assyria had sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem; now it is likely that Rabshakeh had besieged that place, and that the king of Assyria had taken his station before this city, and dispatched Rabshakeh against Jerusalem. But, as in the verse above it is said, "he had departed from Lachish," probably he had been obliged to raise the siege, and sat down before Libnah, which promised an easier conquest.
Verse 9
He heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia - When he heard that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia had come out against him, then he sent that blasphemous manifesto which is contained in [Isa 37:10-13], to terrify Hezekiah into submission. How much was this like, in words and spirit, to the manifesto sent to the Parisians by the late Duke of Brunswick, from the plains of Champaigne, in 1792, which was the forerunner of the mighty torrents of human blood which was shed in the French revolution! And what a blast of God fell upon him and his army - nearly like that which fell on the army of Sennacherib!
He sent messengers "He sent messengers again" - The word וישמע vaiyishma, "and he heard, "which occurs the second time in this verse, is repeated by mistake from the beginning of the verse. It is omitted in an ancient MS. It is a mere tautology, and embarrasses the sense. The true reading instead of it is, וישב veyesheb, "and he returned, "which the Septuagint read in this place, απεστρεψε, and which is preserved in the other copy, [2Kgs 19:9] : "He returned and sent, "that is, according to the Hebrew idiom, "he sent again."
Verse 12
As Gozan, and Haran - חרן Charan: but הרן Haran is the reading of four of Kennicott's MSS. and one of De Rossi's.
Verse 14
And read it "And read them" - ויקראם vayikraem. So MS. Bodl. in this place; and so the other copy; instead of ויקראהו vaiyikraehu, "and read It."
And spread it "And spread them" - ויפרשהו vaiyiphresehu. הו hu is upon a rasure in a MS., which probably was at first ם mem. The same mistake as in the foregoing note.
Verse 15
Unto the Lord "Before Jehovah" - That is, in the sanctuary. For אל el, the Syriac, Chaldee, and the other copy, [2Kgs 19:15], read לפני liphney, "before the face."
Verse 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; [2Kgs 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, "all the countries and their kings."
Verse 20
Save us "Save us, we beseech thee" - The supplicating particle, נא na, is supplied here from eighteen MSS., three ancient, of Dr. Kennicott, and ten of De Rossi, and from the other copy; [2Kgs 19:19].
That thou art the Lord, even thou only "That thou Jehovah art the only God" - The word אלהים Elohim, "God, "is lost here in the Hebrew text, but preserved in the other copy; [2Kgs 19:19]. The Syriac and Septuagint seem here to have had in their copies אלהים Elohim, instead of יהוה Yehovah.
Verse 21
Then Isaiah - sent unto Hezekiah - The Syriac and Septuagint understand and render the verb passively, was sent.
Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib "Thy prayer unto me concerning Sennacherib - I have heard" - שמעתי shamati; this word, necessary to the sense, is lost in this place out of the Hebrew text. One MS. of Dr. Kennicott's and one of De Rossi's have it written above the line in a later hand. The Septuagint and Syriac found it in their copies; and it is preserved in the other copy; [2Kgs 19:20].
Verse 23
Against the Holy One of Israel - For אל el, to, the other copy has על al, against, rather more properly.