1Und es geschah, als der KönigH4428 HiskiaH2396 es hörteH8085, da zerriß erH7167 seine KleiderH899 und hüllte sichH3680 in Sacktuch und gingH935 in das HausH1004 JehovasH3068. 2Und er sandteH7971 EljakimH471, der über das HausH1004 war, und Schebna, den SchreiberH5608, und die ÄltestenH2205 der PriesterH3548, in Sacktuch gehüllt zuH3680 dem ProphetenH5030 JesajaH3470, dem SohneH1121 AmozH531 '. 3Und sie sprachenH559 zu ihm: So sprichtH559 HiskiaH2396 : Dieser TagH3117 ist ein TagH3117 der Bedrängnis und der Züchtigung und der Schmähung; denn die KinderH1121 sind bis an die GeburtH4866 gekommenH935, aber da ist keine KraftH3581 zum GebärenH3205. 4Vielleicht wirdH4672 JehovaH3068, dein GottH430, dieH7611 WorteH1697 des Rabsake hören, welchen sein HerrH3068, der KönigH4428 von AssyrienH804, gesandtH7971 hatH8085, umH1697 den lebendigenH2416 GottH430 zu verhöhnen, undH5375 wird die Worte bestrafen, die Jehova, dein GottH430, gehörtH8085 hatH3198. Erhebe denn ein GebetH8605 für den Überrest, der sich noch vorfindet. 5Und die KnechteH5650 des KönigsH4428 HiskiaH2396 kamenH935 zu JesajaH3470. 6Und JesajaH3470 sprachH559 zu ihnen: Also sollt ihr zu eurem HerrnH113 sagenH559 : So spricht JehovaH3068 : FürchteH3372 dich nicht vor den Worten, die du gehörtH8085 hastH559, womit die DienerH5288 des KönigsH4428 vonH6440 AssyrienH804 mich gelästertH1442 habenH1697. 7Siehe, ich will ihm einen GeistH7307 eingeben, daß erH5414 ein GerüchtH8052 hörenH8085 und in sein LandH776 zurückkehren wird; und ich will ihn durchs SchwertH2719 fällenH5307 in seinem LandeH776. 8Und der Rabsake kehrteH7725 zurück und fandH4672 den KönigH4428 von AssyrienH804 streitend wider LibnaH3841; denn er hatte gehörtH8085, daß er von LachisH3923 aufgebrochen wäre. 9Und erH559 hörteH8085 vonH3318 Tirhaka, dem KönigH4428 von Äthiopien, sagen: Er ist ausgezogen, um wider dich zu streitenH3898. Und als er es hörteH8085, sandteH7971 er BotenH4397 zu HiskiaH2396 und sprachH559 : 10So sollt ihr zu HiskiaH2396, dem KönigeH4428 von JudaH3063, sprechen und sagenH559 : Daß dichH982 nicht täusche dein GottH430, auf den duH559 vertraust, indem duH559 sprichst: JerusalemH3389 wird nicht in die HandH3027 des KönigsH4428 von AssyrienH804 gegebenH5414 werden! 11Siehe, du hastH8085 gehört, was die KönigeH4428 von AssyrienH804 allen LändernH776 getanH6213 haben, indem sieH2763 sie vertilgten; und du solltest errettetH5337 werden? 12Haben die GötterH430 der Nationen, welche meine VäterH1 vernichtet haben, sie errettetH5337 : GosanH1470 undH7843 HaranH2771 und RezephH7530 und die KinderH1121 EdensH5729, die in Telassar waren? 13Wo ist der KönigH4428 von HamathH2574 und der KönigH4428 von ArpadH774 und der KönigH4428 der StadtH5892 Sepharwaim, von HenaH2012 und IwaH5755? 14Und HiskiaH2396 nahmH3947 den BriefH5612 aus der HandH3027 der BotenH4397 und lasH7121 ihnH3068; und er gingH5927 hinauf in das HausH1004 Jehovas, und HiskiaH2396 breiteteH6566 ihnH3068 vorH6440 Jehova aus. 15Und HiskiaH2396 beteteH6419 zu JehovaH3068 und sprachH559 : 16JehovaH3068 der HeerscharenH6635, GottH430 IsraelsH3478, der duH3427 zwischen den CherubimH3742 thronst, du allein bist es, der der GottH430 ist von allen KönigreichenH4467 der ErdeH776; du hast den HimmelH8064 und die ErdeH776 gemachtH6213. 17JehovaH3068, neigeH5186 dein OhrH241 und höreH8085! JehovaH3068, tueH6491 deine AugenH5869 auf und siehH7200! Ja, höre alle die Worte SanheribsH5576, der gesandtH7971 hatH8085, umH1697 den lebendigenH2416 GottH430 zu verhöhnen! 18Wahrlich, JehovaH3068, die KönigeH4428 von AssyrienH804 habenH2717 alle Nationen und ihr LandH776 verwüstet; 19und sieH5414 haben ihre GötterH430 ins FeuerH784 geworfen, denn sie waren nichtH3027 GötterH430, sondern einH6 WerkH4639 von MenschenhändenH120, HolzH6086 und SteinH68, und sie haben sie zerstört. 20Und nun, JehovaH3068, unser GottH430, rette unsH3467 von seiner HandH3027, damit alle KönigreicheH4467 der ErdeH776 wissenH3045, daß du allein JehovaH3068 bist! 21Da sandte JesajaH3470, der SohnH1121 AmozH531 ', zu HiskiaH2396 und ließH7971 ihm sagenH559 : So spricht JehovaH3068, der GottH430 IsraelsH3478 : Was du zu mir gebetet hastH559 wegen SanheribsH5576, des KönigsH4428 von AssyrienH804 - 22dies ist das WortH1697, welches JehovaH3068 über ihn geredet hatH1696 : Es verachtetH959 dich, es spottetH3932 deiner die JungfrauH1330, die TochterH1323 ZionH6726; die TochterH1323 JerusalemH3389 schütteltH5128 das HauptH7218 dir nachH310. 23Wen hastH2778 du verhöhnt undH5375 gelästertH1442, und gegen wen die StimmeH6963 erhobenH7311? Gegen den HeiligenH6918 IsraelsH3478 hast du deine AugenH5869 emporgerichtet! 24DurchH3027 deine KnechteH5650 hastH2778 du den HerrnH136 verhöhnt undH1265 hastH559 gesprochen: "Mit meiner WagenH7393 MengeH7230 habeH3772 ich die HöhenH4791 der BergeH2022 erstiegen, das äußerste EndeH3411 des LibanonH3844; und ich werde umhauen den Hochwuchs seiner ZedernH730, die Auswahl seiner Zypressen, und ich werde kommenH935 aufH5927 seine äußerste HöheH4791, in seinen Gartenwald. 25Ich habe gegrabenH6979 und WasserH4325 getrunkenH8354; und mit der Sohle meiner FüßeH6471 werde ich austrocknenH2717 alle Ströme Mazors. " 26HastH8085 duH3335 nicht gehört, daß ich von fernher es gewirkt undH6924 von den TagenH3117 der Vorzeit her es gebildet habeH6213? Nun habe ich es kommenH935 lassen, daß du festeH1219 StädteH5892 verwüstest zu öden SteinhaufenH5327. 27Und ihre Bewohner waren machtlos, sieH3427 wurden bestürzt und beschämt; sieH6440 waren wie KrautH6212 des FeldesH7704 und grünes GrasH1877, wie GrasH2682 der DächerH1406, und Korn, das verbrannt ist, ehe es aufschießt. 28Und ich kenneH3045 dein SitzenH3427, und dein AusH3318 -und dein EingehenH935, und dein TobenH7264 wider mich. 29Wegen deines Tobens wider mich, und weil dein ÜbermutH7600 in meine OhrenH241 heraufgekommen istH7725, werdeH7264 ich meinen RingH2397 in deine NaseH639 legenH7760 und mein GebißH4964 in deine LippenH8193, und werde dich zurückführen aufH5927 dem WegeH1870, auf welchem du gekommenH935 bist. 30Und dies soll dir das ZeichenH226 sein: Man wird in diesem JahreH8141 den Nachwuchs der ErnteH7114 essenH398, und im zweitenH8145 JahreH8141 was ausgesproßt ist; und im drittenH7992 JahreH8141 säetH2232 und erntet, und pflanzetH5193 WeinbergeH3754 und essetH398 ihre FruchtH6529. 31UndH6213 das Entronnene vom HauseH1004 JudaH3063, das übriggebliebenH7604 istH6413, wird wiederH3254 wurzelnH8328 nach untenH4295 und FruchtH6529 tragen nach obenH4605. 32Denn vonH3318 JerusalemH3389 wird ein Überrest ausgehen, und ein Entronnenes vom BergeH2022 ZionH6726. Der EiferH7068 JehovasH3068 der HeerscharenH6635 wird solches tunH6213. 33Darum, so spricht JehovaH3068 von dem KönigH4428 von AssyrienH804 : ErH559 soll nicht in diese StadtH5892 kommenH6923, und erH935 soll keinen PfeilH2671 darein schießen und keinen SchildH4043 ihr zukehren, und erH3384 soll keinen WallH5550 gegen sie aufschüttenH8210. 34Auf dem WegeH1870, den erH935 gekommen istH7725, auf dem soll erH935 zurückkehren und soll in diese StadtH5892 nicht kommen, sprichtH5002 JehovaH3068. 35Und ich will diese StadtH5892 beschirmenH1598, um sie zu retten, um meinet-und um DavidsH1732, meines KnechtesH5650, willen. 36Und ein EngelH4397 JehovasH3068 zog ausH3318 und schlugH5221 in dem LagerH4264 der AssyrerH804 hundertfünfundachtzigtausend H3967 H2568 H8084 H505 Mann. Und als man des MorgensH1242 frühH7925 aufstand, siehe, da waren sie allesamt LeichnameH6297. 37Und SanheribH5576, der KönigH4428 von AssyrienH804, brach auf, und erH3212 zogH5265 fort und kehrteH7725 zurück und bliebH3427 in NiniveH5210. 38Und es geschah, als erH5221 sichH7812 niederbeugte im HauseH1004 Nisroks, seines GottesH430, da erschlugen ihn Adrammelek und Scharezer, seine SöhneH1121, mit dem SchwerteH2719; und sie entrannenH4422 in das LandH776 AraratH780. Und Esar-HaddonH634, sein SohnH1121, ward KönigH4427 an seiner Statt.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 CONTINUATION OF THE NARRATIVE IN THE THIRTY-SIXTH CHAPTER. (Isa. 37:1-38)
sackcloth--(See on
Isa 20:2).
house of the Lord--the sure resort of God's people in distress (
Ps 73:16-
Ps 73:17;
Ps 77:13).
2 unto Isaiah--implying the importance of the prophet's position at the time; the chief officers of the court are deputed to wait on him (compare
2Kgs 22:12-14).
3 rebuke--that is, the Lord's rebuke for His people's sins (
Ps 149:7;
Hos 5:9).
blasphemy--blasphemous railing of Rab-shakeh.
the children, &c.--a proverbial expression for, We are in the most extreme danger and have no power to avert it (compare
Hos 13:13).
4 hear--take cognizance of (
2Sam 16:12).
reprove--will punish him for the words, &c. (
Ps 50:21).
remnant--the two tribes of the kingdom of Judah, Israel being already captive. Isaiah is entreated to act as intercessor with God.
6 servants--literally, "youths," mere lads, implying disparagement, not an embassy of venerable elders. The Hebrew is different from that for "servants" in
Isa 37:5.
blasphemed me-- (
Isa 36:20).
7 blast--rather, "I will put a spirit (
Isa 28:6;
1Kgs 22:23) into him," that is, so influence his judgment that when he hears the report (
Isa 37:9, concerning Tirhakah), he shall return [GESENIUS]; the "report" also of the destruction of his army at Jerusalem, reaching Sennacherib, while he was in the southwest of Palestine on the borders of Egypt, led him to retreat.
by the sword-- (
Isa 37:38).
8 returned--to the camp of his master.
Libnah--meaning "whiteness," the Blanche-garde of the Crusaders [STANLEY]. EUSEBIUS and JEROME place it more south, in the district of Eleutheropolis, ten miles northwest of Lachish, which Sennacherib had captured (see on
Isa 36:2). Libnah was in Judea and given to the priests (
1Chr 6:54,
1Chr 6:57).
9 Tirhakah--(See on
Isa 17:12;
Isa 18:6). Egypt was in part governed by three successive Ethiopian monarchs, for forty or fifty years: Sabacho, Sevechus, and Tirhakah. Sevechus retired from Lower Egypt owing to the resistance of the priests, whereupon Sethos, a prince-priest, obtained supreme power with Tanis (Zoan in Scripture), or Memphis, as his capital. The Ethiopians retained Upper Egypt under Tirhakah, with Thebes as the capital. Tirhakah's fame as a conqueror rivalled that of Sesostris; he, and one at least, of the Pharaohs of Lower Egypt, were Hezekiah's allies against Assyria. The tidings of his approach made Sennacherib the more anxious to get possession of Jerusalem before his arrival.
sent--
2Kgs 19:9 more fully expresses Sennacherib's eagerness by adding "again."
10 He tries to influence Hezekiah himself, as Rab-shakeh had addressed the people.
God . . . deceive--(Compare
Num 23:19).
11 all lands-- (
Isa 14:17). He does not dare to enumerate Egypt in the list.
12 Gozan--in Mesopotamia, on the Chabour (
2Kgs 17:6;
2Kgs 18:11). Gozan is the name of the district, Chabour of the river.
Haran--more to the west. Abraham removed to it from Ur (
Gen 11:31); the Carroe of the Romans.
Rezeph--farther west, in Syria.
Eden--There is an ancient village, Adna, north of Baghdad. Some think Eden to be the name of a region (of Mesopotamia or its vicinity) in which was Paradise; Paradise was not Eden itself (
Gen 2:8). "A garden in Eden."
Telassar--now Tel-afer, west of Mosul [LAYARD]. Tel means a "hill" in Arabic and Assyrian names.
13 Hena . . . Ivah--in Babylonia. From Ava colonists had been brought to Samaria (
2Kgs 17:24).
14 spread--unrolled the scroll of writing. God "knows our necessities before we ask Him," but He delights in our unfolding them to Him with filial confidence (
2Chr 20:3,
2Chr 20:11-13).
16 dwellest--the Shekinah, or fiery symbol of God's presence, dwelling in the temple with His people, is from shachan, "to dwell" (
Exod 25:22;
Ps 80:1;
Ps 99:1).
cherubim--derived by transposition from either a Hebrew root, rachab, to "ride"; or rather, barach, to "bless." They were formed out of the same mass of pure gold as the mercy seat itself (
Exod 25:19, Margin). The phrase, "dwellest between the cherubim," arose from their position at each end of the mercy seat, while the Shekinah, and the awful name, JEHOVAH, in written letters, were in the intervening space. They are so inseparably associated with the manifestation of God's glory, that whether the Lord is at rest or in motion, they always are mentioned with Him (
Num 7:89;
Ps 18:10). (1) They are first mentioned (
Gen 3:24) "on the edge of" (as "on the east" may be translated) Eden; the Hebrew for "placed" is properly to "place in a tabernacle," which implies that this was a local tabernacle in which the symbols of God's presence were manifested suitably to the altered circumstances in which man, after the fall, came before God. It was here that Cain and Abel, and the patriarchs down to the flood, presented their offerings: and it is called "the presence of the Lord" (
Gen 4:16). When those symbols were removed at the close of that early patriarchal dispensation, small models of them were made for domestic use, called, in Chaldee, "seraphim" or "teraphim." (2) The cherubim, in the Mosaic tabernacle and Solomon's temple, were the same in form as those at the outskirts of Eden: compound figures, combining the distinguishing properties of several creatures: the ox, chief among the tame and useful animals; the lion among the wild ones; the eagle among birds; and man, the head of all (the original headship of man over the animal kingdom, about to be restored in Jesus Christ,
Ps 8:4-
Ps 8:8, is also implied in this combination). They are, throughout Scripture, represented as distinct from God; they could not be likenesses of Him which He forbade in any shape. (3) They are introduced in the third or gospel dispensation (
Rev 4:6) as "living creatures" (not so well translated "beasts" in English Version), not angels, but beings closely connected with the redeemed Church. So also in Eze. 1:5-25; 10:1-22. Thus, throughout the three dispensations, they seem to be symbols of those who in every age should officially study and proclaim the manifold wisdom of God.
thou alone--literally, "Thou art He who alone art God of all the kingdoms"; whereas Sennacherib had classed Jehovah with the heathen gods, he asserts the nothingness of the latter and the sole lordship of the former.
17 ear . . . eyes--singular, plural. When we wish to hear a thing we lend one ear; when we wish to see a thing we open both eyes.
18 have laid waste--conceding the truth of the Assyrian's allegation (
Isa 36:18-
Isa 36:20), but adding the reason, "For they were no gods."
19 cast . . . gods into . . . fire--The policy of the Assyrians in order to alienate the conquered peoples from their own countries was, both to deport them elsewhere, and to destroy the tutelary idols of their nation, the strongest tie which bound them to their native land. The Roman policy was just the reverse.
20 The strongest argument to plead before God in prayer, the honor of God (
Exod 32:12-
Exod 32:14;
Ps 83:18;
Dan 9:18-
Dan 9:19).
21 Whereas thou hast prayed to me--that is, hast not relied on thy own strength but on Me (compare
2Kgs 19:20). "That which thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib, I have heard" (
Ps 65:2).
22 Transition to poetry: in parallelism.
virgin . . . daughter--honorable terms. "Virgin" implies that the city is, as yet, inviolate. "Daughter" is an abstract collective feminine personification of the population, the child of the place denoted (see on
Isa 23:10;
Isa 1:8). Zion and her inhabitants.
shaken . . . head--in scorn (
Ps 22:7;
Ps 109:25;
Matt 27:39). With us to shake the head is a sign of denial or displeasure; but gestures have different meanings in different countries (
Isa 58:9;
Ezek 25:6;
Zeph 2:15).
23 Whom--not an idol.
24 said--virtually. Hast thou within thyself?
height--imagery from the Assyrian felling of trees in Lebanon (
Isa 14:8;
Isa 33:9); figuratively for, "I have carried my victorious army through the regions most difficult of access, to the most remote lands."
sides--rather, "recesses" [G. V. SMITH].
fir trees--not cypresses, as some translate; pine foliage and cedars are still found on the northwest side of Lebanon [STANLEY].
height of . . . border--In
2Kgs 19:23, "the lodgings of his borders." Perhaps on the ascent to the top there was a place of repose or caravansary, which bounded the usual attempts of persons to ascend [BARNES]. Here, simply, "its extreme height."
forest of . . . Carmel--rather, "its thickest forest." "Carmel" expresses thick luxuriance (see on
Isa 10:18;
Isa 29:17).
25 digged, and drunk water--In
2Kgs 19:24, it is "strange waters." I have marched into foreign lands where I had to dig wells for the supply of my armies; even the natural destitution of water there did not impede my march.
rivers of . . . besieged places--rather, "the streams (artificial canals from the Nile) of Egypt." "With the sole of my foot," expresses that as soon as his vast armies marched into a region, the streams were drunk up by them; or rather, that the rivers proved no obstruction to the onward march of his armies. So
Isa 19:4-
Isa 19:6, referring to Egypt, "the river--brooks of defense--shall be dried up." HORSLEY, translates the Hebrew for "besieged places," "rocks."
26 Reply of God to Sennacherib.
long ago--join, rather, with "I have done it." Thou dost boast that it is all by thy counsel and might: but it is I who, long ago, have ordered it so (
Isa 22:11); thou wert but the instrument in My hands (
Isa 10:5,
Isa 10:15). This was the reason why "the inhabitants were of small power before thee" (
Isa 37:27), namely, that I ordered it so; yet thou art in My hands, and I know thy ways (
Isa 37:28), and I will check thee (
Isa 37:29). Connect also, "I from ancient times have arranged ('formed') it." However, English Version is supported by
Isa 33:13;
Isa 45:6,
Isa 45:21;
Isa 48:5.
27 Therefore--not because of thy power, but because I made them unable to withstand thee.
grass--which easily withers (
Isa 40:6;
Ps 37:2).
on . . . housetops--which having little earth to nourish it fades soonest (
Ps 129:6-
Ps 129:8).
corn blasted before it be grown up--SMITH translates, "The cornfield (frail and tender), before the corn is grown."
28 abode--rather, "sitting down" (
Ps 139:2). The expressions here describe a man's whole course of life (
Deut 6:7;
Deut 28:6;
1Kgs 3:7;
Ps 121:8). There is also a special reference to Sennacherib's first being at home, then going forth against Judah and Egypt, and raging against Jehovah (
Isa 37:4).
29 tumult--insolence.
hook in . . . nose--Like a wild beast led by a ring through the nose, he shall be forced back to his own country (compare
Job 41:1-
Job 41:2;
Ezek 19:4;
Ezek 29:4;
Ezek 38:4). In a bas-relief of Khorsabad, captives are led before the king by a cord attached to a hook, or ring, passing through the under lip or the upper lip, and nose.
30 Addressed to Hezekiah.
sign--a token which, when fulfilled, would assure him of the truth of the whole prophecy as to the enemy's overthrow. The two years, in which they were sustained by the spontaneous growth of the earth, were the two in which Judea had been already ravaged by Sennacherib (
Isa 32:10). Thus translate: "Ye did eat (the first year) such as groweth of itself, and in the second year that . . . but in this third year sow ye," &c., for in this year the land shall be delivered from the foe. The fact that Sennacherib moved his camp away immediately after shows that the first two years refer to the past, not to the future [ROSENMULLER]. Others, referring the first two years to the future, get over the difficulty of Sennacherib's speedy departure, by supposing that year to have been the sabbatical year, and the second year the jubilee; no indication of this appears in the context.
31 remnant--Judah remained after the ten tribes were carried away; also those of Judah who should survive Sennacherib's invasion are meant.
33 with shields--He did come near it, but was not allowed to conduct a proper siege.
bank--a mound to defend the assailants in attacking the walls.
34 (See
Isa 37:29,
Isa 37:37;
Isa 29:5-
Isa 29:8).
35 I will defend--Notwithstanding Hezekiah's measures of defense (
2Chr 32:3-5), Jehovah was its true defender.
mine own sake--since Jehovah's name was blasphemed by Sennacherib (
Isa 37:23).
David's sake--on account of His promise to David (
Ps 132:17-
Ps 132:18), and to Messiah, the heir of David's throne (
Isa 9:7;
Isa 11:1).
36 Some attribute the destruction to the agency of the plague (see on
Isa 33:24), which may have caused Hezekiah's sickness, narrated immediately after; but
Isa 33:1,
Isa 33:4, proves that the Jews spoiled the corpses, which they would not have dared to do, had there been on them infection of a plague. The secondary agency seems, from
Isa 29:6;
Isa 30:30, to have been a storm of hail, thunder, and lightning (compare
Exod 9:22-
Exod 9:25). The simoon belongs rather to Africa and Arabia than Palestine, and ordinarily could not produce such a destructive effect. Some few of the army, as
2Chr 32:21 seems to imply, survived and accompanied Sennacherib home. HERODOTUS (2.141) gives an account confirming Scripture in so far as the sudden discomfiture of the Assyrian army is concerned. The Egyptian priests told him that Sennacherib was forced to retreat from Pelusium owing to a multitude of field mice, sent by one of their gods, having gnawed the Assyrians' bow-strings and shield-straps. Compare the language (
Isa 37:33), "He shall not shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields," which the Egyptians corrupted into their version of the story. Sennacherib was as the time with a part of his army, not at Jerusalem, but on the Egyptian frontier, southwest of Palestine. The sudden destruction of the host near Jerusalem, a considerable part of his whole army, as well as the advance of the Ethiopian Tirhakah, induced him to retreat, which the Egyptians accounted for in a way honoring to their own gods. The mouse was the Egyptian emblem of destruction. The Greek Apollo was called Sminthian, from a Cretan word for "a mouse," as a tutelary god of agriculture, he was represented with one foot upon a mouse, since field mice hurt corn. The Assyrian inscriptions, of course, suppress their own defeat, but nowhere boast of having taken Jerusalem; and the only reason to be given for Sennacherib not having, amidst his many subsequent expeditions recorded in the monuments, returned to Judah, is the terrible calamity he had sustained there, which convinced him that Hezekiah was under the divine protection. RAWLINSON says, In Sennacherib's account of his wars with Hezekiah, inscribed with cuneiform characters in the hall of the palace of Koyunjik, built by him (a hundred forty feet long by a hundred twenty broad), wherein even the Jewish physiognomy of the captives is portrayed, there occurs a remarkable passage; after his mentioning his taking two hundred thousand captive Jews, he adds, "Then I prayed unto God"; the only instance of an inscription wherein the name of GOD occurs without a heathen adjunct. The forty-sixth Psalm probably commemorates Judah's deliverance. It occurred in one "night," according to
2Kgs 19:35, with which Isaiah's words, "when they arose early in the morning," &c., are in undesigned coincidence.
they . . . they--"the Jews . . . the Assyrians."
37 dwelt at Nineveh--for about twenty years after his disaster, according to the inscriptions. The word, "dwelt," is consistent with any indefinite length of time. "Nineveh," so called from Ninus, that is, Nimrod, its founder; his name means "exceedingly impious rebel"; he subverted the existing patriarchal order of society, by setting up a system of chieftainship, founded on conquest; the hunting field was his training school for war; he was of the race of Ham, and transgressed the limits marked by God (
Gen 10:8-
Gen 10:11,
Gen 10:25), encroaching on Shem's portion; he abandoned Babel for a time, after the miraculous confusion of tongues and went and founded Nineveh; he was, after death, worshipped as Orion, the constellation (see on
Job 9:9;
Job 38:31).
38 Nisroch--Nisr, in Semitic, means "eagle;" the termination och, means "great." The eagle-headed human figure in Assyrian sculptures is no doubt Nisroch, the same as Asshur, the chief Assyrian god; the corresponding goddess was Asheera, or Astarte; this means a "grove," or sacred tree, often found as the symbol of the heavenly hosts (Saba) in the sculptures, as Asshur the Eponymus hero of Assyria (
Gen 10:11) answered to the sun or Baal, Belus, the title of office, "Lord." This explains "image of the grove" (
2Kgs 21:7). The eagle was worshipper by the ancient Persians and Arabs.
Esar-haddon--In
Ezra 4:2 he is mentioned as having brought colonists into Samaria. He is also thought to have been the king who carried Manasseh captive to Babylon (
2Chr 33:11). He built the palace on the mound Nebbiyunus, and that called the southwest palace of Nimroud. The latter was destroyed by fire, but his name and wars are recorded on the great bulls taken from the building. He obtained his building materials from the northwest palaces of the ancient dynasty, ending in Pul.