1Es geschah nun, als der König Chiskijahu es hörte: er riß seine Gewänder ein, er hüllte sich ins Sackleinen und kam in SEIN Haus. 2Dann sandte er Eljakim, der über dem Hauswesen war, Schebna den Schreiber und die Ältesten der Priesterschaft, in das Sackleinen gehüllt, zu Jeschajahu dem Künder, dem Sohn des Amoz, 3daß sie zu ihm sprächen: So hat Chiskijahu gesprochen: Ein Tag von Angst, Züchtigung, Schimpf ist dieser Tag, ja: Kinder sind bis an den Durchbruch gekommen und zum Gebären ist keine Kraft da! 4vielleicht aber hört ER dein Gott auf all die Reden des Erztruchsessen, den der König von Assyrien, sein Herr, gesandt hat, den lebendigen Gott zu höhnen, und züchtigt wegen der Reden, die er angehört hat, ER dein Gott! so trage du ein Gebet empor um den Rest, der sich noch findet! 5Als die Diener des Königs Chiskijahu zu Jeschajahu gekommen waren, 6sprach Jeschajahu zu ihnen: So sprecht zu eurem Herrn: So hat ER gesprochen: Fürchte dich nimmer vor den Reden, die du gehört hast, mit denen die Knaben des Königs von Assyrien mich schmähten! 7Wohlan, ich gebe einen Widergeist ihm ein, er hört ein Hörensagen, dann kehrt er in sein Land zurück, in seinem Lande aber fälle ich ihn durch das Schwert. 8Als der Erztruchseß wieder zurückkehrte, fand er den König von Assyrien im Kampf gegen Libna: ja: er hatte etwas gehört! ja: er war fortgezogen von Lachisch! 9Er hatte nämlich über Tirhaka König von Äthiopien sprechen gehört: Wohl, er ist ausgefahren, mit dir zu kämpfen. Dann sandte er wiederum Boten an Chiskijahu, mit dem Spruch: 10So sprecht zu Chiskijahu König von Jehuda, im Spruch: Daß dein Gott dich nimmer berücke, auf den du dich verlässest, nach dem Spruch: Nicht wird Jerusalem in die Hand des Königs von Assyrien gegeben! 11Wohlan, du selbst hast gehört, was die Könige von Assyrien allen Ländern taten, sie zu bannen, und du willst errettet werden? 12Haben die Götter der Stämme, welche meine Väter verderbten, sie errettet, Gosan und Charan und Razef und die Adensöhne, die in Telassar? 13wo sind der König von Chamat, der König von Arpad, der König Laürs, Sfarwajims, Henas, Iwwas?! 14Chiskijahu nahm die Briefschaften aus der Hand der Boten, las sie und stieg zu SEINEM Haus hinan, Chiskijahu breitete es vor SEIN Antlitz, 15Chiskijahu betete vor SEINEM Antlitz er sprach: DU, Gott Jissraels, der Sitz hat auf den Cheruben, du einzig bist der Gott aller Königreiche des Erdlands, du bists, der den Himmel und die Erde gemacht hat! 16Neige, o DU, dein Ohr und höre, öffne, o DU, deine Augen und sieh, höre die Rede Ssancheribs, der einen sandte, den lebendigen Gott zu höhnen! 17Getreu ists, DU, verheert haben die Könige von Assyrien die Stämme und ihr Land 18und gaben ihre Götter ins Feuer: nicht Götter sind das ja, sondern Gemächt von Menschenhänden, Holz und Stein, die konnten sie schwenden! 19Jetzt aber, DU, unser Gott, befreie uns doch aus seiner Hand, daß alle Königreiche des Erdlands erkennen: ja, Gott einzig bist DU! 20Da sandte Jeschajahu Sohn des Amoz an Chiskijahu den Spruch: So hat ER gesprochen, der Gott Jissraels: Was du zu mir wider Ssancherib König von Assyrien gebetet hast, habe ich gehört. 21Dies ist die Rede, die ER gegen ihn redet: Dich verachtet, dich verspottet die Tochter Zion, die Maid, hinter dir her schüttelt das Haupt die Tochter Jerusalem: 22Wen hast du gehöhnt, hast du geschmäht, gegen wen erhobst du die Stimme, trugst überheblich deine Augen empor? Gegen den Heiligen Jissraels! 23Meinen Herrn hast du durch deine Boten gehöhnt, du hast gesprochen: Ich bins, der mit der Menge meiner Reiter erstieg die Erhebung der Berge, des Libanons Flanken, nun rode ich den Hochwuchs seiner Zedern, die Erlesenheit seiner Zypressen, nun komme ich an die Nachthütte seines Randes, an den Busch seines Gartenhags, - 24ich bins, der fremde Wasser erbohrte und trank, nun trockne ich mit meinen Sohlentritten allen Flußlauf Ägyptens! 25Hast du es nicht gehört: von fernher habe ich das bereitet, von Urtagen her es gebildet!? kommen ließ ich es jetzt: du wurdest, befestigte Städte niederzukrachen, nun wüste Trümmerwälle, 26daß ihre Sassen, kurz von Arm, bestürzt zuschanden werden, sind Kraut des Feldes, grünend Gras, Dachbinse: Versengnis vor dem Halmwuchs! 27Ich kenne also dein Sitzen, dein Fahren, dein Kommen und dein Auftoben wider mich: 28weil du wider mich auftobst und dein Ungestüm in meine Ohren stieg, lege ich meinen Haken in deine Nase und meinen Zaum in deine Lippen, ich heiße dich heimkehren auf dem Weg, den du gekommen bist. 29Dies aber sei dir das Zeichen: das Jahr ißt man Nachtrieb, im zweiten Jahr Brachtrieb, aber im dritten Jahr säet und erntet, pflanzt Weingärten und eßt ihre Frucht! 30Und das Entronnene des Hauses Jehuda, es, das als Rest verblieb, fügt Wurzeln an nach unten, bereitet Frucht nach oben: 31denn von Jerusalem fährt ein Rest aus, Entronnenes vom Berge Zion, SEIN des Umscharten Eifer bereitet dies. 32Darum hat ER so wider Assyriens König gesprochen: Nicht kommt er in diese Stadt, nicht schießt er darein einen Pfeil, nicht berennt er mit einem Schild sie, nicht schüttet er gegen sie einen Damm auf, 33auf dem Weg, den er kam, auf dem kehrt er, und in diese Stadt kommt er nicht - SEIN Erlauten - , 34ich umschilde diese Stadt, sie zu befreien, um meinetwillen und um Dawids willen, meines Knechts. 35In jener Nacht geschahs: SEIN Bote fuhr aus, er schlug im Lager Assyriens hundertundfünfundachtzigtausend, als man sich frühmorgens aufmachte, wohl, da waren sie alle Leichen, tot. 36Da brach ab, ging davon, kehrte heim Ssancherib König von Assyrien, er blieb nun sitzen in Ninive. 37Es geschah aber, als er sich im Haus Nissrochs seines Gottes niederwarf: Adrammelech und Scharazer seine Söhne erschlugen ihn mit dem Schwert. Während sie nach dem Land Ararat entwichen, trat Essarhaddon sein Sohn statt seiner die Königschaft an.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 HEZEKIAH IN DEEP AFFLICTION. (
2Kgs 19:1-5)
when king Hezekiah heard it, he rent his clothes--The rending of his clothes was a mode of expressing horror at the daring blasphemy--the assumption of sackcloth a sign of his mental distress--his entrance into the temple to pray the refuge of a pious man in affliction--and the forwarding an account of the Assyrian's speech to Isaiah was to obtain the prophet's counsel and comfort. The expression in which the message was conveyed described, by a strong figure, the desperate condition of the kingdom, together with their own inability to help themselves; and it intimated also a hope, that the blasphemous defiance of Jehovah's power by the impious Assyrian might lead to some direct interposition for the vindication of His honor and supremacy to all heathen gods.
4 the living God--"The living God" is a most significant expression taken in connection with the senseless deities that Rab-shakeh boasted were unable to resist his master's victorious arms.
6 COMFORTED BY ISAIAH. (
2Kgs 19:6-7)
Isaiah said . . . Be not afraid--The prophet's answer was most cheering, as it held out the prospect of a speedy deliverance from the invader. The blast, the rumor, the fall by the sword, contained a brief prediction that was soon fulfilled in all the three particulars--namely, the alarm that hastened his retreat, the destruction that overtook his army, and the violent death that suddenly ended his career.
8 SENNACHERIB SENDS A BLASPHEMOUS LETTER TO HEZEKIAH. (
2Kgs 19:8-13)
So Rab-shakeh . . . found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah--Whether Lachish had fallen or not, is not said. But Sennacherib had transferred his battering-rams against the apparently neighboring fortress of Libnah (
Josh 10:29; compare
Josh 10:31;
Josh 15:42), where the chief-cup-bearer reported the execution of his mission.
9 when he heard say of Tirhakah . . ., Behold, he is come out to fight against thee, &c.--This was the "rumor" to which Isaiah referred [
2Kgs 19:7]. Tirhakah reigned in Upper Egypt, while So (or Sabaco) ruled in Lower Egypt. He was a powerful monarch, another Sesostris, and both he and Sabaco have left many monuments of their greatness. The name and figure of Tirhakah receiving war captives, are still seen in the Egyptian temple of Medinet Abou. This was the expected succor which was sneered at by Rab-shakeh as "a bruised reed" (
2Kgs 18:21). Rage against Hezekiah for allying himself with Egypt, or the hope of being better able to meet this attack from the south, induced him, after hearing the rumor of Tirhakah's advance, to send a menacing letter to Hezekiah, in order that he might force the king of Judah to an immediate surrender of his capital. This letter, couched in the same vaunting and imperious style as the speech of Rab-shakeh, exceeded it in blasphemy, and contained a larger enumeration of conquered places, with the view of terrifying Hezekiah and showing him the utter hopelessness of all attempts at resistance.
14 HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER. (2Ki. 19:14-34)
Hezekiah received the letter . . . and went up into the house of the Lord--Hezekiah, after reading it, hastened into the temple, spread it in the childlike confidence of faith before the Lord, as containing taunts deeply affecting the divine honor, and implored deliverance from this proud defier of God and man. The devout spirit of this prayer, the recognition of the Divine Being in the plenitude of His majesty--so strikingly contrasted with the fancy of the Assyrians as to His merely local power; his acknowledgment of the conquests obtained over other lands; and of the destruction of their wooden idols which, according to the Assyrian practice, were committed to the flames--because their tutelary deities were no gods; and the object for which he supplicated the divine interposition--that all the kingdoms of the earth might know that the Lord was the only God--this was an attitude worthy to be assumed by a pious theocratic king of the chosen people.
20 Then Isaiah . . . sent--A revelation having been made to Isaiah, the prophet announced to the king that his prayer was heard. The prophetic message consisted of three different portions:--First, Sennacherib is apostrophized (
2Kgs 19:21-28) in a highly poetical strain, admirably descriptive of the turgid vanity, haughty pretensions, and presumptuous impiety of the Assyrian despot. Secondly, Hezekiah is addressed (
2Kgs 19:29-31), and a sign is given him of the promised deliverance--namely, that for two years the presence of the enemy would interrupt the peaceful pursuits of husbandry, but in the third year the people would be in circumstances to till their fields and vineyards and reap the fruits as formerly. Thirdly, the issue of Sennacherib's invasion is announced (
2Kgs 19:32-34).
33 shall not come into this city--nor approach near enough to shoot an arrow, not even from the most powerful engine which throws missiles to the greatest distance, nor shall he occupy any part of the ground before the city by a fence, a mantelet, or covering for men employed in a siege, nor cast (raise) a bank (mound) of earth, overtopping the city walls, whence he may see and command the interior of the city. None of these, which were the principal modes of attack followed in ancient military art, should Sennacherib be permitted to adopt. Though the army under Rab-shakeh marched towards Jerusalem and encamped at a little distance with a view to blockade it, they delayed laying siege to it, probably waiting till the king, having taken Lachish and Libnah, should bring up his detachment, that with all the combined forces of Assyria they might invest the capital. So determined was this invader to conquer Judah and the neighboring countries (
Isa 10:7), that nothing but a divine interposition could have saved Jerusalem. It might be supposed that the powerful monarch who overran Palestine and carried away the tribes of Israel, would leave memorials of his deeds on sculptured slabs, or votive bulls. A long and minute account of this expedition is contained in the Annals of Sennacherib, a translation of which has recently been made into English, and, in his remarks upon it, COLONEL RAWLINSON says the Assyrian version confirms the most important features of the Scripture account. The Jewish and Assyrian narratives of the campaign are, indeed, on the whole, strikingly illustrative of each other [Outlines of Assyrian History].
35 AN ANGEL DESTROYS THE ASSYRIANS. (
2Kgs 19:35-36)
in the morning . . . they were all dead corpses--It was the miraculous interposition of the Almighty that defended Jerusalem. As to the secondary agent employed in the destruction of the Assyrian army, it is most probable that it was effected by a hot south wind, the simoon, such as to this day often envelops and destroys whole caravans. This conjecture is supported by
2Kgs 19:7 and
Jer 51:1. The destruction was during the night; the officers and soldiers, being in full security, were negligent; their discipline was relaxed; the camp guards were not alert, or perhaps they themselves were the first taken off, and those who slept, not wrapped up, imbibed the poison plentifully. If this had been an evening of dissolute mirth (no uncommon thing in a camp), their joy (perhaps for a victory), or "the first night of their attacking the city," says JOSEPHUS, became, by its effects, one means of their destruction [CALMET, Fragments].
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria . . . went and returned--the same way as he came (
2Kgs 19:33). The route is described (
Isa 10:28-
Isa 10:32). The early chariot track near Beyrout is on the rocky edge of Lebanon, which is skirted by the ancient Lycus (Nahr-el Kelb). On the perpendicular face of the limestone rock, at different heights, are seen slabs with Assyrian inscriptions, which having been deciphered, are found to contain the name of Sennacherib. Thus, by the preservation of these tablets, the wrath of the Assyrian invaders is made to praise the Lord.
dwelt at Nineveh--This statement implies a considerable period of time, and his Annals carry on his history at least five years after his disastrous campaign at Jerusalem. No record of his catastrophe can be found, as the Assyrian practice was to record victories alone. The sculptures give only the sunny side of the picture.
37 SENNACHERIB SLAIN. (
2Kgs 19:37)
as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch--Assarae, or Asshur, the head of the Assyrian Pantheon, represented not as a vulture-headed figure (that is now ascertained to be a priest), but as a winged figure in a circle, which was the guardian deity of Assyria. The king is represented on the monuments standing or kneeling beneath this figure, his hand raised in sign of prayer or adoration.
his sons smote him with the sword--Sennacherib's temper, exasperated probably by his reverses, displayed itself in the most savage cruelty and intolerable tyranny over his subjects and slaves, till at length he was assassinated by his two sons, whom, it is said, he intended to sacrifice to pacify the gods and dispose them to grant him a return of prosperity. The parricides taking flight into Armenia, a third son, Esar-haddon, ascended the throne.
