32:1 After these faithful deeds were accomplished, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities, intending to seize them. 1 32:2 When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had invaded and intended to attack Jerusalem, 2 32:3 he consulted with his advisers and military officers about stopping up the springs 3 outside the city, and they supported him. 32:4 A large number of people gathered together and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the district. 4 They reasoned, 5 “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” 32:5 Hezekiah 6 energetically rebuilt 7 every broken wall. He erected towers and an outer wall, 8 and fortified the terrace of the City of David. 9 He made many weapons and shields.
32:6 He appointed military officers over the army 10 and assembled them in the square at the city gate. He encouraged them, 11 saying, 32:7 “Be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic 12 because of the king of Assyria and this huge army that is with him! We have with us one who is stronger than those who are with him. 13 32:8 He has with him mere human strength, 14 but the Lord our God is with us to help us and fight our battles!” The army 15 was encouraged by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.
32:9 Afterward King Sennacherib of Assyria, while attacking Lachish with all his military might, sent his messengers 16 to Jerusalem. The message was for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of 17 Judah who were in Jerusalem. It read: 32:10 “This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: ‘Why are you so confident that you remain in Jerusalem while it is under siege? 18 32:11 Hezekiah says, “The Lord our God will rescue us from the power 19 of the king of Assyria.” But he is misleading you and you will die of hunger and thirst! 20 32:12 Hezekiah is the one who eliminated 21 the Lord’s 22 high places and altars and then told Judah and Jerusalem, “At one altar you must worship and offer sacrifices.” 32:13 Are you not aware of what I and my predecessors 23 have done to all the nations of the surrounding lands? Have the gods of the surrounding lands actually been able to rescue their lands from my power? 24 32:14 Who among all the gods of these nations whom my predecessors annihilated was able to rescue his people from my power? 25 32:15 Now don’t let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this. Don’t believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my power or the power of my predecessors. So how 26 can your gods rescue 27 you from my power?’”
32:16 Sennacherib’s 28 servants further insulted 29 the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. 32:17 He wrote letters mocking the Lord God of Israel and insulting him with these words: 30 “The gods of the surrounding nations could not rescue their people from my power. Neither can Hezekiah’s god rescue his people from my power.” 31 32:18 They called out loudly in the Judahite dialect to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, trying to scare and terrify them so they could seize the city. 32:19 They talked about the God of Jerusalem as if he were one of the man-made gods of the nations of the earth.
32:20 King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven. 32:21 The Lord sent a messenger 32 and he wiped out all the soldiers, princes, and officers in the army of the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib 33 returned home humiliated. 34 When he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons 35 struck him down with the sword. 32:22 The Lord delivered Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem from the power of King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the other nations. 36 He made them secure on every side. 37 32:23 Many were bringing presents 38 to the Lord in Jerusalem and precious gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah. From that time on he was respected by 39 all the nations.
36:1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, 40 King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 36:2 The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser 41 from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, 42 along with a large army. The chief adviser 43 stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. 44 36:3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet him.
36:4 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence? 45 36:5 Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk. 46 In whom are you trusting, that you would dare to rebel against me? 36:6 Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him! 36:7 Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar.’ 36:8 Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. 36:9 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. 47 36:10 Furthermore it was by the command of the Lord that I marched up against this land to destroy it. The Lord told me, ‘March up against this land and destroy it!’”’” 48
36:11 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, 49 for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect 50 in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 36:12 But the chief adviser said, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. 51 His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!” 52
36:13 The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect, 53 “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria. 36:14 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you! 36:15 Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 36:16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. 54 Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 36:17 until I come and take you to a land just like your own – a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 36:18 Hezekiah is misleading you when he says, “The Lord will rescue us.” Has any of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? 55 36:19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? 56 Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria 57 from my power? 58 36:20 Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’” 59 36:21 They were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”
36:22 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in grief 60 and reported to him what the chief adviser had said.
1 tn Heb “and he said to break into them for himself.”
2 tn Heb “and his face was for war against Jerusalem.”
3 tn Heb “the waters of the springs.”
4 tn Heb “and they closed up all the springs and the stream that flows in the midst of the land.” Here אָרֶץ (’arets, “land”) does not refer to the entire land, but to a smaller region like a district.
5 tn Heb “land, saying.”
6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Hezekiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “strengthened himself and built.”
8 tn Heb “and outside the wall another one.”
9 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
10 tn Heb “and he placed officers of war over the people.”
11 tn Heb “he spoke to their heart[s].”
12 tn Or perhaps, “and don’t be discouraged.”
13 tn Heb “for with us [is] a greater [one] than with him.”
14 tn Heb “With him is an arm of flesh.”
15 tn Or “people.”
16 tn Heb “servants.”
17 tn Heb “all Judah.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” here by metonymy for the people of Judah.
18 tn Heb “On what are you trusting that [you] are living during the siege in Jerusalem.”
19 tn Heb “hand.”
20 tn Heb “Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give you over to die by hunger and thirst, saying, ‘The
21 tn Heb “Did not he, Hezekiah, eliminate…?” This rhetorical question presupposes a positive reply (“yes, he did”) and so has been translated here as a positive statement.
22 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the
23 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 14, 15), but in this context the term does not necessarily refer to Sennacherib’s ancestors, but to his predecessors on the Assyrian throne.
24 tn Heb “hand.”
25 tn Heb “hand.”
26 tn Heb “how much less.”
27 tn The verb is plural, suggesting that the preceding אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (’elohekhem) be translated “your gods,” rather than “your God.”
28 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Sennacherib) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
29 tn Heb “spoke against.”
30 tn Heb “and speaking against him, saying.”
31 tn Heb “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.”
32 tn Or “an angel.”
33 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sennacherib) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
34 tn Heb “and he returned with shame of face to his land.”
35 tn Heb “and some from those who went out from him, from his inward parts.”
36 tn Heb “and from the hand of all.”
37 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and he led him from all around.” However, the present translation assumes an emendation to וַיָּנַח לָהֶם מִסָּבִיב (vayyanakh lahem missaviv, “and he gave rest to them from all around”). See 2 Chr 15:15 and 20:30.
38 tn Or perhaps, “offerings.”
39 tn Heb “lifted up in the eyes of.”
40 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
41 sn For a discussion of this title see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 229-30.
42 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
43 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the chief adviser) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
44 tn Heb “the field of the washer”; traditionally “the fuller’s field” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
45 tn Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?”
46 tn Heb “you say only a word of lips, counsel and might for battle.” Sennacherib’s message appears to be in broken Hebrew at this point. The phrase “word of lips” refers to mere or empty talk in Prov 14:23.
47 tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 8-9 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 6. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”
48 sn In v. 10 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 7. He claims that Hezekiah has offended the Lord and that the Lord has commissioned Assyria as his instrument of discipline and judgment.
49 sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the Assyrian empire.
50 tn Or “in Hebrew” (NIV, NCV, NLT); NAB, NASB “in Judean.”
51 tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.
52 tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”
53 tn The Hebrew text includes “and he said.”
54 tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”
55 tn Heb “Have the gods of the nations rescued, each his land, from the hand of the king of Assyria?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not!”
56 tn The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”
57 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
58 tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 18, 20).
59 tn Heb “that the Lord might rescue Jerusalem from my hand?” The logic runs as follows: Since no god has ever been able to withstand the Assyrian onslaught, how can the people of Jerusalem possibly think the Lord will rescue them?
60 tn Heb “with their clothes torn”; the words “in grief” have been supplied in the translation to indicate that this was done as a sign of grief and mourning.