2 Kings 18:29

18:29 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you from my hand! ¹ 

2 Kings 18:34

18:34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? ²  Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria ³  from my power? ⁴ 

2 Kings 19:11-12

19:11 Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands. ⁵  Do you really think you will be rescued? ⁶  19:12 Were the nations whom my ancestors destroyed – the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar – rescued by their gods? ⁷ 

¹ tc The MT has “his hand,” but this is due to graphic confusion of vav (ו) and yod (י). The translation reads “my hand,” along with many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate.

² tn The parallel passage in Isa 36:19 omits “Hena and Ivvah.” The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”

³ map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

⁴ 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. 33, 35).

³ tn Heb “Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them.”

⁴ tn Heb “and will you be rescued?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No, of course not!”

⁴ tn Heb “Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed rescue them – Gozan and Haran, and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who are in Telassar?”