2 Kings 19:23

19:23 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ¹ 

‘With my many chariots ² 

I climbed up the high mountains,

the slopes of Lebanon.

I cut down its tall cedars,

and its best evergreens.

I invaded its most remote regions, ³ 

its thickest woods.

Isaiah 29:17

Changes are Coming

29:17 In just a very short time ⁴ 

Lebanon will turn into an orchard,

and the orchard will be considered a forest. ⁵ 

¹ tn The word is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai), “lord,” but some Hebrew mss have יְהוָה (yehvah), “Lord.”

² tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּרֶכֶב (bÿrekhev), but this must be dittographic (note the following רִכְבִּי [rikhbi], “my chariots”). The marginal reading (Qere) בְּרֹב (bÿrov), “with many,” is supported by many Hebrew mss and ancient versions, as well as the parallel passage in Isa 37:24.

³ tn Heb “the lodging place of its extremity.”

⁴ tn The Hebrew text phrases this as a rhetorical question, “Is it not yet a little, a short [time]?”

⁵ sn The meaning of this verse is debated, but it seems to depict a reversal in fortunes. The mighty forest of Lebanon (symbolic of the proud and powerful, see 2:13; 10:34) will be changed into a common orchard, while the common orchard (symbolic of the oppressed and lowly) will grow into a great forest. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:538.