37:21 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Because you prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria, 1 37:22 this is what the Lord says about him: 2
“The virgin daughter Zion 3
despises you – she makes fun of you;
daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you. 4
1 tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:20 reads, “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in Isa 37:21, where אֲשֶׁר (’asher) probably has a causal sense: “because.”
2 tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”
3 sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.
4 sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.