37:32 “For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;
survivors will come out of Mount Zion.
The intense devotion of the Lord who commands armies 2 will accomplish this.
37:33 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
‘He will not enter this city,
nor will he shoot an arrow here. 3
He will not attack it with his shielded warriors, 4
nor will he build siege works against it.
37:34 He will go back the way he came –
he will not enter this city,’ says the Lord.
37:35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’” 5
37:36 The Lord’s messenger 6 went out and killed 185,000 troops 7 in the Assyrian camp. When they 8 got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses! 9 37:37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. 10 37:38 One day, 11 as he was worshiping 12 in the temple of his god Nisroch, 13 his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. 14 They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.
1 tn Heb “The remnant of the house of Judah that is left will add roots below and produce fruit above.”
2 tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to protect and restore them.
3 tn Heb “there” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). In terms of English style “here” is expected in collocation with “this” in the previous line.
4 tn Heb “[with] a shield” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV).
5 tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
6 tn Traditionally, “the angel of the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
7 tn The word “troops” is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.
8 tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.
9 tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies”; NLT “they found corpses everywhere.”
10 tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”
11 sn The assassination of King Sennacherib probably took place in 681
12 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
13 sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a corruption of Nusku.
14 sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.