Discovery Box2 Chronicles 32:9-23
Context32:9 Afterward King Sennacherib of Assyria, while attacking Lachish with all his military might, sent his messengers 1 to Jerusalem. The message was for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of 2 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? 3 32:11 Hezekiah says, “The Lord our God will rescue us from the power 4 of the king of Assyria.” But he is misleading you and you will die of hunger and thirst! 5 32:12 Hezekiah is the one who eliminated 6 the Lord’s 7 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 8 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? 9 32:14 Who among all the gods of these nations whom my predecessors annihilated was able to rescue his people from my power? 10 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 11 can your gods rescue 12 you from my power?’”
32:16 Sennacherib’s 13 servants further insulted 14 the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. 32:17 He wrote letters mocking the Lord God of Israel and insulting him with these words: 15 “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.” 16 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 17 and he wiped out all the soldiers, princes, and officers in the army of the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib 18 returned home humiliated. 19 When he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons 20 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. 21 He made them secure on every side. 22 32:23 Many were bringing presents 23 to the Lord in Jerusalem and precious gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah. From that time on he was respected by 24 all the nations.
[32:9] 2 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.
[32:10] 3 tn Heb “On what are you trusting that [you] are living during the siege in Jerusalem.”
[32:11] 5 tn Heb “Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give you over to die by hunger and thirst, saying, ‘The
[32:12] 6 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.
[32:12] 7 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the
[32:13] 8 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.
[32:15] 11 tn Heb “how much less.”
[32:15] 12 tn The verb is plural, suggesting that the preceding אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (’elohekhem) be translated “your gods,” rather than “your God.”
[32:16] 13 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Sennacherib) has been specified in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[32:16] 14 tn Heb “spoke against.”
[32:17] 15 tn Heb “and speaking against him, saying.”
[32:17] 16 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.”
[32:21] 18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sennacherib) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[32:21] 19 tn Heb “and he returned with shame of face to his land.”
[32:21] 20 tn Heb “and some from those who went out from him, from his inward parts.”
[32:22] 21 tn Heb “and from the hand of all.”
[32:22] 22 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.
