2 Kings 18:26

18:26 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, ¹  for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect ²  in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

2 Kings 18:37

18:37 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn ³  and reported to him what the chief adviser had said.

[18:26]  ¹ sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the empire.

[18:26]  ² tn Or “Hebrew.”

[18:37]  ³ sn As a sign of grief and mourning.