2 Kings 19:20-21

19:20 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I have heard your prayer concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria. ¹  19:21 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 

[19:20]  ¹ tn Heb “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in the parallel passage in Isa 37:21, where אֲשֶׁר (’asher) probably has a causal sense, “because.”

[19:21]  ² tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”

[19:21]  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.

[19:21]  ⁴ sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.