2 Kings 19:7

19:7 Look, I will take control of his mind; ¹  he will receive ²  a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down ³  with a sword in his own land.”’”

2 Kings 19:13-15

19:13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of Lair, ⁴  Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

19:14 Hezekiah took the letter ⁵  from the messengers and read it. ⁶  Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord. 19:15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: “Lord God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubs! ⁷  You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky ⁸  and the earth.

[19:7]  ¹ tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of רוּחַ (ruakh), “spirit,” is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the Lord’s sovereignty over the king is apparent.

[19:7]  ² tn Heb “hear.”

[19:7]  ³ tn Heb “cause him to fall,” that is, “kill him.”

[19:13]  ⁴ sn Lair is a city located in northeastern Babylon. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 235.

[19:14]  ⁷ tc The MT has the plural, “letters,” but the final mem is probably dittographic (note the initial mem on the form that immediately follows). Some Greek and Aramaic witnesses have the singular.

[19:14]  ⁸ tc The MT has the plural suffix, “them,” but this probably reflects a later harmonization to the preceding textual corruption (of “letter” to “letters”). The parallel passage in Isa 37:14 has the singular suffix.

[19:15]  ¹⁰ sn This refers to the cherub images that were above the ark of the covenant.

[19:15]  ¹¹ tn Or “the heavens.”