Discovery BoxIsaiah 37:27-38
Context37:27 Their residents are powerless; 1
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field
or green vegetation. 2
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops 3
when it is scorched by the east wind. 4
37:28 I know where you live
and everything you do
and how you rage against me. 5
37:29 Because you rage against me
and the uproar you create has reached my ears, 6
I will put my hook in your nose, 7
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back
the way you came.”
37:30 8 “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: 9 This year you will eat what grows wild, 10 and next year 11 what grows on its own. But the year after that 12 you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. 13 37:31 Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit. 14
37:32 “For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;
survivors will come out of Mount Zion.
The intense devotion of the Lord who commands armies 15 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. 16
He will not attack it with his shielded warriors, 17
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.”’” 18
37:36 The Lord’s messenger 19 went out and killed 185,000 troops 20 in the Assyrian camp. When they 21 got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses! 22 37:37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. 23 37:38 One day, 24 as he was worshiping 25 in the temple of his god Nisroch, 26 his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. 27 They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.
[37:27] 1 tn Heb “short of hand”; KJV, ASV “of small power”; NASB “short of strength.”
[37:27] 2 tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.
[37:27] 3 tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.
[37:27] 4 tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah, “standing grain”) to קָדִים (qadim, “east wind”) with the support of 1Q Isaa; cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:657, n. 8.
[37:28] 5 tc Heb “your going out and your coming in and how you have raged against me.” Several scholars have suggested that this line is probably dittographic (note the beginning of the next line). However, most English translations include the statement in question at the end of v. 28 and the beginning of v. 29. Interestingly, the LXX does not have this clause at the end of v. 28 and the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa does not have it at the beginning of v. 29. In light of this ambiguous manuscript evidence, it appears best to retain the clause in both verses.
[37:29] 6 tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (sha’anankha, “your complacency”) is emended to שְׁאוֹנְךָ (shÿ’onÿkha, “your uproar”). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38. However, the LXX seems to support the MT and Sennacherib’s cavalier dismissal of Yahweh depicts an arrogant complacency (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:658, n. 10).
[37:29] 7 sn The word-picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.
[37:30] 8 tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 22-29) ends and the Lord again addresses Hezekiah and the people directly (see v. 21).
[37:30] 9 tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) is a future reminder of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.
[37:30] 10 sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.
[37:30] 11 tn Heb “and in the second year” (so ASV).
[37:30] 12 tn Heb “in the third year” (so KJV, NAB).
[37:30] 13 tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 30b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity.
[37:31] 14 tn Heb “The remnant of the house of Judah that is left will add roots below and produce fruit above.”
[37:32] 15 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.
[37:33] 16 tn Heb “there” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). In terms of English style “here” is expected in collocation with “this” in the previous line.
[37:33] 17 tn Heb “[with] a shield” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV).
[37:35] 18 tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
[37:36] 19 tn Traditionally, “the angel of the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[37:36] 20 tn The word “troops” is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.
[37:36] 21 tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.
[37:36] 22 tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies”; NLT “they found corpses everywhere.”
[37:37] 23 tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”
[37:38] 24 sn The assassination of King Sennacherib probably took place in 681
[37:38] 25 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[37:38] 26 sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a corruption of Nusku.
[37:38] 27 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.
