Chapter 36
36:1 And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, that Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
36:2 And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabsaces from Lachis to Jerusalem, to king Ezechias with a great army, and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the way of the fuller’s field.
36:3 And there went out to him Eliacim the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder.
36:4 And Rabsaces said to them: tell Ezechias: thus says the great king, the king of the Assyrians: what is this confidence wherein you trust?
36:5 Or with what counsel or strength dost you prepare for war? On whom dost you trust, that you are revolted from me?
36:6 Lo, you trust upon this broken staff of a reed, upon Egypt: upon which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
36:7 But if you will answer me: we trust in the Lord our God: is it not he whose high places and altars Ezechias has taken away, and has said to Judah and Jerusalem: you shall worship before this altar?
36:8 And now deliver yourself up to my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and you will not be able on your part to find riders for them.
36:9 And how will you stand against the face of the judge of one place, of the least of my master’s servants? But if you trust in Egypt, in chariots and in horsemen:
36:10 and am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me: go up against this land, and destroy it.
36:11 And Eliacim, and Sobna, and Joahe said to Rabsaces: speak to your servants in the Syrian tongue: for we understand it: speak not to us in the Jews’ language in the hearing of the people, that are upon the wall.
36:12 And Rabsaces said to them: has my master sent me to your master and to you, to speak all these words; and not rather to the men that sit on the wall; that they may eat their own dung, and drink the urine of their feet with you?
36:13 Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said: hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians.
36:14 Thus says the king: let not Ezechias deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you.
36:15 And let not Ezechias make you trust in the Lord, saying: the Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.
36:16 Do not hearken to Ezechias: for thus said the king of the Assyrians: make a blessing with me, and come out to me, and eat every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink every one the water of his cistern,
36:17 till I come and take you away to a land, like to your own, a land of corn and of wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
36:18 Neither let Ezechias trouble you, saying: the Lord will deliver us. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians?
36:19 Where is the god of Emath and of Arphad? Where is the god of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
36:20 Who is there among all the gods of these lands, that has delivered his country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
36:21 And they held their peace, and answered him not a word. For the king had commanded, saying: answer him not.
36:22 And Eliacim the son of Helcias, that was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder, went in to Ezechias with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rabsaces.
750 . And it came to pass in the fourteenth year . Here he recounts, in the manner of a history, the destruction of the Assyrians.
And first, he sets out the deeds of the history;
second, certain things occasioned by the history: in those days Ezechias was sick even to death (ch. 38).
The first of these is divided into two parts:
first, the fault which Assyria committed against the Jews is set out;
second, the punishment which they sustained from God, where it says, and the angel of the Lord went out (Isa 37:36).
Now, Assyria offended Israel in three ways:
first, by wars;
second, by messengers: and the king of the Assyrians sent Rabsaces (Isa 36:2);
third, by letters, where it says: and he heard say about Tharaca (Isa 37:9).
Against all : he shall laugh at every strong hold (Hab 1:10).
751 . And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabsaces . Here he shows how Assyria offended the Jews by threatening them through messengers.
And first, the meeting of the messengers is set out;
second, their discussion: and Rabsaces said to them (Isa 36:4);
third, their departure from each other: and Eliacim went in (Isa 36:22).
Concerning the first, he does two things.
First, the messenger of the Assyrians is described: Rabsaces , whom some say was the son of Isaiah, others a Samaritan; by the conduit , about which, see above (Isa 7:3).
Second, the messengers of the Jews are described: and there went out to him Eliacim , who succeeded Sobna, who handed over the lower part of the city to the Assyrians, as above (Isa 22:15–25); Sobna , not the one mentioned above; the recorder , the secretary of the king, who committed deeds to writing for the king to remember—hence he is called recorder ( commentor ) from comminiscor .
752 . And Rabsaces said to them . Here the discussion of the messengers is set out. And concerning this, he sets out two things:
first, the preamble of Rabsaces to the Jewish messengers;
second, to the others, where it says, then Rabsaces stood (Isa 36:13).
Concerning the first, he does three things.
First, the address of Rabsaces himself is set out, in which he intends to establish the weakness of Ezechias’s ability to resist, by excluding defense from the Egyptians: lo you trust upon this broken staff of a reed , said mockingly, because there are many reeds in Egypt; he speaks the truth when he says that the Egyptians were like such reeds: you have been a staff of a reed (Ezek 29:6); but it is false that Ezechias trusted in them. And by excluding divine help: but if you will answer me: we trust in the Lord our God: is it not he whose high places and altars Ezechias has taken away? ; what Ezechias did for religion, Rabsaces perverts into sacrilege: beware lest you offer your holocausts in every place that you shall see (Deut 12:13). And by excluding their own strength: and now deliver yourself up , as if to say: you have neither horses nor horsemen, that you might resist the armies of one prince, above: he has rejected the cities (Isa 33:8). He also establishes the power of Sennacherib to fight from divine command: but if you trust , above: I will give him a charge against the people of my wrath (Isa 10:6).
Second, the response of the others is set out: and Eliacim, and Sobna, and Joahe said to Rabsaces . In the hearing of the people , lest they be troubled, knowing what is said: in the blessing of the just, the city shall rejoice (Prov 11:10).
Third, Rabsaces’s mockery of their response is set out: and Rabsaces said to them ; urine of their feet , which flowed at their feet: they that were brought up in scarlet have embraced the dung (Lam 4:5).
753 . Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews’ language . Here his address to the people is set out.
And first, his foolish words are set out, in which he frightens them with threats: he shall not be able to deliver you : who is this, that says the children of Israel can resist king Nabuchodonosor? (Jdt 5:27). He allures them with promises: thus said the king ; a blessing , that is, a pact, which will be turned to your blessing, or: bless me as your lord. Till I come , from Egypt, to a land , namely, of the Medes: God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine (Gen 27:28). And he provokes them by examples: neither let Ezechias trouble you : he shall be lifted up, and shall magnify himself (Dan 11:36).
Second, he sets out the silence of the people who heard him: he that deceives his friend, is mean of heart: but the wise man will hold his peace (Prov 11:12); answer not a fool according to his folly (Prov 26:4); for the king had commanded, saying: answer him not , lest he multiply words of blasphemy or deceive the people.
754 . And Eliacim the son of Helcias, that was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder, went in . Here the departure of the messengers from each other is set out.
And first, the return of the Jews to Ezechias;
second, the return of Rabsaces to Sennacherib, where it says, and Rabsaces returned (Isa 37:8).
Concerning the first, he does two things:
first, the return of the messengers and their renunciation of the blasphemy of Rabsaces is set out;
second, the prayer of Ezechias is set out: and it came to pass, when king Ezechias had heard it, that he rent his garments (Isa 37:1), because of the blasphemy he heard, because this was the custom of the Jews, as is seen in Matthew 26:65.