Ecclesiasticus 36:7

Jerome's Latin Vulgate

Quod si responderis mihi: In Domino Deo nostro confidimus; nonne ipse est cujus abstulit Ezechias excelsa et altaria, et dixit Judæ et Jerusalem: Coram altari isto adorabitis?

Parallel Translations

Clementine Latin Vulgate (1592)
Quod si responderis mihi : In Domino Deo nostro confidimus ; nonne ipse est cujus abstulit Ezechias excelsa et altaria, et dixit Jud� et Jerusalem : Coram altari isto adorabitis ?

Nova Vulgata (1979)
Quod si responderis mihi: "In Domino Deo nostro confidimus"; nonne ipse est, cuius abstulit Ezechias excelsa et altaria et dixit Iudae et Ierusalem: "Coram altari isto adorabitis"?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

We trust: 2 Kings 18:5, 2 Kings 18:22, 1 Chronicles 5:20, 2 Chronicles 16:7-9, 2 Chronicles 32:7, 2 Chronicles 32:8, Psalms 22:4, Psalms 22:5, Psalms 42:5, Psalms 42:10, Psalms 42:11

is it not: Deuteronomy 12:2-6, Deuteronomy 12:13, Deuteronomy 12:14, 2 Kings 18:4, 2 Chronicles 30:14, 2 Chronicles 31:1, 2 Chronicles 32:12, 1 Corinthians 2:15

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 18:19 - What confidence Psalms 118:9 - than to put Isaiah 36:15 - General Isaiah 36:18 - lest

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But if thou say to me, we trust in the Lord our God,.... In his promises, providence, power, and protection, and not in human counsels and strength; not in allies and auxiliaries, as Pharaoh king of Egypt; should this be replied, Rabshakeh has something to say to that; having shown the vanity of trusting in the above things, he now proceeds to beat them off of all trust in the Lord their God:

is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away; the question might easily be answered in the negative; no, he has not; the high places and altars which Hezekiah took away were the high places and altars of Heathen gods, of false deities, and not of the true God of Israel, and which was to his honour and glory; but Rabshakeh would make a crime of it, and, ignorantly supposing that these were the altars and high places of the God of Israel, would insinuate that the taking of these away must be displeasing to him, and consequently Hezekiah and his people could not hope for any protection from him, whom he had so highly affronted; but all this talk was the fruit of ignorance, as well as of malice:

and said to Judah, and to Jerusalem, ye shall worship before this altar? the altar of the Lord, in the temple at Jerusalem, and before that only, confining their religious worship to one place, and their sacrifices to one altar; which was so far from being displeasing to God, as he would insinuate, that it was entirely agreeable to his will: and therefore there was no weight or strength in this kind of reasoning.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But if thou say to me - If you shall make this plea, that you believe Yahweh will protect you in your revolt. The word ‘thou’ here refers to Hezekiah, or to the ambassadors speaking in his name. In 2 Kings 18:22, it is, ‘but if ye say unto me;’ that is, you ambassadors. The sense is substantially the same.

Is it not he ... - This is given as a reason why they should not put their confidence in Yahweh. The reason is, that he supposed that Hezekiah had removed all the altars of Yahweh from all parts of the land, and that they could not calculate on the protection of a God whose worship bad been abolished. It is probable that Sennacherib and Rabshakeh had beard of the reformation which had been effected by Hezekiah; of his destroying the groves and altars which had been consecrated in the reign of his father to idolatry, and perhaps of the fact that he had even destroyed the brass serpent which Moses had made, and which had become an object of idolatrous worship 2 Kings 18:4, and he may have supposed that all these altars and groves had been devoted to Yahweh, and were connected with his worship. He did not seem to understand that all that Hezekiah had done was only to establish the worship of Yahweh in the land.

High places - The worship of idols was usually performed in groves on high places; or on the tops of hills and mountains. It seems to have been supposed that worship in such places was more acceptable to the Deity. Perhaps it may have been because they thus seemed nearer the residence of the gods; or, perhaps, because there is sublimity and solemnity in such places - a stillness and elevation above the world which seem favorable to devotion (see 1 Samuel 9:12; 1Ki 3:4; 2 Kings 12:2; 2 Chronicles 33:19). Chapels, temples, and altars, were erected on such places 1Ki 13:22; 2 Kings 17:29, and ministers and priests attended there to officiate (1 Kings 12:32; 2 Kings 17:32). Even the kings of Judah, notwithstanding the express prohibition of Moses Deuteronomy 12:0, were engaged in such acts of worship 2Ki 12:4; 2 Kings 14:4; 2Ki 15:4, 2 Kings 15:35; 2 Chronicles 15:17; 2 Chronicles 20:33; and Solomon himself sacrificed in chapels of this kind 1 Kings 3:2. These places Hezekiah had destroyed; that is, he had cut down the consecrated groves, and had destroyed the chapels and temples which had been erected there. The fact that Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, had been distinguished for worshipping in such places had probably led the king of Assyria to suppose that this was the proper worship of the God of the Jews; and now that Hezekiah had destroyed them all, he seems to have inferred that he was guilty of gross irreligion, and could no longer depend on the protection of Yahweh.

And said to Judah and Jerusalem - He had commanded them to worship only in Jerusalem, at the temple. This was in strict accordance with the law of Moses; but this seems to have been understood by Sennacherib as in fact almost or quite banishing the worship of Yahweh from the land. Probably this was said to alienate the minds of the people from Hezekiah, by showing them that he had taken away their rights and privileges of worshipping God where they chose.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 36:7. But if thou say - "But if ye say"] Two ancient MSS. have תאמרו tomeru in the plural number; so likewise the Septuagint, Chaldee, and the other copy, 2 Kings 18:22.

Ye shall worship before this altar - "To worship only before this altar"] See 2 Chronicles 32:12.