Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 37:8

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 37:8. Rabshakeh returned — From Isaiah 36:2, we learn that the king of Assyria had sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem; now it is likely that Rabshakeh had besieged that place, and that the king of Assyria had taken his station before this city, and despatched Rabshakeh against Jerusalem. But, as in the verse above it is said, "he had departed from Lachish," probably he had been obliged to raise the siege, and sat down before Libnah, which promised an easier conquest.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Assyria defeated (37:1-38)

Hezekiah now realized his mistake in ignoring Isaiah and relying on Egypt. In a humble but open acknowledgment that Judah’s plight was desperate, he sent to ask Isaiah to appeal to God for help (37:1-4). Isaiah reassured Hezekiah that God would not tolerate Assyria’s mockery of him (5-7).
When the Assyrians temporarily withdrew from Jerusalem to deal with an enemy attack to the south-west, they sent a letter renewing their threats. They reminded the Jerusalemites that none of the gods of the nations had been able to save those nations from Assyria (8-13).
Hezekiah then presented the whole matter to God in complete trust (14). Although he wanted deliverance from the Assyrians, he was concerned also for the honour of God’s name. He did not deny that the Assyrians had conquered many nations, but he objected to their insults against Yahweh. He wanted to be saved from the Assyrians in such a way that people everywhere would see that Yahweh was the only true God (15-20).
Isaiah, being God’s spokesman, brought God’s reply to Hezekiah. God knew what had happened, and he condemned Assyria for insulting him and despising his people (21-23). Assyria boasted of its achievements, when in fact it had been no more than God’s instrument to carry out his judgments (24-27). Because of Assyria’s blasphemy, God would now punish Assyria and save Jerusalem (28-29). The area around Jerusalem, where fields had not been farmed because of the besieging armies, would be sown afresh and become productive again. But more important than agricultural increase would be the increase in the number of truly faithful believers in Judah (30-32).
God showed that he could save Jerusalem from the Assyrians without the people of Jerusalem needing to carry out any military activity at all (33-35). Having announced his plans, God acted. He inflicted the Assyrian army with a deadly plague, so that it suffered heavy losses and was forced to flee. Some time later, back in Assyria, Sennacherib was assassinated (36-38).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish. And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come out to fight against thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?"

One of the unresolved questions mentioned in the introduction to Isaiah 36 concerns the Tirhakah mentioned here in Isaiah 37:9. Some say he was too young to have led an expedition against Sennacherib at this time, being only about ten years of age; but there is too much ignorance of the whole political picture of that period of history, and there is too much ignorance about Tirhakah himself (Does this name refer to a dynasty rather than to an individual?) for anyone to be troubled by such speculations. As Hailey said, "Until contrary evidence is provided, we will assume that Tirhakah was of sufficient age to have led an army against Sennacherib."Ibid., 307.

This message from Sennacherib was little more than a somewhat extended repetition of the message he had already sent to Hezekiah by Rabshakeh. He did mention a few more cities that had fallen to previous Assyrian kings, such as Gozan, one of the towns to which the Assyrians had deported some of the Northern Israelites (2 Kings 17:6). Haran was located on a tributary to the Euphrates river and was prominent in Jewish history; for that was where Abraham settled when he left Ur of the Chaldees; there Terah died; and there the Word of God came the second time to Abraham. There both Isaac and Jacob received their wives. Eden was an important city that had supplied the kings of Damascus, of whom Amos prophesied that, "God would cut off the inhabitants from the valley of Aven, and him that holdeth the scepter from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity" (Amos 1:5). The Assyrian kings indeed had been God's instrument in the fulfillment of Amos' prophecy.

Kelley noticed that this message was delivered both orally and by letter,Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 292. that being apparently the principal difference between them.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

So Rabshakeh returned - Returned from Jerusalem to the camp of his master. He had received no answer to his insulting message Isaiah 36:21; he saw there was no prospect that the city would surrender; and he therefore returned again to the camp.

And found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah - He had departed from Lachish. Why he had done this is unknown. It is possible that he had taken it, though this is not recorded anywhere in history. Or it is possible that he had found it impracticable to subdue it as speedily as he had desired; and had withdrawn from it for the purpose of subduing other places that would offer a more feeble resistance. Libnah was a city in the south of Judah Joshua 15:42, given to the priests, and declared a city of refuge 1Ch 6:54, 1 Chronicles 6:57. Eusebius and Jerome say it was in the district of Eleutheropolis (Calmet). It was about ten miles to the northwest of Lachish. This city was taken by Joshua, and all its inhabitants put to the sword After taking this. Joshua next assaulted and took Lachish Joshua 10:29-32.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

8.And Rabshakeh having returned. He now declares how Rabshakeh, without doing anything, returned to his king, not to the same place where he had left him; for he understood that he had raised the siege of Lachish, and had departed into Egypt for the purpose of attacking Libnah. Some think that this city is Pelusium, others choose rather to assign it to Judea. It is, indeed, probable that, in consequence of a report that reached him about the approach of enemies, he moved his camp towards Egypt, that by meeting them he might prevent them from advancing. Though God restrained the violence of the tyrant by a new war, in order to give some relief to the Jews, yet he did not wish to conquer the tyrant by the hand of man, but only to shew openly and, as it were, to display on a theater his unconquerable pride; because, even when he was in great danger, he did not cease to vomit out the same blasphemies, as we shall soon see.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 37

And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes ( Isaiah 37:1 ),

Yeah, man, it is bad. Rip, you know.

and he covered himself with sackcloth ( Isaiah 37:1 ),

Now sackcloth was something that they put upon themselves to more or less afflict themselves. It was whenever you were in mourning you would put on sackcloth. Sackcloth, as you can well imagine, against the skin must be very irritating. And so the king himself put on sackcloth.

and he went into the house of the LORD ( Isaiah 37:1 ).

Or he went into the temple. And they said unto him... let's see,

And then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, and they came to Isaiah the prophet. And they said to Isaiah, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and the mothers do not have enough strength to bring them foRuth ( Isaiah 37:2-3 ).

Actually, they were beginning to suffer from the ravages of being closed in by the Assyrian forces. And so with the shortage of food, the strength of the mothers was ebbing and they didn't have enough strength when it came time for a child to be delivered. They'd be in labor, and yet they didn't have enough strength to bring the children forth. He said,

It may be that Yahweh thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left ( Isaiah 37:4 ).

So it's really a request to Isaiah, "Pray. This guy has been down here and we're in trouble. Pray."

So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that you have heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land ( Isaiah 37:5-7 ).

So God's answer to these threats of Sennacherib is that he is going to return to his own land and there fall by the sword.

So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom you trust, deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and you think you're going to be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD ( Isaiah 37:8-14 ).

I like this. He gets a threatening letter. It is a disturbing letter. And what does he do with it? He goes into the house of the Lord. He just spreads it out before the Lord. He said, "Look, Lord, what they're saying about You now. Take care of them, God." And so he spreads this thing out before the Lord.

If we would only learn to take our problems and our troubles to the Lord. Just spread it out before the Lord. "Lord, look what's going on." What a wise thing to do. Just take your problems and spread them out before the Lord.

And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwells between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made the heaven and the eaRuth ( Isaiah 37:15-16 ).

God is above all gods. There are many gods. For a god is the master passion of a person's life. The Bible speaks that the gods of the heathen are vain. There is only one true and living God. Francis Schaeffer said the time has come when we as Christians must really just... we can't just talk about God anymore, because God is so many things to so many people. You talk about God, and to some person it's an essence of love. It's so many things. So he said the time has come when we need to more or less qualify the term God and not just use the term God, but qualify it by saying, "The eternal living God who created the heavens and the earth." Then we know what God we're talking about. For there is only one eternal, living God who has created the heavens and the earth. Though there are many gods that people bow down to worship, yet there's only one true, eternal, living God. Creator of heaven and earth.

So here of all of the kingdoms of the earth and gods of all of the kingdoms, You're the only One who is really the Creator of heaven and earth.

Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent [which he has sent, actually] to reproach the living God ( Isaiah 37:17 ).

So here he is. He addresses Him as the living God who has made heaven and earth, the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel who dwells between the cherubims. Now he acknowledges a certain truthfulness to this threatening letter,

Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries ( Isaiah 37:18 ),

Surrounding territories.

And they have cast their gods into the fire: because they were not true gods, but the work of men's hands, they were gods of wood and stone: therefore they were able to destroy them. Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, and you only ( Isaiah 37:19-20 ).

Marvelous prayer. A prayer and the recognizing of the greatness of God, who He is. A prayer in which he lays out the facts as he understands them. And then asks God's help in the situation.

Then Isaiah sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Inasmuch as you have prayed to me against Sennacherib the king of Assyria: This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee ( Isaiah 37:21-22 ),

Talking about Sennacherib now, this powerful Assyrian king. Hey, our little girls despised thee.

and they've laughed thee to scorn; the daughters of Jerusalem just shake their heads at thee ( Isaiah 37:22 ).

Which is a sort of a reproachful kind of a thing.

Who have you reproached and blasphemed? and against whom have you exalted your voice, and lifted up your eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. By your servants you've reproached the Lord [the Adonai] and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come in to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places. Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defensed cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn that is blasted before it is grown up. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which you came. And this shall be a sign unto you, Ye shall eat ( Isaiah 37:23-30 )

And this is unto the children of Hezekiah.

You shall eat this year ( Isaiah 37:30 )

In other words, God has declared, "I'm going to turn you back and by the way you came is where you'll go." This is the end of the message to Sennacherib. Now to Hezekiah, this shall be the sign that God is going to fulfill this.

this year you will eat that which just grows of itself out of the ground; and the second year [the same thing] that which springs from the same: and in the third year you're going to sow the land, and reap, and you'll plant the vineyards, and you'll eat the fruit thereof ( Isaiah 37:30 ).

God is going to restore and remove the enemy entirely out of the land.

And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: for the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake ( Isaiah 37:31-35 ).

This is the word of the Lord through Isaiah to king Hezekiah. Now if you were king and the prophet of God gave you this message, how would you react to it? Here you're facing the strongest army in the world. And you are admittedly weak. The guy has said, "Hey, we gave you two thousand horses, you don't have enough men to put on them." They've wiped out all of the enemy, all of the other lands which were, many of them, stronger and more powerful than you are. Now the word of the Lord comes from the prophet Isaiah saying, "Don't worry about it. They'll never step inside of this city. They won't shoot an arrow in. By the way they came they're going to turn back."

Well, really what can you do? You're really sort of defenseless anyhow. You might as well just hope that the prophet's right 'cause you can't do much else. Fortunately in this case, the prophet is right, for we read,

Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand: and when they [that is, the children of Judah] awoke early in the morning, behold, the Assyrian army were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and he went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh ( Isaiah 37:36-37 ).

Which is the capital of Assyria. He returned to Nineveh in defeat, his armies destroyed by an angel of the Lord.

And it came to pass ( Isaiah 37:38 ),

Remember, he said he's going to go back to his land and there he would fall by the sword.

It came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead ( Isaiah 37:38 ).

So God's word was fulfilled. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The Rabshakeh returned to his master, having learned that Hezekiah would not surrender. He found him five miles closer to Jerusalem than Lachish, at Libnah, where he was fighting the Judahites. The message that Tirhakah, King of Ethiopia, was coming to engage him in battle, caused Sennacherib to decide to terminate further campaigns in Palestine and return to his homeland temporarily. Tirhakah was about 20 years old at this time and did not accede to the throne of Egypt and Ethiopia until 690 B.C. However, he was the military leader that Sennacherib did not want to engage at this time.

". . . it is a common practice of Ancient Oriental writers to refer to people and places by titles and names acquired later than the period being described." [Note: K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and Old Testament, p. 82.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The royal letter 37:8-13

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

King Hezekiah’s challenge 37:8-35

This section contains two parts: Sennacherib’s letter to Hezekiah, and Hezekiah’s response to it.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

So Rabshakeh returned,.... To the king of Assyria his master, to give him an account how things went at Jerusalem, and that he could get no direct answer from the king of Judah, and to consult with him what was proper to be done in the present situation of things; leaving the army before Jerusalem, under the command of the other two generals. For that he should take the army with him does not seem reasonable, when Hezekiah and his people were in such a panic on account of it; besides, the king of Assyria's letters to Hezekiah clearly suppose the army to be still at Jerusalem, or his menacing letters would have signified nothing; and after this the destruction of the Assyrian army before Jerusalem is related:

and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; a city in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 10:29, and lay nearer to Jerusalem than Lachish, where Rabshakeh left him; so that he seemed to be drawing his army towards that city, on which his heart was set. Josephus u makes him to be at this time besieging Pelusium, a city in Egypt, but wrongly; which has led some into a mistake that Libnah and Pelusium are the same:

for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish; where he was, when he sent him to Jerusalem, Isaiah 36:2, having very probably taken it.

u Antiqu. l. 10. c. 1. sect. 4.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.   9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,   10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.   11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?   12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?   13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?   14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.   15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,   16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.   17 Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.   18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,   19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.   20 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.

      We may observe here, 1. That, if God give us inward satisfaction in his promise, this may confirm us in our silently bearing reproaches. God answered Hezekiah, but it does not appear that he, after deliberation, sent any answer to Rabshakeh; but, God having taken the work into his own hands, he quietly left the matter with him. So Rabshakeh returned to the king his master for fresh instructions. 2. Those that delight in war shall have enough of it. Sennacherib, without provocation given to him or warning given by him, went forth to war against Judah; and now with as little ceremony the king of Ethiopia goes forth to war against him, Isaiah 37:9; Isaiah 37:9. Those that are quarrelsome may expect to be quarrelled with; and God sometimes checks the rage of his enemies by giving it a powerful diversion. 3. It is bad to talk proudly and profanely, but it is worse to write so, for this argues more deliberation and design, and what is written spreads further, lasts longer, and does the more mischief. Atheism and irreligion, written, will certainly be reckoned for another day. 4. Great successes often harden sinners' hearts in their sinful ways and make them the more daring. Because the kings of Assyria have destroyed all lands (though, in fact, they were but a few that fell within their reach), therefore they doubt not but to destroy God's land; because the gods of the nations were unable to help they conclude the God of Israel is so; because the idolatrous kings of Hamath and Arphad became an easy prey to them therefore they doubt not but to destroy God's land; because the idolatrous kings of Hamath and Arphad became an easy prey to them therefore the religious reforming king of Judah must needs be so too. Thus is this proud man ripened for ruin by the sunshine of prosperity. 5. Liberty of access to the throne of grace, and liberty of speech there, are the unspeakable privilege of the Lord's people at all times, especially in times of distress and danger. Hezekiah took Sennacherib's letter, and spread it before the Lord, not designing to make any complaints against him but those grounded upon his own handwriting. Let the thing speak itself; here it is in black and white: Open thy eyes, O Lord! and see. God allows his praying people to be humbly free with him, to utter all their words, as Jephthah did, before him, to spread the letter, whether of a friend or an enemy, before him, and leave the contents, the concern of it, with him. 6. The great and fundamental principles of our religion, applied by faith and improved in prayer, will be of sovereign use to us in our particular exigencies and distresses, whatever they are; to them therefore we must have recourse, and abide by them; so Hezekiah did here. He encouraged himself with this, that the God of Israel is the Lord of hosts, of all hosts, of the hosts of Israel, to animate him, of the hosts of their enemies, to dispirit and restrain them,--that he is God alone, and there is none that can stand in competition with him,--that he is the God of all the kingdoms of the earth, and disposes of them all as he pleases; for he made heaven and earth, and therefore both can do any thing and does every thing. 7. When we are afraid of men that are great destroyers we may with humble boldness appeal to God as the great Saviour. They have indeed destroyed the nations, who had thrown themselves out of the protection of the true God by worshipping false gods, but the Lord, the God alone, is our God, our King, our lawgiver, and he will save us, who is the Saviour of those that believe. 8. We have enough to take hold of, in our wrestling with God by prayer, if we can but plead that his glory is interested in our case, that his name will be profaned if we are run down and glorified if we are relieved. Thence therefore will our most prevailing pleas be drawn: "Do it for thy glory's sake."