The Prophet and His Day: Isaiah 1-39 - Free Bible Commentary

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 36:4-104Then Rabshakeh said to them, "Say now to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king ofAssyria, "What is this confidence that you have? 5 "I say, 'Your counsel and strength for the warare only empty words.' Now on whom do you rely, that you have rebelled against me? 6 Behold,you rely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into hishand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. 7 But if you say to me, 'Wetrust in the LORD our God,' is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has takenaway and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar'? 8 Nowtherefore, come make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you twothousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9 How then can you repulse oneofficial of the least of my master's servants and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?10Have I now come up without the LORD'S approval against this land to destroy it? The LORD saidto me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it.'"'"36:4 The message of Sennacherib was read loudly before the walls of Jerusalem so that everyone couldhear and fear (cf. vv. 11-12)!This verse has three uses of the VERB “say” (BDB 55, KB 65).1. Qal IMPERFECT2. Qal IMPERATIVE3. Qal PERFECT} “What is this confidence that you have” This is a very significant statement for the rest of chapter36 and 37 because it is a play on the Hebrew word “trust” (BDB 105, KB 120, Qal PERFECT, cf. 12:2;26:3,4; 31:1; 32:9-11; 36:4,5,6 [twice],7,9,15; 37:10) or the question “what are you trusting in?” Noticethat the Assyrian logic is based on their military victories over numerous other national gods. The line ofpsychological attack seems to impugn Hezekiah’s actions on behalf of YHWH in order to impugn Hispower and to impugn the people’s trust in Him (cf. 36:4,5,7,10,15,18; 37:4,6,10,17,20 esp., 23,29). Thissets the stage, much like Daniel 3, for YHWH’s confrontation with the Assyrian gods for the purpose thatall of the world may know that YHWH is God (cf. 37:20; 45:6; II Chr. 32:7-8).This question is the theological purpose of the literary unit!36:5NASB, NJB “empty words”NKJV “vain words”NRSV “mere words”LXX “words of the lips”The LXX is a literal translation of the MT (BDB 182 CONSTRUCT BDB 973). This is an idiom forsomeone who speaks without thinking (cf. Pro. 14:23).} “rebelled against me” This refers to the fact that Hezekiah initially stopped paying tribute to Assyria(cf. II Kgs. 18:7), but then apparently began it again when Sennacherib invaded (cf. II Kgs. 18:14-16)and then refused a second time to pay tribute.36:6 “Behold, you rely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt” Apparently, the Assyrianshad inside information on Hezekiah’s ill-conceived design for a military alliance with Egypt. Isaiah hadearlier condemned this alliance (cf. 30:1-5; 31:1-3).348