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CHAPTER XXXVII

Hezekiah is greatly distressed, and sends to Isaiah the prophet to pray for him, 1-4. Isaiah returns a comfortable answer, and predicts the destruction of the king of Assyria and his army, 5-7. Sennacherib, hearing that his kingdom was invaded by the Ethiopians, sends a terrible letter to Hezekiah, to induce him to surrender, 9-13. Hezekiah goes to the temple, spreads the letter before the Lord, and makes a most affecting prayer, 14-20. Isaiah is sent to him to assure him that his prayer is heard; that Jerusalem shall be delivered; and that the Assyrians shall be destroyed, 21-35. That very night a messenger of God slays one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians, 36. Sennacherib returns to Nineveh, and is slain by his own sons, 37, 38.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXXVII

Verse 6. "Thus shall ye say" - wrmat hk ko tomerun, "thus shall ye (explicitly, earnestly, and positively) say. " The paragogic nun deepens and increases the sense.

Verse 7. "I will send a blast "I will infuse a spirit into him"" - " jwr wb ytwn nothen bo roach never signifies any thing but putting a spirit into a person: this was pneuma deiliav, the spirit of deceit." -Secker. "I will send a blast "-I do not think that Archbishop Secker has hit the true meaning of these words. I believe jwr ruach means here a pestilential wind, such as the Arabs call simoom, that instantly suffocates both man and beast; and is what is termed "the angel of the Lord, "God's messenger of death to the Assyrians, ver. 36.

Verse 8. "Rabshakeh returned" - From chap. xxxvi. 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.

Verse 9. "He heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia" - When he heard that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia had come out against him, then he sent that blasphemous manifesto which is contained in ver. 10-13, to terrify Hezekiah into submission. How much was this like, in words and spirit, to the manifesto sent to the Parisians by the late Duke of Brunswick, from the plains of Champaigne, in 1792, which was the forerunner of the mighty torrents of human blood which was shed in the French revolution! And what a blast of God fell upon him and his army-nearly like that which fell on the army of Sennacherib! He sent messengers "He sent messengers again"] The word [myw vaiyishma, "and he heard, "which occurs the second time in this verse, is repeated by mistake from the beginning of the verse. It is omitted in an ancient MS. It is a mere tautology, and embarrasses the sense. The true reading instead of it is, byw veyesheb, "and he returned, "which the Septuagint read in this place, apestreye, and which is preserved in the other copy, 2 Kings xix. i10: "He returned and sent, "that is, according to the Hebrew idiom, "he sent again."

Verse 12. "As Gozan, and Haran" - rj Charan: but rh Haran is the reading of four of Kennicott's MSS. and one of De Rossi's.

Verse 14. "And read it "And read them"" - µarqyw vayikraem. So MS.

"Bodl. in this place; and so the other copy; instead of wharqyw vaiyikraehu, "and read IT." And spread it "And spread them"" - whrpyw vaiyiphresehu. wh hu is upon a rasure in a MS., which probably was at first µ mem. The same mistake as in the foregoing note.

Verse 15. "Unto the Lord "Before JEHOVAH"" - That is, in the sanctuary.

For la el, the Syriac, Chaldee, and the other copy, 2 Kings xix. 15, read ynpl liphney, "before the face."

Verse 18. "The nations" - twxrah haratsoth, "the lands; " instead of this word, which destroys the sense, ten of Kennicott's and five of De Rossi's MSS. (one ancient) have here µywg goyim, "nations; " which is undoubtedly the true reading, being preserved also in the other copy; 2 Kings xix. 17. Another MS. suggests another method of rectifying the sense in this place, by reading µklm malcam, "their king, "instead of µxra artsam, "their land; " but it ought to be µhyklm malcheyhem, "all the countries and their kings."

Verse 20. "Save us "Save us, we beseech thee"" - The supplicating particle, an na, is supplied here from eighteen MSS., three ancient, of Dr. Kennicott, and ten of De Rossi, and from the other eopy; 2 Kings xix. 19.

"That thou art the Lord, even thou only "That thou JEHOVAH art the only God."" - The word µyhla Elohim, "God, "is lost here in the Hebrew text, but preserved in the other copy; 2 Kings xix. 19. The Syriac and Septuagint seem here to have had in their copies µyhla Elohim, instead of hwhy Yehovah.

Verse 21. "Then Isaiah-sent unto Hezekiah" - The Syriac and Septuagint understand and render the verb passively, was sent.

"Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib "Thy prayer unto me concerning Sennacherib-I have heard"" - yt[m shamati; this word, necessary to the sense, is lost in this place out of the Hebrew text. One MS. of Dr. Kennicott's and one of De Rossi's have it written above the line in a later hand. The Septuagint and Syriac found it in their copies; and it is preserved in the other copy; 2 Kings xix. 20.

Verse 23. "Against the Holy One of Israel." - For la el, to, the other copy has l[ al, against, rather more properly.

Verse 24. "By thy servants "By thy messengers"" - The text has ūydb[ abdeycha, thy servants; but the true reading seems to be ūykalm malacheycha, thy messengers, as in the other copy, 2 Kings xix. 23; and as the Septuagint and Syriac found it in their copies in this place.

Reproached the Lord] ynda Adonai: but one of my MSS. has ynda hwhy Yehovah Adonai, Jehovah the Lord. This reading is not found, I think, in any other MS., but several have hwhy Yehovah for ynda Adonai.

"I will enter into the height of his border "I will penetrate into his extreme retreats"" - The text has µwrm marom, the height which seems to have been taken by mistake from the line but one above. Two MSS. have here wlm malon, the lodge or retreat; which is the word in the other copy, 2 Kings xix. 23, and I think is the true reading.

"The forest of has Carmel." - The forest and his fruitful field; that is, I will possess myself of the whole country.

Verse 25. "Water "Strange waters"" - The word µyrz zarim, strange, lost out of the Hebrew text in this place, is supplied from the other copy. A MS. supplies the word µybr rabbim, many, instead of it.

"With the sole of my feet" - With my infantry.

"All the rivers of the besieged places "All the canals of fenced places."" - The principal cities of Egypt, the scene of his late exploits, were chiefly defended by deep moats, canals, or large lakes, made by labour and art, with which they were surrounded. See Harmer's Observ. ii. p. 304. Claudian introduces Alaric boasting of his conquests in the same extravagant manner:- "Subsidere nostris Sub pedibus montes; arescere vidimus amnes. - Fregi Alpes, galeisque Padum victricibus hausi." De Bello Getic. 526.

"The mountains have passed away under our feet; we have seen the rivers dried up. I have broken the Alps, and laden out the Po with our victorious helmets."

Verse 26. "Lay waste defended cities into ruinous heaps "Lay waste warlike nations; strong fenced cities."" - µyxn µylg gallim nitstsim. It is not easy to give a satisfactory account of these two words, which have greatly embarrassed all the interpreters, ancient and modern. For µylg gallim I read µywg goyim, as the Septuagint do in this place, eqnh. The word µyxn netsim the Vulgate renders in this place compugnantium; in the parallel place, 2 Kings xix. 25, pugnantium; and the Septuagint macimwn, fighting, warlike. This rendering is as well authorized as any other that I know of; and, with the reading of the Septuagint, perfectly clears up the construction. See the margin on all the preceding verses.

Verse 27. "Corn blasted" - hmd shedemah, parched: it does not appear that there is any good authority for this word. The true reading seems to be hpd shedephah, blasted, as it is in six MSS. (two ancient) here, and in the other copy.

Verse 29. "Will I put my hook in thy nose" - Et fraenum meum: Jonathan vocem gtm metheg, interpretatus est µmz zemam, i.e., annulum, sive uncum, eumque ferreum, quem infigunt naribus camelae: eoque trahitur, quoniam illa feris motibus agitur: et hoc est, quod discimus in Talmude; et camela cum annulo narium: scilicet, egreditur die sabbathi. "And my bridle: Jonathan interprets the word metheg by zemam, a ring, or that iron hook which they put in the nostrils of a camel to lead her about, check her in her restiveness, &c. And this is what we mean in the Talmud, when we say, And the camel with the ring of her nostrils shall go out on the Sabbath day." - Jarchi in 2 Kings xix. 28. Ponam circulum in naribus tuis. "I will put a ring in thy nostrils." -Jerome. Just as at this day they put a ring into the nose of the bear, the buffalo, and other wild beasts, to lead them, and to govern them when they are unruly. Bulls are often ringed thus in several parts of England. The Hindoos compare a person who is the slave of his wife to a cow led by the ring in her nose.

Verse 36. "Then the angel" - Before "the angel, "the other copy, 2 Kings xix. 35, adds "it came to pass the same night, that "_] The Prophet Hosea, chap. i. 7, has given a plain prediction of the miraculous deliverance of the kingdom of Judah:- "And to the house of Judah I will be tenderly merciful: And I will save them by JEHOVAH their God.

And I will not save them by the bow; Nor by sword, nor by battle; By horses, nor by horsemen." -L.