= 2 Kings 19
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== 2 Kings 19
1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
2 And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear all 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 are left.
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
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 when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto 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 delivered 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 Thelasar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
16 Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.
17 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,
18 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.
19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
21 This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
25 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 fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
26 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 house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
29 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
32 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 shield, nor cast a bank against it.
33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.
34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
37 And 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.
== Notes
== Cross Reference
== Commentary
=== Archaeological Evidence
[35] By and large the biblical and Assyrian accounts harmonize on many core events. Crucially, both accounts agree that Sennacherib did conquer Lachish, and overran almost all of Judah but not Jerusalem. The Jewish historian, Josephus, writing in the 1st century C.E., later connected the dots:
“When Senacheirimos returned to Jerusalem from his war with Egypt, he found there the force under Rapsakes in danger from a plague, for God had visited a pestilential sickness upon his army, and on the first night of the siege one hundred and eighty-five thousand men had perished with their commanders and officers” - Jospehus, Ja. 10.17.21
Also, from Herodotus:
"During the night a horde of field mice gnawed quivers and their bows and the handles of shields, with the result that many were killed, fleeing unarmed the next day" - Herodotus 2.141
(this quote from H. needs to be investigated because I think it is referring to a different battle)
== Rashi
==== Verse 3
[And] debate. That the wicked are debating1 and showing evidence to [support] their words, claiming, “We have the power and the strength.”2
Children. Yisroel.
As far as the birthstool. As far as a distress similar to a woman sitting on the birthstool, but not having strength to give birth.
==== Verse 4
And he brought proof with the words. Aprover, in O.F., He showed evidence to [support] his statement,3 [namely,] that he prospered wherever he went.
==== Verse 7
And he will hear a rumor. And he will withdraw from you and return to his land. He will not [return] because of the rumor, but after a while he will return to his land in disgrace, and I will cause him to fall there by the sword. Now what was the rumor? ”And he heard about Tirhaikoh.”4 He heard that Tirhaikoh had gone out to wage war against him, so, he left Yerusholayim and went to Cush, and waged war with Tirhaikoh, and Egypt, who were with him. He defeated him and took their most coveted treasures, and came to Yerusholayim, where he fell. In reference to this, Yeshayohu stated, ”The toil of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, etc., will become yours, etc.”5
==== Verse 9
He again sent messengers. To notify him that he was not returning to his land, rather he was waging war with Cush, and then to return here.
==== Verse 12
Eden. The name of a province.
==== Verse 13
He exiled and twisted. The king of Ashur exiled and twisted them.6
==== Verse 17
Indeed. It is true that the kings of Ashur destroyed the peoples and put their deities in fire.
==== Verse 23
The highest mountains. [This refers to] the Temple Mount.7
To the end of the Levanon. [This refers to] the Beis Hamikdosh which whitens [=מלבן] sins.8
And I will cut down its tallest cedar [trees]. I will not return until I have destroyed it.9
Remotest. Its end.10
Its fruitful forest. The fullness of its land and the beauty of its splendor.
==== Verse 24
I dug and drank strange water. I.e., I started all my deeds and completed [them], as one who digs a hole and finds flowing water and drinks it. Flowing water he calls “זרים [=strange],” because until now no one knew of them.
And I dry up with the soles of my feet. If I besiege a city that depends upon its rivers, I bring many troops upon it who dry up its rivers with their drinking and the drinking of their cattle11 and by the treading of their feet.12
And I dry up. This is in the present tense [because] this is always my way.
==== Verse 25
Have you not heard from afar. Why do you glorify and aggrandize yourself with this? This is not yours, for you have heard from afar through the prophets, that I decreed upon the nations to bring you upon them, as the matter that is stated, ”Ho, Ashur, the staff of My wrath.”13
In days of yore. Since the world was created, it entered My thought, as it is stated, ”For [Gehinnom] is arranged from days of yore; that too was prepared for the king.”14 This refers to Sancheiriv, who was burned in the fire of Gehinnom, as it is stated, ”The word of Adonoy, Who has fire in Tzion.”15
Now I have brought it about. And this is the power that is in your hand.
And it shall be. The coming of My decree shall be to make desolate fortified cities into blossoming hills, into piles of earth upon which vegetables grow, for you destroy them because of My decree.
To make desolate. An expression of desolation, forsaken.
==== Verse 26
Their inhabitants were short of strength. Those whom I weakened before you,16 and the might is not yours.17 You are not mighty, rather they are weak.18
Like grass of the rooftops. Which dries quickly.19
And wind blast before [becoming] standing grain. Like blasted stalks of grain, before they hardened to become standing grain.
==== Verse 27
Your sitting and your going out and your coming in. [Targum] Yonoson rendered, ”And your sitting in counsel, and your going out to wage war, and your coming to the land of Yisroel, is revealed to Me;” it emanated from Me.
And your raging against Me. And that ultimately you will become arrogant and aroused against Me with anger and tumult, estorimir, in O.F..
==== Verse 28
And your tumult. [Means] the same as ושאונך [=your tumult].20
My ring. A kind of ring by which they pull an animal whose behavior is bad,21 as we learned, ”And all animals that are usually pulled with a ring may go out [on Shabbos] with a ring.”22
And my bit. [Targum] Yonoson rendered זמם, which is made of iron, and which is inserted into the nostrils of a female camel,23 and she is pulled with it, because her behavior is bad. This is what we learned, ”And the female camel [may go out on Shabbos] with a nose ring.”24
==== Verse 29
And this shall be the sign for you. The prophet said to Chizkiyohu, ”And this prophecy which I said to you that Sancheiriv will fall here, will be a sign for you25 also for the approaching days, for you are afraid of dying from hunger, because Sancheiriv destroyed the land and chopped down the trees.”
This year you will eat what grows by itself. This year plants will grow for you, and you will be sustained by them.
What grows from the tree stumps. The chopped off trees that will sprout, and when you see My word fulfilled concerning the fall of the armies, it will be a sign for you that this promise, too, will be fulfilled.
==== Verse 31
The zeal of Adonoy of Hosts. That He will be zealous for His honor and for His Name, not that you have any merit,26 for Achaz your father committed many wicked deeds.
==== Verse 32
He will not advance upon it. He will not set a shield before it.27
A ramp. A heap of earth to raise a mount upon which to stand to wage war against the city, and because one presses it down and beats it with sticks and sledge hammers, so that it becomes trodden and pressed down with strength, it is called סוללה, an expression of, “Beat down [=סולו], beat down [=סולו] the highway.”28
==== Verse 35
And it was that night. When Sancheiriv returned from [battling] with Cush, and he came as far as Nov, which was near Yerusholayim.29
One hundred eighty-five thousand. All of them were heads of companies.30
==== Verse 36
And dwelt in Nineveh. It was the capital of Ashur.
==== Verse 37
In the temple of Nisroch his god. A board from Noach's ark.31 32
They do not fear Adonoy. A complete fear as is the custom of the [Bnei] Yisroel. And although they converted out of fear of the lions, [nonetheless,] their fear of Adonoy was not a complete fear, (like [Bnei] Yisroel's custom) as it goes on to elaborate, that they were not engaged in Torah [study] and [in performing] the commandments which God commanded the Bnei Yaakov, and they do not practice according to their statutes and according to their law, which they are obligated to practice once they converted, but as the priest who was of the people of Shomron, instructed them.37—who were idolatrous.