PART VII.
fulfilment of prophecy; and prophecies belonging to the fourteenth year of hezekiah’s reign, and the times immediately following.—chaps. xxxvi.–xxxix.
A.—First Assyrian Attempt to Compel the Surrender of Jerusalem.—Chaps. xxxvi.–xxxvii. 7.
XXXVI.—1. And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hizikiyahu, Sancherîb, king of Asshur, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. 2. Then the king of Asshur sent Rabshakeh from Lachish towards Jerusalem to king Hizkiyahu with a great army, and he advanced to the conduit of the upper pool by the road of the fuller’s field; 3. and there went out to him Eliakim, son of Hilkiyahu, the house-minister, and Shebna the chancellor, and Joah, son of Asaph the recorder.
4. And Rabshakeh said to them, Say now to Hizkiyahu, Thus saith the great king, the king of Asshur, What sort of confidence is this that thou hast got? 5. I say, Vain talk is counsel and strength for war: now, then, in whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me? 6. Behold, thou trustest in this broken reed-staff there, in Egypt, on which one leans, and it runs into his hand and pierces it; so does Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7. But if thou sayest to me, We trust in Jehovah our God; is it not He whose high places and altars Hizkiyahu has removed, and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before the altar? 8. And not take a wager with my lord the king of Asshur; I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou art able for thy part to give horsemen upon them. 9. And how couldst thou repel the advance of a single satrap among the least of the servants of my lord? Thou puttest thy trust then in Egypt for chariots and riders! 10. And now have I come up without Jehovah against this land to destroy it? Jehovah said to me, Go up to this land, and destroy it.
11. Then said Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, to Rabshakeh, Pray, speak to thy servants in Aramæan, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Jewish, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
12. Then Rabshakeh said to them, Has my lord sent me to thy lord and to thee, not rather to the men who sit upon the wall, to eat their dung, and to drink their urine together with you?
13. Then Rabshakeh went near, and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish language, and said, Hear the words of the great king, the king of Asshur. 14. Thus saith the king, Let not Hizkiyahu practise deception upon you; for he cannot deliver you. 15. And let not Hizkiyahu feed you with hope in Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will deliver, yea, deliver us: this city will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Asshur. 16. Hearken not to Hizkiyahu; for thus saith the king of Asshur, Enter into a connection of mutual good wishes with me, and come out to me: and enjoy every one his vine, and every one his fig-tree, and drink every one the water of his cistern: 17. till I come and take you away into a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread-corn and vineyards; 18. that Hizkiyahu do not befool you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us. Have the gods of the nations delivered every one his land out of the hand of the king of Asshur? 19. Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where the gods of Sepharvayim? and how much less have they delivered that Samaria out of my hand? 20. Who were they among all the gods of these lands who delivered their land out of my hand? how much less will Jehovah deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
21. But they held their peace, and answered him not a word; for it was the king’s commandment, Ye shall not answer him.
22. Then came Eliakim, son of Hilkiyahu, the house-minister, and Shebna that chancellor, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, to Hizkiyahu, with torn clothes, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.