26 And their inhabitants `are' feeble-handed, They were broken down, and are dried up, They have been the herb of the field, And the greenness of the tender grass, Grass of the roofs, And blasted corn -- before it hath risen up!
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Is the hand of Jehovah become short? now thou dost see whether My word meeteth thee or not.'
only, against Jehovah rebel not ye: and ye, fear not ye the people of the land, for our bread they `are'; their defence hath turned aside from off them, and Jehovah `is' with us; fear them not.'
For, lo, the kings met, they passed by together, They have seen -- so they have marvelled, They have been troubled, they were hastened away. Trembling hath seized them there, Pain, as of a travailing woman. By an east wind Thou shiverest ships of Tarshish.
When the wicked flourish as a herb, And blossom do all workers of iniquity -- For their being destroyed for ever and ever!
My days as a shadow `are' stretched out, And I -- as the herb I am withered.
They are as grass of the roofs, That before it was drawn out withereth, That hath not filled the hand of a reaper, And the bosom of a binder of sheaves. And the passers by have not said, `The blessing of Jehovah `is' on you, We blessed you in the Name of Jehovah!'
A voice is saying, `Call,' And he said, `What do I call?' All flesh `is' grass, and all its goodliness `is' As a flower of the field: Withered hath grass, faded the flower, For the Spirit of Jehovah blew upon it, Surely the people `is' grass; Withered hath grass, faded the flower, But a word of our God riseth for ever.
A sword `is' on the princes, And they have become foolish; A sword `is' on her mighty ones, And they have been broken down; A sword `is' on his horses and on his chariot, And on all the rabble who `are' in her midst, And they have become women; A sword `is' on her treasuries, And they have been spoiled;
Ceased have the mighty of Babylon to fight, They have remained in strongholds, Failed hath their might, they have become woman, They have burnt her tabernacles, Broken have been her bars.
and the rich in his becoming low, because as a flower of grass he shall pass away; for the sun did rise with the burning heat, and did wither the grass, and the flower of it fell, and the grace of its appearance did perish, so also the rich in his way shall fade away!
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on 2 Kings 19
Commentary on 2 Kings 19 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 19
This chapter relates that King Hezekiah, on a report made to him of Rabshakeh's speech, sent a message to the prophet Isaiah to pray for him, who returned him a comfortable and encouraging answer, 2 Kings 19:1 and that upon Rabshakeh's return to the king of Assyria, he sent to Hezekiah a terrifying letter, 2 Kings 19:8, which Hezekiah spread before the Lord, and prayed unto him to save him and his people out of the hands of the king of Assyria, 2 Kings 19:14, to which he had a gracious answer sent him by the prophet Isaiah, promising him deliverance from the Assyrian army, 2 Kings 19:20, which accordingly was destroyed by an angel in one night, and Sennacherib fleeing to Nineveh, was slain by his two sons, 2 Kings 19:35.
And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it,.... The report of Rabshakeh's speech, recorded in the preceding chapter:
that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth; rent his clothes because of the blasphemy in the speech; and he put on sackcloth, in token of mourning, for the calamities he feared were coming on him and his people: and he went into the house of the Lord; the temple, to pray unto him. The message he sent to Isaiah, with his answer, and the threatening letter of the king of Assyria, Hezekiah's prayer upon it, and the encouraging answer he had from the Lord, with the account of the destruction of the Assyrian army, and the death of Sennacherib, are the same "verbatim" as in Isaiah 37:1 throughout; and therefore the reader is referred thither for the exposition of them; only would add what RauwolffF20Travels, par. 3. ch. 22. p. 317. observes, that still to this day (1575) there are two great holes to be seen, wherein they flung the dead bodies (of the Assyrian army), one whereof is close by the road towards Bethlehem, the other towards the right hand against old Bethel.