Hezekiah son of Ahaz becomes king of Judah and receives the highest verdict of any Davidic king: he trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, and there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, before or after. He removes the high places, smashes the sacred pillars, cuts down the Asherah pole, and destroys the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the Israelites had been burning incense to it. He rebels against Assyria and defeats the Philistines. But in the fourteenth year of his reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria invades and captures all the fortified cities of Judah. Hezekiah first tries appeasement, stripping the Temple and palace to pay tribute, but Sennacherib sends a massive force to Jerusalem anyway. The Rabshakeh — the chief Assyrian spokesman — delivers a devastating speech in Hebrew to the people on the walls, systematically attacking every basis for Judah's confidence: military strength, Egyptian alliance, and trust in the LORD himself. He claims the LORD sent Assyria to destroy Jerusalem.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
The Rabshakeh's speech (vv. 19-35) is one of the most psychologically sophisticated pieces of propaganda in ancient literature. He speaks in Hebrew (Yehudit) deliberately, so the common soldiers on the wall can understand — when Hezekiah's officials beg him to switch to Aramaic, the diplomatic language, he refuses and speaks louder. His argument is methodical: (1) Your military confidence is a broken reed. (2) Egypt will fail you. (3) Your own God is angry because Hezekiah removed his high places and altars. (4) The LORD himself told me to come destroy this place. (5) No god of any nation has ever stopped Assyria. Each point is designed to separate the people from their king and their God. The theological irony is layered: the Rabshakeh is both right and wrong — God did use Assyria as an instrument of judgment (Isaiah 10:5-6), but Assyria does not understand that it is a tool, not an autonomous power. The speech inverts covenant language: where the covenant promises security through trust in God, the Rabshakeh promises security through surrender to Assyria.
Translation Friction
The chronological note 'in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah' (v. 13) combined with the synchronism of v. 1 creates a well-known chronological difficulty. If Hezekiah became king in the third year of Hoshea (v. 1) and Samaria fell in Hezekiah's sixth year (v. 10), the fourteenth year would be approximately 714-711 BCE, while Sennacherib's invasion is firmly dated to 701 BCE by Assyrian records. Various solutions have been proposed (co-regency, textual error, multiple campaigns). We render the text as given. The Rabshakeh's claim that 'the LORD said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it' (v. 25) may be a lie, a theological interpretation, or an ironic truth — Isaiah 10:5-6 does call Assyria the rod of God's anger. The narrator lets the claim stand without comment, trusting the reader to evaluate it.
Connections
Hezekiah's destruction of the bronze serpent (Nechushtan, v. 4) reaches back to Numbers 21:4-9, where Moses made a bronze serpent as a means of healing during the wilderness plague. What God once commanded as salvation had become an object of worship — the trajectory from divine gift to idol. Hezekiah's verdict — 'he trusted in the LORD' (batach ba-YHWH, v. 5) — is the precise opposite of his father Ahaz, who trusted in Assyria (16:7). The Rabshakeh's speech parallels and inverts Deuteronomy's covenant promises: where Deuteronomy says 'trust in the LORD and he will give you the land,' the Rabshakeh says 'trust in me and I will give you a land of grain and wine' (v. 32). The siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib is one of the best-attested events in ancient history, confirmed by Sennacherib's own annals (the Taylor Prism), which boast of shutting Hezekiah up 'like a caged bird' — but notably do not claim to have captured Jerusalem.
In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.
KJV Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The accession formula synchronizes Hezekiah with the dying northern kingdom — he becomes king while Samaria still stands, and will witness its fall. The name Chizkiyyahu means 'the LORD is my strength' or 'the LORD strengthens,' a programmatic name for a king whose story will center on whether he trusts in divine strength or human alliances.
He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi daughter of Zechariah.
KJV Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The queen mother's name is given as Avi ('my father'), shortened from Aviyyah ('my father is the LORD') in the parallel passage 2 Chronicles 29:1. The identification of the queen mother (gevirah) was standard in Judahite regnal formulas, reflecting her political significance. Twenty-nine years is one of the longest Judahite reigns, indicating stability.
He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, exactly as his ancestor David had done.
KJV And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The positive verdict kekhol asher asah David aviv ('according to all that David his father did') is the highest commendation in Kings. Most good kings receive the qualifier 'but the high places were not removed.' Hezekiah will receive no such asterisk — he is compared to David without qualification.
He removed the high places, smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah pole, and crushed the bronze serpent that Moses had made — because up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. He called it Nehushtan.
KJV He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Four acts of reform: removing bamot (high places), smashing matstsevot (sacred pillars), cutting the Asherah, and destroying nechash hannechoshet ('the serpent of bronze') from Numbers 21:8-9. The bronze serpent, originally made at God's command as a means of healing, had become an object of worship — meqatterim lo ('burning incense to it'). Hezekiah's name for it, Nechushtan, is a wordplay: nechash ('serpent') + nechoshet ('bronze') = Nechushtan, 'just a bronze thing.' The name strips it of sacred power by reducing it to its material. This is one of the most radical acts in Kings — destroying something Moses himself had made, because its function had changed from pointer-to-God to replacement-for-God.
He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah — neither after him nor before him.
KJV He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
בָּטַחbatach
"trusted"—to trust, to rely upon, to feel secure, to be confident, to lean on
batach — the verb of personal reliance and secure confidence. Unlike emunah (faithfulness/steadfastness) which emphasizes reliability, batach emphasizes the act of leaning one's full weight on another. Hezekiah's trust is an act of total dependence on God rather than on military or diplomatic resources.
Translator Notes
The verb batach ('to trust, to rely upon, to lean on') is placed emphatically first: ba-YHWH Elohei Yisrael batach ('in the LORD God of Israel he trusted'). This is the defining characteristic the narrator selects from Hezekiah's entire reign. The superlative — lo hayah khamohu ('there was none like him') — is extraordinary and creates a tension with the similar claim for Josiah in 23:25. The narrator may be distinguishing different categories: Hezekiah was unmatched in trust (bitachon), Josiah in Torah-obedience.
He held fast to the LORD, never turning aside from following him, and he kept his commandments — the ones the LORD had commanded Moses.
KJV For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb davaq ('to cling, to hold fast, to adhere') is the same word used in Genesis 2:24 for a man clinging to his wife — it implies intimate, unbreakable attachment. The phrase lo sar me-acharav ('he did not turn aside from following him') uses the same verb sur that the sinful kings 'did not turn aside from' Jeroboam's sins (17:22). Hezekiah's loyalty is described with the Deuteronomic vocabulary of covenant faithfulness: clinging to God and keeping his commands as given through Moses.
The LORD was with him, and he succeeded in everything he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.
KJV And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase YHWH immo ('the LORD was with him') is the formula of divine presence that marked Joseph (Genesis 39:2), Joshua (Joshua 6:27), and David (1 Samuel 18:14). The verb yaskil ('he acted wisely, he succeeded') implies both prudence and prosperity. His rebellion against melekh Ashshur ('the king of Assyria') reverses his father Ahaz's voluntary submission (16:7). Where Ahaz said 'I am your servant,' Hezekiah says 'I will not serve you.'
He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territories, from the smallest watchtower to the largest fortified city.
KJV He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Hezekiah's military success against the Philistines reverses generations of Philistine encroachment. Gaza (Azzah) is the southernmost Philistine city, indicating the campaign reached the full extent of Philistine territory. The phrase mimmigdal notserim ad ir mivtsar ('from watchtower to fortified city') is the same merism used in 17:9 to describe Israel's high places — here it describes the comprehensive scope of Hezekiah's victory.
In the fourth year of King Hezekiah — which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel — Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it.
KJV And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The narrator provides the Judahite perspective on Samaria's fall — events already narrated in chapter 17 are re-dated according to Hezekiah's regnal years. This double dating links the two kingdoms' fates: Hezekiah witnesses from Jerusalem what happens when a nation abandons the covenant.
They captured it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah — which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel — Samaria was taken.
KJV And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The fall of Samaria is recorded again, now from Hezekiah's chronological perspective. The phrase nilkedah Shomeron ('Samaria was taken') uses the niphal passive — the city is the object, not the subject. It suffered capture rather than choosing defeat. The double-dated chronology embeds the northern catastrophe within the Judahite timeline.
The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, along the Habor — the river of Gozan — and in the cities of the Medes,
KJV And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The deportation locations repeat 17:6 verbatim. The repetition is deliberate — the narrator wants the reader to hear the exile sentence again, now from Hezekiah's perspective. What happened to Israel will serve as the warning Hezekiah heeds and the lesson the Rabshakeh will soon weaponize.
because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but violated his covenant — everything that Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.
KJV Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.
berit — the covenant is named as what Israel violated. The verb avar ('to cross over, to transgress') paired with berit creates the image of crossing a forbidden boundary — they walked across the line God had drawn.
Translator Notes
The explanation for exile is compressed into one verse: failure to hear (lo shame'u beqol YHWH), violation of covenant (vayyya'avru et berito, 'they crossed over/transgressed his covenant'), and failure to act (lo shame'u velo asu, 'they did not listen and did not do'). The verb avar in the phrase vayyya'avru et berito means 'to cross over, to transgress' — they crossed the boundary line of the covenant. Moses is identified as eved YHWH ('servant of the LORD'), his highest title.
In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria marched against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.
KJV Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Sennacherib (Sancheriv) succeeded Sargon II in 705 BCE. His campaign against Judah in 701 BCE is one of the most thoroughly documented events in ancient history — Assyrian records, the biblical accounts in Kings, Isaiah, and Chronicles, and archaeological evidence from Lachish all converge. The phrase kol arei Yehudah habetsurot ('all the fortified cities of Judah') indicates comprehensive conquest — Judah's defensive network is systematically dismantled. The siege of Lachish, Judah's second city, is depicted in famous relief panels from Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh.
Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and whatever you impose on me I will bear."
KJV And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Hezekiah's first response is capitulation: chatati ('I have sinned/done wrong') is a confession of political error — his rebellion was a mistake. The phrase shuv me-alai ('turn back from upon me, withdraw from me') begs for Assyrian withdrawal. The blank-check submission — et asher titten alai essa ('whatever you put on me I will carry') — offers unconditional compliance. Sennacherib is at Lachish (Lakhish), besieging Judah's second-most important city, about 30 miles southwest of Jerusalem.
The king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah a payment of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
KJV And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The tribute demand is enormous: three hundred talents of silver (approximately 10 tons) and thirty talents of gold (approximately 1 ton). Sennacherib's own annals claim 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver — the gold figure matches; the silver discrepancy may reflect different accounting methods or additional payments. A talent (kikkar) weighed approximately 75 pounds. This sum would deplete the national treasury.
Hezekiah handed over all the silver found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
KJV And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Hezekiah empties both the Temple and palace treasuries — the same sources Ahaz raided in 16:8. The cycle of plunder continues: foreign threats drain the Temple of its wealth. The phrase kol hakkesef hannimtsa ('all the silver found') indicates a total depletion — everything available.
At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the LORD's temple and from the doorposts that he himself had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
KJV At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The bitter irony: Hezekiah, the great reformer, must strip gold from the very Temple he had restored. The phrase asher tsippah Chizkiyyahu ('which Hezekiah had overlaid') specifies that this gold overlay was his own work — he is dismantling his own renovation. The daltot heikhal YHWH ('doors of the temple of the LORD') and the omnot ('doorposts/pillars') are the visible face of the Temple. The reformer's piety funds the imperial tribute.
The king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a massive force. They marched up and arrived at Jerusalem, and they took their position by the conduit of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman's Field.
KJV And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Three Assyrian officials arrive: the Tartan (turtanu, commander-in-chief), the Rab-saris (chief eunuch/official), and the Rabshakeh (rab shaqe, chief cupbearer/chief officer). These are titles, not personal names. They come with cheil kaved ('a heavy/massive force') — military intimidation accompanies diplomatic speech. The location — te'alat haberekhah ha-elyonah ('the conduit of the Upper Pool') on the road to the Washerman's Field — is the same spot where Isaiah had met Ahaz years earlier (Isaiah 7:3). The geography is loaded: where Ahaz refused to trust God, Hezekiah's officials will now face the consequences of that refusal's legacy.
They called for the king, and out came Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder.
KJV And they called to the king, and there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Three Judahite officials meet three Assyrian officials — a diplomatic parallel. Eliakim is asher al habbayit ('over the house'), the palace steward and chief administrator. Shebna is hassofer ('the scribe/secretary'), responsible for state documents. Joah is hammazkir ('the recorder/herald'), the official who maintained royal records and communications. These same officials appear in Isaiah 36:3. The king himself does not come out — diplomatic protocol places intermediaries at the wall.
The Rabshakeh said to them, "Tell Hezekiah: This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says — What is this confidence of yours that you rely on?
KJV And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
bitachon (from batach, 'to trust') — the noun form of the verb that defines Hezekiah. The Rabshakeh's entire speech is an assault on bitachon: he will systematically dismantle every possible object of trust — military, diplomatic, and theological.
Translator Notes
The Rabshakeh opens with the Assyrian royal formula: koh amar hammelekh haggadol melekh Ashshur ('thus says the great king, the king of Assyria'). The title 'great king' (melekh gadol) is the standard Assyrian imperial designation, deliberately echoing the prophetic messenger formula koh amar YHWH ('thus says the LORD'). The question mah habbitachon hazzeh asher batachta ('what is this confidence in which you trust?') attacks the core of Hezekiah's identity — the narrator has just told us Hezekiah's defining quality is trust (batach, v. 5). The Rabshakeh targets precisely what makes Hezekiah exceptional.
Look — you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff! If anyone leans on it, it stabs into his hand and pierces it. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt is to everyone who trusts in him.
KJV Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust in him.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The image of Egypt as mish'enet haqqaneh haratsuts ('the staff of the crushed/splintered reed') is devastating propaganda — and Isaiah would agree (Isaiah 30:1-5, 31:1-3). A reed staff looks like support but collapses under weight and stabs the hand that grips it. The verb yissamekh ('he leans upon') from samakh ('to lean, to support') suggests full body weight. The Rabshakeh's mockery of Egyptian alliance is theologically sound — the prophets said the same thing. This creates the speech's unsettling power: the enemy speaks truth.
If you say to me, 'We trust in the LORD our God' — is he not the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, telling Judah and Jerusalem, 'You must worship only before this altar in Jerusalem'?
KJV But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
בָּטַחbatach
"trust"—to trust, to rely upon, to feel secure, to be confident, to lean on
batach — the Rabshakeh quotes the Judahites' anticipated defense: 'we trust in the LORD.' He then systematically tries to sever that trust by arguing that Hezekiah has actually offended God. The assault on batach is the speech's theological center.
Translator Notes
The Rabshakeh's most theologically sophisticated argument: he claims Hezekiah's reform — removing bamot ('high places') and mizbekhot ('altars') — was an offense against YHWH, not an act of faithfulness. From the Assyrian perspective (and from the perspective of many Judahites who worshipped at these shrines), centralizing worship in Jerusalem looked like reducing the deity's access points. The argument is wrong but plausible to an audience that valued local worship sites. The Rabshakeh understands Judahite religion well enough to exploit internal tensions.
Now then, make a wager with my lord the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses — if you can find enough riders to mount them!
KJV Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Rabshakeh's mockery turns to military assessment: hit'arev na ('make a bet, enter a wager') is a taunt. He offers two thousand horses because he knows Judah cannot field enough trained cavalry to ride them. The number is deliberately chosen to expose Judah's military weakness. If a nation cannot even staff two thousand horses, how can it resist the Assyrian army? The argument combines insult with accurate intelligence about Judah's depleted military capacity.
How could you turn back even one of the least of my lord's governors? Yet you put your trust in Egypt for chariots and cavalry!
KJV How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The logic tightens: if Judah cannot defeat a single pechat ('governor, provincial official') — the lowest rank in Assyrian military hierarchy — how can it withstand the full army? The taunt exposes the absurdity of resisting a superpower. The reference to trusting Egypt lerekev uleparashim ('for chariots and horsemen') identifies Judah's secret diplomatic strategy — seeking Egyptian military support, which both Isaiah and the Rabshakeh condemn.
Besides — do you think I marched against this place without the LORD's approval? The LORD himself said to me, 'March against this land and destroy it.'"
KJV Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The most audacious claim: YHWH amar elai ('the LORD said to me') — the Rabshakeh claims divine authorization for the Assyrian invasion. This is either a calculated lie, an inference from Assyrian military theology (gods send empires to punish), or an ironic truth — Isaiah 10:5-6 does call Assyria 'the rod of my anger.' The narrator does not confirm or deny the claim. The effect on the audience would be devastating: if their own God has authorized their destruction, resistance is not just futile but impious.
Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic — we understand it. Do not speak to us in Judahite Hebrew within earshot of the people on the wall."
KJV Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Judahite officials make a desperate diplomatic request: dabber na Aramit ('please speak in Aramaic'), the lingua franca of international diplomacy that the common people would not understand. The phrase ve-al tedabber immanu Yehudit ('do not speak with us in Judahite') reveals their fear — the Rabshakeh's arguments are reaching the population. Yehudit refers to the Judahite dialect of Hebrew. The officials' request inadvertently confirms that the propaganda is effective.
The Rabshakeh replied, "Did my lord send me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Was it not also to the men sitting on the wall — who will be eating their own excrement and drinking their own urine along with you?"
KJV But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Rabshakeh refuses to switch languages and escalates with crude siege imagery. The words chareihem ('their excrement') and sheineihem ('their urine') are either euphemisms or deliberately vulgar terms — the Masoretic margin (Qere) substitutes less offensive readings, suggesting the original text was considered too coarse for public reading. The Rabshakeh's point is clear: continued resistance means siege, and siege means starvation so severe that people consume their own waste. He is addressing the soldiers and civilians on the wall over the heads of the diplomats.
Then the Rabshakeh stood and shouted in a loud voice in Judahite Hebrew: "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!
KJV Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria;
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Rabshakeh responds to the request for Aramaic by speaking even more loudly in Hebrew. The phrase beqol gadol Yehudit ('in a loud voice, in Judahite') is deliberately defiant. The formula shim'u devar hammelekh haggadol ('hear the word of the great king') mimics the prophetic call shim'u devar YHWH ('hear the word of the LORD'). The Assyrian king's word is being presented as a rival to divine speech.
This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, because he cannot rescue you from his power.
KJV Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verb yashshi ('let him deceive, let him mislead') from nasha ('to deceive, to beguile') directly attacks Hezekiah's credibility. The king's name is used without title — a deliberate demotion. The phrase lo yukhal lehatstsil etkhem miyyado ('he cannot deliver you from his hand') uses the same rescue language (natsal) that the covenant reserves for God's action. The Rabshakeh is telling the people: your king cannot play the role your God is supposed to play.
Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD by saying, 'The LORD will certainly rescue us — this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.'
KJV Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
בָּטַחbatach
"trust"—to trust, to rely upon, to feel secure, to be confident, to lean on
batach — the Rabshakeh uses the causative form (yavteach, 'make to trust') to reframe Hezekiah's faith as manipulation. What the narrator presents as Hezekiah's greatest virtue, the Rabshakeh presents as dangerous deception.
Translator Notes
Now the Rabshakeh directly attacks divine trust: al yavteach etkhem Chizkiyyahu el YHWH ('do not let Hezekiah cause you to trust in the LORD'). The infinitive absolute construction hatsel yatssilenu ('he will certainly rescue us') quotes what Hezekiah presumably says to his people. The Rabshakeh is trying to separate the population from both their king and their God simultaneously — the twin pillars of Judahite identity.
Do not listen to Hezekiah. For this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me, and each of you will eat from his own vine and from his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern —
KJV Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
שָׁלוֹםshalom
"peace"—peace, wholeness, completeness, well-being, welfare, absence of conflict
shalom (implied in berakhah) — the Rabshakeh offers a counterfeit peace: material security through submission rather than covenant wholeness through trust. His 'vine and fig tree' language co-opts the prophetic vision of true shalom.
Translator Notes
The verb asu itti verakhah ('make with me a blessing/peace') can mean 'make a peace agreement' or 'submit and receive my favor.' The idyllic promise — ish gafno ve-ish te'enato ('each man his vine, each man his fig tree') — deliberately quotes the messianic peace of 1 Kings 4:25 and Micah 4:4. The Rabshakeh is offering Assyrian imperialism dressed in covenant language: surrender and receive the peace that your God promised but has not delivered. The image of drinking from one's own cistern (mei voro) evokes settled domestic security.
until I come and take you to a land like your own land — a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey. Choose life and do not die! Do not listen to Hezekiah, because he is misleading you when he says, 'The LORD will rescue us.'
KJV Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Rabshakeh now promises deportation as paradise: a land kedartsekem ('like your land') described with the vocabulary of covenant blessing — dagan ('grain'), tirosh ('new wine'), lechem ('bread'), keramim ('vineyards'), zeit yitshar ('olive oil'), devash ('honey'). This is a distorted echo of Deuteronomy 8:8's description of the promised land. The phrase vichiyu velo tamutu ('and live and do not die') echoes Deuteronomy 30:19: 'choose life.' The Rabshakeh is offering an Assyrian version of the covenant choice — but life through surrender rather than life through obedience.
Has any god of the nations ever rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria?
KJV Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The rhetorical question expects the answer 'no.' The infinitive absolute hahatsel hitssilu ('did they actually rescue?') emphasizes the totality of divine failure across every conquered nation. The Rabshakeh's argument presupposes that all gods are territorial and limited — what held for the gods of Hamath and Arpad must hold for the God of Jerusalem. He does not yet understand that he is dealing with a categorically different deity.
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did they rescue Samaria from my power?
KJV Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Rabshakeh lists conquered cities whose gods failed to protect them: Hamath and Arpad in Syria, Sepharvaim (possibly Sippar in Mesopotamia), Hena and Ivvah (locations uncertain). The climactic question ki hitssilu et Shomeron miyyadi ('did they rescue Samaria from my hand?') brings the argument home — Samaria, the northern Israelite capital, whose God is the same God Judah claims. If YHWH could not save Samaria, why would he save Jerusalem? The Rabshakeh's fatal error is treating YHWH as one deity among many — but the fall of Samaria gives his argument empirical force.
Who among all the gods of these lands has ever rescued his land from my power? Why should the LORD rescue Jerusalem from my power?"
KJV Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The speech's climax: mi bekhol elohei ha-aratsot ('who among all the gods of the lands?') places YHWH in a lineup of defeated deities. The final question — ki yatstsil YHWH et Yerushalayim miyyadi ('that the LORD should rescue Jerusalem from my hand?') — is the Rabshakeh's fatal theological overreach. He names YHWH directly and challenges him personally. In the narrative logic of Kings, this is no longer propaganda but blasphemy — and blasphemy invites divine response.
The people remained silent and did not answer him a word, because the king had commanded them, "Do not answer him."
KJV But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The silence of the people — vehechrishu ha'am ('the people were silent') — is both discipline and dignity. The verb charesh ('to be silent, to be deaf') can imply either unable to respond or choosing not to. Hezekiah's command lo ta'anuhu ('do not answer him') prevents the Rabshakeh from engaging in dialogue with the population, which is exactly what he wanted. The silence denies him a debating partner and preserves Hezekiah's authority over the response.
Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah with their garments torn and reported the Rabshakeh's words to him.
KJV Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The three officials return with qeru'ei vegadim ('their garments torn') — the physical sign of grief and distress. Tearing garments indicates they understood the speech as a crisis, not merely a negotiation. They relay divrei Rav Shaqeh ('the words of the Rabshakeh') to Hezekiah, setting up the king's response in chapter 19. The torn garments prepare the reader for Hezekiah's own grief and his turn to God rather than to diplomacy.