The Assyrian Invasion
Study note
Around 701 BC, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured many fortified cities in Judah. He sent his top military commander, called the Rabshakeh (a title, not a name), from the captured city of Lachish to Jerusalem with a powerful army. The Rabshakeh stood by the water channel of the upper pool, the same place where Isaiah had met King Ahaz years earlier. Three of Hezekiah's top officials came out to meet him.
1 In King Hezekiah's fourteenth year, King Sennacherib of Assyria struck. He took every walled city in Judah. Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.
2 Then the king of Assyria sent his top military leader, the Rabshakeh, from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. He came with a mighty army. He stood near the water channel from the upper pool, on the road to the washerman's field. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
3 Three men went out to meet him. Eliakim son of Hilkiah ran the palace. Shebna was the clerk. Joah son of Asaph kept the records. Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder.
The Rabshakeh's Challenge
Study note
The Rabshakeh delivered a carefully crafted speech designed to destroy Judah's confidence. He mocked their trust in Egypt, calling it a broken stick that would pierce anyone who leaned on it. He even claimed that the Lord himself had sent Assyria to attack Judah. This was psychological warfare, designed to terrify the defenders on the wall.
4 The Rabshakeh said, 'Give this word to Hezekiah. The great king of Assyria asks -- what makes you so sure of yourself?' And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
5 'You claim to have a strategy and military strength, but those are nothing but empty words. Who are you truly leaning on, that you would dare rebel against me?' I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
6 'Look at you — trusting Egypt! Egypt is like a cracked walking stick made of reed. If you lean on it, it stabs right through your hand. That is exactly what Pharaoh does to everyone who trusts him.' Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
7 'And if you tell me, We are trusting in the Lord our God -- is he not the one whose hilltop altars and worship sites Hezekiah tore down? He told Judah and Jerusalem, You must worship only at this altar.' But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
8 'My master, the king of Assyria, has a dare for you. I will give you two thousand horses. But can you even find enough riders for them?' Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
9 'You cannot even fight off one of my master's lowest-ranking officers. Yet you are trusting Egypt for chariots and horsemen!' 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?
10 'And another thing — do you think I came to attack this land without the Lord's permission? The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.' And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
Speaking to the People on the Wall
Study note
When Hezekiah's officials asked the Rabshakeh to speak in Aramaic (the language of diplomacy) instead of Hebrew, so the common people on the wall would not understand, the Rabshakeh deliberately raised his voice and spoke in Hebrew. He wanted the people to hear his threats. He offered them a false promise of peace and prosperity in exchange for surrender, and he listed all the nations whose gods had failed to protect them from Assyria.
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, 'Please speak to us in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew where the people sitting on the wall can hear you.' Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
12 But the Rabshakeh replied, 'Do you think my master sent me to deliver this message only to you and your king? He sent me to speak to the men sitting up on that wall — the ones who will suffer terrible hunger and thirst right along with you.' But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood tall and yelled in Hebrew as loud as he could. He said, 'Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!' Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
14 'The king says: Do not let Hezekiah trick you. He cannot save you.' Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.
15 'Do not let Hezekiah talk you into trusting the Lord by saying, The Lord will definitely rescue us. This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.' Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
16 'Do not listen to Hezekiah. The king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own well,' 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 eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
17 'until I come and take you to a land that is just like yours — a land full of grain and wine, bread and vineyards.' 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.
18 'Do not let Hezekiah fool you by saying, The Lord will save us. Has any god of any nation ever rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria?' Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
19 'Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Did any of them save Samaria from me?' Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
20 'Name one god out of all these countries that was able to protect his land from me. So what makes you think the Lord can save Jerusalem from me?' Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
The People's Silence
Study note
Following King Hezekiah's order, the people on the wall remained completely silent and did not respond to the Rabshakeh's taunts. The three officials then returned to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in grief and told him everything the Rabshakeh had said.
21 But the people stayed completely silent. They did not say a single word, because the king had told them, 'Do not answer him.' But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who managed the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder, went back to Hezekiah. Their clothes were torn in grief, and they told him everything the Rabshakeh had said. Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that 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.