Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these nations and their lands. TrulyThe word "truly" is a translation of the Hebrew word "אָמְנָם" (omnam), which conveys a sense of certainty and affirmation. In the context of this verse, it underscores the acknowledgment of a harsh reality. This word sets the tone for a sincere and earnest prayer, reflecting a deep recognition of the situation at hand. It is a reminder of the importance of honesty in our communication with God, acknowledging the truth of our circumstances as we seek His intervention. O LORD
The term "LORD" is derived from the Hebrew "יְהוָה" (YHWH), the sacred and personal name of God, often rendered as Yahweh. This name signifies God's eternal presence and covenant faithfulness. By invoking this name, the speaker, King Hezekiah, appeals to the covenant relationship between God and Israel. It is a call to the God who is both transcendent and immanent, the One who has been faithful throughout generations and who is capable of delivering His people from their current plight. the kings of Assyria
The "kings of Assyria" refers to the rulers of the Assyrian Empire, a dominant and formidable power in the ancient Near East. Historically, Assyria was known for its military prowess and brutal conquests. The mention of these kings highlights the formidable threat faced by Judah. It serves as a reminder of the geopolitical realities of the time, where empires rose and fell, yet God's sovereignty remained constant. The Assyrian kings, despite their might, are ultimately subject to the will of the LORD. have laid waste
The phrase "have laid waste" translates the Hebrew "הֶחֱרִיבוּ" (hecheribu), indicating complete destruction and desolation. This term vividly describes the devastation wrought by the Assyrian campaigns. It reflects the physical and psychological impact of war, where lands and lives are shattered. In a spiritual sense, it underscores the destructive power of sin and rebellion against God, contrasting with the restoration and peace that God offers to those who turn to Him. these nations
"These nations" refers to the various peoples and kingdoms that fell victim to Assyrian aggression. Historically, this includes regions such as Aram, Israel, and others in the Levant. The mention of these nations serves as a testament to the widespread impact of Assyrian expansion. It also highlights the vulnerability of human kingdoms in contrast to the eternal kingdom of God. This phrase invites reflection on the transient nature of earthly power and the enduring sovereignty of God. and their lands
The phrase "and their lands" emphasizes the territorial aspect of Assyrian conquests. The Hebrew word "אַרְצוֹתָם" (artzotam) refers to the physical territories that were overrun and occupied. This highlights the loss of homeland and identity experienced by the conquered peoples. In a broader theological context, it serves as a reminder of the promise of land given to Israel by God, a promise that is ultimately fulfilled in the spiritual inheritance of believers. It calls believers to trust in God's provision and protection, even when earthly securities are threatened. Persons / Places / Events 1. HezekiahThe King of Judah during the time of the Assyrian threat. He is known for his faithfulness to God and his efforts to reform the religious practices of Judah. 2. AssyriaA powerful empire known for its military conquests and expansion during this period. The Assyrians were a significant threat to the smaller kingdoms, including Judah. 3. SennacheribThe King of Assyria who led the campaign against Judah. He is known for his aggressive military strategies and attempts to conquer Jerusalem. 4. JerusalemThe capital city of Judah, which was under threat from the Assyrian army. It is a central location in the biblical account and a symbol of God's presence with His people. 5. IsaiahThe prophet who provided counsel and assurance to King Hezekiah, delivering God's messages during the crisis with Assyria. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty Over NationsDespite the power and might of the Assyrian empire, God remains sovereign. This reminds us that no earthly power can thwart God's plans. Faith in Times of CrisisHezekiah's response to the Assyrian threat was to turn to God in prayer. In our own crises, we should seek God first, trusting in His ability to deliver and protect. The Power of PrayerHezekiah's prayer is a model of humility and dependence on God. It teaches us the importance of bringing our concerns before the Lord and trusting in His intervention. God's Faithfulness to His PromisesGod's deliverance of Jerusalem demonstrates His faithfulness to His covenant with His people. We can trust that God will fulfill His promises to us. The Role of Prophets and God's WordIsaiah's role in this account highlights the importance of seeking and heeding God's word through His messengers. We should value and study Scripture as God's guidance for our lives. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Hezekiah's response to the Assyrian threat challenge or inspire your own approach to difficult situations? 2. In what ways can we see God's sovereignty at work in the world today, similar to His control over the nations in Hezekiah's time? 3. How can the account of Hezekiah and the Assyrian threat encourage us to trust in God's promises, even when circumstances seem overwhelming? 4. What role does prayer play in your life when facing challenges, and how can Hezekiah's example influence your prayer habits? 5. How can we apply the lessons from Hezekiah's reliance on God's word through the prophet Isaiah to our own study and application of Scripture? Connections to Other Scriptures Isaiah 37This chapter parallels the events of 2 Kings 19, providing additional details and insights into the Assyrian threat and Hezekiah's response. 2 Chronicles 32Offers another account of Hezekiah's reign and the Assyrian invasion, highlighting Hezekiah's faith and God's deliverance. Psalm 46Often associated with God's protection of Jerusalem during the Assyrian siege, emphasizing God's power and presence as a refuge. | A Nation's Calamities, Counsellor, and God | David Thomas, D. D. | 2 Kings 19:1-37 | | A Nation's Calamities, Counselor, and God | D. Thomas | 2 Kings 19:1-37 | | Sennacherib's Letter | J. Orr | 2 Kings 19:8-19 | | Our Difficulties, and How to Deal with Them | C.H. Irwin | 2 Kings 19:8-37 | | A King in Prayer | Homiletic Quarterly | 2 Kings 19:15-19 | | Hezekiah in Trouble | W. Borrows, M. A. | 2 Kings 19:15-19 | | Hezekiah, or Prayer in Trouble | B. Jacob, A. M. | 2 Kings 19:15-19 | | Laying Down the Burden | | 2 Kings 19:15-19 | | Prayer in Emergencies | G. F. Prescott, M. A. | 2 Kings 19:15-19 | | Spiritual-Mindedness a Protection | A. Maclaren, D. D. | 2 Kings 19:15-19 | | What to Do When Trouble Comes | M. G. Pearse. | 2 Kings 19:15-19 |
People Adrammelech, Amoz, Assyrians, David, Eliakim, Esarhaddon, Haran, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Rabshakeh, Sennacherib, Sharezer, Shebna, TirhakahPlaces Ararat, Arpad, Assyria, Cush, Egypt, Gozan, Hamath, Haran, Hena, Ivvah, Jerusalem, Lachish, Lebanon, Libnah, Mount Zion, Nineveh, Rezeph, Sepharvaim, Telassar, Tigris-Euphrates Region, ZionTopics Asshur, Assyria, Assyrian, Destroyed, Devastated, Kings, Laid, Lands, Nations, O, Truly, Truth, WasteDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Kings 19:17 1461 truth, nature of
5561 suffering, nature of 2 Kings 19:14-19 5292 defence, divine
8031 trust, importance
8611 prayer, for others Library 'He Uttered his Voice, the Earth Melted'
'Then Isaiah the son of Amos 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 …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureThe Invasion of the Assyrians
(Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, Morning.) 2 Kings xix. 15-19. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the Lord, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. 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. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their …
Charles Kingsley—Town and Country Sermons Whether Charity Requires that we Should Love Our Enemies?
Objection 1: It would seem that charity does not require us to love our enemies. For Augustine says (Enchiridion lxxiii) that "this great good," namely, the love of our enemies, is "not so universal in its application, as the object of our petition when we say: Forgive us our trespasses." Now no one is forgiven sin without he have charity, because, according to Prov. 10:12, "charity covereth all sins." Therefore charity does not require that we should love our enemies. Objection 2: Further, charity …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica The Sinner Arraigned and Convicted.
1. Conviction of guilt necessary.--2. A charge of rebellion against God advanced.--3. Where it is shown--that all men are born under God's law.--4. That no man hath perfectly kept it.--5. An appeal to the reader's conscience on this head, that he hath not.--6. That to have broken it, is an evil inexpressibly great.--7. Illustrated by a more particular view of the aggravations of this guilt, arising--from knowledge.--8. From divine favors received.--9. From convictions of conscience overborne.--10. …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul The Power of Assyria at Its Zenith; Esarhaddon and Assur-Bani-Pal
The Medes and Cimmerians: Lydia--The conquest of Egypt, of Arabia, and of Elam. As we have already seen, Sennacherib reigned for eight years after his triumph; eight years of tranquillity at home, and of peace with all his neighbours abroad. If we examine the contemporary monuments or the documents of a later period, and attempt to glean from them some details concerning the close of his career, we find that there is a complete absence of any record of national movement on the part of either Elam, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8 The Golden Eagle is Cut to Pieces. Herod's Barbarity when He was Ready to Die. He Attempts to Kill Himself. He Commands Antipater to be Slain.
1. Now Herod's distemper became more and more severe to him, and this because these his disorders fell upon him in his old age, and when he was in a melancholy condition; for he was already seventy years of age, and had been brought by the calamities that happened to him about his children, whereby he had no pleasure in life, even when he was in health; the grief also that Antipater was still alive aggravated his disease, whom he resolved to put to death now not at random, but as soon as he should …
Flavius Josephus—The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem A Discourse of the House and Forest of Lebanon
OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. That part of Palestine in which the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated, is the border country adjoining Syria, having Sidon for its seaport, and Land, nearly adjoining the city of Damascus, on the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; and during the border conflicts it served as a cover to the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with great reason, supposes that, to keep …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 It is Strange that These Delightful Promises Affect us Coldly...
It is strange that these delightful promises affect us coldly, or scarcely at all, so that the generality of men prefer to wander up and down, forsaking the fountain of living waters, and hewing out to themselves broken cisterns, rather than embrace the divine liberality voluntarily offered to them (Jer. 2:13). "The name of the Lord," says Solomon, "is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." (Pr. 18:10) Joel, after predicting the fearful disaster which was at hand, subjoins the …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith Scriptural Types.
1. The material world is full of analogies adapted to the illustration of spiritual things. No teacher ever drew from this inexhaustible storehouse such a rich variety of examples as our Saviour. His disciples are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and a city set on a hill. From the ravens which God feeds and the lilies which God clothes, he teaches the unreasonableness of worldly anxiety. The kingdom of heaven is like seed sown in different soils, like a field of wheat and tares …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Letter xxviii (Circa A. D. 1130) to the Abbots Assembled at Soissons
To the Abbots Assembled at Soissons [45] Bernard urges the abbots zealously to perform the duty for which they had met. He recommends to them a great desire of spiritual progress, and begs them not to be delayed in their work if lukewarm and lax persons should perhaps murmur. To the Reverend Abbots met in the name of the Lord in Chapter at Soissons, brother Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, the servant of their Holiness, health and prayer that they may see, establish, and observe the things which are …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux A Living Book
[Illustration: (drop cap T) Symbol of "Asshur", the principal Assyrian idol.] There is only one Book that never grows old. For thousands of years men have been writing books. Most books are forgotten soon after they are written; a few of the best and wisest are remembered for a time. But all at last grow old; new discoveries are made; new ideas arise; the old books are out of date; their usefulness is at an end. Students are the only people who still care to read them. The nations to which the …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making The First Commandment
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Why is the commandment in the second person singular, Thou? Why does not God say, You shall have no other gods? Because the commandment concerns every one, and God would have each one take it as spoken to him by name. Though we are forward to take privileges to ourselves, yet we are apt to shift off duties from ourselves to others; therefore the commandment is in the second person, Thou and Thou, that every one may know that it is spoken to him, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments The Prophet Amos.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the prophet Amos, since on the main point--viz., the circumstances under which he appeared as a prophet--the introduction to the prophecies of Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.), …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 2 Kings 19:17 NIV2 Kings 19:17 NLT2 Kings 19:17 ESV2 Kings 19:17 NASB2 Kings 19:17 KJV
2 Kings 19:17 Commentaries
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