2 Kings 18:19

Translations

Modern

The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?

Traditional

And Rab–shakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

Literal

And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What is this confidence in which you trust?

Latin

Dixitque ad eos Rabsaces: Loquimini Ezechiæ: Hæc dicit rex magnus, rex Assyriorum: Quæ est ista fiducia, qua niteris?

Original

Hebrew

English

The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?

Notes

2 Kings 18:19–22

In the past, people used the term great king for leaders of major military powers. It later became a common title for Assyrian kings.
What is the basis of this confidence of yours?: The Assyrian officer claimed that Jerusalem's citizens would be unwise to trust Hezekiah's words, given Assyria's strong military. Seeking help from Egypt would also be unwise. The chief of staff argued that trusting in the Lord was also a mistake. The officer might have hoped to win over citizens who had worshiped at the shrines and altars Hezekiah had destroyed.

Theme notes and profiles

Assyria Hezekiah God’s Judgment of His People Invasion Nehemiah’s Confidence in God

Events

Reign of Hezekiahc. 726 BC

Related verses

Isaiah 36:4
The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
Isaiah 10:8–14
“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
2 Kings 19:10
“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
2 Chronicles 32:10–11
“This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: What is the basis of your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege?
2 Chronicles 32:14–16
Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers devoted to destruction has been able to deliver his people from my hand? How then can your God deliver you from my hand?
Isaiah 37:13
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
2 Kings 18:29–30
This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you; he cannot deliver you from my hand.
Isaiah 37:10
“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Isaiah 36:7
But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before this altar’?
Daniel 4:30
…the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”
Psalm 4:2
How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies? Selah
2 Kings 18:22
But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?

Parallels

2 Chronicles 32:9–19 Isaiah 36:1–22

People

Hezekiah: A righteous king of Judah Rabshakeh: A Babylonian official who taunted Hezekiah and Jerusalem's people

Places

Assyria: A powerful ancient empire, often in conflict with Israel

Glossary

Asaph Assyria, Assyrians Cup-Bearer Eliakim Hezekiah Hilkiah Inscriptions Joah Kings, Books of First and Second Kohath, Kohathites Psalms, Book of Rabshakeh Shebna Warfare Writer

Topics

Armies: March in Ranks: Confederated Assyria: Sennacherib Assyria: Sennacherib King of Insulted and Threatened Judah Boasting: Sennacherib Diplomacy: Rab-Shakeh, in Trying to Induce Jerusalem to Capitulate by Bombastic Harangue Hezekiah: King of Judah: Military Operations of Hypocrisy: Rabshakeh Jerusalem: Besieged by Sennacherib Prophecies Concerning Israel: The King of Assyria Invades Judah, and Blasphemes the God of Judah Rab-Shakeh : Sent by Sennacherib Against Jerusalem Sennacherib: Invades Judah War: Enemy Harangued by the General of the Opposing Side

2 Kings 18:19

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