Isaiah 37:18

Translations

Modern

Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these countries and their lands.

Traditional

Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,

Literal

Truly, O YHWH, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations and their lands,

Latin

Vere enim, Domine, desertas fecerunt reges Assyriorum terras, et regiones earum,

Original

Hebrew

English

Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these countries and their lands.

Notes

Isaiah 37:14–20

When Hezekiah received Sennacherib’s boastful threat, he went back to the temple and prayed for help. His prayer was different from Ahaz’s reaction to danger decades earlier (see Isaiah 7).

Isaiah 36:1–39:8

Jerusalem’s rescue from King Sennacherib of Assyria is a main event in Isaiah 1–39. The Lord promised to save his people. He would remain present with Jerusalem (see 7:14). He would also keep a remnant, a small group who would survive (see study note on Isaiah 10:20).

Much of the land became empty and the population greatly reduced. This happened because Judah made a foolish alliance with Assyria (chapters 7–8). Even so, the Lord did not allow total defeat. He preserved his people through Hezekiah, a faithful king.

Hezekiah faced the same kind of test that King Ahaz had faced. It was a test of trust in the Lord. In chapter 36, the Assyrian officer repeats the word trust as he challenges the people. But Hezekiah had learned from the earlier warnings in chapters 13–35. At least at first, he trusted God and passed the test.

This story also appears in 2 Kings 18:13–20:19.

Theme notes and profiles

Assyria Hezekiah Isaiah Fearing People Invasion Salvation in Isaiah Trusting God in Isaiah

Events

Prophecies of Isaiahc. 759 BC

Related verses

2 Kings 15:29
In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.
Nahum 2:11–12
Where is the lions’ lair or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs, with nothing to frighten them away?
2 Kings 16:9
So the king of Assyria responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Kir as captives and put Rezin to death.
2 Kings 17:24
Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.
1 Chronicles 5:26
So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this day.
2 Kings 17:6
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

Parallels

2 Kings 19:14–19

Places

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

Glossary

Assyria, Assyrians Hezekiah History of Israel Inscriptions Isaiah, Book of Kings, Books of First and Second Micah (Person) Shebna

Topics

Armies: Devastation Occasioned By Blasphemy: Rabshakeh, in the Siege of Jerusalem Libnah: A City of the Tribe of Judah, Captured by Joshua: Sennacherib Besieged Prayer: Pleas offered In

Isaiah 37:18

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