Keraia
Isaiah 37

Isaiah 37:36

Jerusalem Delivered from the Assyrians · Isaiah 37:36–38
Read Isaiah 37

Translations

Modern
Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
Traditional
Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
Literal
And the angel of YHWH went forth and killed in the camp of Assyria a hundred and eighty-five thousand; and they rose early in the morning, and behold—all of them were dead corpses.
Latin
Egressus est autem angelus Domini, et percussit in castris Assyriorum centum octoginta quinque millia. Et surrexerunt mane, et ecce omnes cadavera mortuorum.

Original

Hebrew
English
Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!

Notes

Isaiah 37:36

  • The angel of the Lord was a special heavenly messenger through whom God acted on earth. Often, he delivered important messages (see Genesis 16:7–14), but sometimes he brought judgment (see 2 Samuel 24:16).

  • struck down 185,000 men: The Lord began to fulfill his repeated promises: rescue of Jerusalem and judgment of Assyria (see Isaiah 10:16, 33–34; 30:31; 31:8).

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.

Events

Parallels

2 Kings 19:35–37 2 Chronicles 32:20–23

Places

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

Glossary

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

Topics

Angel (A Spirit): Execute Judgments Upon the Wicked Assyria: Army of, Destroyed by the Angel of the Lord Libnah: A City of the Tribe of Judah, Captured by Joshua: Sennacherib Besieged Miracles: Catalogue of The Destruction of Sennacherib's Army Sennacherib: Death of