2 Kings 19

Hezekiah expressed his grief like his representatives did (see Joel 1:13). He wisely went to the temple, where he openly shared his feelings with God through sincere worship and prayer (see Psalms 5:7; 48:9–10; 63:1–3).

• Leaders often asked prophets like Isaiah for guidance during emergencies (2 Kings 3:11–12) or before battles (1 Kings 22:8–10). Isaiah was active during King Hezekiah’s rule (2 Kings 20:1, 14).

• The phrase day of distress describes the deep distress the king felt due to the insults and disgrace against God and his people. Hezekiah understood that they were powerless without God's help.

Hezekiah was not denying his own relationship with the Lord by calling him your God; instead, he was recognizing God's special call on Isaiah.

Sennacherib sent his officers and troops to Jerusalem while he attacked Lachish (2 Kings 18:14, 17). He then moved eight miles northeast to Libnah.

King Tirhakah of Ethiopia later became the pharaoh of Egypt. At this time, he was a commander in his brother Shebitku's army.

Sennacherib's second message warned the people of Jerusalem about the Assyrians' brutal victories. Everyone knew the Assyrian kings had looted, tortured, and destroyed those who opposed them (see 2 Kings 19:28). No nation, king, or god had stopped them. Facing this threat, the people should use common sense and surrender instead of trusting Hezekiah and his misleading religious devotion.

Hezekiah got Sennacherib’s disrespectful letter and took it straight to the temple of the Lord. He prayed to God with both praise (2 Kings 19:15) and requests (2 Kings 19:16–19).

Sennacherib's victories did not matter because, unlike the false gods of other nations, Yahweh was the true living God.

The phrase Virgin Daughter is often used to describe a city or nation (Isaiah 23:12; 37:22; 47:1; Jeremiah 18:13). Here, it means that just as a young woman is saved from danger, God will save Jerusalem. The Lord's response came as a "taunt song," a common ancient Near Eastern literary form that celebrated an enemy's defeat (see Isaiah 14:3–20).

the heights of the mountains … of Lebanon: In his records, Sennacherib described climbing high mountain passes and cutting down Lebanon's great trees. Sennacherib felt unbeatable, but he was just a man, no match for the all-knowing Lord of the universe (1 Chronicles 28:9).

I have brought it to pass: God planned all of Sennacherib's great accomplishments.

• I know your sitting down: See Psalms 44:21; 94:11.

• My hook … and My bit: The Assyrian records describe similar harsh treatment of prisoners. The Lord would treat Sennacherib as he and his ancestors treated those they conquered.

this will be a sign: The Lord’s message of hope included a sign that Jerusalem would be saved from the siege. The sign was God providing food. Since the Assyrians had devastated the land, people would rely on random crop growth to survive. The food supply would still be limited the following year. But by the third year, regular planting and harvesting would resume.

The idea of a remnant (a small surviving group) appears often in the Old Testament. God often preserves his people, promising to care for them in the future (see Isaiah 4:2–6; 9:127; Zephaniah 3:8–20; compare Revelation 7:1–12). God's people can trust they will survive because the Lord is committed to making it happen.

• Sennacherib's armies did not enter Jerusalem and instead returned home. In his own account, Sennacherib described capturing and plundering forty-six cities in Judah. He did not mention capturing Jerusalem but noted that he trapped Hezekiah "in Jerusalem … like a bird in a cage."

• For my own honor—considering Sennacherib's disrespect and arrogance toward God (see 2 Kings 18:25, 28–30; 19:10–13, 21, 27–28)—and for the sake of my servant David, to whom God had made a covenant promise (2 Samuel 7:8–16) and whose faith Hezekiah had followed (2 Kings 18:3), the Lord would protect this city (see 2 Kings 20:6). The Lord clearly showed that he alone is God and that he is loyal to his people who trust in him.

The angel of the Lord also helped rescue God's people from Egypt (Exodus 12:12–13, 23).

Sennacherib … returned to Nineveh and stayed there: Although this Assyrian king led five more military campaigns, he did not attack Judah again.

• his sons … put him to the sword: Although Sennacherib's assassination occurred twenty years later in 681 BC, the narrator mentions it here to finish discussing the Assyrian king and highlight the irony of his death. Sennacherib had bragged that no gods could save the people he attacked, yet his own god could not protect him from assassins within his family.

• At Sennacherib's death, his son Esarhaddon took over and ruled until 669 BC.