ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for 2 Kings 19

2 Kings 19:1–2 he tore his clothes. A sign of deep emotion (see note on 5:5–7).

2 Kings 19:3–4 there is no strength. It is a day of great humiliation and powerlessness. The only hope for this remnant is that the Lord, who is truly the living God and not simply one false god among many, will act to defend his name (see vv. 30–31).

2 Kings 19:7–9 I will put a spirit in him. According to the prophet Isaiah (see vv. 2, 5–6), the Lord will influence Sennacherib’s thinking so that several events will occur. However, the timing of these events is not clear.

2 Kings 19:10–13 Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you. In 18:19–35 the Rabshakeh claimed that Hezekiah was deceiving the people about what would happen if they trusted the Lord (18:29–30); here he claims that Hezekiah is the one deceived by the God in whom he trusts.

2 Kings 19:20–28 A second prophecy from Isaiah (compare vv. 6–7), in three parts, brings God’s response to Hezekiah’s prayer. This king has been wrong to think that his military victories have resulted from his own strength. In reality, it was the Lord who determined it long ago. Assyria is merely the instrument of God’s anger (see Isa. 10:5–11).

2 Kings 19:21 The terms daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem are frequently used in the OT to describe the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. Jerusalem is as defenseless as a virgin daughter, but because of the Lord’s protection she will not be violated by mighty Sennacherib. In fact, she wags her head at him, scoffing at his pride.

2 Kings 19:29–31 this shall be the sign for you. The second part of Isaiah’s prophecy reveals the sign that Judah will recover from the Assyrian assault: the survivors will be provided for. Initially they will survive only because of the crops that spring up from what is already in the ground, but in the third year they will be able to bear fruit from their agricultural work.

2 Kings 19:32–34 concerning the king of Assyria. The third part of Isaiah’s prophecy makes clear the circumstances in which Sennacherib will return home (vv. 28, 33).

2 Kings 19:35–36 Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home. Sennacherib returned to Nineveh when he heard that 185,000 of his army had been struck down in one night by the angel of the Lord. Here is God’s remarkable answer to Hezekiah’s prayer (v. 19), and the fulfillment of God’s promise in vv. 32–34.

2 Kings 19:37 Though he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, this false god could not protect the king. Sennacherib’s assassins flee to Ararat, known to the Assyrians as Urartu, a kingdom of eastern Asia Minor that flourished from the ninth to the sixth centuries b.c. Esarhaddon ruled Assyria from 681 to 669 b.c.