Isaiah 36:14

36:14 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you!

Isaiah 36:19-20

36:19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria from my power? 36:20 Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’”

Isaiah 37:20

37:20 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”

Isaiah 37:35

37:35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’”

Isaiah 47:15

47:15 They will disappoint you,

those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth.

Each strays off in his own direction,

leaving no one to rescue you.”


tn The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”

map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 18, 20).

tn Heb “that the Lord might rescue Jerusalem from my hand?” The logic runs as follows: Since no god has ever been able to withstand the Assyrian onslaught, how can the people of Jerusalem possibly think the Lord will rescue them?

tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:19 reads, “that you, Lord, are the only God.”

tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”

tn Heb “So they will be to you”; NIV “That is all they can do for you.”

tn Heb “that for which you toiled, your traders from your youth.” The omen readers and star gazers are likened to merchants with whom Babylon has had an ongoing economic relationship.

tn Heb “each to his own side, they err.”