Background
Chapter 36 ended with Hezekiah’s officials returning with their clothes torn, reporting the Rabshakeh’s threats. Chapter 37 tells how Hezekiah responded and how the Lord delivered Jerusalem.
It’s worth remembering how dire the situation was. Assyria had already taken Judah’s fortified cities. Jerusalem was isolated. Egypt’s help had failed. By every human measure, the city was finished.
This chapter contains two prayers, two messages from Isaiah, a taunt-song against Sennacherib, a sign for the survivors, and one of the most dramatic deliverances in the Old Testament.
The thread through the chapter
Isaiah 37 shows what faith does in a crisis, and it gives us one of scripture’s most practical models of prayer.
Hezekiah’s first response is humility. He tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth, goes to the house of the Lord, and sends for the prophet (verses 1–2). His message to Isaiah is honest about his helplessness: “the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth” (verse 3). Isaiah’s answer: “Be not afraid” (verse 6).
Then the Assyrians send a second threat, this time in writing (verses 9–13). And Hezekiah does something beautiful. He takes the letter up to the temple and “spread it before the LORD” (verse 14). He literally lays the enemy’s words out in front of God.
His prayer (verses 15–20) is a model. He begins with who God is: the Lord of hosts, enthroned above the cherubim, the only God, the Creator. He asks God to see and hear. He admits the facts honestly: yes, Assyria has destroyed the nations and their gods, because those gods were only wood and stone. And he asks for deliverance with a purpose beyond his own safety: “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.”
The Lord’s answer comes through Isaiah (verses 21–35). It begins with a taunt-song in which “the virgin, the daughter of Zion” laughs at the Assyrian king (verse 22). Sennacherib thought his conquests were his own doing. The Lord says: “Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it?” (verse 26). The Assyrian who led captives away with hooks will himself be led home with a hook in his nose (verse 29). He “shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there” (verse 33).
And that night, “the angel of the LORD went forth” (verse 36). By morning the threat was gone.
The chapter answers the question of chapter 36. “What confidence is this?” It is confidence in a God who hears prayer.
Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.
Hezekiah goes to the house of the Lord
When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the temple of the Lord. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him: “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. Perhaps the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to ridicule the living God, and will rebuke him for those words. So pray for the remnant that still survives.” When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard, those words with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”
1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
A letter from the enemy
When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah. Then Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of Egypt, was marching out to fight against him. So he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this message: “Don’t let the God you depend on deceive you when He says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations my predecessors destroyed rescue them? Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?”
8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
Hezekiah’s prayer
Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth. Turn Your ear, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see. Listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, shaped by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You, Lord, are the only God.”
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.
17 Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.
18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
20 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.
The Lord’s answer through Isaiah
Then Isaiah sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib, this is the word the Lord has spoken against him: Virgin Daughter Zion despises and mocks you; Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! Through your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord. You said, ‘With my many chariots I have climbed the highest mountains. I have cut down its tallest cedars. I have dug wells and dried up the streams of Egypt.’ Have you not heard? Long ago I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. Their people were like grass sprouting on a roof, scorched before it grows up. But I know where you are, when you come and go, and how you rage against Me. Because your raging and insolence have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came. This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord. I will defend this city and save it, for My sake and for the sake of David My servant.”
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:
22 This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
26 Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
27 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
33 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
The deliverance
Then the angel of the Lord went out and struck down the Assyrian camp, and by morning the army was no more. So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. Years later, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
36 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.
37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
Seeing Christ in Isaiah 37
In Isaiah 37, Hezekiah prays to “the LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims,” the premortal Jesus Christ, whose presence rested above the mercy seat of the ark in the temple (Ex. 25:22). He is the living God in contrast to idols of wood and stone (verses 4, 17, 19).
He saves Jerusalem “for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake” (verse 35), and He is Himself the promised Son of David. The deliverance came in the night, and by morning the enemy was gone. That pattern of night and morning is the pattern of the Resurrection: the darkest night, and then, “very early in the morning,” an empty tomb (Mark 16:2–6).
Liken it to yourself
- What “letter” would I spread before the Lord right now if I followed Hezekiah’s example? Could I do it literally, by writing out my concern and praying over it?
- Hezekiah’s prayer begins with who God is before it asks for anything. How might my prayers change if I started that way?
- Do I ask for help mainly for my own sake, or also “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD”?
- Where do I need to “take root downward” before I can “bear fruit upward”?
Worth exploring next
- The parallel accounts. Compare Isaiah 37 with 2 Kgs. 19 and 2 Chr. 32:20–23.
- Model prayers. Compare Hezekiah’s prayer with Solomon’s at the temple dedication (1 Kgs. 8:22–30), Jehoshaphat’s in a similar crisis (2 Chr. 20:5–12), and the prayer the Savior taught (3 Ne. 13:9–13).
- The remnant. Trace the promise of verses 31–32 through Isa. 10:20–22 and 2 Kgs. 19:30–31.
This chapter elsewhere in scripture
- 2 Kgs. 19 — The same account, nearly word for word.
- 2 Chr. 32:20–23 — The Chronicler’s summary of the prayer and deliverance.
Sources & further reading
- “Hezekiah”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Sennacherib”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Cherubim”, Bible Dictionary.
- Chapter 16: The God of Israel and the Nations (Isaiah 36–47), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).
- Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998.
- John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 2 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986–1998.