2 Kings Chapter 19
God Delivers Jerusalem from Assyria
A. Hezekiah’s prayers and Sennacherib’s threats
1. 2 Kings 19:1–5 — Hezekiah seeks Isaiah in the time of great distress
“And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. And they said to him, ‘Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy, for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the LORD thy God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria hath sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD thy God hath heard. Wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.’ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.”
Notes
Hezekiah’s response to the threats of the Assyrian empire was immediate, serious, and deeply humble. When he heard the report of Rabshakeh’s blasphemous challenge, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth, a traditional expression of grief, humility, and repentance. In Israelite culture, tearing one’s garment acknowledged desperation before God, and Hezekiah recognized that the threat against Jerusalem was not merely political, it was spiritual. The king responded correctly because he saw the situation with clarity. Jerusalem faced a crisis far beyond human strength or diplomacy, and Hezekiah understood the severity of what stood before him.
Hezekiah’s next action was even more crucial. He went into the house of the LORD, not in self-reliance but in submission, seeking the presence of God when the nation was at the brink of disaster. He did not flee from God in despair, he drew near to God in dependence. Importantly, this does not imply that Hezekiah entered the holy place reserved for the priests. He went into the courts of the temple, the area open to faithful Israelites, seeking the Lord in the place God appointed. He knew what happened to King Uzziah, who in pride attempted to enter the priestly space. Second Chronicles 26:16 says, “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.” God struck Uzziah with leprosy, serving as a lasting warning. Hezekiah honored these boundaries and sought the Lord properly.
The king then sent Eliakim, Shebna, and the elders of the priests, all dressed in sackcloth, to consult Isaiah the prophet, showing that Hezekiah relied not on worldly strategies or foreign alliances but on the revealed Word of God. This was the mark of a righteous king, one who understood that Judah’s hope lay in divine intervention rather than human strength.
Hezekiah described the situation with the vivid expression, “The children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth.” This was a proverbial way to describe helplessness in the face of an impossible situation. A woman exhausted in childbirth, unable to deliver, faced death for herself and her child. Judah stood in a crisis that threatened total collapse, with no human solution in sight.
Hezekiah then appealed to Isaiah by recognizing that the Rabshakeh’s insults were not merely political threats, they were blasphemies against the living God. He hoped that God Himself would rise in defense of His own Name, saying “It may be that the LORD thy God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh.” The king understood that this was fundamentally a spiritual battle. The Assyrians had mocked Jehovah openly, placing themselves in opposition not merely to Judah but to God Himself. As Clarke notes, “The impudent blasphemy of this speech is without parallel.” Hezekiah treated the matter accordingly.
Finally, Hezekiah requested prayer from the prophet, saying, “Lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.” The northern kingdom had already fallen. Dozens of cities in Judah had been destroyed. Jerusalem alone remained, and the king acknowledged that they needed divine action to survive. This humility before God, this willingness to seek the Word of God and the intercession of God’s prophet, revealed the spiritual maturity that marked Hezekiah’s reign.
2. 2 Kings 19:6–7 — God’s Word of Assurance to Hezekiah
“And Isaiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”
Notes
Isaiah responded to Hezekiah’s delegation with the immediate and authoritative declaration, “Thus saith the LORD.” The prophet spoke with full consciousness that his words carried divine authority. He was not offering political counsel or personal evaluation, he was delivering a message from the God of Israel. Isaiah understood the gravity of this moment. The fate of the capital city, the credibility of his prophetic office, and the spiritual morale of Judah hung upon whether this message truly came from God. This was not vague prediction, but a measurable, testable word. Either the events would unfold exactly as the prophet declared, proving him a true spokesman for God, or he would be exposed as a false prophet.
God’s first command to Hezekiah through Isaiah was pastoral and steady: “Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard.” Although the Rabshakeh’s taunts were full of arrogance and blasphemy, God reminded the king that they were only words. Assyria had power, but its threats did not outweigh the authority of the living God. There is a subtle rebuke here, not one of anger but one of correction. Hezekiah had acted rightly by seeking the Lord, but even he needed to be reminded that no human threat, no matter how intimidating, can overturn the promises of God.
The Lord acknowledged that the Assyrians had “blasphemed Me.” This would have strengthened Hezekiah’s heart immediately. Earlier the king had said “It may be that the LORD thy God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh” (2 Kings 19:4). Now God confirmed that He had heard, and that the insult was taken personally. When God describes Rabshakeh and the Assyrian officers as “the servants of the king of Assyria,” the Hebrew expression deliberately belittles them. As Motyer notes, the term means “lads” or “flunkies,” emphasizing how insignificant these men were in comparison to the God they dared to mock. Bultema notes that God treats them as errand boys rather than mighty warriors, reducing their arrogant bluster to nothing.
God promised a precise sequence of judgments: “I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” God Himself would trouble the king of Assyria. The “blast” or “spirit” refers to divine intervention that would undermine his confidence and stability. He would hear a rumor, an alarming report that would compel him to leave Judah and return to Assyria. There, rather than dying in triumph on foreign soil, he would meet his end by the sword in his own land, fulfilling God’s decree of justice. According to Clarke, the rumor concerned the movement of Tirhakah of Ethiopia, and the “blast” refers to the catastrophic destruction of the Assyrian soldiers in verse 35.
It is worth noting that in this first prophetic word, God did not yet promise the deliverance of Jerusalem or the defeat of the Assyrian host. He focused specifically on the arrogance and blasphemy of Rabshakeh, assuring Hezekiah that judgment upon the Assyrian spokesman was already decreed. This silence about Jerusalem’s fate was intentional. God addressed the immediate attack against His own Name first, laying the foundation for the greater assurance that was still to come.
3. 2 Kings 19:8–13 — The Response of Rabshakeh to King Hezekiah and Jerusalem
“Then the Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee, he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying, 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 delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly, and shalt thou be delivered? 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? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?”
Notes
When Rabshakeh returned to his master, he found the king of Assyria engaged in battle at Libnah, having moved on from Lachish. To Hezekiah, this must have appeared to be the beginning of the very deliverance God promised through Isaiah. Rabshakeh had departed Jerusalem, fulfilling the first step of God’s prediction, and Hezekiah could easily have thought the crisis was already dissolving. The apparent withdrawal of the Assyrian threat would have seemed like a sign of God’s intervention and a reason for immediate relief.
While Rabshakeh was away, new intelligence reached the Assyrian king: Tirhakah, ruler of Ethiopia, was marching northward to confront the Assyrian forces. Though he was technically only a prince at the time, he would later ascend the throne, and the text uses the title “king” proleptically, as Wolf notes. This Egyptian-Ethiopian movement was likely the very intervention that some in Judah had hoped for, though Isaiah had long warned them that Egypt would prove to be a false and powerless ally. Isaiah 20:1–6 and Isaiah 30:1–7 prophesied clearly that the trusted southern ally would fail, and this military approach from Tirhakah ultimately changed nothing for Judah. God wanted His people looking to Him alone, not to Egypt’s horses or chariots.
Despite having left Jerusalem, Rabshakeh continued his psychological warfare from a distance. He sent a letter to Hezekiah, attempting to stoke fear and undermine faith. His message began with a direct assault on Hezekiah’s trust in God: “Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee.” This was not merely an insult, it was blasphemy. Rabshakeh accused the Lord of lying, suggesting that God’s promises of protection were empty and deceptive. His goal was to weaken Hezekiah’s confidence and cause him to surrender without resistance.
Rabshakeh reinforced his threats by pointing to the long record of Assyrian conquests: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, Telassar, and the kingdoms of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah. His argument was simple: no other gods had stopped Assyria’s advance, therefore the God of Israel would not either. Yet this was the very statement that exposed the spiritual blindness and arrogance of the Assyrians. Rabshakeh placed the God of Israel on the same plane as the powerless idols of the nations. If Hezekiah read his words with faith, this list of defeated nations would have reminded him of the distinction between the Creator and the created. False gods fall. The living God does not.
Furthermore, the destruction Rabshakeh described was the ancient practice of herem, total annihilation, a method used by Israel itself under divine command in places such as Numbers 21:2–3 and Joshua 6:21. The Assyrians wielded human strength and brutality, but they did not wield divine authority. Their victories meant nothing against the will of the Lord. Rabshakeh’s attempt to intimidate Judah only magnified his own blasphemy and sealed the judgment that God had already pronounced.
This renewed threat from Rabshakeh reveals that Satan’s attacks often intensify right before God acts decisively. The Assyrians were being moved by God’s sovereign hand, yet their arrogance blinded them completely. They continued to boast as if their military might was absolute, unaware that they were moments away from catastrophic judgment.
4. 2 Kings 19:14–19 — Hezekiah’s Prayer
“And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it, and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou hast made heaven and earth. LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear, open, LORD, thine eyes, and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, 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. Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.”
Notes
When Hezekiah received the threatening letter from Sennacherib, he responded with humility and faith. He took the letter up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. This posture demonstrated complete dependence upon God. The king made the enemy’s words God’s concern, casting this burden directly upon the One who alone could handle it. Hezekiah did not run to political alliances or strategists. He went alone before the Lord, pouring out his heart and placing the Assyrian threat deliberately in the presence of God.
This action powerfully fulfills the later command in 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.” Hezekiah placed the entire burden before God, acknowledging that the threat was beyond human strength. Patterson and Austel capture the imagery well: a child bringing his broken toy to his father. Hezekiah’s approach was both bold and trusting. As Dilday notes, this response differed from the first threat, where he sought Isaiah’s intercession. Now, he goes himself directly into the temple courts, presenting the crisis personally to God. Both forms of prayer are fitting in the life of a believer. In some crises we ask others to pray with us, in others we must approach God privately and lay it all at His feet.
This practice remains essential. As Meyer emphasized, when hateful letters, rumors, attacks, or slander reach us, the first and best place to take them is before God. Our instinct may be to defend ourselves, but the wisest course is to lay them before the Lord and allow Him to vindicate His people.
Hezekiah began by addressing God as the “LORD God of Israel.” This title anchored his prayer in covenant. God was bound to His people by oath and promise, and the king appealed directly to that covenant faithfulness. Isaiah’s account adds that Hezekiah also called God “the LORD of hosts,” meaning “the LORD of armies.” This was especially appropriate because the threat facing Judah was military in nature. Hezekiah acknowledged that the God who commands the armies of heaven is more than capable of defending Jerusalem from the armies of Assyria.
He next affirmed the majesty of God: “which dwellest between the cherubims.” This refers to the mercy seat over the ark in the Most Holy Place, where the Shekinah glory symbolized God’s presence. By invoking this image, Hezekiah acknowledged that the sovereign God who reigns above the angels was aware of the blasphemies of Rabshakeh and would not ignore them. Meyer highlights this truth by noting that God is Israel’s Judge, Lawgiver, and King, and therefore His own reputation demanded that He uphold His covenant and defend His people.
Hezekiah then declared, “Thou art the God, even thou alone.” This is the heart of all biblical faith. If God alone is sovereign, then no human king, no earthly army, and no idol can challenge His authority. This simple declaration contains profound theological weight: God is God, and we are not. God is God, and Assyria is not. Recognizing this shifts any crisis into its proper perspective.
He also confessed that God is the Creator: “Thou hast made heaven and earth.” By grounding his prayer in creation, Hezekiah acknowledged God’s absolute power and ownership over all things. Creation theology often becomes the foundation for biblical confidence in God’s sovereignty. If He made everything, then nothing can threaten His purpose.
He then prayed, “LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear, open thine eyes, and see.” This language is poetic, not literal, emphasizing the appeal for God to act upon what He has already observed. Hezekiah knew God had heard the blasphemies of Sennacherib, but this language expresses an urgent desire for divine intervention.
Hezekiah distinguished between the living God and the idols destroyed by Assyria. Those “gods” were nothing but “the work of men’s hands, wood and stone.” They burned easily because they possessed no life or power. The living God cannot be cast into a fire. This became the theological pivot of the entire prayer. The Assyrians had triumphed over the idols of nations, but they had never met the God who made heaven and earth.
Finally, Hezekiah asked for deliverance “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.” His prayer was not centered on personal survival or national pride. His concern was the vindication of the Name of the LORD. He prayed that God’s deliverance would reveal His uniqueness to all nations. This was the heart of biblical faith: God’s glory above all else.
B. God Speaks Concerning the Situation
1. 2 Kings 19:20–21 — Sennacherib Is Worthy of Scorn, Not Fear and Trembling
“Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 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.”
Notes
Isaiah’s message to Hezekiah begins with a powerful affirmation from God: “Because thou hast prayed to Me… I have heard.” This is a direct acknowledgment from the Lord that the deliverance about to unfold is the result of the king’s earnest prayer. Hezekiah’s cry to God was not ignored. It moved heaven. This verse reveals the staggering weight of intercessory prayer. If Hezekiah had not prayed, the implication is clear: deliverance would not have come in this manner. Jerusalem could have fallen. The course of history would have been different. God ordained that the blessing would come because His servant prayed.
This invites serious reflection. How many works of God remain unclaimed because His people do not pray? How many victories are left on the field because no one asked? How many souls remain untouched because petitions were never offered? God’s statement to Hezekiah strikes with full force: “Because thou hast prayed to Me.” Prayer is not a religious exercise, it is the appointed means by which God brings His power to bear in the world. Heaven moves when God hears His people cry out in faith.
God then declares His verdict concerning Sennacherib in poetic triumph. Jerusalem is pictured as “the virgin the daughter of Zion,” not a trembling, violated victim, but a young woman who despises, laughs, and shakes her head at the blustering tyrant. The Assyria that terrified nations and crushed empires receives nothing but mockery from the city it intended to ravish. Far from being helpless, Zion stands under God’s protection and looks down on her enemy with contempt.
Grogan notes that the imagery is deliberate and vivid. The Assyrians came like a predator aiming to violate Jerusalem. Yet God shields His daughter, rebuking the intruder and reversing the shame. Instead of being ravished, Zion rebuffs the invader like a noble young woman pushing aside the crude advances of a vulgar man. The enemy’s threats are rendered powerless, and his arrogance is exposed as pathetic in the light of divine protection.
Jerusalem is called “the virgin, the daughter of Zion” for several profound reasons:
She was unpolluted with the idolatry of the pagan nations. Jerusalem, though imperfect, had not given herself over wholesale to the idolatrous practices that characterized the surrounding Gentiles. She remained distinct, set apart under God’s covenant.
God would defend her from the intended violation of Sennacherib. The Assyrians planned to conquer Jerusalem as they had crushed every other fortified city in their path, yet God would not permit His city to be ravaged. The image reinforces divine protection. Zion remains inviolate because her Defender stands guard.
She had never been conquered since the days of David. For centuries Jerusalem had remained an unconquered capital. Assyria boasted of its conquests, but Jerusalem’s history under God’s protection set her apart. Her “virginity” symbolized her enduring preservation.
In this word from the prophet, God reframes the entire perspective of the crisis. The most feared empire on earth is reduced to an object of ridicule. The people of God, who appeared weak and surrounded, are revealed as secure, defended by Almighty God. Heaven’s viewpoint is the opposite of earthly appearances.
2. 2 Kings 19:22–28 — God’s Word to the King of Assyria and His Representatives
“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. By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof, and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel. I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
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 fenced cities into ruinous heaps. 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.
But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against Me. Because thy rage against Me and thy tumult is come up into Mine ears, therefore I will 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.”
Notes
God now speaks directly to the king of Assyria through Isaiah, and His tone shifts from comfort for Judah to judgment for Sennacherib. The opening question pierces the heart of the Assyrians’ arrogance: “Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed?” The answer: “Even against the Holy One of Israel.” Sennacherib thought he was mocking a weak nation with a small army. In reality, he had lifted his voice against the sovereign, holy, all-powerful God. Assyria did not understand who they were challenging, but God made the truth unmistakably clear.
This prophetic word may or may not have reached Rabshakeh’s ears during his lifetime. Isaiah did not have audience with the Assyrian leadership. Yet God’s word was still valid. Even if Rabshakeh never heard it until judgment, the prophecy served its purpose by strengthening the faith of Hezekiah and the people of Judah. Often God speaks more for the benefit of His people than for the enemy, reminding them that He sees, He hears, and He is not intimidated by the oppressor.
The Lord recounts Assyria’s pride in its conquests. Sennacherib bragged about his military success: “By the multitude of my chariots… I will cut down… I have digged… I have drunk strange waters… with the sole of my feet I have dried up all the rivers.” This was classic Near Eastern imperial boasting. Dilday notes that the claim of drying up rivers with their feet meant they had so many troops that the sheer mass of marching soldiers would swallow streams and crush riverbeds. This kind of arrogant exaltation was typical of Assyrian kings, who routinely boasted as though their military strength made them gods among men.
But God exposes the truth: “Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it?” The Assyrians believed they achieved world-dominating success through their brilliance, discipline, and ruthless force. God tells them plainly that every victory they enjoyed was granted by His sovereign will. Their rise to power was not the triumph of human greatness but the unfolding of divine decree. Sennacherib and his generals were instruments in God’s hand. They were powerful only because God allowed them to be powerful.
Patterson and Austel capture the theological center of this passage: Sennacherib’s victories were foreordained by God, not earned by Assyria. Their boasting was hollow. They were nothing more than tools in the hand of the Almighty, and now God was finished with their usefulness. Their pride blinded them to the reality that God orchestrated every conquest and every collapse of the fortified cities they overwhelmed.
God emphasizes that the inhabitants of these conquered lands were like grass of the field, green herb, and grass on housetops—all images of fragility and impermanence. Ancient flat roofs often grew thin layers of grass that dried out quickly because the soil was shallow. Assyria mistook its easy victories for proof of its own invincibility. In reality, they had simply faced peoples whom God had already appointed to judgment.
Then comes one of the most stunning reversals of the entire chapter. God declares, “I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against Me.” In other words, God knows exactly where Sennacherib lives, exactly what he does, exactly where he travels, and exactly how he has blasphemed. Assyria is not threatening God. God is tracking Assyria.
Because Sennacherib dared to exalt himself against the Lord, God says: “I will put My hook in thy nose, and My bridle in thy lips.” This was a deliberate and devastating image. The Assyrians were known for their cruelty toward conquered peoples. Archaeological reliefs show Assyrian kings leading captives with hooks through their noses or lips, humiliating them as they dragged them into exile. God now says He will treat Assyria the same way. The proud conqueror would become the humiliated captive.
Wiseman notes the historical detail: stelae from Esarhaddon show him holding Tirhakah of Egypt and Ba’alu of Tyre by facial hooks. This was standard Assyrian brutality. God uses their own methods against them. The one who led others in humiliation would be forced to retreat in humiliation, “by the way by which thou camest.”
God is not intimidated. God is not threatened. God is not impressed. He is sovereign, and Assyria is about to learn it the hard way.
3. 2 Kings 19:29–31 — God Will Prosper Wounded Judah
“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 fruits thereof. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 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.”
Notes
God now gives Hezekiah a sign, not a request for faith without evidence, but a tangible confirmation that the Lord Himself is at work. The Assyrian invasion had halted normal agricultural cycles. During siege conditions, fields could not be planted or cultivated, and the land suffered under the weight of war. Yet God promises that Judah will survive and prosper even in the aftermath.
The sign unfolds in three agricultural stages:
“Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself.”
In 702 B.C., because of Assyria’s assault, the people were unable to sow. But God promised there would be enough volunteer growth — grain or produce sprouting spontaneously from the previous year’s seed — to keep Judah alive.“And the second year that which springeth of the same.”
In 701 B.C., even after the Assyrians withdraw, the instability and recovery period would still hinder normal sowing. Yet again, God would cause enough natural growth to sustain His people. Motyer highlights that this “chance growth” would be unmistakable evidence that God, not circumstance, preserved Judah.“In the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.”
By 700 B.C., Judah would return to a normal agricultural rhythm — sowing, reaping, planting vineyards, and harvesting abundant fruit. Patterson and Austel note that by this third-year harvest, Judah would look back and recognize that God Himself had carried them through the entire crisis.
This prophetic sign isn’t merely about food — it is about restoration, future stability, and the continuation of God’s covenant promises. God was declaring that Sennacherib’s assault would not only fail, it would leave Judah with enough life to rebuild.
The Lord then expands the sign into a theological promise: “The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.” This is agricultural imagery applied spiritually. Judah will not die. The nation may be wounded, but its root remains intact. The remnant — the faithful survivors preserved by God’s grace — will grow deep again in covenant life and rise up in visible fruitfulness.
Though Assyria intended to cut Judah off at the root, God declares the opposite. Judah will not only remain, it will flourish. God’s covenant people cannot be uprooted by any empire.
Wiseman notes that the doctrine of the remnant runs throughout Isaiah. Isaiah’s own son was named Shear-Jashub, meaning “a remnant shall return.” This prophetic name embodied the divine promise that through judgment, siege, and suffering, God would preserve a people for His name. Even Israelites fleeing from the northern kingdom into Judah joined this remnant, making Judah the vessel that carried forward the line and promises of God.
Finally, the Lord closes this section with the thunderous declaration: “The zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.” Judah’s survival would not come from Hezekiah’s diplomacy, military capability, or foreign alliances. It would come from God’s zeal — His passionate commitment to His covenant, His promises, His glory, and His people.
The same zeal that judges nations sustains God’s chosen remnant.
4. 2 Kings 19:32–34 — God Will Defend Judah for His Sake
“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 shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city, to save it for Mine own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.”
Notes
God delivers His final decree concerning Sennacherib, and it is absolute in its precision and force. The Lord declares that the king of Assyria “shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.” Every possible action associated with an ancient siege is denied. Assyria will not break through the gates, will not fire the first arrow, will not bring shields to the walls, and will not even begin the engineering work required for siege mounds. God is not simply promising victory; He is promising prevention. The invasion will be stopped before it starts.
The horror of siege warfare in the ancient world cannot be overstated. Cities surrounded by hostile armies faced starvation, disease, mass despair, and eventual slaughter or enslavement. Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem had lived under this looming dread, knowing Assyria had already destroyed dozens of fortified Judean cities. Yet God steps in and draws a sovereign line in the sand. Despite Assyria’s unmatched military power, despite its cruel reputation, despite its overwhelming numbers, it would not take one step further. The Lord Himself would stop Sennacherib at the threshold.
God also predicts the king’s withdrawal with perfect detail: “By the way that he came, by the same shall he return.” Sennacherib left his homeland boasting; he would return humiliated. He marched toward Jerusalem with threats; he would go back in silence, his army broken by the judgment of God. He intended to write a triumphant chapter of conquest. God would instead write his downfall.
The reason for this divine intervention is stated plainly: “For I will defend this city, to save it for Mine own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.” God was not acting because Jerusalem deserved mercy. In truth, the nation deserved judgment for its sins. But God acted for the sake of His own glory and in honor of His covenant with David.
God defends His glory. He does not require us to protect it; He does so Himself. When His name is blasphemed, when His covenant is challenged, when His promises are mocked, God rises to uphold His honor. The Assyrians had exalted themselves against the Holy One of Israel, and God now made clear that His reputation would be vindicated.
He also acted “for My servant David’s sake.” Nearly three centuries had passed since David’s death, yet God still remained faithful to His covenant in 2 Samuel 7:10–17, where He promised that David’s line and David’s city would be preserved. Judah’s rebellion, weakness, and inconsistency could not break the covenant promises God made to David. God’s faithfulness outlasts human failure.
This truth points forward to the greater Son of David, Jesus Christ. Just as God defended Jerusalem for David’s sake, He defends and blesses believers today for the sake of His Son. We often fail, falter, and deserve His discipline — yet God shows mercy “for Jesus’ sake,” not because we merit it, but because His covenant stands firm.
Wiseman notes that later generations twisted this promise into superstition, assuming Jerusalem could never fall because of this declaration. Jeremiah confronted that false security in Jeremiah 7:1–15, reminding the people that God’s protection is tied to His purpose, not to empty religious presumption. God saved Jerusalem under Hezekiah for His own sake and David’s sake — not to grant Judah a license to sin in future generations.
In this moment, God’s covenant faithfulness and sovereign power shine with full strength. The greatest empire on earth is halted, not by walls or weapons, but by the decree of the Lord of hosts.
C. God Defends Jerusalem
1. 2 Kings 19:35 — God Strikes Down the Mighty Army of Assyria
“And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand, and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”
Notes
In a single night, God accomplished what no army on earth could have done. The angel of the LORD swept through the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. Without Judah firing a single arrow or lifting a single shield, the most feared military force in the ancient world collapsed instantly. The undefeated empire was defeated. The unstoppable war machine was stopped. The proud conqueror became powerless in one night under the judgment of God.
This victory fulfilled the prophetic promise of Hosea 1:7:
“Yet I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.”
The defeat of Assyria was supernatural. No battle, no siege, no military strategy, and no foreign alliance brought salvation. God alone acted.
Herodotus, the Greek historian, preserved a secular tradition that Sennacherib’s army was overwhelmed in one night by an infestation of mice or rats that destroyed their supplies. Grogan notes this is likely a garbled memory of this very event. Even pagan records preserve echoes of God’s judgment.
The text says, “behold, they were all dead corpses.” Judah awoke to a field of bodies. The terror of Assyria vanished overnight. This event was not difficult for God. It is far harder for God to bring His people to humility, repentance, and faith than it is for Him to overthrow a world empire. Once the hearts of Judah were aligned with God, one angel was enough to destroy an entire army.
Some have tried to suggest natural causes — Wiseman notes theories of epidemic or dysentery — but the text is explicit: the angel of the LORD struck them. God may use means when He chooses, but this was His direct, decisive act of judgment.
2. 2 Kings 19:36–37 — The Defeated Sennacherib Is Judged in Nineveh
“So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 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 Ararat, and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.”
Notes
Sennacherib departed exactly as God foretold. He returned home humiliated, unable to boast of victory. The Taylor Prism — his own royal inscription — confirms this indirectly. It boasts of capturing many cities and taking many captives, but it never claims victory over Jerusalem. Instead, he wrote:
“Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage.”
Yet he could claim no conquest, no entry, no victory. His silence on the matter is the Assyrian admission of defeat.
Archaeologist T. C. Mitchell notes that the Assyrian records “tacitly agree” with Scripture by admitting tribute from Hezekiah but claiming no capture of the city. In other words, Assyria — known for exaggeration — had to acknowledge failure.
Poole observes God spared Sennacherib initially not out of mercy, but to reserve him for a worse end — a shameful death at the hands of his own sons. The great king who mocked the God of Israel died not on the battlefield but in the temple of his false god, murdered during worship. He who blasphemed perished in humiliation.
Between verses 36 and 37, twenty years passed. Sennacherib may have believed he escaped judgment. He had not. God’s justice may wait, but it never fails.
A Jewish legend — only a legend, not history — imagines Sennacherib wanting to surpass Abraham by sacrificing two sons, prompting those sons to kill him first. Whether fanciful or illustrative, it captures one truth: Sennacherib’s end came in accordance with God’s decree.
