Isaiah 37:4

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD. ²He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz ³to tell him, "This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them. ⁴Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rab-shakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives."⁵So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah, ⁶who replied, "Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: 'Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. ⁷Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

It may: Joshua 14:12, 1 Samuel 14:6, 2 Samuel 16:12, Amos 5:15

to reproach: Isaiah 37:23, Isaiah 37:24, Isaiah 36:20, Isaiah 51:7, Isaiah 51:8, 1 Samuel 17:26, 1 Samuel 17:36, 2 Kings 19:4, 2 Kings 19:22, 2 Kings 19:23, 2 Chronicles 32:15-19

and will: Isaiah 37:23, Psalms 50:21

lift up: 1 Samuel 7:8, 1 Samuel 12:19, 1 Samuel 12:23, 2 Chronicles 32:20, Psalms 106:23, Joel 2:17, James 5:16

for the: Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 8:7, Isaiah 8:8, Isaiah 10:5, Isaiah 10:6, Isaiah 10:22, 2 Kings 17:18, 2 Kings 18:9-16, 2 Chronicles 28:19, Romans 9:27

left: Heb. found

Reciprocal: Numbers 11:2 - prayed Numbers 12:2 - And the 1 Kings 8:38 - prayer 2 Kings 2:12 - My father 2 Kings 19:16 - which hath sent 1 Chronicles 13:2 - left Psalms 44:16 - For the Psalms 120:1 - my distress Isaiah 10:20 - the remnant Isaiah 25:4 - when Isaiah 30:17 - till ye Isaiah 37:17 - hear Isaiah 46:3 - the remnant Jeremiah 10:10 - the living Jeremiah 26:19 - did he Jeremiah 31:7 - remnant Jeremiah 42:2 - and pray Lamentations 1:9 - for Daniel 2:18 - they would Amos 7:2 - for Nahum 1:7 - in the 2 Corinthians 1:11 - helping 1 Thessalonians 1:9 - the living

Cross-References

Genesis 4:5
but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.

Genesis 27:41
Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart: "The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob."

Genesis 37:3
Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors.

Genesis 37:5
Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.

Genesis 37:11
And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.

Genesis 37:12
Some time later, Joseph's brothers had gone to pasture their father's flocks near Shechem.

Genesis 37:13
Israel said to him, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flocks at Shechem? Get ready; I am sending you to them." "I am ready," Joseph replied.

Genesis 37:18
Now Joseph's brothers saw him in the distance, and before he arrived, they plotted to kill him.

Genesis 37:19
"Here comes that dreamer!" they said to one another.

Genesis 37:24
and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, with no water in it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh,.... He had heard them; but the sense is, that it might be that he would take notice of them, and resent them in a public manner, and punish for them; and this is said, not as doubting and questioning whether he would or not, but as hoping and encouraging himself that he would: and it may be observed, that Hezekiah does not call the Lord "my God", or "our God", because he and his people were under the chastening hand of God for their sins, and were undeserving of such a relation; but "thy God", whose prophet he was, whom he served, and to whom he was dear, and with whom he had an interest; and therefore it might be hoped his prayer to him would be heard and accepted, and that through his interposition God would be prevailed upon to take notice of the railing speech of Rabshakeh:

whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; who has life in and of himself, and is the fountain, author, and giver of life to all others; him he reproached by setting him on a level with the lifeless idols of the Gentiles:

and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard; reprove him for his words, take vengeance upon him, or punish him for the blasphemous words spoken by him against the Lord and in his hearing: to this sense is the Targum; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions:

wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left; lift up thy voice, thy hands, and thine heart, in prayer to God in heaven; pray earnestly and fervently for those that are left; the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the other ten having been carried captive some time ago; or the inhabitants of Jerusalem particularly, the defenced cities of Judah having been already taken by the Assyrian king. The fewness of the number that remained seems to be made use of as an argument for prayer in their favour. In times of distress, men should not only pray for themselves, but get others to pray for them, and especially men of eminence in religion, who have nearness of access to God, and interest in him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

It may be the Lord thy God - The God whom thou dost serve, and in whose name and by whose authority thou dost exercise the prophetic office.

Will hear the words - Will come forth and vindicate himself in regard to the language of reproach and blasphemy which has been used. See a similar use of the word ‘hear’ in Exodus 2:24; Exodus 3:7.

To reproach the living God - The revilings of Rabsbakeh were really directed against the true God. The reproach of the ‘living God’ consisted in comparing him to idols, and saying that be was no more able to deleted Jerusalem than the idol-gods had been able to defend their lands (see the note at Isaiah 36:18). The phrase ‘the living God’ is often applied to Yahweh in contradistinction from idols, which were mere blocks of wood or stone.

For the remnant that is left - For those who survive; or probably for those parts of the land, including Jerusalem, that have not fallen into the hands of the Assyrian. Sennacherib had taken many towns, but there were many also that had not yet been subdued by him.