2 Kings 18:19
17 Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.
18 Then they called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to them.
The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
20 You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?
21 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
- KJV
- And Rab-shakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
- WEB
- Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘The great king, the king of Assyria, says, “What confidence is this in which you trust?
- ASV
- And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
- DARBY
- And Rab-shakeh said to them, Say now to Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
- BLB
- And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What [is] this confidence in which you trust?
- ÅB
- Og Rabsake sa til dem: Si til Hiskia: Så sier den store konge, kongen i Assyria: Hva er det for en trygghet som er kommet over deg?
- OTB
- Da sa Rabsjake til dem, “Si nå til Hiskia, ‘Dette sier den store kongen, kongen av Assyria: Hva er denne tilliten du har?
- B1930
- Og Rabsake sa til dem: Si til Esekias: Så sier den store konge, kongen i Assyria: Hvad er det for en trygghet som er kommet over dig?
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Isaiah 36:4
The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
Read in contextIsaiah 10:8–14
“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
Read in context2 Kings 19:10
“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Read in context2 Kings 18:29–30
This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you; he cannot deliver you from my hand.
Read in context2 Chronicles 32:10–11
“This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: What is the basis of your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege?
Read in context2 Chronicles 32:14–16
Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers devoted to destruction has been able to deliver his people from my hand? How then can your God deliver you from my hand?
Read in context2 Kings 18:22
But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?
Read in contextIsaiah 37:13
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
Read in context