2 Kings 18:26
24 For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
25 So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”
Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
27 But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!
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
- Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
- KJV
- Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
- WEB
- Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Jews’ language, in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
- ASV
- Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not with us in the Jews` language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
- DARBY
- And Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, and Shebnah and Joah said to Rab-shakeh, Speak, we pray thee, to thy servants in Syriac, for we understand it, and talk not with us in the Jewish [language] in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
- BLB
- And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Speak, please, to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand [it], and do not speak with us in Judean in the ears of the people who [are] on the wall.”
- ÅB
- Da sa Eljakim, Hilkias' sønn, og Sebna og Joah til Rabsake: Tal til dine tjenere på syrisk, for vi forstår det språket, og tal ikke til oss på jødisk, så folket som står på muren, hører det!
- OTB
- Da sa Eljakim, sønn av Hilkia, og Sjebna og Joah til Rabsjake, “Vær så snill å snakke til dine tjenere på arameisk, for vi forstår det; og ikke snakk med oss på judeisk i hørevidde av folket som er på muren.”
- B1930
- Da sa Eljakim, Hilkias' sønn, og Sebna og Joah til Rabsake: Tal til dine tjenere på syrisk, for vi forstår det sprog, og tal ikke til oss på jødisk, så folket som står på muren, hører det!
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Ezra 4:7
And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in Aramaic and then translated.
Read in contextDaniel 2:4
Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, “O king, may you live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.”
Read in contextIsaiah 36:11–12
Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
Read in context2 Kings 18:18
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.
Read in context