2 Kings 18:26
24 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
25 Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
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.
27 But Rab-shakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
28 Then Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spake, saying, 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 wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.
Read in contextDaniel 2:4
Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
Read in contextIsaiah 36:11–12
Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
Read in context2 Kings 18:18
And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
Read in context