walis of it, which shewed the daring insolence of
Rabshakeh to come so very nigh, for he was in the
hearing of the men upon the walls, vet. 12., this
Rabshakeh is by the Jewish writers thought t'0 be an
apostate Jew, because he spoke in the Jews' language;
and some of them, as Jetore says, will have him to be
a son of the Prophet Isaiah,s, but withotrt any founda-
tion, Procopius, in 2 Kings xviii. thinks it probable
that he was a Hebrew, who either had fled on his
own accord to the Assyrians, or was taken captive by
them.
Vet. 3. Then came forth unto him, &c.]] Being so_at
by Hezekiah; for otherwise Rabshakeh had the im-
pudence to call to him, in order to parley, and treat
with him about the surrender of the city; but as this
was not thought either safe or honourable for the king
to go in person, his following ministers went; see
2 Kings xviii. 18: Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was
over the house; not over the house of the Lord, the
temple, as some, but the king's house, being high-
steward of if, ormajor dome. This is the same'person
as is mentioned in oh. xxii. o_0: and Shebna the scribe;
not of the book of the law, a copier, or interpreter of
that, but secretary of state; he had been treasurer,
but now removed, oh. xxii. 15: and Joah, Asaph's son,
the recorder; the master of requests, or the remem-
brancer{e}; who, as the Targum, was appointed over
things memorable; whose business it was to take
notice of things worthy of memory, write them
down, and digest them in order; perhaps the king's
historiographer.
Ver. 4. And Rabshakeh said unto them, &c.] The
three ministers above mentioned: say ye now to He-
zekiah; tell. him what follows; he does not call him
king, as he does his own master: thus saith the great
king, the king ofAssyria; this he Said boastingly of
his master, and in order to terrify Hezekiah and his
subjects; whotn he would represent as little in com-
parison of him, who had subduecd many kingdoms,
and aimed at universal monarchy; so the eastern kings
used to be called, as now the Grand Signior with the
Turks, and the French call their king the great mo-
narch; but the title of a great king suits best with
God himself, Psal. xcv. 3: what, confidence is this
wherein thou trustest? meaning, what was the ground
and foundation of his confidence ? what was it that
kept him in high spirits, that he did not at once sub-
mit to the king of Assyria, and surrender -the city of
Jerusalem to him ?
Ver. 5. I say, (sayest thou,) but they are but vain
w9rds, &c.] Or, word of lips f; meaning the following,
which he suggests were only the fruit of his lips, not
of his heart; or were vain and foolish, and without
effect, and stood for nothing; so the first part of the
words are Hezekiah's, I say (sayest thou); and the
latter, Rabshakeh's note upon them; though they may
be understood aS Hezekiah's,' or what he is made to
speak by RabShakeh, as the ground of his confidence,
namely, word of lips; that is, prayer to God, as
Kimchi explains it; or eloquence in addressing his
soldiers, and encouraging them to fight, either of
which Rabshakeh derides, as well  as what follows:
! have counsel and strength for war; as he had; he had
wise ministers to consult, and was capable of forming
.a good plan, and -Wise schemes, and of putting them
m execution, and of heartening men; though he did not
put his confidence in these things, as Rabshakeh sug-
gested,  2 Chron. xxxii. 3--8. the words may be ren-
dered;but counsel and strength are for war{g} : what sig-
nifies _words to God, or eloq.uence with.men ? this is.all
lipdabour, and of little service; wisdom. and counsel to
form plans, and power to execute them, are the things
which are necessary to carry on a war with success, and
which, it is intimated, were wanting in Hezekiah;
and therefore he had nothing to ground his confidence
upon, within himself, or his people: now on whom dent
thou trust, that thou rebellest against me ? which it does
not appear he had, having paid the money agreed to
for the withdrawmentor his army ;butthis was a pro-
tence for the siege of Jerusalem.
Ver. 6. Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this brolcen
reed, on Egypt, &c.] His ally and auxiliary; and
which is rightly called the staff of a broken reed, if
trusted to, and leaned upon, being weak and fi'ail, and
an insufficient ground of confidence to depend upon;
the allusion seems to be to the cane or reed which grew
upon. the banks of the river Nile, in Egypt: whereon if
a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it; the
splinters of the broken reed being leaned on, will enter
into a man's hand, and 'do him mischief, instead of
being a help to him-to walk with: so is Pharaoh king
of Egyyt to all that trust in him; pernicious and hurt 
ful, instead of being useful and helpful.
Ver. 7. But if thou say to me, we trust in the Lord
our God, &c.] In his promises, providenc6, power,
and protection, and not in human counsels and strength;
not in allies and auxiliaries, as Pharaoh king of Egypt;
should this be replied, Rabshakeh has something to say
to that; having shown the vanity of trusting in the
above things, he now proceeds to beat them off of all
trust in the Lord their God: is it not he, whose high
places and whose altars Hezekiah hath takes away; the
question might easily be answered in the negative;
no, he has not; the high places and altars which Heze-
kiah took away were the high places and altars of
Heathen gods, of false deities, and not ofthe true God
of Israel, and which was to his henour and glory; but
R, abshakeh would make a crime of it, and, ignorantly
supposing that these were the altars and high places of
the God of Israel, would insinuate that the taking of
these away must be displeasing to him, and conse-
quently Hezekiah and his people could not hope for
any protection from him, whom he had so highly
affronted; but all this talk was the fruit of ignorance,
as well as of malice: and said tO Judah, and to Jerusa-
lem, ye shall worship before this altar'? the altar of the
Lord, in the temple at Jerusalem, and before that only,
confining their religious worship to one place, and their
sacrifices to one altar; which was so far from being
displeasing to God, as he would insinuate, that it was

{e} \^rykzmh\^ recordator, commonfactor, Vatablus; commenefaciens,
Montanus: a nemoria, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
{f} \^Mytpv rbd\^ verbum labiorum, Montanus; vel, sermo labiorum,
Vatablus.
{g} \^hmxlml hrwbgw hue\^ consilium & fortitudo ad praelium, Mon-
tanus; sed consilio & fortitudine opus ad praelium, Pagninus, i.e. re-
quiruntur, ut Grotius.