Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_200_p.lzh/5_205.TXT

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derided, but not so the God at' Israel; these places are
mentioned in ch. x. 9. Hamath was a city in Syria,
thought by some to be the same afterwards called An-
tinchin and .Epiphania, from Antiochus Epiphanes:
Arphad is ioined with it in Jer. xlix. o. 3. as a city of
Syria; perhaps originally rounded and inhabited by
the Arvadite, mentioned with the Hamathite, in Gen.
x. 18: where are the gods of Sepharvaim ? another
place in Syria, the city Sip. phore; not the Sipphara of
Ptolemy *, in Mesopotamia, or that, near Babylon,
Abydenus * makes mention of, but a city in Syro-
Phoenicia, 2 Kings xvii. 24: and have they delivered
Samaria out of my hand ? the gods'of the above places,
which were warshipped in Samaria, or the gods pecu-
liar to that place; though Samaria was not taken by
the present king of Assyria, Sennacherib, but by a
predecessor of his, Salmaneser, ¢ Kings xvii. 3, 6.
which yet is here boasted of as a conquest of the pre-
sent king.
Vet. 20. Who are they amongst all the gods of these
lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand ?
&c.] Not one of them, it is suggested; wherefore
then should it be thought practicable, that the Lord
should deliver, Jerusalem out of my hand ? thus blasphe-
mousiv setting the Lord God of Israel upon a level
with the fictitious gods of the Gentiles; though these
could not, the Lord could, being the Lord God
Almighty.' If Rabshakeh was an apostate Jew, he
must have known better; but the malice of such is
usually the greatest.
Vet. 21. But they held their peace, and answered him
not a word, &c.] The three ministers of Hezekiah;
not as ¢onfounded, and unable to return an answer:
they were capable of saying many things in proof that
the Lord God was greater than the gods of the na-
tions, and in fayour of their king, Hezekiah, whom
he had treated in a scurrilous manner; and could have

objected to him the king of Assyria's breach of faith
and honour, but these things they waved, and said
nething of; no doubt they said something to him,
had some conference with him, or otherwise what
were they sent as commissioners about ? but they made
no answer to his blasphemies and menaces: for the
king's commandment was, saying, answer him not: with
respect to the above things; when he sent them, he
might be aware that he would behave in such a rude,
insolent, and blasphcming manner, and therefore the
king gave them instructions how to conduct them-
selves, should this be the case. Musculus thinks the
king was on'the wall, and heard all himself, and gave
orders to his ministers to make no reply; but this does
not seem likely; what is hcrc said of the ministcrs is
also said of the people, 2 Kings xviii. 36.
Vcr. 22. Then came Eliakim, that was over the
household, &c.] The first of the commissioners sent
to Rabshakeh .: and Shebna the Scribe, and Joah, the son
of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah : by which it seems
that he could not bc with them on the wall, but was
all the while in his own palace, whither they came
to him, to report the issue of their conference with
Rabshakch: with their clothes rent; which was done
perhaps not in the presence and within the sight of
Rabshakeh, but as they came along; and that partly
on account of the blasphemies they had heard, Matt.
xxvi. 6.5. and partly through the grief of heart, for the
distress and calamity they might fear were coming art
themselves, their king, their .city, and country, Joel
ii. 13: and told him the words of Rabshakeh ; what he
had said against him, and against the God of Israel,
his menaces and his blaspemies; they made a thith-
fill report of the whole., as messengers ought to do.
What effect this had upon the king, we have an ac-
count of in the following chapter.

CHAP. XXXVII

In this chapter are contained Hezekiah's message to
Isaiah, desiring his prayer for him and his people, in
this time of sore distress, ver. 1, 2, 3. 4, 5. the com-
forting and encouraging answer returned by' the pro-
phet to him, vet. 6, 7. the king of Assyna's letter to
Hezekiah, to terrify him into a surren, ter of the city of
Jerusalem to him, vet. 8--13. which Hezekiah spread
before the Lord, and prayed unto him tbr dcliverance,
yet. 14--c2-0. upon which he received a gracious answer
by the hand of the prophet, promising safety and de-
liverance to him, and destruction to the king of A..ssy-
rid, of which a sign was given, ver. 2l--35. and the
chapter is closed with the slaughter of' the Assyrian
army by an angel, the flight of the king, and his
death by the hands of his sons, ver. 36, 37, 38.
Vet. 1. And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah
heard it, .&c.] The report that his ministers made to
him of the blasphemies and threatenings of Rabsha-
keh, the general of the Assyrian army: that he rent
his clothes, and covered himself with saclccloth ; the one
because of the blasphemies he heard; the other
cause of the destruction he and his people were threat-
ened with: and went into the house of the Lord; the
temple, to pray to him there: he could have prayed
in his own house, but he chose rather to go to the
house of God, not so much on account of the holiness
of the place, but because there the Lord promised,
and was used to hear the prayers of his people, 1
Kings viii. 29, 30. as also because it was more public,
and would be known to the people, and set them an
example to follow him in. Trouble should not keep
persons from, but bring them .to, the house of God;
here the Lord is to be inquired of, here he is to be
found; and from hence he sends deliverance and sal-
vation to his people. Nothing is more proper than
prayer in times of affliction; it is no ways tinbecoming
nor lessening the greatest king on earth to lay aside
his royal robes, to humble himself before God, in a
time of distress, and pray unto him. Hezekiah does
not sit down to consider Rabshakeh's speech, to take

{n} Geograph. lib. 5. cap. 18.
{o} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. lib. 9. cap. 41. p. 457.