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2 Kings 19:21-28
New English Translation

21 This is what the Lord says about him:[a]

“‘“The virgin daughter Zion[b]
despises you, she makes fun of you;
Daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you.[c]
22 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted,[d]
and looked so arrogantly?[e]
At the Holy One of Israel![f]
23 Through your messengers you taunted the Sovereign Master,[g]
‘With my many chariots[h]
I climbed up the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions,[i]
its thickest woods.
24 I dug wells and drank
water in foreign lands.[j]
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.’
25 [k] Certainly you must have heard![l]
Long ago I worked it out.
In ancient times I planned[m] it;
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins.[n]
26 Their residents are powerless,[o]
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field,
or green vegetation.[p]
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops[q]
when it is scorched by the east wind.[r]
27 I know where you live
and everything you do.[s]
28 Because you rage against me,
and the uproar you create has reached my ears,[t]
I will put my hook in your nose,[u]
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back the way
you came.”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 19:21 tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”
  2. 2 Kings 19:21 sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.
  3. 2 Kings 19:21 sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
  4. 2 Kings 19:22 tn Heb “have you raised a voice.”
  5. 2 Kings 19:22 tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?”
  6. 2 Kings 19:22 sn This divine title pictures the Lord as the sovereign king who rules over his covenant people and exercises moral authority over them.
  7. 2 Kings 19:23 tn The word is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay), “lord,” but some Hebrew mss have יְהוָה (yehvah), “Lord.”
  8. 2 Kings 19:23 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּרֶכֶב (berekhev), but this must be dittographic (note the following רִכְבִּי [rikhbi], “my chariots”). The marginal reading (Qere) בְּרֹב (berov), “with many,” is supported by many Hebrew mss and ancient versions, as well as the parallel passage in Isa 37:24.
  9. 2 Kings 19:23 tn Heb “the lodging place of its extremity.”
  10. 2 Kings 19:24 tn Heb “I dug and drank foreign waters.”
  11. 2 Kings 19:25 tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
  12. 2 Kings 19:25 tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.
  13. 2 Kings 19:25 tn Heb “formed.”
  14. 2 Kings 19:25 tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְּהִי (tehi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.
  15. 2 Kings 19:26 tn Heb “short of hand.”
  16. 2 Kings 19:26 tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.
  17. 2 Kings 19:26 tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.
  18. 2 Kings 19:26 tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah), “standing grain,” to קָדִים (qadim), “east wind” (with the support of 1Q Isaa in Isa 37:27).
  19. 2 Kings 19:27 tc Heb “your going out and your coming in.” The MT also has here, “and how you have raged against me.” However, this line is probably dittographic (note the beginning of the next line).
  20. 2 Kings 19:28 tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (shaʾananekha), “your complacency,” is emended to שַׁאֲוַנְךְ (shaʾavanekha), “your uproar.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38.
  21. 2 Kings 19:28 sn The word picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.
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2 Kings 18
2 Kings 20
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