Daniel's Word to Participants in a Royal Orgy

The Writing on the Wall

Daniel 5

¹King Belshazzar gave a big banquet for a thousand royal guests and drank
wine with them. ²As Belshazzar was drinking his wine; he gave orders to bring
the gold and silver cups that his ancestor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the
Temple in Jerusalem. This was so the king, his royal guests, his wives, and his
slave women could drink from those cups. ³So they brought the gold cups that
had been taken from the Temple of God in Jerusalem. And the king and his royal
guests, his wives, and his slave women drank from them. ⁴As they were drinking,
they praised their gods, which were made from gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood,
and stone.

⁵Suddenly the fingers of a person’s hand appeared and began writing on the
plaster of the wall, near the lamp stand in the royal palace. The king watched the
hand as it wrote.

⁶King Belshazzar was very frightened. His face turned white, his knees
knocked together, and he could not stand up because his legs were too weak.
⁷The king called for the magicians, wise men, and wizards of Babylon and said to
them, “Anyone who can read this writing and explain it will receive purple
clothes fit for a king and a gold chain around his neck. And I will make that
person the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

⁸Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or
tell the king what it meant. ⁹King Belshazzar became even more afraid, and his
face became even whiter. His royal guests were confused.

¹⁰Then the king’s mother, who had heard the voices of the king and his royal
guests, came into the banquet room. She said, “O king, live forever! Don’t be
afraid or let your face be white with fear! ¹¹There is a man in your kingdom who
has the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, this man showed
understanding, knowledge, and wisdom like the gods. Your father, King
Nebuchadnezzar, put this man in charge of all the wise men, fortune-tellers,
magicians, and wizards. ¹²The man I am talking about is named Daniel, whom
the king named Belteshazzar. He was very smart and had knowledge and
understanding. He could explain dreams and secrets and could answer very hard
problems. Call for Daniel. He will tell you what the writing on the wall means.”

¹³So they brought Daniel to the king, and the king asked, “Is your name
Daniel? Are you one of the captives my father the king brought from Judah? ¹⁴I
have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you are very smart and
have knowledge and extraordinary understanding. ¹⁵The wise men and magicians
were brought to me to read this writing and to explain what it means, but they
could not explain it. ¹⁶I have heard that you are able to explain what things mean
and can find the answers to hard problems. Read this writing on the wall and
explain it to me. If you can, I will give you purple clothes fit for a king and a
gold chain to wear around your neck. And you will become the third highest ruler
in the kingdom.”

¹⁷Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself, or
you may give those rewards to someone else. But I will read the writing on the
wall for you and will explain to you what it means.

¹⁸“O king, the Most High God made your father Nebuchadnezzar a great,
important, and powerful king. ¹⁹Because God made him important, all the people,
nations, and those who spoke every language were very frightened of
Nebuchadnezzar. If he wanted someone to die, he killed that person. If he wanted
someone to live, he let that person live. Those he wanted to promote, he
promoted. Those he wanted to be less important, he made less important.

²⁰“But Nebuchadnezzar became too proud and stubborn, so he was taken off
his royal throne. His glory was taken away. ²¹He was forced away from people,
and his mind became like the mind of an animal. He lived with the wild donkeys
and was fed grass like an ox and became wet with dew. These things happened to
him until he learned his lesson: The Most High God rules over every kingdom on
earth, and he sets anyone he chooses over those kingdoms.

²²“Belshazzar, you already knew these things, because you are a descendant
of Nebuchadnezzar. Still you have not been sorry for what you have done.
²³Instead, you have set yourself against the Lord of heaven. You ordered the
drinking cups from the Temple of the Lord to be brought to you. Then you and
your royal guests, your wives, and your slave women drank wine from them. You
praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone that are not really
gods; they cannot see or hear or understand anything. You did not honor God,
who has power over your life and everything you do. ²⁴So God sent the hand that
wrote on the wall.

²⁵“These are the words that were written on the wall: ‘Mene, mene, tekel, and
parsin.’

²⁶“This is what the words mean: Mene: God has counted the days until your
kingdom will end. ²⁷Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found not
good enough. ²⁸Parsin: Your kingdom is being divided and will be given to the
Medes and the Persians.”

²⁹Then Belshazzar gave an order for Daniel to be dressed in purple clothes
and to have a gold chain put around his neck. And it was announced that Daniel
was the third highest ruler in the kingdom. ³⁰That very same night Belshazzar,
king of the Babylonian people, was killed. ³¹So Darius the Mede became the new
king when he was sixty-two years old.

The Holy Bible, New Century Version

DANIEL (Dan' iehl) Personal name meaning, “God is judge” or “God’s
judge.” 1. A son of David and Abigail, the Carmelitess (1 Chron. 3:1), who is
also called Chileab in 2 Samuel 3:3. 2. A priest of the Ithamar lineage (Ezra 8:2;
Neh 10:6) who returned with Ezra from the Babylonian captivity.

3. Daniel of Ezekiel 14:14, 20; 28:3 is spelled differently in Hebrew from all
the other forms in the Old Testament. This Daniel was a storied figure of
antiquity mentioned with Noah and Job. He was famous for wisdom and
righteousness. Due to the similarity in the spelling of the name and the common
attributes of wisdom and righteousness, some interpreters identify this Daniel
with the Daniel of the canonical book of Daniel.

Most interpreters, however, take note of the differences in the spelling and
also the fact of antiquity. Some identify the “Daniel” of Ezekiel with “Danel” of
ancient Ugaritic literature.

4. The most common usage of “Daniel” refers to the hero of the Book of
Daniel. This young man of nobility was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, king
of Babylon, and elevated to high rank in the Babylonian and Persian kingdoms.

The Babylonians sought to remove all vestiges of Daniel’s nationality and
religion. For this reason, they sought to change the name of Daniel to
Belteshazzar. (Dan. 1:7; 2:26; 4:8, 9, 18, 19; 5:12; 10:1).

Daniel was transported from Judah to Babylon in his early youth at the battle
of Carchemish, 605 B.C. The text does not indicate his precise age. He was
trained in the arts, letters, and wisdom in the Babylonian capital. Eventually, he
rose to high rank among the Babylonian men of wisdom.

He was active throughout the long reign of Nebuchadnezzar (604-562 B.C.).
No mention is made in Daniel of the times of Evil-Merodach (561-560 B.C.),
Neriglissar (559-555 B.C.), or Labashi-Marduk (555 B.C.). However, much
information is provided concerning Daniel’s involvement during the reign of
Nabonidus (555-539 B.C.). While Nabonidus was absent from his country for
extended periods of time, he put his son Belshazzar in charge of the affairs of
government.

Daniel was in Babylon when the forces of Cyrus, the Persian, captured
Babylon. Successively, Daniel was a high governmental official during the reigns
of Cyrus (539-529 B.C.) and Cambyses (529-522 B.C.). He served also during
his old age into the reign of Darius I, the son of Hystaspes (522-486 B.C.).
Daniel would probably have celebrated his one hundredth birthday during the
reign of Darius.

He had outstanding physical attraction. He demonstrated at an early age
propensities of knowledge, wisdom, and leadership. In addition to his wisdom, he
was skilled in dream interpretation.

Throughout his entire life he demonstrated an unshakable faith in his God. It
took courage to resist the temptations and threats which confronted him
repeatedly. He recognized that God was continuously judging him. He remained
faithful.

Holman Bible Dictionary

Daniel Risks His Life in Captivity

Daniel Taken to Babylon

Daniel 1

¹During the third year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and surrounded it with his army. ²The Lord
allowed Nebuchadnezzar to capture Jehoiakim king of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar
also took some of the things from the Temple of God, which he carried to
Babylonia and put in the temple of his gods.

³Then King Nebuchadnezzar ordered Ashpenaz, his chief officer, to bring
some of the Israelite men into his palace. He wanted them to be from important
families, including the family of the king of Judah. ⁴King Nebuchadnezzar
wanted only young Israelite men who had nothing wrong with them. They were
to be handsome and well educated, capable of learning and understanding, and
able to serve in his palace. Ashpenaz was to teach them the language and
writings of the Babylonians. ⁵The king gave the young men a certain amount of
food and wine every day, just like the food he ate. The young men were to be
trained for three years, and then they would become servants of the king of
Babylon. ⁶Among those young men were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah from the people of Judah.

⁷Ashpenaz, the chief officer, gave them Babylonian names. Daniel’s new
name was Belteshazzar, Hananiah’s was Shadrach, Mishael’s was Meshach, and
Azariah’s was Abednego.

⁸Daniel decided not to eat the king’s food or drink his wine because that
would make him unclean. So he asked Ashpenaz for permission not to make
himself unclean in this way.

⁹God made Ashpenaz, the chief officer, want to be kind and merciful to
Daniel, ¹⁰but Ashpenaz said to Daniel, “I am afraid of my master, the king. He
ordered me to give you this food and drink. If you begin to look worse than other
young men your age, the king will see this. Then he will cut off my head because
of you.”

¹¹Ashpenaz had ordered a guard to watch Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah. ¹²Daniel said to the guard, “Please give us this test for ten days: Don’t
give us anything but vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³After ten days
compare how we look with how the other young men look who eat the king’s
food. See for yourself and then decide how you want to treat us, your servants.”

¹⁴So the guard agreed to test them for ten days. ¹⁵After ten days they looked
healthier and better fed than all the young men who ate the king’s food. ¹⁶So the
guard took away the king’s special food and wine, feeding them vegetables
instead.

¹⁷God gave these four young men wisdom and the ability to learn many
things that people had written and studied. Daniel could also understand visions
and dreams.

¹⁸At the end of the time set for them by the king, Ashpenaz brought all the
young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹The king talked to them and found that
none of the young men were as good as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
So those four young men became the king’s servants. ²⁰Every time the king asked
them about something important, they showed much wisdom and understanding.
They were ten times better than all the fortune-tellers and magicians in his
kingdom! ²¹So Daniel continued to be the king’s servant until the first year Cyrus
was king.

The Holy Bible, New Century Version

DANIEL, BOOK OF High hopes and great expectations highlight the Book
of Daniel. It provides the highest example of Old Testament ethics and the
climax of Old Testament teaching about the future of God’s people. It also
provides Bible students some of the most perplexing questions they ever seek to
answer. Too often so much ink is used talking about the problems that little
information about the book itself can be learned. Thus this article will look at the
facts and teachings of the book before investigating a few of the problems.

Literary Features Daniel combines characteristics of prophecy, wisdom, and
apocalyptic writing into a unique type of literature. Matthew identified Daniel as
a prophet (Matt. 24:15). The book addresses a current situation with a call for
moral uprightness, as did the prophets. It also points to hope for the future rising
out of God’s words and promises. It focuses on the nations as well as Israel, as
did the other prophets. It does not, however, use the literary forms of the
prophets, particularly the standard formulas such as, “Thus says the Lord”; nor
does it represent a collection of prophetic sermons.

As did the wisdom writers, Daniel served in a royal court counseling a ruler.
He was highly-educated. The book seeks to instill moral wisdom in young
persons. Yet it does not string proverbs or wisdom poetry together nor delve into
the problems Job or Ecclesiastes tackled. It is wisdom literature and more.

Apocalyptic literature best describes Daniel for most Bible students.
Apocalyptic writings originate from times of national, communal, or personal
tribulations. They make profuse use of symbols, numbers, figures of speech, and signs to interpret history and events during dreadful persecution and personal danger. They present visions of God and His future acts, describing in figurative language the future of peace and victory rising out of current troubles. Often a messianic figure stands in the center. Angels and demons are prominent. Generally, apocalyptic writings bear the name of ancient heroes such as Adam, Enoch, or Baruch, who demonstrated in their time the type of character needed in the current situation of the writer.

The visions and angelic figures of Daniel along with its strongly figurative,
symbolic language tie it closely to the apocalyptic. Its opening stories serve as
the tie to times of persecution and call for moral living. The letters to the
churches serve a similar function in Revelation.

Daniel uses two languages—Aramaic (2:4b-7:28) and Hebrew (1:2-2:4a; 8:1-
12:13)—plus words from Persian and Greek to write the complex work of
prophecy, wisdom, and apocalyptic writing. This is apparently a combination of
the language of worship (Hebrew) and the language of daily life (Aramaic). The
two languages combine to form two distinctly separate sections of the book (1-6;
7-12), the first told in narrative form about Daniel and his friends with a
historical conclusion (6:28) and the second told in form of Daniel’s visions.

Canon and Authority The basic twelve chapters of Daniel appear in the
Hebrew Bible between Esther and Ezra in the last section called the Writings
rather than in the Law or the Prophets. The Greek translation called the
Septuagint introduced Daniel into the prophets and also introduced additional
materials: the prayer of Azariah, the song of the three children, story of Susanna,
Bel and the Dragon. The Christian church has followed the Septuagint in placing Daniel among the prophets, but Protestant Christianity has not accepted the additions, whereas the Catholic tradition has. All agree the basic Book of Daniel is God’s authoritative Word for His people. Questions rise in interpretation not in the book’s authority.

Unity Many things appear to separate Daniel into unrelated parts. The
position of the person Daniel differs in various portions of the book. He is more
central in chapters 1-2 and 4-7 than in the rest of the book. In chapters 1-6 Daniel
is spoken of in the third person in the form of a biography. In chapters 7-12,
however, Daniel speaks in the first person in the form of autobiography (except
10:1).

In chapters 1-6 the dreams or phenomena come to heathen kings, but in
chapters 7-12 Daniel has the visions. In chapters 1-6 Daniel is the one who
interprets the dreams, but in 7-12 “someone” else interprets the dreams and
visions to Daniel. Chapters 1-6 have simplicity, whereas chapters 7-12 are
complex.

The Book of Daniel acts as a unit despite these differences in languages used
and types of literature employed. Each of the twelve chapters contributes to this
unity. The unifying theme is that God expects His followers to maintain fidelity
in face of threats, wars, legal pronouncements, or changing customs. God judges
mankind constantly, and He also provides His presence and strength. God
continuously judges.

Jeremiah, In Prision, Refuses to Change His Message

Jeremiah Is Thrown into a Well

Jeremiah 38

¹Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of
Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the
people. He said: ²“This is what the LORD says: ‘Everyone who stays in
Jerusalem will die from war, or hunger, or terrible diseases. But everyone who
surrenders to the Babylonian army will live; they will escape with their lives and
live.’ ³And this is what the LORD says: ‘This city of Jerusalem will surely be
handed over to the army of the king of Babylon. He will capture this city!’”

⁴Then the officers said to the king, “Jeremiah must be put to death! He is
discouraging the soldiers who are still in the city, and all the people, by what he
is saying to them. He does not want good to happen to us; he wants to ruin us.”

⁵King Zedekiah said to them, “Jeremiah is in your control. I cannot do
anything to stop you.”

⁶So the officers took Jeremiah and put him into the well of Malkijah, the
king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guards. The officers used ropes to
lower Jeremiah into the well, which did not have any water in it, only mud. And
Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

⁷But Ebed-Melech, a Cushite and a servant in the palace, heard that the
officers had put Jeremiah into the well. As King Zedekiah was sitting at the
Benjamin Gate, ⁸Ebed-Melech left the palace and went to the king. Ebed-Melech
said to him, ⁹“My master and king, these rulers have acted in an evil way. They
have treated Jeremiah the prophet badly. They have thrown him into a well and
left him there to die! When there is no more bread in the city, he will starve to
death.”

¹⁰Then King Zedekiah commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, “Take thirty
men from the palace and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the well before he dies.”

¹¹So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went to a room under the
storeroom in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from that
room. Then he let those rags down with some ropes to Jeremiah in the well.
¹²Ebed-Melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out
clothes under your arms to be pads for the ropes.” So Jeremiah did as Ebed-
Melech said. ¹³The men pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of
the well. And Jeremiah stayed under guard in the courtyard of the guard.

Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah

¹⁴Then King Zedekiah sent someone to get Jeremiah the prophet and bring
him to the third entrance to the Temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah,
“I am going to ask you something. Do not hide anything from me, but tell me
everything honestly.”

¹⁵Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, you will surely kill me.
And even if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”

¹⁶But King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah, “As surely as the
LORD lives who has given us breath and life, I will not kill you. And I promise
not to hand you over to the officers who want to kill you.”

¹⁷Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God All-
Powerful, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of
Babylon, your life will be saved. Jerusalem will not be burned down, and you
and your family will live. ¹⁸But if you refuse to surrender to the officers of the
king of Babylon, Jerusalem will be handed over to the Babylonian army, and
they will burn it down. And you yourself will not escape from them.’”

¹⁹Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I’m afraid of some Jews who have
already gone over to the side of the Babylonian army. If the Babylonians hand
me over to them, they will treat me badly.”

²⁰But Jeremiah answered, “The Babylonians will not hand you over to the
Jews. Obey the LORD by doing what I tell you. Then things will go well for you,
and your life will be saved. ²¹But if you refuse to surrender to the Babylonians,
the LORD has shown me what will happen. ²²All the women left in the palace of
the king of Judah will be brought out and taken to the important officers of the
king of Babylon. Your women will make fun of you with this song:

‘Your good friends misled you

and were stronger than you.

While your feet were stuck in the mud,

they left you.’

²³“All your wives and children will be brought out and given to the
Babylonian army. You yourself will not even escape from them. You will be
taken prisoner by the king of Babylon, and Jerusalem will be burned down.”

²⁴Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not tell anyone that I have been
talking to you, or you will die. ²⁵If the officers find out I talked to you, they will
come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to King Zedekiah and what he said
to you. Don’t keep any secrets from us. If you don’t tell us everything, we will
kill you.’ ²⁶If they ask you, tell them, ‘I was begging the king not to send me
back to Jonathan’s house to die.’”

²⁷All the officers did come to question Jeremiah. So he told them everything
the king had ordered him to say. Then the officers said no more to Jeremiah,
because no one had heard what Jeremiah and the king had discussed.

²⁸So Jeremiah stayed under guard in the courtyard of the guard until the day
Jerusalem was captured.

The Holy Bible, New Century Version

JEREMIAH (Jehr ih mi' uh) Personal name meaning, “may Yahweh lift up,”
“throw,” or “found.”

1. The head of a clan of the tribe of Manasseh in East Jordan (1 Chron. 5:24).
2. Three soldiers of David’s army at Ziklag (1 Chron. 12:4, 10, 13). 3. The father-
in-law of King Josiah of Judah (640-609 B.C.) and grandfather of the Kings
Jehoahaz [609 B.C.] (2 Kings 23:31) and Zedekiah (597-586 B.C.) (2 Kings
24:18; Jer. 52:1). 4. A representative of the sect of the Rechabites (Jer. 35:3). 5.
Three priests or heads of priestly families in the times of Zerubbabel about 537
B.C. (Neh. 12:1, 12) and Nehemiah about 455 B.C. (Neh. 10:2; 12:34).

Other persons by the name of Jeremiah are referred to in Hebrew inscriptions
from Lachish and Arad about 700 B.C. and in a number of ancient Jewish seals.
The Bible has a short form of the name seventeen times and a long form 121
times. Both forms are applied to the prophet. Inscriptions use the longer form.

6. Jeremiah, the prophet The Bible tells us more about personal experiences
of Jeremiah than of any other prophet. We read that his father’s name was
Hilkiah, a priest from Anathoth (Jer. 1:1). He was called to be a prophet in the
thirteenth year of King Josiah (627/6 B.C.) (Jer. 1:2). He was active under the
Kings Jehoahaz-Shallum (609 B.C.) (22:11), Jehoiakim (609-587 B.C.) (Jer. 1:3;
22:18; 26:1; 35:1; 36:1, 9), Jehoiachin/Jeconiah/Coniah (597 B.C.) (22:24; 24:1;
27:20; 28:3; 29:2; 37:1), and Zedekiah (597-586 B.C.) (1:3; 21:1; 27:1-12; 28:1;
32:1; 34:2; 37-38; 39:4; 52:7). When Jerusalem was destroyed by the
Babylonians in 587 B.C., Jeremiah moved to Mizpah, the capital of Gedaliah, the
newly appointed Jewish governor of the Babylonian province of Judah (40:5).
When Gedaliah was assassinated (41:1), Jeremiah was deported to Egypt against
his will by Jewish officers who had survived the catastrophes (42:1-43:7). In
Egypt he continued to preach oracles against the Egyptians (43:8-13) and against
his compatriots (44:1-30).

Jeremiah is depicted as living in constant friction with the authorities of his
people, religious (priests 20:1-6; prophets 28:1; or both 26:1), political (Kings ch.
21-22; 36-38), or all of them together (1:18-19; 2:26; 8:1), including Jewish
leaders after the Babylonian invasion (42:1-43:13). Still his preaching
emphasized a high respect for prophets whose warning words could have saved
the people if they had listened (7:25; 26:4; 29:17-19; 35:13). He trusted in the
promise of ideal future kings (23:5; 33:14-17). He recommended national
surrender to the rule of the Babylonian Empire and called Nebuchadnezzar,
Babylon’s emperor and Judah’s most hated enemy, the “servant of the Lord”
(25:9; 27:6). He even incited his compatriots to desert to the enemy (21:8). He
was accused of treason and convicted (37:11; 38:1-6), and yet the most
aggressive oracles against Babylon are attributed to him (50-51). Enemies
challenged his prophetic honesty and the inspiration of his message (43:1-3;
28:1; 29:24), and yet kings and nobles sought his advice (21:1; 37:3; 38:14;
42:1).

He constantly proclaimed God’s judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem, and yet
he was also a prophet of hope, proclaiming oracles of salvation, conditioned
(3:22-4:2) or unconditioned (30-31; 32:36; 33:6; 34:4). God forbade him to
intercede for his people (7:16; 11:14; 14:11; compare 15:1); yet he interceded
(14:7-9, 19-22). God ordered him to live without marriage and family (16:2). He
had to stay away from the company of merrymakers (15:17) and from houses of
feasting (16:8). He complained to and argued with God (12:1-17), complaining
about the misery of his office (20:7-18). At the same time he sang hymns of
praise to his God (20:13).

Jeremiah’s call came in the thirteenth year of King Josiah, about 627/6 B.C.
(1:2; 25:3; compare 36:2). Josiah remains however, the only Jewish king
contemporary with Jeremiah to and about whom no word is spoken in the whole
book. No concrete reference appears to any of the dramatic changes of national
liberation and religious reformation within the last eighteen years of Josiah’s
reign (2 Kings 22:1-23:30). The words of the call narrative: “Before I formed you
in the womb I knew you ... I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (1:5
NIV), may suggest that the date of Jeremiah’s call and birth is one and the same.
In this case his prophetic activity must have begun many years later, but again
with uncertain date.

Nehemiah Courageously Begins Rebuilding a Wall

Nehemiah Is Sent to Jerusalem

Nehemiah 2

¹It was the month of Nisan in the twentieth year Artaxerxes was king. He
wanted some wine, so I took some and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in
his presence before. ²So the king said, “Why does your face look sad even though
you are not sick? Your heart must be sad.”

Then I was very afraid. ³I said to the king, “May the king live forever! My
face is sad because the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its
gates have been destroyed by fire.”

⁴Then the king said to me, “What do you want?”

First I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵Then I answered the king, “If you are
willing and if I have pleased you, send me to the city in Judah where my
ancestors are buried so I can rebuild it.”

⁶The queen was sitting next to the king. He asked me, “How long will your
trip take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me, so I set a
time.

⁷I also said to him, “If you are willing, give me letters for the governors of
Trans-Euphrates. Tell them to let me pass safely through their lands on my way
to Judah. ⁸And may I have a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest,
telling him to give me timber? I will need it to make boards for the gates of the
palace, which is by the Temple, and for the city wall, and for the house in which I
will live.” So the king gave me the letters, because God was showing kindness to
me. ⁹Then I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s
letters. The king had also sent army officers and soldiers on horses with me.

¹⁰When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite officer heard about
this, they were upset that someone had come to help the Israelites.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem

¹¹I went to Jerusalem and stayed there three days. ¹²Then at night I started out
with a few men. I had not told anyone what God had caused me to do for
Jerusalem. There were no animals with me except the one I was riding.

¹³I went out at night through the Valley Gate. I rode toward the Dragon Well
and the Trash Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down
and the gates that had been destroyed by fire. ¹⁴Then I rode on toward the
Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for the animal
I was riding to pass through. ¹⁵So I went up the valley at night, inspecting the
wall. Finally, I turned and went back in through the Valley Gate. ¹⁶The guards
did not know where I had gone or what I was doing. I had not yet said anything
to the Jewish people, the priests, the important men, the officers, or any of the
others who would do the work.

¹⁷Then I said to them, “You can see the trouble we have here. Jerusalem is a
pile of ruins, and its gates have been burned. Come, let’s rebuild the wall of
Jerusalem so we won’t be full of shame any longer.” ¹⁸I also told them how God
had been kind to me and what the king had said to me.

Then they answered, “Let’s start rebuilding.” So they began to work hard.

¹⁹But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite officer, and
Geshem the Arab heard about it, they made fun of us and laughed at us. They
said, “What are you doing? Are you turning against the king?”

²⁰But I answered them, “The God of heaven will give us success. We, his
servants, will start rebuilding, but you have no share, claim, or memorial in
Jerusalem.”

The Holy Bible, New Century Version

NEHEMIAH (Nee huh mi' uh) Personal name meaning, “Yah comforts or
encourages” and name of Old Testament book featuring work of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah, the son of Hachaliah, is the main character in the book which bears
his name. Two other Nehemiahs appear in the OT: one in the group who returned
with Sheshbazzar (Ezra 2:2; Neh 7:7), and the other was the son of Azbuk, “the
ruler of the half part of Bethzur” (Neh. 3:16), a helper with rebuilding the walls
of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah and Ezra were one book in the ancient Hebrew and Greek OT, and
probably were not divided until after the Interbiblical Period (see Ezra for more
details). Jewish tradition says Ezra or Nehemiah was the author. Because of the
close connection between Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah, one person might have
written or compiled all three books. Those who follow this argument refer to the
author as the Chronicler.

The literary style of Nehemiah is similar to that in Ezra. There are many lists
(ch. 3; 10:1-27; ch. 11; 12:1-26). The author/compiler wove Ezra’s and
Nehemiah’s stories together, Ezra being featured in Nehemiah 8.

The book has four major sections: the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls (chs. 1-
7), the Great Revival (chs. 8-10), population and census information (chs. 11-12),
and the reforms of Nehemiah (ch. 13). Nehemiah made two visits from King
Artaxerxes to Jerusalem (2:1-6; 13:6-7). His first, 445 B.C., was to repair the
walls; they were in a state of disrepair almost a century after the first arrival from
Exile in 538 B.C. The second was a problem-solving trip in the thirty-second
year of Artaxerxes (13:6), 432 B.C. Nehemiah was a contemporary of Ezra and
Malachi, and also Socrates in Greece (470-339 B.C.), and only a few decades
later than Gautama Buddha in India (560-480 B.C.) and Confucius in China (551-
479 B.C.).

Nehemiah held the distinguished position of cupbearer to the king (1:11).
This was an office of trust; tasting the king’s wine and food, the cupbearer stood
between the king and death. That Nehemiah, a Jew and a captive, served this
Gentile king in such a strategic capacity was an unusual credit and honor to this
man of strong character.

Nehemiah’s Memoirs include first person accounts (1:1-7:5; 12:27-47; 13:4-
31), and the other material uses the third person pronoun (chs. 8-10). Thus his
story is both autobiographical and biographical. Visitors to Susa informed him of
the dilapidation of Jerusalem’s walls. He was so upset that he cried and mourned
for days” (1:4). He prayed a confession (1:5-11). His grief became apparent to
Artaxerxes who permitted him to go to Jerusalem.

Nehemiah’s first act there was to inspect the walls at night (2:15). He then
called an assembly and convinced the people of the need for a building program.
He was an excellent leader who demonstrated engineering knowledge and
brilliant organizing ability (ch. 3). The work began.

Trouble arose from without and from within. Sanballat and his friends tried to
stop the work, but without success (ch. 4). Trouble from within was economic.
Building the walls caused a labor shortage; farms were mortgaged, and high rates
of interest were charged. Nehemiah said, “The thing you are doing is not good”
(5:9 NRSV). He corrected the problem and even gave financial aid to those in
need (ch. 5). Again Sanballat and other non-Jews made several attempts to lure
Nehemiah away from the job and shut it down. They failed. Nehemiah proved to
be a person of strong will and unusual boldness. “So the wall was finished ... in
fifty and two days” (6:15). The dedication of the wall is described later in 12:27-
43.

The theological climax of the Book of Nehemiah and of the life of Ezra is the
Great Revival (Neh 8-10). It was a grand experience. It warrants close study for
revival attempts today. People assembled. They requested Ezra to read from the
book of the law of Moses (8:1). The book was probably the Pentateuch (Torah)
or some part of it. Ezra read, and others helped by giving “the sense, so that the
people understood the reading” (8:8 NRSV). This probably included translating
the Hebrew scripture into Aramaic, the commonly spoken language.

A great celebration occurred, and they observed the Feast of Tabernacles.
Results were impressive: “They made confession and worshiped the Lord” (9:3
NRSV) and “separated themselves from all strangers” (9:2) that is, they divorced
their foreign spouses. They prayed a long prayer of confession (9:6-37). The
people responded, “Because of all this, we make a sure covenant and write it”
(9:38). The signers and terms of the covenant were then recorded (ch. 10).

Nehemiah was dissatisfied with the small size of the population of Jerusalem.
He made an ingenious proposal: to “cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in the
holy city Jerusalem, while nine-tenths remained in the other towns” (11:1
NRSV). Nehemiah’s last chapter cites his reforms made during his second visit to
Jerusalem in 432 B.C. He threw out a Gentile who was permitted to live in the
Temple; he restored the practice of tithing to support the Levites; he corrected
sabbath wrongs by those who bought and sold on the sabbath; and he dealt
forthrightly with those who had married foreigners, those not in covenant relation
with God.

Nehemiah was indeed an outstanding person. His theology was very
practical; it affected every area of life. Note his prayers and how practical they
were (1:4-11; 2:4; 4:4-5, 9; 5:19; 6:9, 14; 13:14, 22, 29, 31). He boldly asked,
“Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people” (5:19
NRSV; compare 13:14, 31). His faith was practical: “and the king granted me
what I asked, for the gracious hand of my God was upon me” (2:8 NRSV;
compare 2:18 for a practical application of this concept). He believed “the God
of heaven is the one who will give us success” (2:20 NRSV) and that “our God
will fight for us” (4:20 NRSV). He had respect for the sabbath, the Temple and
its institutions, the Levites, and tithing.

Nehemiah was an unusual person. Nehemiah was a man of action; he got
things done. He knew how to use persuasion but also force. One may properly
call him the father of Judaism. Because of Nehemiah, Judaism had a fortified
city, a purified people, a dedicated and unified nation, renewed economic
stability, and a new commitment to God’s law.

Josiah Sets His Nation Back on Course

Josiah King of Judah

2 Chronicles 34

¹Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he ruled thirty-one
years in Jerusalem. ²He did what the LORD said was right. He lived as his
ancestor David had lived, and he did not stop doing what was right.

³In his eighth year as king while he was still young, Josiah began to obey the
God of his ancestor David. In his twelfth year as king, Josiah began to remove
from Judah and Jerusalem the gods, the places for worshiping gods, the Asherah
idols, and the wooden and metal idols. ⁴The people tore down the altars for the
Baal gods as Josiah directed. Then Josiah cut down the incense altars that were
above them. He broke up the Asherah idols and the wooden and metal idols and
beat them into powder. Then he sprinkled the powder on the graves of the people
who had offered sacrifices to these gods. ⁵He burned the bones of their priests on
their own altars. So Josiah removed idol worship from Judah and Jerusalem, ⁶and
from the towns in the areas of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon all the way to
Naphtali, and in the ruins near these towns. ⁷Josiah broke down the altars and
Asherah idols and beat the idols into powder. He cut down all the incense altars
in all of Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

⁸In Josiah’s eighteenth year as king, he made Judah and the Temple pure
again. He sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city leader, and Joah son of
Joahaz the recorder to repair the Temple of the LORD, the God of Josiah. ⁹These
men went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money the Levite
gatekeepers had gathered from the people of Manasseh, Ephraim, and all the
Israelites who were left alive, and also from all the people of Judah, Benjamin,
and Jerusalem. This is the money they had brought into the Temple of God.
¹⁰Then the Levites gave it to the supervisors of the work on the Temple of the
LORD, and they paid the workers who rebuilt and repaired the Temple. ¹¹They
gave money to carpenters and builders to buy cut stone and wood. The wood was
used to rebuild the buildings and to make beams for them, because the kings of
Judah had let the buildings fall into ruin. ¹²The men did their work well. Their
supervisors were Jahath and Obadiah, who were Levites from the family of
Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, who were from the family of Kohath.
These Levites were all skilled musicians. ¹³They were also in charge of the
workers who carried loads and all the other workers. Some Levites worked as
secretaries, officers, and gatekeepers.

The Book of the Teachings Is Found

¹⁴The Levites brought out the money that was in the Temple of the LORD. As
they were doing this, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the LORD’S
Teachings that had been given through Moses. ¹⁵Hilkiah said to Shaphan the
royal secretary, “I’ve found the Book of the Teachings in the Temple of the
LORD!” Then he gave it to Shaphan.

¹⁶Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to Josiah, “Your officers are
doing everything you told them to do. ¹⁷They have paid out the money that was
in the Temple of the LORD and have given it to the supervisors and the
workers.” ¹⁸Then Shaphan the royal secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest
has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from the book to the king.

¹⁹When the king heard the words of the Teachings, he tore his clothes to
show how upset he was. ²⁰He gave orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan,
Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah, the king’s
servant. These were the orders: ²¹“Go and ask the LORD about the words in the
book that was found. Ask for me and for the people who are left alive in Israel
and Judah. The LORD is very angry with us, because our ancestors did not obey
the LORD’S word; they did not do everything this book says to do.”

²²So Hilkiah and those the king sent with him went to talk to Huldah the
prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, who
took care of the king’s clothes. Huldah lived in Jerusalem, in the new area of the
city.

²³She said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the
man who sent you to me, ²⁴‘This is what the LORD says: I will bring trouble to
this place and to the people living here. I will bring all the curses that are written
in the book that was read to the king of Judah. ²⁵The people of Judah have left me
and have burned incense to other gods. They have made me angry by all the evil
things they have made. So I will punish them in my anger, which will not be put
out.’ ²⁶Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ask the LORD, ‘This is what the
LORD, the God of Israel, says about the words you heard: ²⁷When you heard my
words against this place and its people, you became sorry for what you had done
and you humbled yourself before me. You tore your clothes to show how upset
you were, and you cried in my presence. This is why I have heard you, says the
LORD. ²⁸So I will let you die and be buried in peace. You won’t see all the
trouble I will bring to this place and the people living here.’”

So they took her message back to the king.

²⁹Then the king gathered all the older leaders of Judah and Jerusalem
together. ³⁰He went up to the Temple of the LORD, and all the people from Judah
and from Jerusalem went with him. The priests, the Levites, and all the people—
from the most important to the least important—went with him. He read to them
all the words in the Book of the Agreement that was found in the Temple of the
LORD. ³¹The king stood by his pillar and made an agreement in the presence of
the LORD to follow the LORD and obey his commands, rules, and laws with his
whole being and to obey the words of the agreement written in this book. ³²Then
Josiah made all the people in Jerusalem and Benjamin promise to accept the
agreement. So the people of Jerusalem obeyed the agreement of God, the God of
their ancestors.

³³And Josiah threw out the hateful idols from all the land that belonged to the
Israelites. He led everyone in Israel to serve the LORD their God. While Josiah
lived, the people obeyed the LORD, the God of their ancestors.

The Holy Bible, New Century Version

Title: Holman Bible Dictionary

JOSIAH (Joh si' uh) Personal name meaning, “Yahweh heals.” Judah’s king
from about 640-609 B.C. He succeeded his father Amon, an idolatrous king, who
ruled for only two years before being murdered by his servants (2 Kings 21:19-
23; 2 Chron. 33:21-24). Josiah became king at the age of eight due to wishes of
“the people of the land” who put his father’s assassins to death (2 Kings 21:24).
Josiah’s reign lasted for thirty-one years (2 Kings 22:1; 2 Chron. 34:1).

The Book of 2 Chronicles reveals much about the early years of Josiah. In his
eighth year as king he began to seek the God of David (34:3). Josiah initiated a
religious purge of Jerusalem, Judah, and surrounding areas during his twelfth
year on the throne (34:3-7). This purge included tearing down the high places,
the Asherah, and the altars to Baal. The high places were essentially Canaanite
worship centers that had been taken over by Israel. The Asherah were cult
objects associated with the worship of Baal, the fertility god of Canaan. See
Asherah.

In his eighteenth year as king an unexpected event turned his energies in new
directions. A “Book of the Law” was discovered while repairs were being made
on the Temple. Hilkiah, the high priest, found the book and gave it to Shaphan,
the scribe, who in turn read it to King Josiah. Upon hearing the message of the
book, Josiah tore his clothes, a sign of repentance, and humbled himself before
God. Josiah was assured that the promised destruction would not come in his
time (2 Kings 22:8-20; 2 Chron. 34:15-28). The reading of this book prompted
Josiah to instigate the most far-reaching religious reforms in Israel’s history.

What was this “Book of the Law” and when was it written? Most scholars
believe that this book included at least the core of our present Book of
Deuteronomy, either chapters 5-26 or 12-26. A major thrust of the Book of
Deuteronomy was to call the nation Israel to exclusive loyalty to Yahweh.
Perhaps a thrust such as this inspired the Josianic revival.

The Bible is silent about the remaining years of Josiah until his death. On the
international scene during those years Assyria’s power was waning, and
Babylon’s was on the rise. Assyria had aligned itself with Egypt against Babylon.
Pharoah Neco’s troops were passing through territory north of Judah en route to
join forces with Assyria. Josiah’s army blocked the movement of Egyptian troops
at Megiddo. In the battle that followed Josiah was mortally wounded (2 Kings
23:29). His body was taken to Jerusalem where he was buried. There was great
mourning for him throughout the land (2 Chron. 35:24-25). Though only thirty-
nine when he died, Josiah was remembered as Judah’s greatest king (2 Kings
23:25):

“Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the
Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his
strength, in accordance with the Law of Moses” (NIV).

See Jeremiah; Deuteronomy.

Isaiah Speaks God's Word to King Hezekiah

Jerusalem Will Be Saved

2 Kings 19

¹When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes and put on
rough cloth to show how sad he was. Then he went into the Temple of the
LORD. ²Hezekiah sent Eliakim, the palace manager, and Shebna, the royal
secretary, and the older priests to Isaiah. They were all wearing rough cloth when
they came to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³They told Isaiah, “This is
what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of sorrow and punishment and disgrace, as
when a child should be born, but the mother is not strong enough to give birth to
it. ⁴The king of Assyria sent his field commander to make fun of the living God.
Maybe the LORD your God will hear what the commander said and will punish
him for it. So pray for the few of us who are left alive.”

⁵When Hezekiah’s officers came to Isaiah, ⁶he said to them, “Tell your
master this: The LORD says, ‘Don’t be afraid of what you have heard. Don’t be
frightened by the words the servants of the king of Assyria have spoken against
me. ⁷Listen! I am going to put a spirit in the king of Assyria. He will hear a report
that will make him return to his own country, and I will cause him to die by the
sword there.’”

⁸The field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish. When
he went back, he found the king fighting against the city of Libnah.

⁹The king received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of Egypt, was
coming to attack him. When the king of Assyria heard this, he sent messengers to
Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰“Tell Hezekiah king of Judah: Don’t be fooled by the god
you trust. Don’t believe him when he says Jerusalem will not be handed over to
the king of Assyria. ¹¹You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done. They
have completely defeated every country, so do not think you will be saved. ¹²Did
the gods of those people save them? My ancestors destroyed them, defeating the
cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and the people of Eden living in Tel Assar.
¹³Where are the kings of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the kings of Sepharvaim,
Hena, and Ivvah?”

Hezekiah Prays to the Lord

¹⁴When Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went
up to the Temple of the LORD. He spread the letter out before the LORD ¹⁵and
prayed to the LORD: “LORD, God of Israel, whose throne is between the gold
creatures with wings, only you are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You
made the heavens and the earth. ¹⁶Hear, LORD, and listen. Open your eyes,
LORD, and see. Listen to the words Sennacherib has said to insult the living
God. ¹⁷It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed these countries
and their lands. ¹⁸They have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire, but
they were only wood and rock statues that people made. So the kings have
destroyed them. ¹⁹Now, LORD our God, save us from the king’s power so that all
the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, LORD, are the only God.”

God Answers Hezekiah

²⁰Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah that said, “This is
what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer to me about
Sennacherib king of Assyria. ²¹This is what the LORD has said against
Sennacherib:

‘The people of Jerusalem

hate you and make fun of you.

The people of Jerusalem

laugh at you as you run away.

²²You have insulted me and spoken against me;

you have raised your voice against me.

You have a proud look on your face,

which is against me, the Holy One of Israel.

²³You have sent your messengers to insult the Lord.

You have said, “With my many chariots

I have gone to the tops of the mountains,

to the highest mountains of Lebanon.

I have cut down its tallest cedars

and its best pine trees.

I have gone to its farthest places

and to its best forests.

²⁴I have dug wells in foreign countries

and drunk water there.

By the soles of my feet,

I have dried up all the rivers of Egypt.”

²⁵“‘King of Assyria, surely you have heard.

Long ago I, the LORD, planned these things.

Long ago I designed them,

and now I have made them happen.

I allowed you to turn those strong, walled cities

into piles of rocks.

²⁶The people in those cities were weak;

they were frightened and put to shame.

They were like grass in the field,

like tender, young grass,

like grass on the housetop

that is burned by the wind before it can grow.

²⁷“‘I know when you rest,

when you come and go,

and how you rage against me.

²⁸Because you rage against me,

and because I have heard your proud words,

I will put my hook in your nose

and my bit in your mouth.

Then I will force you to leave my country

the same way you came.’

²⁹“Then the LORD said, ‘Hezekiah, I will give you this sign:

This year you will eat the grain that grows wild,

and the second year you will eat what grows wild from that.

But in the third year, plant grain and harvest it.

Plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

³⁰Some of the people in the family of Judah

will escape.

Like plants that take root,

they will grow strong and have many children.

³¹A few people will come out of Jerusalem alive;

a few from Mount Zion will live.

The strong love of the LORD All-Powerful

will make this happen.’

³²“So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria:

‘He will not enter this city

or even shoot an arrow here.

He will not fight against it with shields

or build a ramp to attack the city walls.

³³He will return to his country the same way he came,

and he will not enter this city,’

says the LORD.

³⁴‘I will defend and save this city

for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.’”

³⁵That night the angel of the LORD went out and killed one hundred eighty-
five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up early the next
morning, they saw all the dead bodies. ³⁶So Sennacherib king of Assyria left and
went back to Nineveh and stayed there.

³⁷One day as Sennacherib was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch,
his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword. Then they escaped
to the land of Ararat. So Sennacherib’s son Esarhaddon became king of Assyria.

The Holy Bible, New Century Version

Title: Adam Clarkes Commentary on the Old Testament

Author: Clarke, Adam

2 Kings 19

Hezekiah as greatly distressed, and sends to Isaiah to pray for him, vv. 1-4. Isaiah
returns a comfortable answer, and predicts the destruction of the king of Assyria and his
army, vv. 5-8. Sennacherib, hearing that his kingdom was invaded by the Ethiopians,
sends a terrible letter to Hezekiah, to induce him to surrender, vv. 9-13. Hezekiah goes to
the temple, spreads the letter before the Lord, and makes a most affecting prayer, vv. 14-
19. Isaiah is sent to him to assure him that his prayer is heard; that Jerusalem shall be
delivered; and that the Assyrians shall be destroyed, vv. 20-34. That very night a
messenger of God slays one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians, v. 35.
Sennacherib returns to Nineveh, and is slain by his own sons, vv. 36, 37.

NOTES ON CHAPTER 19

2 Kings 19:2

To Isaiah the prophet—His fame and influence were at this time great in
Israel; and it was well known that the word of the Lord was with him. Here both
the Church and the state unite in fervent application to, and strong dependence
upon, God; and behold how they succeed!

2 Kings 19:3

The children are come to the birth—The Jewish state is here represented
under the emblem of a woman in travail, who has been so long in the pangs of
parturition, that her strength is now entirely exhausted, and her deliverance is
hopeless, without a miracle. The image is very fine and highly appropriate.

A similar image is employed by Homer, when he represents the agonies which
Agamemnon suffers from his wound:—

Ïöñá ïj ájì’ åôé èåñìïí áíçíïèåí åî ùôåéëçò·

Ëõôáñ åðåé ôï ìåí eëêïò åôåñóåôï ðáõóáôï ä’ ájìá,

Ïîåéáé ïäõíáé äõíïí ìåíïò Áôñåéäáï·

Ùò ä’ ¿ôáí ùäéíïõóáí å÷w âåëïò ïîõ ãõíáéêá,

Äñéìõ, ôï ôå ðñïúåéóé ìïãïóôïêïé Åéëåéèõéáé

FÇñçò èõãáôåñåò ðéê ñáò ùäéíáò å÷ïõóáé·

FÙò ïîåé’ ïäõíáé äõíïí ìåíïò Áôñåéäáï.

Il. xi., ver. 266.

This, while yet warm, distill’d the purple flood;

But when the wound grew stiff with clotted blood,

Then grinding tortures his strong bosom rend.

Less keen those darts the fierce Ilythiae send,

The powers that cause the teeming matron’s throes,

Sad mothers of unutterable woes.

POPE

Better translated by Macpherson; but in neither well:

“So long as from the gaping wound gushed forth, in its warmth,
the blood; but when the wound became dry, when ceased the
blood to flow amain, sharp pains pervade the strength of Atrides.
Racking pangs glide through his frame; as when the Ilythiae, who
preside over births, the daughters of white armed Juno, fierce
dealers of bitter pains, throw all their darts on hapless women, that
travail with child. Such pains pervade the strength of Atrides.”

2 Kings 19:4

The remnant that are left—That is, the Jews; the ten tribes having been
already carried away captive by the kings of Assyria.

2 Kings 19:7

Behold, I will send a blast—and he shall hear a rumor—The rumor was,
that Tirhakah had invaded Assyria. The blast was that which slew one hundred
and eighty-five thousand of them in one night, see 2 Kings 19:35.

Cause him to fall by the sword—Alluding to his death by the hands of his
two sons, at Nineveh. See 2 Kings 19:35-37.

2 Kings 19:8

Libnah—Lachish—These two places were not very distant from each other;
they were in the mountains of Judah, southward of Jerusalem.

2 Kings 19:10

Let not thy God in whom thou trustest—This letter is nearly the same with
the speech delivered by Rab-shakeh. See 2 Kings 18:29.

2 Kings 19:14

Spread it before the Lord—The temple was considered to be God’s dwelling-
place; and that whatever was there was peculiarly under his eye. Hezekiah spread
the letter before the Lord, as he wished him to read the blasphemies spoken
against himself.

2 Kings 19:15

Thou art the God, etc.—Thou art not only God of Israel, but God also of
Assyria, and of all the nations of the world.

2 Kings 19:21

The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to
scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee—“So truly
contemptible is thy power, and empty thy boasts, that even the young women of
Jerusalem, under the guidance of Jehovah, shall be amply sufficient to discomfit
all thy forces, and cause thee to return with shame to thy own country, where the
most disgraceful death awaits thee.” When Bishop Warburton had published his
Doctrine of Grace, and chose to fall foul on some of the most religious people of
the land, a young woman of the city of Gloucester exposed his graceless system
in a pamphlet, to which she affixed the above words as a motto!

2 Kings 19:23

The tall cedar trees—the choice fir trees—Probably meaning the princes and
nobles of the country.

The forest of his Carmel—Better in the margin: the forest and his fruitful
field.

2 Kings 19:24

I have dipped and drunk strange waters—I have conquered strange
countries, in which I have digged wells for my army; or, I have gained the wealth
of strange countries.

With the sole of my feet—My infantry have been so numerous that they alone
have been sufficient to drink up the rivers of the places I have besieged.

2 Kings 19:25

Hast thou not heard—Here Jehovah speaks, and shows this boasting king that
what he had done was done by the Divine appointment, and that of his own
counsel and might he could have done nothing. It was because God had
appointed them to this civil destruction that he had overcome them; and it was
not through his might; for God had made their inhabitants of small power, so that
he only got the victory over men whom God had confounded, dismayed, and
enervated, 2 Kings 19:26.

2 Kings 19:28

I will put my hook in thy nose—This seems to be an allusion to the method of
guiding a buffalo; he has a sort of ring put into his nose, to which a cord or bridle
is attached, by which he can be turned to the right, or to the left, or round about,
according to the pleasure of his driver.

2 Kings 19:29

This shall be a sign unto thee—To Hezekiah; for to him this part of the
address is made.

Ye shall eat this year—Sennacherib had ravaged the country, and seed-time
was now over, yet God shows them that he would so bless the land, that what
should grow of itself that year, would be quite sufficient to supply the inhabitants
and prevent all famine; and though the second year was the sabbatical rest or
jubilee for the land, in which it was unlawful to plough or sow; yet even then the
land, by an especial blessing of God, should bring forth a sufficiency for its
inhabitants; and in the third year they should sow and plant, etc. and have
abundance, etc. Now this was to be a sign to Hezekiah, that his deliverance had
not been effected by natural or casual means; for as without a miracle the ravaged
and uncultivated land could not yield food for its inhabitants, so not without
miraculous interference could the Assyrian army be cut off and Israel saved.

2 Kings 19:30

The remnant—shall yet again take root—As your corn shall take root in the
soil, and bring forth and abundantly multiply itself, so shall the Jewish people;
the population shall be greatly increased, and the desolations occasioned by the
sword soon be forgotten.

2 Kings 19:31

Out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant—The Jews shall be so multiplied
as not only to fill Jerusalem, but all the adjacent country.

And they that escape out of Mount Zion—Some think that this refers to the
going forth of the apostles to the Gentile world, and converting the nations by the
preaching of the Gospel.

2 Kings 19:32

He shall not, etc.—Here follow the fullest proofs that Jerusalem shall not be
taken by the Assyrians.

1.He shall not come into this city;

2.He shall not be able to get so near as to shoot an arrow into it;

3.He shall not be able to bring an army before it,

4.Nor shall he be able to raise any redoubt or mound against it;

5.No; not even an Assyrian shield shall be seen in the country; not even a
foraging party shall come near the city.

2 Kings 19:33

By the way that he came—Though his army shall not return, yet he shall
return to Assyria; for because of his blasphemy he is reserved for a more
ignominious death.

2 Kings 19:35

That night—The very night after the blasphemous message had been sent, and
this comfortable prophecy delivered.

The angel of the Lord went out—I believe this angel or messenger of the
Lord was simply a suffocating or pestilential WIND; by which the Assyrian army
was destroyed, as in a moment, without noise confusion or any warning. See the
note 1 Kings 20:30. Thus was the threatening, 2 Kings 19:7, fulfilled, I will send
a BLAST upon him; for he had heard the rumor that his territories were invaded;
and on his way to save his empire, in one night the whole of his army was
destroyed, without any one even seeing who had hurt them. This is called an
angel or messenger of the Lord: that is, something immediately sent by him to
execute his judgments.

When they arose early—That is, Sennacherib, and probably a few associates,
who were preserved as witnesses and relaters of this most dire disaster. Rab-
shakeh, no doubt, perished with the rest of the army.

2 Kings 19:36

Dwelt at Nineveh—This was the capital of the Assyrian empire.

2 Kings 19:37

Nisroch his god—We know nothing of this deity; he is nowhere else
mentioned.

Smote him with the sword—The rabbins say that his sons had learned that he
intended to sacrifice them to this god, and that they could only prevent this by
slaying him.

The same writers add, that he consulted his wise men how it was that such
miracles should be wrought for the Israelites; who told him that it was because of
the merit of Abraham who had offered his only son to God: he then said, I will
offer to him my two sons; which when they heard, they rose up and slew him.
When a rabbin cannot untie a knot, he feels neither scruple nor difficulty to cut it.