Isaiah 36

Isaiah is deep into the Book of the Lord (34:16) which is full of End Time scenarios in clear chronological panels. In chapter 36, he opened one of his own diaries recording with cryptic descriptions his own experience with the arrival of Sennacherib’s army in Jerusalem. All the way throughout we will notice that Isaiah composed the history first in ca. 688/687 BCE from his notebook diary. Reality of what took place in 701 BCE and in 689 BCE, both mentioned by Isaiah, is achieved by putting the three reports of the events, Isaiah 36; 2 Chronicles 32 and 2 Kings 18 next to each other and using Chronicles to fill gaps in Isaiah 36. Isaiah chose just to mention the fact of the coming of Sennacherib to Jerusalem in verse 1, which was during his 3^rd Campaign in 701 BCE. Counting from 716 BCE, it was Hezekiah’s 14^th year (v. 1). The king came (alah) himself and received money from Hezekiah. In verse 2, Isaiah wish to skip over the detail of the money received as reported in detail by 2 Kings 18:14-16. Isaiah moved to the later campaign of Sennacherib of which the Assyrian Sources are totally quiet. In fact, the last seven years of Sennacherib are scanty in Assyrian evidence. It is thus not wise of scholars to insist that the Assyrian sources must have prevalence over the biblical report. The eagerness with which Coogan and Tadmor tried to cancel the Bible as a source for understanding is not shared by Adventist scholars. Assyrian Sources have problems of their own but in the Israelite Historiography, it is not a matter of conflicting data but the focus of the historiographer. Isaiah was focused on the leader (singular) as speaker (verse 2) whereas the historiographer of 2 Kings in 586 BCE focused on the whole team (v. 17) that appeared because he describes them with the third person plural. Text K1285 from Niniveh reads that Ammon had to pay 2 gold measures but Judah 10 measures of silver (v. 1). We are dealing with real events. In verse 2, the first thing we will notice is that King Sennacherib, according to all three reports (Isaiah 36:2; 2 Kings 18:17 and 2 Chronicles 32:9) did not come himself to the region. He sent generals and spokesmen to them. This is a later Campaign of which we do not have an Assyrian record of but which the detail survived in the Bible. Presumably the date was 689 BCE, taking the content in consideration. During this Assyrian unrecorded Campaign, Hezekiah rebelled. Although the general was at Lachish, Sennacherib sent messengers to the Rabshakeh that he should go to Jerusalem. He was given the dictated script of Sennacherib’s message and verse 5 makes that very clear with the “I said.” It was typical in Assyrian Annals for Sennacherib to speak in the first person singular, the self-glorified “I”. The general went to the upper pool at the eastern side of the Gihon spring. Hezekiah closed the channels when he heard the Assyrians are approaching Palestine (v. 2). Hezekiah ordered his scribes not to say anything (v. 21). What is to follow is a monologue of the Assyrian trying to speak Hebrew (v. 11 “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic for we understand it”) and trying to use media to instill rejection for Hezekiah and loyalty for Sennacherib. Eliakim and Shebna the recorder came out to him (v. 3). Sennacherib’s message was: “What is this confidence that you have?” (v. 4); “I [Sennacherib] say, ‘Your counsel and strength for war are only empty words’” (v. 5a). “On whom did you rely that you are rebelling against me [Sennacherib]” (v. 5b); Egypt is a “crushed reed” (v. 6); Did Hezekiah not removed the worship of the true God by removing all the ecumenical worship places? (v. 7); Make a bargain with us, we give you horses and you give us men [willing to die for another empire not their own] (v. 8); Is it not rude to rely on Egypt’s chariots and horsemen rather than on Sennacherib (v. 9). The Assyrian then claims that God sent him “And have I now come up without the Lord’s approval against this land?” (v. 10). He talks with two tongues saying that God did not sent him and that God sent him. At this point Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the general of Sennacherib that he should speak Aramaic and not Hebrew (v. 11). If they speak in Aramaic the people of the land cannot understand but if they speak Hebrew the men on the wall can also understand. The general want to know from them if they think that Sennacherib only sent him to them and not to the people also? (v. 12). With a loud Hebrew voice the Assyrian general then said: “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you for he will not be able to deliver you” (v. 14); Do not let Hezekiah make you trust the Lord (v. 15). With this second request, the general of Sennacherib placed his foot on a banana-peel, he was about to fall. He first asked them to make a deal with him (v. 8) but now he wanted them to make peace with him and to come to his Utopia country (v. 16-17). “A land like your own”, grain (dgn); wine (wtyrws); bread (lḥm); vineyards (wkrmym) (v. 17). A. Saggs indicated that Assyria was largely dependent upon booty from other countries for its economy so that one can conclude that this suggestion is a way to trick the people. Mocking about the fall of Samaria in 723 BCE the Assyrian was without the divine perception or biblical perception that the fall of Samaria was only due to His ruling (v. 19). The Assyrian spokesman of Sennacherib then pushed the case that none of the gods of the region could save people against Sennacherib and by extension the Lord cannot either (v. 18-19). The Rabshakeh is very arrogant. They answered him not since Hezekiah asked them not to say anything (v. 21). So Eliakim, Shebna and Joah came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told the words of the Rabshakeh to Hezekiah (v. 22). When one compares the three reports with Isaiah the earliest in 701 BCE; 2 Kings 18 and 2 Chronicles 32 after 586 BCE it becomes clear that copying was done with dictation and slips of the ear (2 Kings 18:25-27) and slips of the memory can be seen. The lesson is for us that the result of sin is also that the quality of the Word of God suffers. Luckily, Isaiah’s script could serve as correct standard to measure the others.

Dear God

When anyone speaks arrogantly against the Lord they are in essence preparing their own exit. Help us to be also quiet in the face of mocking. Amen.

Koot van Wyk, (DLitt et Phil; ThD) Kyungpook National University, Department of Liberal Education, Sangju, South Korea; conjoint lecturer of Avondale College, Australia