Setting of Isaiah 37: Hezekiah's Crisis
Isaiah 37 describes King Hezekiah of Judah's response to the Assyrian threat posed by Sennacherib, focusing on his prayer and the prophet Isaiah's message of deliverance. The chapter opens with Hezekiah's reaction to the blasphemous words of the Assyrian chief of staff, Rabshakeh, who had demanded Jerusalem's surrender [10]. Upon hearing the report, Hezekiah "rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord" [9, 10]. This act symbolized mourning and a turning to God in prayer [9].
Hezekiah then sent his officials to the prophet Isaiah, requesting his intercession [1]. Hezekiah's hope was not in Judah's strength or his own righteousness, but in God's response to Assyria's defiance of the living God [13]. Isaiah delivered a comforting message from the Lord, assuring Hezekiah not to be afraid of the words he had heard [4, 7]. The prophet declared that God would put a spirit in the Assyrian king, causing him to hear a rumor and return to his own land, where he would fall by the sword [7].
Despite this initial assurance, Sennacherib sent letters to Hezekiah, attempting to terrify him into surrendering Jerusalem [7, 12]. Hezekiah received these letters and, in an act of profound faith, "went to the house of the sanctuary of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord" [14, 2]. His prayer acknowledged God as the sole sovereign over all the kingdoms of the earth and recounted the Assyrians' destruction of other nations and their gods [2]. Hezekiah pleaded for God to deliver Judah, so that all the kingdoms of the earth might know that Yahweh alone is God [2].
In response to Hezekiah's prayer, Isaiah delivered another message from the Lord, condemning Sennacherib's arrogance and foretelling his defeat [7]. God promised to defend Jerusalem "for my own sake and for my servant David's sake" [5]. As a sign of this deliverance, God promised that the people would eat what grew of itself in the current year and what sprang from that in the second year, and in the third year they would sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit [3]. This sign indicated a period of peace and restoration after the Assyrian threat.
The narrative concludes with the miraculous intervention of God: "Then the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians" [7]. Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, and while he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword [6]. This account emphasizes the power of prayer and God's faithfulness to His people, even when facing overwhelming odds [8, 11]. The story of Hezekiah's healing in the subsequent chapter (Isaiah 38) is thematically linked, highlighting the importance of prayer and God's responsiveness, though it occurred chronologically before Jerusalem's rescue [8].
Sources
- Isaiah “So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. -- Isaiah 37:5”
- Isaiah “Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh, saying, -- Isaiah 37:15”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Isaiah 37:30 cross-references: Exodus 3:12, Leviticus 25:4, Leviticus 25:5, Leviticus 25:20, 1 Kings 13:3, 2 Kings 19:29, 2 Kings 20:9, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 7:21, Isaiah 38:7”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Isaiah 37:6 cross-references: Exodus 14:13, Leviticus 26:8, Joshua 11:6, 2 Kings 19:5, 2 Kings 22:15, 2 Chronicles 20:15, 2 Chronicles 20:17, Isaiah 7:4, Isaiah 10:24, Isaiah 35:4, Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 43:1, Isaiah 51:7, Isaiah 51:12, Mark 4:40, Mark 5:36”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Isaiah 37:35 cross-references: Deuteronomy 32:27, 1 Kings 11:12, 1 Kings 11:36, 1 Kings 15:4, 2 Kings 20:6, 1 Chronicles 17:19, Isaiah 31:5, Isaiah 38:6, Isaiah 43:25, Isaiah 48:9, Isaiah 48:11, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 30:9, Jeremiah 33:15, Ezekiel 20:9, Ezekiel 36:22, Ezekiel 37:24, Ephesians 1:6, Ephesians 1:14”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Isaiah 37:37 cross-references: Genesis 10:11, 2 Kings 19:1, 2 Chronicles 32:1, Isaiah 31:8, Isaiah 31:9, Isaiah 33:19, Isaiah 37:7, Isaiah 37:29, Jonah 1:2, Jonah 3:3, Jonah 4:11, Nahum 1:1, Matthew 12:41”
- Isaiah (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Isaiah 37 (introduction): INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 37 In this chapter are contained Hezekiah's message to Isaiah, desiring his prayer for him and his people, in this time of sore distress, Isa 37:1, the comforting and encouraging answer returned by the prophet to him, Isa 37:6, the king of Assyria's letter to Hezekiah, to terrify him into a surrender of the city of Jerusalem to him, Isa 37:8 which Hezekiah spread before the Lord, and prayed unto him for deliverance, Isa 37:14, upon which he received a gracious answer by the hand of the prophet, promising safety and deliverance to ”
- Isaiah (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Isaiah 38:1: 38:1-9 The story of Hezekiah’s healing connects Hezekiah’s extension of life with Jerusalem’s relief from the Assyrians. The events of this story took place before Jerusalem’s rescue from the Assyrians but were placed in a thematic rather than chronological order. One theme is the importance of prayer (see 37:14-20; 38:2-3). The Lord does listen! Hezekiah had learned the lesson of trust that his father, Ahaz, refused. As a result, Judah and Jerusalem were spared total destruction by the Assyrians. Yet Hezekiah was not the Messiah, the Son of David promised in 7:14”
- Isaiah (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Isaiah 37:1: 37:1 Hezekiah responded to the threats by seeking the Lord’s favor. • The king tore his clothes and put on burlap as a sign of mourning and prayer.”
- Isaiah (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Isaiah 37:1: And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it,.... The report that his ministers made to him of the blasphemies and threatenings of Rabshakeh, the general of the Assyrian army: that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth; the one because of the blasphemies he heard; the other cause of the destruction he and his people were threatened 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”
- Isaiah (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Isaiah 37 (introduction): In this chapter we have a further repetition of the story which we had before in the book of Kings concerning Sennacherib. In the foregoing chapter we had him conquering and threatening to conquer. In this chapter we have him falling, and at last fallen, in answer to prayer, and in fulfillment of many of the prophecies which we have met with in the foregoing chapters. Here we have, I. Hezekiah's pious reception of Rabshakeh's impious discourse (Isa 37:1). II. The gracious message he sent to Isaiah to desire his prayers (Isa 37:2-5). III. The encouragi”
- Targum Jonathan (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Targum Jonathan, Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 37:10: Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah, king of the tribe of the house of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, cause thee to err, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
- Isaiah (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Isaiah 37:4: 37:4 perhaps . . . God has heard the Assyrian chief of staff . . . defy the living God: Hezekiah’s hope was not based on Judah’s or his own goodness, or the presence of the Temple in Jerusalem; instead, it was based on God responding to Assyria’s blasphemy.”
- Targum Jonathan (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Targum Jonathan, Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 37:14: And Hezekiah received letters from the hands of the messengers, and read one of them: and Hezekiah went to the house of the sanctuary of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.”