2 Kings 18:22

2Ki 18:22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: [is] not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

Ver. 22. But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God.] Thus he thinks to beat them off all their holds, that he may bring them to the bent of his bow. Satan doth the like: "whom resist steadfast in the faith."

Is not that he whose high places, &c.?] This Rabshakeh took for sacrilege and impiety: as Papists still do our Reformation, and rejection of their needless ceremonies and endless superstitions. Some infer from this text that Rabshakeh was no Jew; the Rabbis make him to be a renegade Jew, because he spake Hebrew.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 18:22. But if ye say, We trust in the Lord — His weak arguing here proceeds from his ignorance of that God in whom Hezekiah trusted, and of his law. Is not that he whose high places, &c., Hezekiah hath taken away? — Thereby robbing him of that worship and service which he had in those places. Thus he speaks boldly of those things which he understood not, calling that a crime which was a great virtue, and judging of the great God by their false and petty gods, and of God’s worship according to the vain fancies of the heathen, who measured piety by the multitude of altars.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thus the idolaters think that God’s religion is destroyed, when superstition and idolatry are reformed.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 22. Whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away] This was artfully malicious. Many of the people sacrificed to Jehovah on the high places; Hezekiah had removed them, (2Kg 18:4), because they were incentives to idolatry: Rab-shakeh insinuates that by so doing he had offended Jehovah, deprived the people of their religious rights, and he could neither expect the blessing of God nor the cooperation of the people.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(22) But if ye say.—The address seems to turn abruptly from Hezekiah to his ministers, and to the garrison of Jerusalem in general. But the LXX., Syriac, Arabic, and Isa_36:7 have the singular, “But if thou say,” which is probably original. (Hezekiah is presently mentioned in the third person, to avoid ambiguity.)

In the Lord our God.—The emphatic words of the clause.

Whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away.—This is just the construction which a heathen would naturally put on Hezekiah’s abolition of the local sanctuaries. (2Ki_18:4; 2Ch_31:1.) The Assyrians would appear to have heard of Hezekiah’s reformation, As he was a vassal of the great king, no doubt his proceedings were watched with jealous interest.

Ye shall worship . . . in Jerusalem?—Literally, Before this altar shall ye worship, at Jerusalem. The great altar of burnt offering was to be the one altar, and Jerusalem the one city, where Jehovah might be worshipped.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. We trust in the Lord our God] Probably Rab-shakeh knew something about the character of Egypt and her ability and likeliness to help. ‘Rahab that sitteth still’ (Isa_30:7 R.V.) was a name probably not undeserved. But now he enters on a matter which he does not understand. He had heard no doubt of the many altars and high places which Hezekiah had swept away in the beginning of his reign, and he might have been told by some, who murmured at their removal, and urged that Jehovah was really worshipped at them, that the king had put down many altars of the true God, and for a fancy of his own had ordered all his subjects to worship in Jerusalem. But he did not, probably could not, comprehend that the law of Jehovah had long before ordained that when His worship should be brought to its true form among His people, there should be only one temple for the whole land. Hence his argument is ‘How can you expect Jehovah to help you, when you have been breaking down His shrines and limiting His worship to a single spot’?

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The destruction of numerous shrines and altars where Yahweh had been worshipped 2Ki 18:4 seemed to the Rab-shakeh conduct calculated not to secure the favor, but to call forth the anger, of the god. At any rate, it was conduct which he knew had been distasteful to many of Hezekiah’s subjects.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Jerusalem. Many were perhaps displeased at this injunction, and Rabsaces endeavoured to excite them to revolt, and insinuates (Calmet) that the king had made God his enemy, (Haydock) and must expect punishment from him. (Theodoret, in Isaias xxxvi. 5.) He perhaps was ignorant that these altars were contrary to his law. (Menochius) --- Yet the Jews say that Rabsaces was son of Isaias, (ap. St. Jerome, bib.) or a Samaritan.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away; thereby robbing him of that worship and service which he had in those places. Thus boldly he speaks of these things which he understood not, judging of the great God by their false and petty gods; and judging of God’s worship according to the vain fancies of the heathens, who measured piety by the multitude of altars.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. If ye say — Here Rab-shakeh addresses more directly the three officers of Hezekiah, as also the other people on the wall. The parallel passage in Isaiah (Isa_36:7) reads, if thou say.

Whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away — Rab-shakeh assumes that the removal of the high places and their altars was an offence to Jehovah, as was also the restricting of his worship to the altar in Jerusalem, and he argues that God would not favour a people whose king was guilty of such sacrilege and impiety. Compare 2Ch_32:12.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God. Sennacherib had also heard of this second ground of trust, which Hezekiah had certainly put forward with great openness. (2Ch_32:8) No doubt he thought it purely fantastical and illusory. But he was not unaware that it might inspire a determined resistance. He therefore condescended to argue against reliance on it. Is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away? His counselors have suggested to Sennacherib a specious argument How can Hezekiah confidently rely on the protection of the God of the land, Jehovah, when he has been employing himself for years in the destruction of this very God"s high places and altars? Surely the God will not favor one who has been pulling down his places of worship! Putting out of sight the special requirements of the Jewish Law, the argument might well seem unanswerable. At any rate, it was calculated to have a certain effect on the minds of those who were attached to the high-place worship, and desired its continuance. And hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem. A weak argument, if addressed to Jews of Jerusalem only, but likely to have weight with the country Jews, if, as is probable, they had crowded into the city when the invasion began.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Is not, &c. - Thus boldly he speaks of the things which he understood not, judging of the great God, by their petty gods; and of God's worship by the vain fancies of the Heathens, who measured piety by the multitude of altars.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Rabshakeh continues telling the message from the king of Assyria to King Hezekiah's men.

is not he the one whose high places ... Jerusalem'?

This question assumes the listeners know the answer and is used for emphasis. AT: "You need to remember that he is the one whose high places ... Jerusalem'!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

translationWords

Yahweh

God

high place

altar

Hezekiah

kingdom of Judah

worship

lord

horse

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Is He not the one Whose high places and altars Chizkiyohu has removed, etc. It can be deduced from here that Ravshokei was an apostate Jew, for he admitted that the Holy One, Blessed Is He, is God, but his desire is to worship idols.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.