2 Kings 18:26

2Ki 18:26 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand [it]: and talk not with us in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people that [are] on the wall.

Ver. 26. Speak, I pray thee, … in the Syrian language.] This was no wise motion: but they were frightened; and some think it was wicked Shebna rather than good Eliakim that made it, purposely to provoke Rabshakeh to rail the more, and to lay open that whereby the people might be moved to yield up the city.

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 18:26. Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language — It is probable Eliakim perceived the people to be terrified with his big words, and therefore requested him, in the name of the other commissioners sent to treat with him, to speak no longer in the Jews’ language, but in his own: for he was sent, not to treat with the people, but with them, who understood the Syrian tongue very well. In the ears of the people that are upon the wall — Upon which these officers stood; not being willing to put themselves into the power of such a barbarous and perfidious enemy by going out of the city.

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

18:26 Hezekiah’s representatives wanted the Assyrian delegation to speak . . . in Aramaic, the language of diplomacy, so that the people who were listening would not understand and be discouraged or frightened.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, Syrians.

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

Verse 26. Talk not with us in the Jews' language] The object of this blasphemous caitiff was to stir up the people to sedition, that the city and the king might be delivered into his hand.

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

(26) Speak, I pray thee . . . in the Syrian language.—HezeMah’s ministers naturally dread the effect of Rab-shakeh’s arguments and assertions upon the garrison of the city. The people, many of whom had always been accustomed to worship at the high places, might very well doubt whether there were not some truth in the allegation that Jehovah was incensed at their removal.

In the Syrian language.—In Aramaic; which was at that time the language of diplomacy and commerce in the countries of Western Asia, as is proved by the bilingual contract-tablets (in Aramaic and Assyrian) discovered at Nineveh.

In the Jews’ language.—In Jewish; an expression only found in Neh_13:24 besides the present narrative. The word “Jew” (Yehûdî), from which it is derived, itself occurs only in the later Biblical books; but contemporary Assyrian usage (mât Ya-u-di or Ya-u-du, “Judah;” Ya-u-da-a-a, “the Jews”) is in favour of the supposition that the people of the Southern kingdom were even then called Yehûdim, and their language “Jewish” (Yehûdîth). The spoken dialect probably differed considerably from other varieties of Hebrew, though not enough to make it unintelligible to other Hebrew-speaking peoples, such as the northern Israelites and the Moabites and Edomites.

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

26–37. Further insolence of Rab-shakeh. He addresses the people that stand on the wall. Despair of hezekiah’s ministers (2Ch_32:13-19; Isa_35:1-2)

26. Speak, I pray thee … in the Syrian language] The language intended is more properly named, as in the margin of R.V. ‘Aramæan’ This was the language of Mesopotamia and Babylon. It was of the same family as Hebrew, but yet not commonly understood by the people of Judæa. The court officials would of necessity have to speak it for the purposes of political intercourse. ‘Syriac’ is a later dialect of Aramæan. For ‘talk not’ R.V. has speak not. The original word is the same as in the previous clause. By their request Eliakim and his companions at once put themselves at Rabshakeh’s mercy, and he shewed them none. ‘Lewd men are the worse for admonitions. Rab-shakeh had not so strained his throat to corrupt the citizens of Jerusalem, had it not been for the humble obtestation of Eliakim. Now he rears up his voice and holds up his sides, and roars out his double blasphemies’ (Bp Hall).

the people that are on the wall] There had gathered a crowd around Hezekiah’s ministers to hear the issue of the conference, and these from their previous sufferings in the siege would be ready enough to put a favourable construction on Rab-shakeh’s argument. The Chronicler (2Ch_32:11) represents him as employing the powerful argument to starving men ‘Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst’? This is the fearful extremity which is so coarsely alluded to in the words of the next verse. That such food had been used by persons reduced to extremity in a siege, see above chap. 2Ki_6:25 and the note there.

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 Syrian language - i. e., Aramaic; probably the dialect of Damascus, a Semitic language nearly akin to their own, but suffciently different to be unintelligible to ordinary Jews

The people that are on the wall - The conference must have been held immediately outside the wall for the words of the speakers to have been audible.

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

Syriac, or Chaldean language, which was spoken at the Assyrian court, 1 Esdras iv. 7., and Daniel ii. 4. Rabsaces was acquainted with both the languages; as the Jews say he was an apostate, which they infer from this passage, and from the legates tearing their clothes when they heard him blaspheme; as t hey pretend this was only done when blasphemy came from the mouth of an Israelite. (Grotius) --- But these reasons are very weak. (Calmet) --- The like was practised when any thing terrifying was heard, ver. 37. (Haydock) --- The reasons why the legates desire Rabsaces not to speak in a language which the common soldiers understood, was to prevent them from shewing their indignation by shooting at him, or out of fear, lest they should be induced to cause some sedition. (Menochius)

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).

Upon which these officers stood; not being willing to put themselves into the power of such a barbarous and perfidious enemy, by going out of the city.

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

26. Speak… in the Syrian language — The Jewish officers thus interrupted Rab-shakeh in the midst of his address. Such words as those of 2Ki_18:25 are, alas! too true, and have support, whether Assyria fully comprehends it or not, in oracles which Jehovah’s own prophets have uttered. For a representative of Assyria to speak of them in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people may easily occasion murmurings and rebellion. The Syrian language, more properly the Aramaic, (ארמית,) seems at this time to have been commonly understood in Syria, Assyria, and Babylonia. Its close affinity with the Hebrew would enable those who spoke one of these languages as their vernacular easily to acquire the use of the other; but the mass of the people would be familiar only with the tongue in which they were born.

On the wall — So it appears that this interview was held near the walls of the city, and within hearing of the soldiers stationed thereon.

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

Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; literally, in the Aramaic language. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Assyrian were three cognate languages, closely allied, and very similar both in their grammatical forms and in their vocabularies, but still sufficiently different to be distinct languages, which were only intelligible to those who had learnt them. Rabshakeh had addressed the Jewish officials in Hebrew, probably as the language which they would best understand, if it were not even the only one that they would understand; not with the express "object of influencing the common people," as Bahr supposes. But the Jewish officials feared that the words uttered were influencing them. They proposed, therefore, that the further negotiations should be conducted in Aramaic, a tongue which they understood, and one which they supposed that Rabshakeh, as he knew Hebrew, would also know. Aramaic was spoken in most of the tract that lay between Assyria and Palestine, in Syria and Damascus certainly, in Upper Mesopotamia, along the line of the Euphrates, and perhaps as far as the Khabour river. For we understand it. It is not likely that the Jews of this time generally understood Aramaic; but high officials of the court, who might have to deal with embassies and negotiate treaties, found it necessary to understand it, just as such persons in our own country have to know French. And talk not with us in the Jews" language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. Besides the sentinels and other soldiers, there would probably be many idlers upon the wall, attracted by the unwonted spectacle of an ambassadorial cortege, and anxious to pick up intelligence. The loud voices of Orientals would be heard to a considerable distance.

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

Eliakim ... Hilkiah ... Shebnah ... Joah

Translate the names of these men as in 2 Kings 18:18. (See: How to Translate Names)

in the ears of the people who are on the wall

"In the ears" is metonymy for being able to listen. AT: "because the people standing on the city wall will hear it and be afraid" (See: Metonymy)

Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not sent me to the men who sit on the wall, who will have to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?

He asks these questions assuming the listeners know the answers to emphasize their intention to destroy and humiliate the leaders and people of Jerusalem. AT: "My master sent me not only to you and your master, but also to speak to the people in this city, who will suffer with you when they have to eat their own dung and drink their own urine to survive." (See: Rhetorical Question)

translationWords

Eliakim

Aram

dung

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

For we understand it. We are residents of the palace, and understand Aramaic and other languages. But do not speak Hebrew to us, which all the people understand, and we do not want them to hear.

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.