2 Kings 19:12

2Ki 19:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; [as] Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which [were] in Thelasar?

Ver. 12. Have the gods of the nations, &c.] See on 2Ki 19:10.

Which my fathers have destroyed.] God was not in all this man’s thoughts. Hic Deus nihil fecit; but he should have known that he and his fathers or predecessors, those scourges of mankind, were but as rods in God’s hand, which, when worn to the stump, he cast into the fire.

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.

(12) My fathers.—Sargon his father founded the dynasty; but he speaks of his predecessors generally as his “fathers.”

Gozan.—2Ki_17:6.

Haran.—Also a west Aramean town, mentioned by Tiglath Pileser I. (circ. 1120 B.C. ) Shalmaneser II. speaks of its conquest. It had a famous sanctuary of the moon god Sin. (See Gen_11:31.)

Rezeph.—The Assyrian Raçappa, a town of Mesopotamia, often mentioned in the inscriptions.

The children of Eden.—Schrader identifies this community with Bît-Adini (“the house of Eden”), often mentioned by Assurnâçirpal and Shalmaneser II. The latter records his defeat of Ahuni, “son of Eden,” a phrase which exactly corresponds to “the children (sons) of Eden” here. It lay on both banks of the middle Euphrates, between the present Bâlis and Birejik.

Thelasar.—Heb., Tĕlassar, the Assyrian Tul-Assuri (“Mound of Assur”). More than one place bore the name.

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

12. as Gozan] The R.V. omits the italic ‘as’ both here and in the parallel place in Isaiah. On Gozan see above 2Ki_17:6 note.

and Haran] The LXX. gives for this place Χαῤῥὰν, as in Gen_27:43, thus identifying it with the place where Abraham dwelt after leaving Ur of the Chaldees. The town of Haran [still called Harran] is in the midst of the district which lies under Mt. Masius between the Khabour and the Euphrates.

and Rezeph] This name is found in several places in the neighbourhood of the Euphrates, where from the situation of the other cities mentioned with it, this Rezeph most likely was situated. Two places, one on the west and one on the east of the Euphrates have been put forward as the city here mentioned but we have no means of deciding more than that the place was not far distant from the others named along with it.

the children of Eden which were in Thelasar] R.V. Telassar. This latter form is the orthography of A.V. in the parallel verse in Isaiah. Of the position of this Eden it is impossible to say more than that it was probably somewhere in the north west of Mesopotamia, whither Assyrian conquest had spread in the times just preceding Sennacherib, and to which he would intend now to call attention. The LXX. omits this name in the parallel place in Isaiah. Telassar must have been the chief seat of these children of Eden, the capture of which broke down the people. In Eze_27:23, Eden is again joined with Haran, and with Asshur. Hence some confirmation may be drawn for placing the people in the upper Mesopotamian plain.

All the places above named are additional to those given by Rab-shakeh in his recital of Assyrian victories (2Ki_17:34).

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.

Haran - Harran, the Carrhae of the Greeks and Romans Gen 11:31, was among the earliest conquests of the Assyrians; being subject to them from the 12th century. Its conquest would have naturally followed that of Gozan (Gauzanitis, 2Ki 17:6), which lay between it and Assyria proper.

Rezeph - Probably the Rozappa of the Assyrian inscriptions, a city in the neighborhood of Haran.

The children of Eden - Or, “the Beni-Eden,” who appear from the Assyrian inscriptions to have inhabited the country on the east bank of the Euphrates, about the modern Balis. Here they had a city called Beth-Adina, taken by the Assyrians about 880 B.C. This is probably the “Eden” of marginal reference.

Thelasar - Or Telassar. Probably a city on the Euphrates, near Beth-Adina, called after the name of the god Asshur. The name would signify “the Hill of Asshur.”

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

Gozan, in Less Armenia; Haran and Reseph in Palmerene Syria. Thelassar, or Syria. They were nations not very remote. See chap. xviii. 34. (Calmet)

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).

Several places about or beyond Euphrates. See Gen 11:31; Eze 27:23.

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

12. Gozan — The district on the upper Habor. See note on 2Ki_17:6.

Haran — Also in Mesopotamia, but lying some distance northwest of Gozan. Here Abraham abode for a time after leaving Ur of the Chaldees, (Gen_11:31,) and here a Roman army under Crassus was defeated by the Parthians. It is called Carrae, by the classical writers, and Charran in Act_7:4. It is doubtless identical with the modern Haran, which is situated on the river Belik, one of the branches of the upper Euphrates. Rezeph is still a common name in the East, and applied to a number of cities. Most interpreters incline to identify this Rezeph with a place in eastern Syria which Ptolemy calls Resapha. It is about a day’s journey west of the Euphrates.

Children of Eden which were in Thelasar — This last name should be written Telassar, and may signify the hill of Asshur; so called, perhaps, from some shrine which the Assyrians had there erected to Asshur. Eden would seem to be a district of which Telassar was a chief city, but no trace of either has been found.

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

Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed? The Assyrian kings always speak of all their predecessors as their ancestors. In point of fact, Sennacherib bad had only one "father" among the previous kings, viz. Sargon. As Gozan. (see the comment on 2Ki_17:6) It is uncertain at what time Gozan was finally conquered and absorbed. It was frequently overrun by the Assyrians from the reign of Tiglath-pileser I (about B.C. 1100); but it was probably not absorbed until about B.C. 809. The Prefect of Gozan first appears in the list of Assyrian Eponyms in B.C. 794. And Haran. "Haran" is generally admitted to be the city of Terah, (Gen_11:32) and indeed there is no rival claimant of the name. Its position was in the western part of the Gauzanitis region, on the Belik, about lat. 36 50" N. It was probably conquered by Assyria about the same time as Gozan. And Reseph. A town called "Razappa," probably "Rezeph," appears in the Assyrian inscriptions from an early date. It is thought to have been in the near vicinity of Haran, but had been conquered and absorbed as early as B.C. 818. Whether it is identical with the Resapha of Ptolemy ("Geograph.," 5:15) is doubtful. And the children of Eden. Probably the inhabitants of a city called "Bit-Adini" in the Assyrian inscriptions, which was on the Middle Euphrates, not far from Carchemish, on the left bank ("Records of the Past," vol. 3. pp. 69, 71, etc.). This place was conquered by Asshur-nazir-pal, about B.C. 877. Which were in Thelasar. "Thelasar" is probably the Hebrew equivalent of "Tel-Asshur," "the hill or fort of Asshur," which may have been the Assyrian name of Bit-Adini, or of a city dependent on it. Asshur-nazir-pal gave Assyrian names to several cities on the Middle Euphrates (see "Records of the Past," vol. 3. p. 55, line 48; p. 69, line 50).

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

General Information:

King Sennacharib's message to King Hezekiah continues.

Have the gods of the nations rescued them, the nations ... Assar?

This question assumes Hezekiah knows the answer and provides emphasis. AT: "The gods of the nations certainly did not rescue them, the nations ... Assar!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

my fathers

"the previous kings of Assyria" or "the armies of the previous kings of Assyria"

Gozan ... Haran ... Rezeph ... Eden ... Tel Assar ... Hamath ... Arpad ... Sepharvaim ... Hena ... Ivvah

These are all place names. (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

false god

nation

ancestor

Haran

Hamath

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

Eden. The name of a province.

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.