2 Kings 19:16

2Ki 19:16 LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.

Ver. 16. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open thine eyes, &c.] This is to pray with utmost intention of spirit, and extension of speech; this is prayer with a force, such as prevaileth much with God. {Jas 5:16} See the like in Daniel. {Dan 9:18-19}

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 19:16-18. Which hath sent him — That is, the messenger who brought this railing letter; or rather Rab-shakeh, who is easily understood to be referred to from the contents of the former chapter, although he would not do him the honour to name him. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations, &c. — He acknowledges their triumphs over the gods of the heathen, but distinguishes between them and the God of Israel. And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods — They were unable to help either themselves or their worshippers, and therefore it is no wonder that the Assyrians have destroyed them. And, in destroying them, though they knew it not, they really served the justice and jealousy of the God of Israel, who has determined to annihilate all the gods of the heathen. But they were deceived in thinking they could therefore be too hard for him, who was so far from being one of the gods whom men’s hands had made, that he himself made all things.

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

19:16-19 Sennacherib’s successes were irrelevant because—unlike the gods of these nations, who were not gods at all—Yahweh was the living God.

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

By this title he discerneth God from all idols and false gods.

Show by effect that thou wilt not suffer thy Name to be blasphemed.

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

(16) Bow down thine ear, and hear.—Not so much my prayer as the words of Sennacherib.

Open, Lord, thine eyes, and see.—Referring, as Thenius says, to Sennacherib’s letter; not, however, as if Jehovah’s eyes were closed before this prayer. To treat the figurative language of the Old Testament in such a manner does violence to common sense. “Bow thine ear,” “Open thine eyes,” in Hezekiah’s mouth simply meant “Intervene actively between me and my enemy;” although, no doubt, such expressions originally conveyed the actual thoughts of the Israelites about God.

Which hath sent him.—Rather, which he hath sent. The “words” are regarded as a single whole, a message.

The living God.—In contrast with the lifeless idols of Hamath, Arpad, &c.

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

16. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear] R.V. Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear. This is the translation in Isaiah of the same Hebrew. Both should be alike, and the form chosen by R.V. seems preferable as the words are addressed to God. The king can only speak in the figures which men would use to one another, but in this application of human attributes to the Almighty there need not be of necessity any misconception. There could have been none in Hezekiah’s thoughts concerning the Maker of heaven and earth.

which hath sent him [R.V. wherewith he hath sent] to reproach the living God] There is in the orginal a suffix in the singular number attached to the verb, which refers to the ‘words’ before alluded to though they are mentioned as plural. The idea is however singular, and indicates the ‘message’. So that literally the Hebrew would be translated ‘which he hath sent it’, and that is their way of saying, ‘wherewith he hath sent’. The A.V. took the suffix which in the parallel place of Isaiah is not expressed to refer to Rab-shakeh and so translated ‘which hath sent him’.

Hezekiah calls Jehovah ‘the living God’ as opposed to the idols of wood and stone spoken of in Sennacherib’s letter.

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.

Unto us is not in Hebrew or Septuagint. (Du Hamel) --- God, as if he were not able to deliver us. (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).

Which hath sent him, i.e. the messenger who brought this railing letter, 2Ki 19:14; or Rab-shakeh, who was easily understood out of the former chapter, although he would not do him the honour to name him; or, sent it, to wit, this letter.

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

16. Thine ear… thine eyes — “This express mention of the two chief senses, the development of each of the two chief ideas, according to their details, into a twofold prayer, the complete symmetry of the two clauses of the sentence, the repetition of Jehovah in the second clause — all these conspire to give to the prayer the greatest urgency and emphasis.” — Drechsler.

Which hath sent him — Rather, which he hath sent; that is, the words or the message which Sennacherib had sent.

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

Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear. "Bow down thine ear" is a Hebrew idiom for "give ear," "attend (see Psa_31:2 Psa_71:2 Psa_86:1; Pro_22:17, etc.) It is based upon the fact that, when men wish to catch exactly what another says to them, they bend themselves towards him, and bring one ear as near to him as they can. Open, Lord, thine eyes, and see. Take cognizance both with eye and ear; i.e. take full cognizance let nothing escape thee. And hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God; rather, which he has sent to reproach. The suffix translated "him" in our version really means "iti.e. the speech or letter of Sennacherib, which Hezekiah has "spread before the Lord."

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

Him - Rabshakeh: he would not do him the honour to name him.

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

General Information:

King Hezekiah continues praying to Yahweh after receiving the letter from King Sennacherib of Assyria.

Turn your ear, Yahweh, and listen. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see

Both of these sentences urge Yahweh to pay attention to the things that Sennacherib is saying. (See: Parallelism)

Turn your ear, Yahweh, and listen

The words "Turn your ear" and "listen" mean the same thing and add emphasis to the plea. AT: "Yahweh, please listen to what he is saying" (See: Doublet)

Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see

The words "Open your eyes" and "see" mean the same thing and add emphasis to the plea. AT: "Yahweh, please pay attention to what is happening" (See: Doublet)

They have put their gods into the fire

"The Assyrian kings have burned up the gods of the other nations"

Assyrians have destroyed them

"Assyrians have destroyed both the nations and the nations' gods"

translationWords

Yahweh

send

mock

life

God

fire

works

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