Isaiah 37:13

Hena . . . Ivah--in Babylonia. From Ava colonists had been brought to Samaria (Kg2 17:24).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(13) Where is the king of Hamath . . .—The question which had been asked in Isa_36:19 as to the gods of the cities named is now asked of their kings, and the implied answer is that they are in the dungeons of Nineveh.

Hena, and Ivah.—The sites have not been identified, but Anah is found as the name of a city on the Euphrates, and Ivah may be the same as the Ava of 2Ki_17:24.

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

13. Hamath … Arphad … Sepharvaim] See ch. Isa_36:19. Hena and Ivah (R.V. more correctly, Ivvah) are not known. The latter is probably the same as Ava or Avva (2Ki_17:24).

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.

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it,.... Or books (k), in which the above things were written; and everyone of these he read, as Kimchi interprets it; though the Targum is,

"he took the letters from the hand of the messengers, and read one of them;''

that is, as Kimchi's father explains it, in which was the blasphemy against God; this he read over carefully to himself, observed the contents of it, and then did with it as follows:

and Hezekiah went up unto the house of God; the temple, the outward court of it, further than that he could not go:

and spread it before the Lord; not to read it, as he had done, or to acquaint him with the contents of it, which he fully knew; but, as it chiefly regarded him, and affected his honour and glory, he laid it before him, that he might take notice of it, and vindicate himself, and avenge his own cause; he brought it as a proof of what he had to say to him in prayer, and to support him in his allegations, and as a means to quicken himself in the discharge of that duty.

(k) "libros", V. L.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The king of Hamath - (See the note at Isa 36:19).

Hena and Ivah - Hena is mentioned in 2Ki 18:34; 2Ki 19:13. It was evidently in Mesopotamia, and was probably the same which was afterward called Ana, situated near a ford of the Euphrates. The situation of Ivah is not certainly known. It was under the Assyrian dominion, and was one of the places from which colonists were brought to Samaria 2Ki 17:24, 2Ki 17:31. Michaelis supposes that it was between Berytus and Tripoli, but was under the dominion of the Assyrians.

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

Hamath... Arphad... Sepharvaim. (See the comment upon Isa_36:19)

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

“Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?” The question implies that they were nowhere, or had ceased to be. The first three names occur in the same order in Rabshakeh’s speech (Isa 36:19), and the remaining two also in the parallel passage (2Ki 18:34). Of Hena nothing whatever is known, and of Ivvah only that it may be identical with the Ivvah of 2Ki 17:24, from which Assyrian colonists were transferred to Samaria. It has been suggested that they are the names of the deities worshipped at Hamath, Arpad, and Sepharvaim. In favor of this exposition, besides the fact that the names, as names of places, occur nowhere else, it may be urged that it agrees not only with the context in this place, but also with 2Ki 18:34.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He exiled [them] and twisted [them] (וְעִוָּה הֵנַע) The king of Assyria exiled him and twisted him; he destroyed them and exiled them from their place.

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.