Isaiah 37:24

37:24 Isaiah seems to be familiar with the typical royal Assyrian boasts, including that they possessed the highest mountains. These words sound very much like those found in the annals of the Assyrian kings inscribed on the walls of their temples.

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

said--virtually. Hast thou within thyself?

height--imagery from the Assyrian felling of trees in Lebanon (Isa 14:8; Isa 33:9); figuratively for, "I have carried my victorious army through the regions most difficult of access, to the most remote lands."

sides--rather, "recesses" [G. V. SMITH].

fir trees--not cypresses, as some translate; pine foliage and cedars are still found on the northwest side of Lebanon [STANLEY].

height of . . . border--In Kg2 19:23, "the lodgings of his borders." Perhaps on the ascent to the top there was a place of repose or caravansary, which bounded the usual attempts of persons to ascend [BARNES]. Here, simply, "its extreme height."

forest of . . . Carmel--rather, "its thickest forest." "Carmel" expresses thick luxuriance (see on Isa 10:18; Isa 29:17).

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

Verse 24. By thy servants - "By thy messengers"] The text has עבדיך abdeycha, thy servants; but the true reading seems to be מלאכיך malacheycha, thy messengers, as in the other copy, 2Kg 19:23; and as the Septuagint and Syriac found it in their copies in this place.

Reproached the Lord] אדני Adonai: but one of my MSS. has יהוה אדני Yehovah Adonai, Jehovah the Lord. This reading is not found, I think, in any other MS., but several have יהוה Yehovah for אדני Adonai.

I will enter into the height of his border - "I will penetrate into his extreme retreats"] The text has מרום marom, the height which seems to have been taken by mistake from the line but one above. Two MSS. have here מלון malon, the lodge or retreat; which is the word in the other copy, 2Kg 19:23, and I think is the true reading.

The forest of his Carmel.] The forest and his fruitful field; that is, I will possess myself of the whole country.

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

(24) By the multitude of my chariots.—The words refer apparently to the taunt of Isa_36:8. The inscriptions of the Assyrian king are full of like boasts. Shalmaneser, “Trackless paths and difficult mountains . . . I penetrated” (Records of the Past, iii. 85): and Assumacirpal, “Rugged mountains, difficult paths, which for the passage of chariots were not suited, I passed” (Ibid. p. 43).

To the sides of Lebanon.—The passage of Lebanon was not necessarily implied in Sennacherib’s invasion of Palestine. Possibly the words had become a kind of proverb for surmounting obstacles. Lebanon and Carmel are joined together, as in Isa_33:9.

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

24. For servants 2 Kings has “messengers,” as in Isa_37:9; Isa_37:14.

am I come up] Better, I go up. The “I” is emphatic.

the sides of Lebanon means its recesses (R.V. “innermost parts”).

the height of his border] Render, its furthest height; or (changing the text in accordance with 2Ki_19:33) its last retreat (lit. “lodging-place”).

the forest of his Carmel] R.V. the forest of his fruitful field (see ch. Isa_10:18, Isa_29:17, Isa_32:15 f.)—perhaps the cedar groves on the highest ridges.

24, 25. The king of Assyria is represented as boasting of the ease with which he triumphs over all natural obstacles in the pursuance of his plans; such language is blasphemy against Jehovah, the Lord of Nature; although the king himself may be hardly conscious of the sin he is committing. The tenses in the speech might all be made perfects by a change of vowels, or they may all be rendered by presents; the king’s meaning being simply that he constantly performs such impossibilities as these. The Assyrian parallels cited by Cheyne are very striking (see his Commentary, p. 219 and the references 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.

Hast thou not heard long ago?.... By report, by reading the history of ancient times, or by means of the prophets; these are the words of the Lord to Sennacherib. The Targum adds,

"what I did to Pharaoh king of Egypt;''

it follows:

how I have done it; and of ancient times that I have formed it? meaning either the decree in his own breast from all eternity, and which he had published by his prophets, of raising up him, this wicked prince, to be the scourge of nations; or by the "it" are meant the people of the Jews, God's Israel, whom he had made, formed into a body politic, and into a church state, and had done great things for, in bringing them out of Egypt, leading them through the Red sea, providing for them, and protecting them in the wilderness, subduing nations under them, and settling them in the land of Canaan;

now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps (t); which some render interrogatively,

now should I bring, it to be laid waste, and fenced cities to be ruinous heaps? that is, the people of the Jews, the city of Jerusalem, and other fenced cities? no, I will not: or the meaning is, that that decree, which he had framed and formed in his own mind from all eternity, he was now bringing to pass; which was, that this king of Babylon should be a waster and destroyer of fortified cities, which he should reduce to heaps of ruin; wherefore he had no reason to vaunt as he had done, for he was only an instrument of executing the purposes and designs of God, though it was not in his heart, nor did he so mean.

(t) "in acervos et flores", "into heaps and flowers", that is, into heaps of dust, which being moved, and raised by the wind, fly away like flowers and blossoms of trees; so Gussetius, "in acervos volantes, aut ad volandum excitatos, scil. dum redacti in pulveres, magna ex parte, volant, excitati a ventis", Comment. Ebr. p. 502.

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

By thy servants - Hebrew, ‘By the hand of thy servants.’ That is, by Rabshakeh Isa. 36, and by those whom he had now sent to Hezekiah with letters Isa 37:9, Isa 37:14.

And hast said - Isaiah does not here quote the precise words which Rabshakeh or the other messengers had used, but quotes the substance of what had been uttered, and expresses the real feelings and intentions of Sennacherib.

By the multitude of my chariots - The word ‘chariots’ here denotes war-chariois (see the notes at Isa 2:7; Isa 66:20).

To the height of the mountains - Lebanon is here particularly referred to. Chariots were commonly used, as cavalry was, in plains. But it is probable that Lebanon was accessible by chariots drawn by horses.

To the sides of Lebanon - On the situation of Lebanon see the notes at Isa 10:34; Isa 29:17. Sennacherib is represented as having carried desolation to Lebanon, and as having cut down its stately trees (see the note at Isa 33:9).

I will cut down the tall cedars thereof - Margin, ‘The tallness of the cedars thereof.’ The boast of Sennacherib was that he would strip it of its beauty and ornament; that is, that he would lay the land waste.

And the choice fir-trees thereof - (see the note at Isa 14:8). The Septuagint renders it, Υπαρίσσου Uparissou - ‘The beauty of the cypress.’ The word here denotes the cypress, a tree resembling the white cedar. It grew on Lebanon, and, together with the cedar, constituted its glory. Its wood, like that of the cedar, was employed for the floors and ceilings of the temple 1Ki 5:10; 1Ki 6:15, 1Ki 6:34. It was used for the decks and sheathing of ships Eze 27:5, for spears Neh 2:4; and for musical instruments 2Sa 6:5.

The height of his border - The extreme retreats; the furthest part of Lebanon. In 2Ki 19:23, it is, ‘I will enter the lodgings of his borders;’ perhaps referring to the fact that on the ascent to the top of the mountain there was a place for the repose of travelers; a species of inn or caravansera which bounded the usual attempts of persons to ascend the mountain. Such a lodging-place on the sides or tops of mountains which are frequently ascended, is not uncommon.

And the forest his Carmel - On the meaning of the word Carmel, see the note at Isa 29:17. Here it means, as in that passage, a rich, fertile, and beautiful country. It is known that Lebanon was covered on the top, and far down the sides, with perpetual snow. But there was a region lying on its sides, between the snow and the base of the mountain, that was distinguished for fertility, and that was highly cultivated. This region produced grapes in abundance; and this cultivated part of the mountain, thick set with vines and trees, might be called a beautiful grove. This was doubtless the portion of Lebanon which is here intended. At a distance, this tract on the sides of Lebanon appeared doubtless as a thicket of shrubs and trees. The phrase ‘garden-forest,’ will probably express the sense of the passage. ‘After leaving Baalbec, and approaching Lebanon, towering walnut trees, either singly or in groups, and a rich carpet of verdure, the offspring of numerous streams, give to this charming district the air of an English park, majestically bordered with snow-tipped mountains. At Deir-el-Akmaar, the ascent begins winding among dwarf oaks, hawthorns, and a great variety of shrubs and flowers. A deep bed of snow had now to be crossed, and the horses sunk or slipped at every moment. To ride was impracticable, and to walk dangerous, for the melting snow penetrated our boots, and our feet were nearly frozen. An hour and a half brought us to the cedars.’ (Hogg.)

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

Carmel. See 4 Kings xix. (Challoner)

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).

24. By thy servants hast thou — Thus Sennacherib is properly held responsible for the insult his servants had given at his command. The reasons seem good which consider Lebanon, here, with its accompanying figures, as referring to Jerusalem. The kingdoms above mentioned, with the kingdom of Israel, have all fallen by Assyrian power; now the kingdom of Judah and its capital shall go the same way. So Sennacherib thought and said.

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

By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord. (see Isa_36:15-20) And hast said. Sennacherib had not actually uttered these words with his mouth; but the prophet clothes in his own highly poetic language the thoughts which the Assyrian king had cherished in his heart. He had regarded "the multitude of his chariots" as irresistible; he had considered that the mountains which guarded Palestine would be no obstacle to his advance; he had contemplated ravaging and despoiling of its timber the entire country; he had meant to penetrate into every region that was lovely and fertile. The emphatic "I" of the original ani twice repeated, marks the proud egotism of the monarch. By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains; rather, with the multitude; or, according to another reading, with chariots upon chariots. The Assyrian kings contrived to cross with their chariots mountain chains of great difficulty, and frequently boast of the achievement. Tiglath-Pileser I says, "I assembled my chariots and warriors. I betook myself to carts of iron in order to overcome the rough mountains and their difficult marches. I made the wilderness thus practicable for the passage of my chariots and warriors" ("Records of the Past," vol. 5. pp. 9, 10). Asshur-izir-pal, "The rugged hill country, unfitted for the passage of chariots and armies, with instruments of iron I cut through, and with metal rollers I beat down the chariots and troops I brought over" (ibid., vol. 3. p. 58). Shalmaneser II, "Trackless paths, difficult mountains, which like the point of an iron sword stood pointed to the sky, on wheels of iron and bronze I penetrated. My chariots and armies I transported over them" (ibid., p. 85). In the less rough parts, while the warders dismounted, tire horses drew the chariots, which were assisted over obstacles by attendants ("Ancient Monarchies," vol. 2. p. 74); but, in regions of greater difficulty, they were conveyed across the mountain ranges in waggons of rude and strong construction ("Records of the Past," vol. 5. p. 13) The chariot-force was regarded as so important that the Assyrians never made any distant expedition without it. To the sides of Lebanon. It was not necessary to cross either Libanus or Anti-Libanus in order to invade Judaea, since the natural route was along the Coele-Syrian valley and across the spurs of Hermon to the Jordan; but an Assyrian army was intent on plunder and devastation, no less than upon conquest, and would ascend mountain regions that did not lie on its direct line of march for either or both of these objects. It was customary for the soldiers to cut clown the tall cedars and choice fir trees of Lebanon on their Syrian campaigns, in order to transport the timber to Nineveh and other great cities, where it was used for building (see the comment on Isa_14:8, and compare Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 356, 357, and "Records of the Past," vol. 3. pp. 40, 47, 83, 90; vol. 5. p. 119; vol. 9. p. 16, etc.). It was also customary to destroy the trees in an enemy"s country, simply in order to inflict injury upon the foe ("Ancient Monarchies." vol. 2. p. 84). I will enter into the height of his border; rather, I will enter into its uttermost height; i.e. I will penetrate through the entire mountain region of Palestine, called roughly "Lebanon," to the furthest height of any importance that on which Jerusalem stood and thus occupy the whole land. The parallel passage of 2 Kings has "lodging" for "height," in apparent allusion to the palace of Hezekiah. And the forest of his Carmel; or, the forest of its pleasure-garden; i.e. the rich plantation tracts, covered with vines, olives, and fig trees, which formed the special glory of Judaea. (Isa_36:16, Isa_36:17)

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

Second turn, "By thy servants (K. thy messengers) hast thou reviled the Lord, in that thou sayest, With the multitude (K. chethib ברכב) of my chariots have I climbed the height of the mountains, the inner side of Lebanon; and I shall fell the lofty growth of its cedars, the choice (mibhchar, K. mibhchōr) of its cypresses: and I shall penetrate (K. and will penetrate) to the height (K. the halting-place) of its uttermost border, the grove of its orchard." The other text appears, for the most part, the preferable one here. Whether mal'ăkhekhâ (thy messengers, according to Isa 9:14) or ‛ăbhâdekhâ (thy servants, viz., Rabshakeh, Tartan, and Rabsaris) is to be preferred, may be left undecided; also whether רכבי ברכב is an error or a superlative expression, "with chariots of my chariots," i.e., my countless chariots; also, thirdly, whether Isaiah wrote mibhchōr. He uses mistōr in Isa 4:6 for a special reason; but such obscure forms befit in other instances the book of Kings, with its colouring of northern Palestine; and we also meet with mibhchōr in Kg2 3:19, in the strongly Aramaic first series of histories of Elisha. On the other hand, קצּה מלון is certainly the original reading, in contrast with קצו מרום. It is important, as bearing upon the interpretation of the passage, that both texts have ואכרת, not ואכרת, and that the other text confirms this pointing, inasmuch as it has ואבואה instead of ואובא. The Lebanon here, if not purely emblematical (as in Jer 22:6 = the royal city Jerusalem; Eze 17:3 = Judah-Jerusalem), has at any rate a synecdochical meaning (cf., Isa 14:8), signifying the land of Lebanon, i.e., the land of Israel, into which he had forced a way, and all the fortresses and great men of which he would destroy. He would not rest till Jerusalem, the most renowned height of the land of Lebanon, was lying at his feet. Thenius is quite right in regarding the "resting-place of the utmost border" and "the pleasure-garden wood" as containing allusions to the holy city and its royal citadel (compare the allegory in chapter 5).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

“By the hand of thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord and said, With the multitude of my chariots (or cavalry) I have ascended the height of mountains, the sides of Lebanon, and I will cut down the loftiness of its cedars and the choice of its firs (or cypresses), and I will reach its extreme height (literally, the height of its extremity), its garden-forest (literally, the garden of its forest).” This may be regarded either as the substance of another message actually sent by Sennacherib, or as a translation of his feelings and his conduct into words. ‘By the hand’ may then mean simply through (as in Isa 20:1), or refer particularly to the letters mentioned in v. 14. The fruitful field, vineyard, garden, orchard, or the like, is here combined with forest, either for the purpose of describing the cedar groves of Lebanon as similar to parks and orchards, or of designating the spot where the cultivated slope of the mountain is gradually changed into a forest. It was long supposed that the only cedar grove of Lebanon was the one usually visited near the highest summit of the range; but in 1805, Seetzen discovered two others of greater extent, and the American missionaries have since found many trees in different parts of the mountain. (See Robinson’s Palestine, III 440.) If we take into consideration the whole context, and the strongly hyperbolical expressions of the other messages and speeches of Sennacherib, it will be found most natural to understand this verse as a poetical assertion of the speaker’s power to overcome all obstacles.

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

General Information:

This continues Yahweh's message to the king of Assyria.

By your servants

This refers to to the servants that he had sent to Hezekiah with a message. This can be stated clearly. AT: "In the messages you sent with your servants" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

I have gone ... I will cut ... I will enter ... I have dug ... I dried ... my feet

Here Sennacherib speaks of himself conquering many things. He is actually conquering them with the armies and chariots that he commands. AT: "We have gone ... We will cut ... we will enter ... We have dug ... we dried ... our feet" (See: Synecdoche)

its tall cedars

"Lebanon's tall cedars"

its most fruitful forest

Here the word "fruitful" refers to the forest being dense and full of healthy trees. The understood information may be supplied. AT: "and into its most fruitful forest" (See: Ellipsis)

I dried up all the rivers of Egypt under the soles of my feet

Here Sennachrib is exaggerating his conquest and travels across the rivers of Egypt by claiming to have dried up the rivers when he marched his army through them. AT: "I have marched through all the rivers of Egypt as if they were dry under my feet" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

translationWords

servant

lord

chariot

Lebanon

cedar

fir

Egypt

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

to the heights of mountains the Temple mount.

to the end of the Lebanon the Temple.

and I will cut down its tallest cedars I will not go to my land until I destroy it.

its remotest height (lit., the height of) its end.

its farmland forest The best of its praise and the intensity of its strength.

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.