Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 18
Eliakim, Shebna and Joah agreed to attend this meeting because they wanted to hear the king of Assyria’s demands. They knew that the commander from Assyria would try to persuade them to accept those demands. However, they expected him to deal with them honourably and to respect them as the most important government officials in Judah.
They did not expect that the commander would use that meeting to try to persuade Judah’s people not to be loyal to Hezekiah. However, that is what happened. They had expected that the commander would speak to them in the language called Aramaic. That was originally the language in Aram (also called Syria). However, Aram’s past successes in war had made it into a kind of international language that government officials used.
Instead, the commander was speaking in the local form of the Hebrew language that people commonly used in Judah. That meant that the inhabitants of Jerusalem could understand the conversation. Many of them had gathered on the city wall to watch this important meeting.
Politely, the officials from Judah asked the commander only to use the Aramaic language. His reply to them was extremely nasty. He insisted that the people from the city had a right to hear and to understand his words. If Judah’s leaders did not agree to his demands, Assyria’s army would surround Jerusalem. They would not allow anyone to enter or to leave the city, and the people would starve. In the end, the only water and food available would be the waste materials from their own bodies.
It was a truly awful thing to say. The commander said it because he wanted to make the inhabitants of Jerusalem afraid.
Next part: The commander's proud and evil words (2 Kings 18:28-30)
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