Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 18
In most English Bibles, the word LORD (in capital letters) translates the most holy name of the one true God, from the Hebrew language. This is the name of Israel’s God, the God who created heaven and earth.
The commander from Assyria had already said many terrible things to insult both God, and Judah’s king Hezekiah. His final words to the people show the commander to be a proud man who did not know the power of the true God (Psalm 14).
The commander explained that many nations had depended on the power of their false gods to save them from Assyria’s army. He gave a list of formerly great and powerful nations that Assyria’s army had completely defeated. None of the gods of those nations was powerful enough to stand against Assyria’s army.
The last place on that list was Samaria, the former capital of northern and central Israel. Assyria’s army had defeated it just 8 years earlier. Samaria’s people should have served the same God as Judah’s people served. However, the God of Israel did not save the people in northern and central Israel. So, to the commander, it seemed very foolish for Judah’s people to say that they depended on the God of Israel. If Assyria’s army could defeat Samaria, then clearly that army was powerful enough to defeat Jerusalem too.
It was not just those nations that the proud commander from Assyria claimed to have defeated. He boldly insisted that he – or rather, his king – had defeated their gods too. He was saying that his king had power in the spirit world over any false god – and even over the true God.
Next part: Jerusalem's people remain silent (2 Kings 18:36-37)
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