Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 18
The commander from Assyria finished his speech with a strong appeal to Hezekiah. He urged Hezekiah to recognise that Judah’s army was weak. Even if Assyria’s king sent 2000 horses, there would not be enough skilled riders in Judah’s army to ride on them.
The commander said that he did not need to send a strong army to defeat Jerusalem. Any unimportant captain in Assyria’s army would defeat the men whom Hezekiah commanded. So, it seemed clear to the commander that Hezekiah was depending upon the support of Egypt’s army. The commander had already explained why he considered that attitude to be foolish (18:21).
In his words about the strength of Assyria’s army, the commander was speaking too proudly. He himself knew that it would be necessary to send a strong army against Jerusalem. The leaders of that army would be its most important commanders. Assyria’s king himself was at that time leading his army against Lachish (2 Chronicles 32:9). However, it seems clear that Assyria’s army was very much stronger than Judah’s army. Assyria’s army had already taken the other cities in Judah (18:13). Whatever remained of Judah’s army was clearly very weak now.
Lastly, the commander tried to destroy Hezekiah’s trust in God’s protection. God had declared by his prophets (holy men) that Judah’s people would suffer God’s judgment because of their evil deeds (Jeremiah 26:17-19). It is possible that God might send a foreign king to carry out an act of judgment against his people. So, for this reason, Hezekiah afterwards went to Isaiah the prophet (19:1-7). Hezekiah needed God to direct him what he should do in this situation.
Next part: Aramaic and Hebrew (2 Kings 18:26-27)
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