“And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.”
Sackcloth. Emblems of repentance. Sennacherib’s boasting (ver. 13.) was chastised, ver. 36. (Worthington)
“Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. send: or, put a spirit into him”
Spirit. Angel, or a different design, 2 Thessalonians ii. 8. (Calmet)
“Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, nations: Heb. lands”
Lands. Hebrew, “all the lands and their land.” The parallel text is more correct, “the nations and their land.” (Kennicott)
“By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. By thy: Heb. By the hand of thy servants the tall: Heb. the tallness of the cedars thereof and the choice of the fir trees thereof the forest: or, the forest and his fruitful field”
Carmel. See 4 Kings xix. (Challoner)
“I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places. besieged: or, fenced and closed”
Shut, &c. Hebrew matsor, (Haydock) “of Egypt,” where Sennacherib had been. (Calmet)
“Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.”
Lips, and treat thee like some ungovernable beast. (Haydock) (Ezechiel xxix. 4., and xxxviii. 4.) (Calmet)
“And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.”
Thee. He directeth his speech to Ezechias.
“For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.”
Servant. Hence it plainly appears that God protects the living for the sake of the saints departed. To evade this proof, Protestants (Bible 1603) explain, “for God’s promise sake made to David.” But God never made any such promise to him; otherwise the city would never have been destroyed. (Worthington)
“Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”
They. The people of Jerusalem, or rather the soldiers of Ezechias, who saw those who had been slain, near Pelusium. (Calmet)