2 Chronicles 32:9

After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9-21) A brief summary of what is related in 2Ki 18:17 to 2Ki 19:37.

(9) After this did Sennacherib . . . send.—See 2Kings 18:17.

But he himself . . . Lachish.—The verb nilkham, “fought,” has perhaps fallen out. The great inscription of Sennacherib says nothing about the siege of Lachish; but a bas-relief, now in the British Museum, represents him seated on his throne receiving a file of captives who issue from the gate of a city. Over the king’s head is written “Sennacherib, the king of multitudes, the king of the land of Asshur, on a raised throne sate, and caused the spoils of the city of Lachish (Lakisu) to pass before him.”

His power.—Literally, his dominion or realm. Comp. Jeremiah 34:1, “all the kingdoms of the lands of the dominion of his hand.” The word hêl, “army,” may have fallen out.

Benson Commentary

2 Chronicles 32:9-10. After this did Sennacherib send his servants to Jerusalem —

Of this and the following verses, see notes on 2 Kings 18:17, &c., and 2 Chronicles 19:10, &c. Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege, &c. — Or rather, why do ye stay till Jerusalem is besieged; or, resolve to stand a siege? For the city was not yet besieged.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

32:1-23 Those who trust God with their safety, must use proper means, else they tempt him. God will provide, but so must we also. Hezekiah gathered his people together, and spake comfortably to them. A believing confidence in God, will raise us above the prevailing fear of man. Let the good subjects and soldiers of Jesus Christ, rest upon his word, and boldly say, Since God is for us, who can be against us? By the favour of God, enemies are lost, and friends gained.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The author of Chronicles compresses into 13 verses the history which occupies in Kings a chapter and a half (2 Kings 18:17-19; where see the notes).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9-20. (See on [466]2Ki 18:17-35; also 2Ki 19:8-34).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Of this and the following verses, See Poole "2 Kings 18:17", &c.; See Poole "2 Kings 19:10", &c.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem,.... Who are mentioned by name, 2 Kings 18:17 this was after Hezekiah had given him a large quantity of silver and gold to depart, and he did depart from him, 2 Kings 18:14

but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him; one of the cities of Judah, see Isaiah 36:2, from hence he dispatched them

unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem; who had retired thither for safety, upon the invasion of their country by the king of Assyria.

Geneva Study Bible

After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege {f} against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,

(f) While he besieged Lachish.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. his servants] Three of these are specified in 2 Kin. by their titles, viz. the Tartan (“Commander-in-chief”), the Rab-saris (“Chief of the Heads”), and the Rab-shakeh (“Chief of the officers”).

but he himself laid siege against Lachish] R.V. now he was before Lachish. The capture of Lachish by Sennacherib and its spoliation are shewn on an Assyrian relief now in the British Museum. The king himself besieged Lachish because it was of more importance for the main object of the campaign than Jerusalem. Sennacherib’s objective was Egypt (Herod. ii. 141), and Lachish (Tell-el-Ḥesy, Bädeker, p. 154), lay directly in his path.

9–19 (cp. 2 Kings 18:17-35). Sennacherib’s Threatening Messages

In this section Chron. briefly summarizes 2 Kin.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - The passage beginning with this verse and ending with ver. 21 represents the much fuller parallel (2 Kings 18:17-19:37), fifty-eight verses in all This much greater fulness is owing to the greater length at which the language of defiance on the part of Sennacherib and his appointed officers is narrated, and the matter of his subsequent letter; also the prayer of Hezekiah; and his application to Isaiah, with the reply of the latter to it. On the other side, there is very little additional in our narrative, a few words heightening the effect in our vers. 18, 20, 21, constituting the whole of such additional matter. The vague mark of time, after this, with which our present verse opens, merely says that in due course of Sennacherib's invasion of Judah, and attack of the fenced cities (ver. 1), he proceeds to send his servants and his insolent defiances to the metropolis, Jerusalem itself. The three words in italics, "himself laid "siege," should evidently give place to the single word "remained" or "was;" i.e. he and all his host with him remained at, or opposite to, Lachish, while his servants went to defy Jerusalem in his name. 2 Chronicles 32:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The advance of an Assyrian army against Jerusalem, and the attempts of Sennacherib's generals to induce the population of the capital to submit by persuasive and threatening speeches, are very breifly narrated, in comparison with 2 Kings 18:17-36. In 2 Chronicles 32:9, neither the names of the Assyrian generals, nor the names of Hezekiah's ambassadors with whom they treated, are given; nor is the place where the negotiation was carried on mentioned. עבדיו, his servants, Sennacherib's generals. על־לך, while he himself lay near (or against) Lachish, and all the army of his kingdom with him. ממשׁלתּו, his dominion, i.e., army of his kingdom; cf. Jeremiah 34:1.