Isaiah 37:7

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) I will send a blast upon him.—Better, I will put a spirit in him. The Authorised Version suggests the idea of some physical calamity, like that which actually destroyed the Assyrian army. Here, however, the “spirit,” stands for the impulse, strong and mighty, which overpowers previous resolves. (Comp. Isaiah 30:28.)

He shall hear a rumour.—The words admit of being explained either as a prediction rising out of a purely supernatural foresight, or as resting on some secret intelligence which Israel had received as to the movements of Tirhakah.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

37:1-38 This chapter is the same as 2Ki 19

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Behold, I will send a blast upon him - Margin, 'Put a spirit into him.' The word rendered 'blast' (רוח rûach) is commonly rendered 'spirit.' It may denote breath, air, soul, or spirit. There is no reason to think that the word is used here in the sense of blast of wind, as our translators seem to have supposed. The sense is probably, 'I will infuse into him a spirit of fear, by which be shall be alarmed by the rumour which he shall hear, and return to his own land.' The word is often used in this sense (compare 1 Samuel 16:14; see also Isaiah 31:8-9). Gesenius understands it here in the sense of will or disposition. 'I will change his will or disposition, so that he will return to his own land.'

And he shall hear a rumour - The rumour or report here referred to, was doubtless that respecting Tirhakah king of Ethiopia Isaiah 37:9. It was this which would alarm him, and drive him in haste from the cities which he was now besieging, and be the means of expelling him from the land.

And I will cause him ... - This is said in accordance with the usual statements in the Scriptures, that all events are under God's providential control (compare the note at Isaiah 10:5-6).

By the sword in his own land - (See the note at Isaiah 37:38).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

7. blast—rather, "I will put a spirit (Isa 28:6; 1Ki 22:23) into him," that is, so influence his judgment that when he hears the report (Isa 37:9, concerning Tirhakah), he shall return [Gesenius]; the "report" also of the destruction of his army at Jerusalem, reaching Sennacherib, while he was in the southwest of Palestine on the borders of Egypt, led him to retreat.

by the sword—(Isa 37:38).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Behold, I will send a blast upon him,.... The king of Assyria; a pestilential one, as he afterwards did, which destroyed his army: or,

I will put a spirit into him (s); a spirit of fear and dread, which will oblige him to desist from his purposes, and flee; though some interpret it only of an inclination, a will (t) in him, to return: it may be understood of an angel, a ministering spirit, and be rendered "I will send a spirit against him"; an angelic spirit, as he did, which cut off his army in one night:

and he shall hear a rumour; of the sudden and total destruction of his army; though some refer this to the rumour of the king of Ethiopia coming out to make war against him, Isaiah 37:9, but upon this he did not return to his own land, nor was he slain with the sword, as follows:

and return to his own land; as he did, immediately upon the slaughter of his army by the angel:

and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land: as he did, being slain by his own sons, Isaiah 37:37.

(s) "indam ei Spiritum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (t) So Ben Melech explains it by "will", "desire", "purpose".

Geneva Study Bible

Behold, I will send a wind upon him, and he shall hear a {f} rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

(f) Of the Egyptians and Ethiopians, who will come and fight against him.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. I will send a blast upon him] Render as in R.V. I will put a spirit in him, i.e. a spirit of craven fear, depriving him of his natural courage and resourcefulness. How the spirit will work is stated in what follows: a mere rumour will drive him back to his own land, there to meet his death (cf. 2 Kings 7:6). There is no allusion in this oracle to the disastrous blow recorded in Isaiah 37:36. The “rumour” is no doubt that of the approach of Tirhakah (Isaiah 37:9).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 7. - Behold, I will send a blast upon him; rather, I will put a spirit within him; i.e. I will take away from him the spirit of pride and arrogance by which he has been hitherto actuated, and I will infuse into his heart, instead, a spirit of hesitation and fear. He shall hear a rumour; literally, as Delitzsch translates, he shall hear a hearsay; i.e. "a report," or "tidings." It is uncertain what "tidings" are intended. Some suppose "tidings of the movements of Tirhakah;" others, "tidings of the destruction of his host;" a few, "tidings of an insurrection in some other part of the Assyrian empire." This last supposition is wholly gratuitous, since we have no indication, either in Scripture or in the inscriptions, of any such insurrection. The choice lies between the other two, or between one or other of them, and the two combined. The vagueness is owing, not to the time at which the present narrative took shape, but to the fact that a vague promise - quite sufficient for its purpose - was given at first, the filling in of the details being reserved for a later period (see vers. 22-35). I will cause him to fall by the sword (see ver. 38). Isaiah 37:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Isaiah's reply. "And the servants of king Hizkiyahu came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them (אליהם, K. להם), Speak thus to your lord, Thus saith Jehovah, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Asshur have blasphemed me! Behold, I will bring a spirit upon him, and he will hear a hearsay, and return to his land; and I cut him down with the sword in his own land." Luzzatto, without any necessity, takes ויּאמרוּ in Isaiah 37:3 in the modal sense of what they were to do (e dovevano dirgli): they were to say this to him, but he anticipated them at once with the instructions given here. The fact, so far as the style is concerned, is rather this, that Isaiah 37:5, while pointing back, gives the ground for Isaiah 37:6 : "and when they had come to him (saying this), he said to them." נערי we render "servants" (Knappen)

(Note: Knappe is the same word as "Knave;" but we have no word in use now which is an exact equivalent, and knave has entirely lost its original sense of servant. - Tr.)

after Esther 2:2; Esther 6:3, Esther 6:5; it is a more contemptuous expression than עבדי. The rūăch mentioned here as sent by God is a superior force of a spiritual kind, which influences both thought and conduct, as in such other connections as Isaiah 19:14; Isaiah 28:6; Isaiah 29:10 (Psychol. p. 295, Anm.).

The external occasion which determined the return of Sennacherib, as described in Isaiah 37:36-37, was the fearful mortality that had taken place in his army. The shemū‛âh (rumour, hearsay), however, was not the tidings of this catastrophe, but, as the continuation of the account in Isaiah 37:8, Isaiah 37:9, clearly shows, the report of the advance of Tirhakah, which compelled Sennacherib to leave Palestine in consequence of this catastrophe. The prediction of his death is sufficiently special to be regarded by modern commentators, who will admit nothing but the most misty figures as prophecies, as a vaticinium post eventum. At the same time, the prediction of the event which would drive the Assyrian out of the land is intentionally couched in these general terms. The faith of the king, and of the inquirers generally, still needed to be tested and exercised. The time had not yet come for him to be rewarded by a clearer and fuller announcement of the judgment.