This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: 'The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you. This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him:This phrase introduces a divine pronouncement, emphasizing the authority and certainty of God's message. In the context of 2 Kings 19, this word is directed against Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, who has blasphemed God and threatened Jerusalem. The phrase underscores the theme of divine retribution against those who oppose God's people, reflecting the broader biblical narrative where God defends Israel against its enemies (e.g., Exodus 14:14). The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you;
"Virgin Daughter of Zion" is a poetic term for Jerusalem, symbolizing purity and the city's special status as God's chosen place. The use of "virgin" suggests inviolability, despite the threats from Assyria. The imagery of despising and mocking indicates a reversal of fortunes; the Assyrian king, who once seemed invincible, is now scorned by the very city he sought to conquer. This reflects the biblical theme of God humbling the proud (Isaiah 2:12). the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.
The "Daughter of Jerusalem" is another personification of the city, emphasizing its identity and relationship with God. Shaking the head is a gesture of derision and disbelief, indicating that the threat posed by Sennacherib is ultimately futile. This act of defiance is rooted in faith in God's deliverance, as seen in other biblical accounts where God intervenes on behalf of His people (e.g., Psalm 44:7). The imagery also foreshadows the ultimate victory of God's kingdom, as seen in prophetic literature (e.g., Revelation 19:11-16). Persons / Places / Events 1. The LORDThe sovereign God of Israel, who speaks through the prophet Isaiah to deliver a message of judgment and assurance. 2. The Virgin Daughter of ZionA poetic personification of Jerusalem, representing the people of God who are under threat but remain pure and protected by God. 3. The Daughter of JerusalemAnother personification of the city, emphasizing its role as the center of worship and God's chosen dwelling place. 4. SennacheribThe Assyrian king who besieged Jerusalem, representing the forces of evil and opposition against God's people. 5. IsaiahThe prophet through whom God delivers His message, serving as a mediator between God and the people of Judah. Teaching Points God's Sovereignty and ProtectionDespite the threats from powerful enemies, God remains in control and protects His people. Believers can trust in God's sovereignty over their lives. The Power of Mockery Against EvilThe imagery of Jerusalem mocking Sennacherib serves as a reminder that evil, no matter how intimidating, is ultimately powerless against God. Christians can find courage in this truth. The Role of ProphecyProphets like Isaiah play a crucial role in communicating God's will and providing assurance. Believers should seek and value godly counsel and biblical prophecy. The Identity of God's PeopleThe terms "Virgin Daughter of Zion" and "Daughter of Jerusalem" highlight the identity and purity of God's people. Christians are called to live in a way that reflects their identity in Christ. Bible Study Questions 1. How does understanding God's sovereignty in 2 Kings 19:21 help you face challenges in your own life? 2. In what ways can you apply the imagery of Jerusalem mocking its enemies to your spiritual battles today? 3. How does the role of Isaiah as a prophet encourage you to seek and listen to godly counsel in your life? 4. What does the identity of "Virgin Daughter of Zion" teach us about how we should view our relationship with God? 5. How can you connect the assurance found in 2 Kings 19:21 with the hope described in Revelation 21:2? Connections to Other Scriptures Isaiah 37:22This verse parallels 2 Kings 19:21, as it is part of the same account, emphasizing God's protection over Jerusalem. Psalm 2:4This Psalm speaks of God laughing at the nations' futile plans, similar to how Jerusalem mocks Sennacherib's threats. Lamentations 2:13Offers a contrasting view of Jerusalem's suffering, highlighting the city's vulnerability without God's protection. Revelation 21:2Describes the New Jerusalem as a bride, connecting the imagery of purity and divine protection. People Adrammelech, Amoz, Assyrians, David, Eliakim, Esarhaddon, Haran, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Rabshakeh, Sennacherib, Sharezer, Shebna, TirhakahPlaces Ararat, Arpad, Assyria, Cush, Egypt, Gozan, Hamath, Haran, Hena, Ivvah, Jerusalem, Lachish, Lebanon, Libnah, Mount Zion, Nineveh, Rezeph, Sepharvaim, Telassar, Tigris-Euphrates Region, ZionTopics Behind, Daughter, Despised, Despises, Despiseth, Flee, Jerusalem, Laughed, Laugheth, Mocked, Mocks, Ridiculed, Scorn, Scorns, Shaken, Shaketh, Shamed, Spake, Spoken, Sport, Tosses, Trampled, Virgin, Virgin-daughter, Wags, ZionDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Kings 19:21 5157 head
5674 daughters
5740 virgin 2 Kings 19:20-21 7270 Zion, as a place 2 Kings 19:20-23 5893 insults 2 Kings 19:20-28 8782 mockery 2 Kings 19:20-37 1429 prophecy, OT fulfilment 2 Kings 19:21-22 7271 Zion, as symbol 2 Kings 19:21-28 5776 achievement Library 'He Uttered his Voice, the Earth Melted'
'Then Isaiah the son of Amos sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. 22. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureThe Invasion of the Assyrians
(Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, Morning.) 2 Kings xix. 15-19. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the Lord, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their …
Charles Kingsley—Town and Country Sermons Whether Charity Requires that we Should Love Our Enemies?
Objection 1: It would seem that charity does not require us to love our enemies. For Augustine says (Enchiridion lxxiii) that "this great good," namely, the love of our enemies, is "not so universal in its application, as the object of our petition when we say: Forgive us our trespasses." Now no one is forgiven sin without he have charity, because, according to Prov. 10:12, "charity covereth all sins." Therefore charity does not require that we should love our enemies. Objection 2: Further, charity …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica The Sinner Arraigned and Convicted.
1. Conviction of guilt necessary.--2. A charge of rebellion against God advanced.--3. Where it is shown--that all men are born under God's law.--4. That no man hath perfectly kept it.--5. An appeal to the reader's conscience on this head, that he hath not.--6. That to have broken it, is an evil inexpressibly great.--7. Illustrated by a more particular view of the aggravations of this guilt, arising--from knowledge.--8. From divine favors received.--9. From convictions of conscience overborne.--10. …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul The Power of Assyria at Its Zenith; Esarhaddon and Assur-Bani-Pal
The Medes and Cimmerians: Lydia--The conquest of Egypt, of Arabia, and of Elam. As we have already seen, Sennacherib reigned for eight years after his triumph; eight years of tranquillity at home, and of peace with all his neighbours abroad. If we examine the contemporary monuments or the documents of a later period, and attempt to glean from them some details concerning the close of his career, we find that there is a complete absence of any record of national movement on the part of either Elam, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8 The Golden Eagle is Cut to Pieces. Herod's Barbarity when He was Ready to Die. He Attempts to Kill Himself. He Commands Antipater to be Slain.
1. Now Herod's distemper became more and more severe to him, and this because these his disorders fell upon him in his old age, and when he was in a melancholy condition; for he was already seventy years of age, and had been brought by the calamities that happened to him about his children, whereby he had no pleasure in life, even when he was in health; the grief also that Antipater was still alive aggravated his disease, whom he resolved to put to death now not at random, but as soon as he should …
Flavius Josephus—The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem A Discourse of the House and Forest of Lebanon
OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. That part of Palestine in which the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated, is the border country adjoining Syria, having Sidon for its seaport, and Land, nearly adjoining the city of Damascus, on the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; and during the border conflicts it served as a cover to the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with great reason, supposes that, to keep …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 It is Strange that These Delightful Promises Affect us Coldly...
It is strange that these delightful promises affect us coldly, or scarcely at all, so that the generality of men prefer to wander up and down, forsaking the fountain of living waters, and hewing out to themselves broken cisterns, rather than embrace the divine liberality voluntarily offered to them (Jer. 2:13). "The name of the Lord," says Solomon, "is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." (Pr. 18:10) Joel, after predicting the fearful disaster which was at hand, subjoins the …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith Scriptural Types.
1. The material world is full of analogies adapted to the illustration of spiritual things. No teacher ever drew from this inexhaustible storehouse such a rich variety of examples as our Saviour. His disciples are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and a city set on a hill. From the ravens which God feeds and the lilies which God clothes, he teaches the unreasonableness of worldly anxiety. The kingdom of heaven is like seed sown in different soils, like a field of wheat and tares …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Letter xxviii (Circa A. D. 1130) to the Abbots Assembled at Soissons
To the Abbots Assembled at Soissons [45] Bernard urges the abbots zealously to perform the duty for which they had met. He recommends to them a great desire of spiritual progress, and begs them not to be delayed in their work if lukewarm and lax persons should perhaps murmur. To the Reverend Abbots met in the name of the Lord in Chapter at Soissons, brother Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, the servant of their Holiness, health and prayer that they may see, establish, and observe the things which are …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux A Living Book
[Illustration: (drop cap T) Symbol of "Asshur", the principal Assyrian idol.] There is only one Book that never grows old. For thousands of years men have been writing books. Most books are forgotten soon after they are written; a few of the best and wisest are remembered for a time. But all at last grow old; new discoveries are made; new ideas arise; the old books are out of date; their usefulness is at an end. Students are the only people who still care to read them. The nations to which the …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making The First Commandment
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Why is the commandment in the second person singular, Thou? Why does not God say, You shall have no other gods? Because the commandment concerns every one, and God would have each one take it as spoken to him by name. Though we are forward to take privileges to ourselves, yet we are apt to shift off duties from ourselves to others; therefore the commandment is in the second person, Thou and Thou, that every one may know that it is spoken to him, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments The Prophet Amos.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the prophet Amos, since on the main point--viz., the circumstances under which he appeared as a prophet--the introduction to the prophecies of Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.), …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 2 Kings 19:21 NIV2 Kings 19:21 NLT2 Kings 19:21 ESV2 Kings 19:21 NASB2 Kings 19:21 KJV
2 Kings 19:21 Commentaries
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