isaiah 36 and 37

The Hebrew paragraph divisions:

Isa 36:1-10 {s} The king of Assyria came up against Judah, and surrounded Jerusalem with threats
Isa 36:11-16a {p} Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for neither he nor YHVH will deliver you from Assyria
Isa 36:16b-22 {s} Where are the gods who have not delivered others from Assyria? Nor shall YHVH deliver you
Isa 37:1-14 {s} Thus says YHVH: Do not be afraid of the words with which Assyria has blasphemed Me
Isa 37:15-32 {s} Hezekiah’s prayer: Save us, O YHVH!/ YHVH’s answer: I will turn him back by the way he came
Isa 37:33-35 {s} He shall not come into this city, for I will defend it to save it, for My own + David’s sake
Isa 37:36-38 {s} The Angel of YHVH slew 185,000 Assyrians in the camp/ Sennacherib returned, was murdered, his son reigned in his stead

The chiastic structure:

1a) 36:1-2, Sennacherib the king of Assyria came up against Jerusalem with a great army;

1b) Isa 36:3-22 {s+p+s} The boastful + blasphemous words of the king of Assyria against Jerusalem + the LORD;

1a) Isa 36:3, Eliakim the steward, Shebna the scribe, Joah the recorder, came out to meet the Rabshakeh;
1b) Isa 36:4a, Then the Rabshakeh said to them: Say now to Hezekiah;
1c) Isa 36:4b-13, In whom do you place your trust/ you are not able to repel the least of Assyria’s captains;

1a) Isa 36:4b, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria;
1b) Isa 36:4c-10 {s} You cannot withstand me, for I have come up against the land to destroy it;

1a.1) Isa 36:4c-6, In whom do you trust: Egypt? they are a broken staff;
1a.2) Isa 36:7, If you trust in your God, did not Hezekiah just remove His high places + altars;
central axis) Isa 36:8-9a, If I gave you 2000 horses, you do not have enough riders to mount them; how can you withstand the least captain of the king of Assyria;
1a.1) Isa 36:9b, And put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen;
1a.2) Isa 36:10 {s} Even your God told me to come up against this land to destroy it;

central axis) Isa 36:11, Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said: Do not speak in Hebrew in the hearing of the people;
2b) Isa 36:12, Rabshakeh: The men on the wall of Jerusalem will experience destruction along with their king;
2a) Isa 36:13, The Rabshakeh called out in Hebrew: ‘Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!’

1d) Isa 36:14-16a {p} Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, by making you trust in the LORD to deliver you;
central axis) Isa 36:16b-17, “For thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards;”
2d) Isa 36:18a, Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The LORD will deliver us;”
2c) Isa 36:18b-20, Which god has delivered their lands from Assyria, that the LORD should deliver you?;
2b) Isa 36:21, They answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him;”
2a) Isa 36:22 {s} Eliakim, Shebna, Joah came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn + told him the Rabshakeh’s words;

1c.1) Isa 37:1, When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth + went into the house of YHVH;
1c.2) Isa 37:2-5, Hezekiah sent his servants to Isaiah: Perhaps YHVH will hear these reproachful words + pray for us;

1d) Isa 37:6-7, YHVH: Do not be afraid of his words with which he has blasphemed Me: he shall return + fall;

central axis) Isa 37:8-9a, “Then the Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish. And the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, ‘He has come out to make war with you;’”

2d) Isa 37:9b-13, Sennacherib: Do not let your God deceive you, for just as the gods have not delivered their lands, so your God will not deliver you;

2c.1) Isa 37:14 {s} When Hezekiah read this letter, he went up to the house of YHVH, and spread it before Him;
2c.2) Isa 37:15-20, Hezekiah’s prayer: Hear the reproachful words of Sennacherib, and save us from his hand;

2b) Isa 37:21-35 {s+s} The right + true words of the LORD against Sennacherib the king of Assyria;

1a) Isa 37:21-22, Because you have prayed to Me, thus says YHVH: The daughter of Zion scorns Sennacherib;

1b.1) Isa 37:23-29a, Whom have you reproached? The Holy One of Israel! But I decreed your way long ago;
1b.2) Isa 37:29b, I will put My hook + bridle in your nose + lips, and turn you back by the way which you came;

central axis) Isa 37:30-32 {s} “This shall be a sign to you: You shall eat this year such as grows of itself, and the second year what springs from the same; also in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this;

2b.1) Isa 37:33, YHVH: ‘He shall not come into this city, nor raise a weapon against it, nor besiege it;
2b.2) Isa 37:34, By the way that he came, by the same shall he return/ he shall not come into this city;

2a) Isa 37:35 {s} YHVH: ‘For I will defend this city, to save it for My own sake + My servant David’s sake;’

2a) Isa 37:36-38 {s} The Angel of YHVH slew 185,000 Assyrians in the camp/ Sennacherib returned.

Why is the central axis of the two chapters the report which Sennacherib heard, which caused him to change his plans? It is tied in to the strong theme which begins in chapter 35:

Isa 35:3-10 {s} Be strong, fear not! God will come bearing salvation; the ransomed of YHVH shall return to Zion
Isa 36:1-10 {s} The king of Assyria came up against Judah, and surrounded Jerusalem with threats
Isa 36:11-16a {p} Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for neither he nor the LORD will deliver you from Assyria

It didn’t make sense at first, because the end of the theme seems to contradict the beginning of the theme. The beginning of the theme are all words of restoration and hope, the LORD Himself saving Zion, and the jubilant return of His ransomed ones. It is prophetic of both the first and second comings of Messiah Yeshua, in which first His people are redeemed (from sin, death, and all the power of the devil, the root of cause of their rebellion and sin) and then returned to their land.

But the end of the theme is the promise of the exact opposite, and confirmed by every circumstance which the eyes can see: an army of 185,000, of seasoned and trained warriors, which no place on the earth had been able to withstand up to that time. The end of the theme carries the warning, Do not be deceived by the words you just heard, for God will not save or deliver you!

And that is the point: The word of the LORD, is: Fear not! I will deliver you! And the word of the enemy is its exact opposite: God will not deliver you, and besides, look at the circumstances which your eyes can see; you have every reason to fear! But whose word came true? The word of the LORD. The strong theme is teaching us, how the enemy will lie to us even with circumstances which our eyes can see, which seem to corroborate his lies; but in reality we have nothing to fear. The reality is, we can trust the word of the LORD which denies the circumstances our eyes can see.

Isa 35:3-36:16a strong theme: {s+s+p} God’s word: Be strong, fear not! God will come bearing salvation/ The enemy’s word: God will not deliver you.

The central axis records the turning of the tide, which began changing the circumstances which the eyes could see.

For further reading:

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia entry on Tirhakah king of Ethiopia.