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Isaiah 36 · a question people ask

Rabshakeh says, "The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land, and destroy it.”" (36:10). Was he telling the truth?

In the text

Isaiah 36 gives his words and doesn't say. He asks, "Have I come up now without the LORD against this land to destroy it?" (36:10), and answers, "The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land, and destroy it.”" (36:10). The chapter adds nothing. In the next chapter the LORD speaks through Isaiah, and two things are said there. "Don’t be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me" (37:6). And to the king of Assyria: "Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to destroy fortified cities, turning them into ruinous heaps" (37:26). Those verses are set beside 36:10 here, and nothing is added to join them. 2 Kings 18 asks the same question of its own telling (2 Kings 18:25).

The verses

“Have I come up now without the LORD against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land, and destroy it.”’””
Isaiah 36:10 · World English Bible
“Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The LORD says, “Don’t be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.”
Isaiah 37:6 · World English Bible
““‘Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to destroy fortified cities, turning them into ruinous heaps.”
Isaiah 37:26 · World English Bible
“Have I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’”’””
2 Kings 18:25 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Isaiah 36

Isaiah 36: In whom do you trust?

Isaiah names Hezekiah in its first verse and not again until chapter 36, and here he never speaks. The chapter belongs to Rabshakeh, and its word is trust, seven times, every one in his mouth. He calls Egypt a staff of reed that pierces the hand, says the LORD sent him, and asks who can deliver Jerusalem out of his hand. The chapter ends in silence, by the king's command.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions