But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not also sent me to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”
Parallel translations
- WEB But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you, to speak these words? Hasn’t he sent me to the men who sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own urine with you?”
- KJV But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
- BSB But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
- NKJV But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?”
- NLT But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied, “Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Rabshakeh crudely insists his message is for the people on the wall, who will suffer siege starvation along with their king. He deliberately stokes fear among the populace.
Overview
Rejecting the officials' request, the Assyrian speaks vulgarly of siege horrors to terrify the watching citizens. His graphic threat of starvation aims to turn the people against Hezekiah. This is calculated propaganda designed to break Judah's will from within. The cruelty of his words contrasts sharply with the LORD who cares for his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Deut 28:53–57You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you.
- 2 Kgs 6:25There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.
- Lam 4:5Those who fed delicately are desolate in the streets: Those who were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
- Ezek 4:13Yahweh said, “Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.”
- Ezek 4:15Then he said to me, “Behold, I have given you cow’s dung for man’s dung, and you shall prepare your bread on it.”
- Ps 73:8They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 18:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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