Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’
Parallel translations
- WEB Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.’
- KJV Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
- NKJV Because your rage against Me and your tumult Have come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back By the way which you came.
- NASB ‘Because of your raging against Me, And because your complacency has come up to My ears, I will put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
- NLT And because of your raging against me and your arrogance, which I have heard for myself, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth. I will make you return by the same road on which you came.”
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
Because of his arrogance, God will put a hook in Sennacherib's nose and a bridle in his lips and turn him back the way he came. God will humble and reverse the proud king's advance.
Overview
Using imagery the Assyrians themselves used on captives, God promises to lead Sennacherib back like a beast under control. His arrogance reaching God's ears seals his humiliation. The promise to 'turn you back' announces the failure of his campaign against Jerusalem. It vividly portrays God's sovereign mastery over even the mightiest rebel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Ezek 29:4But I will put hooks in your jaws and cause the fish of your streams to cling to your scales. I will haul you up out of your rivers, and all the fish of your streams will cling to your scales.
- Ezek 38:4I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army—your horses, your horsemen in full armor, and a great company armed with shields and bucklers, all brandishing their swords.
- 2 Kgs 19:33He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city,’ declares the LORD.
- Amos 4:2The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness: “Behold, the days are coming when you will be taken away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
- Job 41:2Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?
- Isa 30:28His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction; He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.
- Ps 32:9Do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding; they must be controlled with bit and bridle to make them come to you.
- Ps 65:7You stilled the roaring of the seas, the pounding of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.
- Ps 7:6Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.
- Ps 83:2See how Your enemies rage, how Your foes have reared their heads.
- Ps 46:6Nations rage, kingdoms crumble; the earth melts when He lifts His voice.
- Ps 93:3–4The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
- Ps 74:23Do not disregard the clamor of Your adversaries, the uproar of Your enemies that ascends continually.
- Ps 10:13–14Why has the wicked man renounced God? He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.”
- Ps 74:4Your foes have roared within Your meeting place; they have unfurled their banners as signs,
- John 15:18If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.
- John 15:23–24Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well.
- 2 Kgs 19:36–37So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
- Ezek 19:9With hooks they caged him and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into captivity so that his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel.
- Luke 6:11But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
- Acts 7:51You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Ps 2:1–5Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
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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 19:28 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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