Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And when have they saved Samaria from my hand?
Parallel translations
- WEB Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
- KJV Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
- BSB Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
- NKJV Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
- NLT What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power?
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
He lists conquered nations whose gods failed, asking where their help was.
Overview
Citing Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, and Samaria, the Rabshakeh boasts that their gods could not save them from Assyria. The list is meant to prove resistance is hopeless. But by including the northern kingdom's fall, he ignores that Israel fell under God's own judgment, not because the Lord was weak, a distinction that exposes his flawed reasoning.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Jer 49:23Of Damascus: “Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news, they are melted away: there is sorrow on the sea; it can’t be quiet.
- Isa 10:9–11Isn’t Calno like Carchemish? Isn’t Hamath like Arpad? Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?”
- 2 Kgs 17:24The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, from Cuthah, from Avva, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and lived in its cities.
- 2 Sam 8:9When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had struck all the army of Hadadezer,
- Isa 37:11–13Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered?
- 2 Kgs 17:5–7Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
- Num 34:8From Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the border shall pass by Zedad.
- 2 Kgs 18:10–12At the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 36:19 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.