And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
Parallel translations
- WEB Rabshakeh said to them, “Now tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What confidence is this in which you trust?
- BSB The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
- NKJV Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust?
- NASB And Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: “What is this confidence that you have?
- NLT Then the Assyrian king’s chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?
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
The Rabshakeh, speaking for the Assyrian king, mocks Hezekiah's confidence and demands to know what he trusts in.
Overview
Calling his master 'the great king,' the Rabshakeh opens his propaganda by ridiculing the basis of Judah's hope. His central question, 'what is this confidence,' aims to undermine trust in God. The challenge frames the whole episode as a test of where true security lies, in human power or in the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 2 Kgs 18:19–37And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
- Isa 10:8–14For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
- Ps 42:3My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
- Ezek 31:3–18Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.
- Jude 1:16These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.
- Prov 16:18Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
- Ps 42:10As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?
- Acts 12:22–23And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
- 2 Kgs 19:10Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
- Ps 71:10–11For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,
- 2 Chr 32:14–16Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?
- Isa 37:11–15Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
- 2 Chr 32:7–10Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:
- 2 Kgs 18:5He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
- Dan 4:30The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
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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 36:4 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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