Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Who are you counting on, that you have rebelled against me?
Parallel translations
- WEB I say that your counsel and strength for the war are only vain words. Now in whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me?
- KJV I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
- BSB You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?
- NKJV I say you speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. Now in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?
- NASB I say, ‘Your plan and strength for the war are only empty words.’ Now on whom have you relied, that you have revolted against me?
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 dismisses Judah's plans and strength as empty words and asks why they have rebelled.
Overview
The Rabshakeh argues that Judah has no real military capability and that its strategy is mere talk. He presses the question of misplaced trust, implying rebellion against Assyria is foolish. The taunt is designed to erode morale, but it also unwittingly sets up the demonstration that Judah's true strength is God, not arms.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 2 Kgs 18:7Yahweh was with him. Wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria, and didn’t serve him.
- Jer 52:3For through Yahweh’s anger this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
- 2 Kgs 24:1In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.
- Neh 2:19–20But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammontite servant, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us, and despised us, and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?”
- Prov 21:30–31There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against Yahweh.
- Prov 24:5–6A wise man has great power; and a knowledgeable man increases strength;
- Ezek 17:15But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the covenant, and still escape?
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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 36:5 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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