I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
Parallel translations
- WEB I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt.”
- BSB I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
- NKJV I have dug and drunk water, And with the soles of my feet I have dried up All the brooks of defense.’
- NASB ‘I dug wells and drank waters, And with the sole of my feet I dried up All the canals of Egypt.’
- NLT I have dug wells in many foreign lands and refreshed myself with their water. With the sole of my foot, I stopped up all the rivers of Egypt!’
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
Sennacherib boasts that he dug wells and dried up Egypt's rivers with his feet. His self-exaltation claims power even over nature.
Overview
Continuing the quoted boast, the king credits himself with feats that border on claiming divine control of the waters. Such language reveals a heart that has forgotten its creaturely limits. The Lord will answer this pride by revealing that even Assyria's conquests were granted by him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 1 Kgs 20:10And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
- Deut 11:10For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
- 2 Kgs 19:23–24By thy messengers thou hast reproached the LORD, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
- Isa 36:12But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
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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 37:25 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.