I have dug and drunk water, And with the soles of my feet I have dried up All the brooks of defense.’
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.”
- KJV I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
- BSB I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
- 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 20:10Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for handfuls for all the people who follow me.”
- Deut 11:10For the land, where you go in to possess it, isn’t as the land of Egypt, that you came out of, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs;
- 2 Kgs 19:23–24By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field.
- Isa 36:12But Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you, to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat their own dung and drink their own urine 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.