Isaiah 36:2

Bible in Basic English (1941)

And the king of Assyria sent the Rab-shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a strong force, and he took up his position by the stream of the higher pool, by the highway of the washerman's

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיִּשְׁלַ֣ח מֶֽלֶךְ־אַשּׁ֣וּר ׀ אֶת־רַב־שָׁקֵ֨ה מִלָּכִ֧ישׁ יְרוּשָׁלַ֛͏ְמָה אֶל־הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ חִזְקִיָּ֖הוּ בְּחֵ֣יל כָּבֵ֑ד וַֽיַּעֲמֹ֗ד בִּתְעָלַת֙ הַבְּרֵכָ֣ה הָעֶלְיוֹנָ֔ה בִּמְסִלַּ֖ת שְׂדֵ֥ה כוֹבֵֽס

Transliteration

And wayyišlaḥ melek-ʾaššûr ʾeṯ-raḇ-šāqēh from lāḵîš yərûšālaymāh to ham-melek ḥizqîyāhû with ḥêl kāḇēḏ and wayyaʿămōḏ in təʿālaṯ hab-bərēḵāh hāʿelyônāh in məsillaṯ śəḏēh ḵôḇēs

Grammar Details

• *wayyišlaḥ*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - and he sent
• *melek-ʾaššûr*: construct noun + proper noun - king of Assyria
• *ʾeṯ-raḇ-šāqēh*: direct object marker + title/position - the Rabshakeh (chief cupbearer)
• *lāḵîš*: proper noun with prefixed מִן preposition - from Lachish
• *yərûšālaymāh*: proper noun + directional ה suffix - to/toward Jerusalem
• *ham-melek ḥizqîyāhû*: definite article + noun + proper noun - the king Hezekiah
• *ḥêl kāḇēḏ*: noun + adjective - heavy/great army
• *wayyaʿămōḏ*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - and he stood
• *təʿālaṯ hab-bərēḵāh hāʿelyônāh*: construct noun + definite article + noun + definite article + adjective - conduit of the pool the upper
• *məsillaṯ śəḏēh ḵôḇēs*: construct noun + construct noun + noun - highway of the field of fuller

Word Meanings

• *raḇ-šāqēh*: chief cupbearer/high official (Assyrian title)
• *ḥêl kāḇēḏ*: large army/heavy force/great company
• *təʿālaṯ*: conduit/aqueduct/water channel
• *bərēḵāh*: pool/reservoir
• *məsillaṯ*: highway/raised road
• *ḵôḇēs*: fuller/launderer/clothes-washer

Referenced Verses

• Isa 7:3 : 3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out now, you and Shear-jashub, your son, and you will come across Ahaz at the end of the stream flowing from the higher pool, in the highway of the washerman's field;
• 2 Kgs 18:17-37 : 17 Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan and the Rab-saris and the Rab-shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with a strong force. And they went up and came to Jerusalem, and took up their position by the stream of the higher pool, by the highway of the washerman's field. 18 And they sent for the king, and Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. 19 And the Rab-shakeh said to them, Say now to Hezekiah, These are the words of the great king, the king of Assyria: In what are you placing your hope? 20 You say you have a design, and strength for war, but these are only words. Now to whom are you looking for support, that you have gone against my authority? 21 See, now, you are basing your hope on that broken rod of Egypt, which will go through a man's hand if he makes use of it for a support; for so is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all who put their faith in him. 22 And if you say to me, Our hope is in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and Jerusalem that worship may only be given before this altar in Jerusalem? 23 And now, take a chance with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them. 24 How then may you put to shame the least of my master's servants? and you have put your hope in Egypt for war-carriages and horsemen: 25 And have I now come up to send destruction on this place without the Lord's authority? It was the Lord himself who said to me, Go up against this land and make it waste. 26 Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the Rab-shakeh, Will you kindly make use of the Aramaean language in talking to your servants, for we are used to it, and do not make use of the Jews' language in the hearing of the people on the wall. 27 But the Rab-shakeh said to them, Is it to your master or to you that my master has sent me to say these words? has he not sent me to the men seated on the wall? for they are the people who will be short of food with you when the town is shut in. 28 Then the Rab-shakeh got up and said with a loud voice in the Jews' language, Give ear to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria; 29 This is what the king says: Do not be tricked by Hezekiah, for there is no salvation for you in him. 30 And do not let Hezekiah make you put your faith in the Lord, saying, The Lord will certainly keep us safe, and this town will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria. 31 Do not give ear to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me; and everyone will be free to take the fruit of his vine and of his fig-tree, and the water of his spring; 32 Till I come and take you away to a land like yours, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vine-gardens, a land of oil-giving olives and of honey, so that life and not death may be your fate. Give no attention to Hezekiah when he says to you, The Lord will keep us safe. 33 Has any one of the gods of the nations kept his land from falling into the hands of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena and Ivvah? have they kept Samaria out of my hands? 35 Who among all the gods of these countries have kept their country from falling into my hands, to give cause for the thought that the Lord will keep Jerusalem from falling into my hands? 36 But the people kept quiet and gave him no answer: for the king's order was, Give him no answer. 37 Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah, with their clothing parted as a sign of grief, and gave him an account of what the Rab-shakeh had said.
• 2 Chr 32:9-9 : 9 After this, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent his servants to Jerusalem (at that time he was stationed with all his army in front of Lachish), to say to Hezekiah and all the men of Judah in Jerusalem, 10 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, says, In what are you placing your hope, waiting here in the walled town of Jerusalem? 11 Is it not Hezekiah who has got you to do it, causing your death from need of food and water, by saying, The Lord our God will give us salvation out of the hands of the king of Assyria? 12 Has not this same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, Give worship before one altar only, burning offerings on it? 13 Have you no knowledge of what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of every land? were the gods of the nations of those lands able to keep their land from falling into my hands? 14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations, which my fathers put to destruction, who was able to keep his people safe from my hands? and is it possible that your God will keep you safe from my hands? 15 So do not be tricked by Hezekiah or let him get you to do this, and do not put any faith in what he says: for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to keep his people safe from my hands, or the hands of my fathers: how much less will your God keep you safe from my hands! 16 And his servants said even more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. 17 And he sent letters, in addition, to put shame on the Lord, the God of Israel, and to say evil against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not been able to keep their people safe from my hands, no more will the God of Hezekiah keep his people safe from my hands. 18 These things they said, crying out with a loud voice in the Jews' language, to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, with the purpose of troubling them and putting fear into them, so that they might take the town; 19 Talking of the God of Jerusalem as if he was like the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men's hands. 20 And Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, made prayer because of this, crying out to heaven. 21 And the Lord sent an angel who put to death all the men of war and the chiefs and the captains in the army of the king of Assyria. So he went back to his country in shame. And when he came into the house of his god, his sons, the offspring of his body, put him to death there with the sword. 22 So the Lord gave Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem salvation from the power of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, and from all others, giving them rest on every side. 23 And great numbers came to Jerusalem with offerings for the Lord, and things of great price for Hezekiah, king of Judah: so that he was honoured among all nations from that time.
• Isa 22:9-9 : 9 And you saw all the broken places in the wall of the town of David: and you got together the waters of the lower pool. 10 And you had the houses of Jerusalem numbered, pulling down the houses to make the wall stronger. 11 And you made a place between the two walls for storing the waters of the old pool: but you gave no thought to him who had done this, and were not looking to him by whom it had been purposed long before.