Isaiah 36:4

Geneva Bible (1560)

And Rabshakeh sayde vnto them, Tell you Hezekiah, I pray you, Thus sayth the great King, the King of Asshur, What confidence is this, wherein thou trustest?

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם֙ רַב שָׁקֵ֔ה אִמְרוּ־נָ֖א אֶל־חִזְקִיָּ֑הוּ כֹּֽה־אָמַ֞ר הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ הַגָּדוֹל֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ אַשּׁ֔וּר מָ֧ה הַבִּטָח֛וֹן הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּטָֽחְתָּ

Transliteration

And wayyōʾmer to them raḇ šāqēh, ʾimrû-nāʾ to ḥizqîyāhû: thus kōh-ʾāmar ham-melek hag-gāḏôl melek ʾaššûr, what māh hab-biṭāḥôn haz-zeh ʾăšer bāṭāḥtā

Grammar Details

• *wayyōʾmer*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - and he said
• *raḇ šāqēh*: title/position - Rabshakeh (chief cupbearer)
• *ʾimrû-nāʾ*: qal imperative masculine plural + particle of entreaty - say, please
• *kōh-ʾāmar*: adverb + qal perfect 3rd masculine singular - thus says/said
• *ham-melek hag-gāḏôl*: definite article + noun + definite article + adjective - the king the great
• *melek ʾaššûr*: construct noun + proper noun - king of Assyria
• *māh hab-biṭāḥôn haz-zeh*: interrogative + definite article + noun + definite article + demonstrative pronoun - what is this confidence
• *ʾăšer bāṭāḥtā*: relative particle + qal perfect 2nd masculine singular - which you trust

Word Meanings

• *nāʾ*: please/now (particle of entreaty)
• *kōh*: thus/so
• *biṭāḥôn*: confidence/trust/reliance
• *bāṭāḥtā*: you trust/rely/have confidence

Referenced Verses

• 2 Kgs 18:19-37 : 19 And Rabshakeh sayde vnto them, Tell ye Hezekiah, I pray you, Thus saith the great King, euen the great King of Asshur, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 20 Thou thinkest, Surely I haue eloquence, but counsell and strength are for the warre. On whom then doest thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? 21 Lo, thou trustest now in this broken staffe of reede, to wit, on Egypt, on which if a man leane, it will goe into his hand, & pearce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt vnto all that trust on him. 22 But if ye say vnto me, We trust in the Lord our God, is not that he whose hie places, and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath sayd to Iudah and Ierusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Ierusalem? 23 Now therefore giue hostages to my lord the King of Asshur, & I will giue thee two thousand horses, if thou be able to set riders vpon them. 24 For how canst thou despise any captaine of the least of my masters seruants, and put thy trust on Egypt for charets and horsemen? 25 Am I now come vp without the Lorde to this place, to destroy it? the Lord sayd to me, Goe vp against this land, and destroy it. 26 Then Eliakim the sonne of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Ioah said vnto Rabshakeh, Speake I pray thee, to thy seruants in the Aramites language, for we vnderstand it, and talke not with vs in the Iewes tongue, in the audience of the people that are on the wall. 27 But Rabshakeh saide vnto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master & to thee to speake these words, and not to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eate their owne doung, and drinke their owne pisse with you? 28 So Rabshakeh stoode and cryed with a loude voyce in the Iewes language, and spake, saying, Heare the wordes of the great King, of the king of Asshur. 29 Thus sayth the King, Let not Hezekiah deceiue you: for he shall not be able to deliuer you out of mine hand. 30 Neither let Hezekiah make you to trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliuer vs, and this citie shall not be giuen ouer into the hand of the king of Asshur. 31 Hearken not vnto Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Asshur, Make appointment with me, and come out to me, that euery man may eate of his owne vine, & euery man of his owne figge tree, and drinke euery man of the water of his owne well, 32 Till I come, and bring you to a land like your owne land, euen a land of wheate and wine, a land of bread and vineyardes, a lande of oliues oyle, and hony, that ye may liue and not die: and obey not Hezekiah, for he deceiueth you, saying, The Lord will deliuer vs. 33 Hath any of the gods of the nations deliuered his lande out of the hand of the King of Asshur? 34 Where is the god of Hamah, and of Arpad? where is the god of Sepharuaim, Hena and Iuah? how haue they deliuered Samaria out of mine hand? 35 Who are they among all the gods of the nations, that haue deliuered their lande out of mine hand, that the Lorde should deliuer Ierusalem out of mine hand? 36 But the people helde their peace, and answered not him a worde: for the Kings commandement was, saying, Answere ye him not. 37 Then Eliakim, the sonne of Hilkiah which was steward of the house, and Shebnah the chanceller, and Ioah the sonne of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and tolde him the wordes of Rabshakeh.
• 2 Kgs 19:10 : 10 Thus shall ye speake to Hezekiah King of Iudah, and say, Let not thy God deceiue thee in whome thou trustest, saying, Ierusalem shall not be deliuered into the hande of the King of Asshur.
• 2 Chr 32:7-9 : 7 Be strong and couragious: feare not, neither be afraide for the King of Asshur, neither for all the multitude that is with him: for there be mo with vs, then is with him. 8 With him is an arme of flesh, but with vs is the Lord our God for to helpe vs, & to fight our battels. Then the people were confirmed by the wordes of Hezekiah King of Iudah. 9 After this, did Saneherib King of Asshur send his seruants to Ierusalem (while he was against Lachish, and all his dominion with him) vnto Hezekiah King of Iudah and vnto all Iudah that were at Ierusalem, saying, 10 Thus saith Saneherib the King of Asshur, Wherein doe ye trust, that ye will remaine in Ierusalem, during the siege?
• 2 Chr 32:14-16 : 14 Who is he of al the gods of those natios (that my fathers haue destroied) that could deliuer his people out of mine hande? That your God should be able to deliuer you out of mine hand? 15 Nowe therefore let not Hezekiah deceiue you, nor seduce you after this sort, neither beleeue ye him: for none of all the gods of any nation or kingdome was able to deliuer his people out of mine hande and out of the hande of my fathers: howe much lesse shall your gods deliuer you out of mine hande? 16 And his seruants spake yet more against the Lorde God, and against his seruant Hezekiah.
• Ps 42:3 : 3 My teares haue bin my meate day & night, while they dayly say vnto me, Where is thy God?
• Ps 42:10 : 10 My bones are cut asunder, while mine enemies reproch me, saying dayly vnto me, Where is thy God?
• Ps 71:10-11 : 10 For mine enemies speake of mee, and they that lay waite for my soule, take their counsell together, 11 Saying, God hath forsaken him: pursue and take him, for there is none to deliuer him.
• Prov 16:18 : 18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an high minde before the fall.
• Isa 10:8-9 : 8 For he sayeth, Are not my princes altogether Kings? 9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? 10 Like as mine hand hath founde the kingdomes of the idoles, seeing their idoles were aboue Ierusalem, and aboue Samaria: 11 Shall not I, as I haue done to Samaria, and to the idoles thereof, so doe to Ierusalem and to the idoles thereof? 12 But when the Lorde hath accomplished all his worke vpon mount Zion and Ierusalem, I will visite the fruite of the proude heart of the King of Asshur, and his glorious and proud lookes, 13 Because he said, By ye power of mine owne hand haue I done it, and by my wisdome, because I am wise: therefore I haue remooued the borders of the people, and haue spoyled their treasures, and haue pulled downe the inhabitants like a valiant man. 14 And mine hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people, and as one gathereth egges that are left, so haue I gathered all the earth: and there was none to mooue the wing or to open the mouth, or to whisper.
• Isa 37:11-15 : 11 Beholde, thou hast heard what the Kings of Asshur haue done to all lands in destroying them, and shalt thou be deliuered? 12 Haue the gods of the nations deliuered them, which my fathers haue destroyed? as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden, which were at Telassar? 13 Where is the King of Hamath, and the King of Arpad, and the King of the citie of Sepharuaim, Hena and Iuah? 14 So Hezekiah receiued the letter of the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went vp into the House of the Lorde, and Hezekiah spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed vnto the Lorde, saying,
• Ezek 31:3-9 : 3 Beholde, Asshur was like a cedar in Lebanon with faire branches, & with thicke shadowing boughes, and shot vp very hye, and his toppe was among the thicke boughes. 4 The waters nourished him, and the deepe exalted him on hie with her riuers running round about his plants, and sent out her litle riuers vnto all the trees of the fielde. 5 Therefore his height was exalted aboue all the trees of the fielde, and his boughes were multiplied, and his branches were long, because of the multitude of the waters, which the deepe sent out. 6 All the foules of the heauen made their nestes in his boughes, and vnder his branches did all the beastes of the fielde bring foorth their yong, and vnder his shadowe dwelt all mightie nations. 7 Thus was he faire in his greatnesse, and in the length of his branches: for his roote was neere great waters. 8 The cedars in the garden of God coulde not hide him: no firre tree was like his branches, and the chessenut trees were not like his boughes: all the trees in the garden of God were not like vnto him in his beautie. 9 I made him faire by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, enuied him. 10 Therefore thus sayeth the Lorde God, Because he is lift vp on high, and hath shot vp his toppe among the thicke boughes, and his heart is lift vp in his height, 11 I haue therefore deliuered him into the handes of the mightiest among the heathen: he shall handle him, for I haue cast him away for his wickednesse. 12 And the strangers haue destroyed him, euen the terrible nations, and they haue left him vpon the mountaines, and in all the valleis his branches are fallen, and his boughes are broken by all the riuers of the land: and all the people of the earth are departed from his shadowe, and haue forsaken him. 13 Vpon his ruine shall all the foules of the heauen remaine, and all the beastes of the fielde shall be vpon his branches, 14 So that none of all the trees by the waters shalbe exalted by their height, neither shall shoote vp their toppe among the thicke boughes, neither shall their leaues stand vp in their height, which drinke so much water: for they are all deliuered vnto death in the nether partes of the earth in the middes of the children of men among them that goe downe to the pit. 15 Thus saith the Lord God, In the day when he went downe to hell, I caused them to mourne, and I couered the deepe for him, and I did restreine the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: I caused Lebanon to mourne for him, and all the trees of the fielde fainted. 16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him downe to hell with them that descend into the pit, & all the excellent trees of Eden, and the best of Lebanon: euen all that are nourished with waters, shall be comforted in the nether partes of the earth. 17 They also went downe to hell with him vnto them that be slaine with the sworde, and his arme, and they that dwelt vnder his shadowe in the middes of the heathen. 18 To whom art thou thus like in glorie and in greatnesse among the trees of Eden? yet thou shalt be cast downe with the trees of Eden vnto the nether partes of the earth: thou shalt sleepe in the middes of the vncircumcised, with them that be slaine by the sworde: this is Pharaoh and all his multitude, sayth the Lord God.
• Dan 4:30 : 30 (4:27) And the King spake and sayde, Is not this great Babel, that I haue built for the house of the kingdome by the might of my power, and for the honour of my maiestie?
• Acts 12:22-23 : 22 And the people gaue a shoute, saying, The voyce of God, and not of man. 23 But immediatly the Angel of the Lorde smote him, because he gaue not glorie vnto God, so that he was eaten of wormes, and gaue vp the ghost.
• Jude 1:16 : 16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their owne lustes: Whose mouthes speake proud things, hauing mens persons in admiration, because of aduantage.
• 2 Kgs 18:5 : 5 He trusted in the Lorde God of Israel: so that after him was none like him among all the Kings of Iudah, neither were there any such before him.