Isaiah 37:7

"Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The LORD says, “Don’t be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me."

Key Reflection

Isaiah 37:7 serves as a reassuring message to King Hezekiah and his advisors during a time when the Assyrian army was threatening Jerusalem. The verse instructs them not to be afraid of the taunts and insults that the Assyrian officials had directed at God, emphasizing that these words were mere human boasts and lacked divine authority. This cultural context highlights how the Assyrians, in their arrogance, had likely made empty threats or false claims about their gods' power, thereby underestimating the true might of the Lord.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Behold, I will send a blast upon him -Margin, ‘Put a spirit into him.’ The word rendered ‘blast’ (רוחrûach) is commonly rendered ‘spirit.’ It may denote breath, air, soul, or spirit. There is no reason to think that the word is used here in the sense of blast of wind, as our translators seem to have supposed. The sense is probably, ‘I will infuse into him a spirit of fear, by which be shall be alarmed by the rumour which he shall hear, and return to his own land.’ The word is often used in this sense (compare1 Samuel 16:14; see alsoIsaiah 31:8-9). Gesenius understands it here in the sense of will or disposition.

More from Isaiah 37

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