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2 Kings 18:26-28

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

26. Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand [it]: and talk not with us in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people that [are] on the wall. 27. But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? [hath he] not [sent me] to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? 28. Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:

2 Kings 18:26-28 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on 2 Kings 18:26

Theological / Devotional

Syrian language. This statement shows that the Syrian, or Aramaic, language was already in use, at least to some extent, both in Assyria and among the Hebrews. Contemporary materials show that Aramaic was now beginning to be the language of diplomacy and commerce throughout Western Asia. Among the Hebrews, however, it was not yet common, for the ordinary people were not able to understand it. After the Babylonian Exile, the Aramaic language gradually took the place of the Hebrew among the Jews.

The Jews’ language. Outside of this narrative with its parallels in 2 Chron. 32, and Isa. 36, the expression occurs only in Neh. 13:24. The word “Jew” appears first in 2 Kings 16:6, but in the later Biblical books the name becomes common. According to contemporary Assyrian usage the people of the southern kingdom of Judah were already known as Yehudim, or Jews, and their language as Jewish.

On the wall. The parley was held within hearing of the soldiers and perhaps others upon the wall, and the words of the Assyrian envoys would thus be carried throughout the city.

By SdaBc