Major Prophets · Chapter 36 of 66
Isaiah 36
In Hezekiah's fourteenth year, Assyria's king Sennacherib captures Judah's fortified cities and sends his officer Rabshakeh to Jerusalem. Standing by the upper pool, Rabshakeh taunts Hezekiah's officials, mocking their trust in Egypt and in the LORD, and urges surrender. He speaks in Hebrew to frighten the people on the wall, boasting that no nation's god has saved it from Assyria. The officials, ordered to stay silent, report to Hezekiah with torn clothes.
What happens in Isaiah 36
The narrative shifts to history. Sennacherib of Assyria overruns Judah's defended cities and dispatches Rabshakeh with a great army to Jerusalem, where he confronts Hezekiah's representatives, Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah, by the conduit of the upper pool. Rabshakeh delivers a taunting speech in the name of the great king. He ridicules any confidence in Egypt as leaning on a broken reed that pierces the hand, and mocks trust in the LORD, twisting Hezekiah's removal of high places into an insult against God.
He even claims the LORD sent him to destroy the land. When the officials ask him to speak Aramaic so the people on the wall will not understand, he refuses and shouts in Hebrew, urging the people not to let Hezekiah deceive them, promising comfort if they surrender, and boasting that no nation's gods delivered it from Assyria. The people keep silent as commanded, and the officials return to Hezekiah with rent clothes.
Isaiah 36 in context
This account parallels 2 Kings 18 and 2 Chronicles 32, set around 701 BC during Sennacherib's invasion. Assyria was the dominant empire, and its psychological warfare aimed to break Jerusalem's will before a siege. Rabshakeh's speech is calculated propaganda: undermine allies, mock the people's God, and offer false comfort.
The chapter sets the stage for the great test of whether Judah, and Hezekiah, will trust the LORD when every human calculation says surrender.
Main themes of Isaiah 36
Isaiah 36 (KJV)
1Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. 2And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field. 3Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph’s son, the recorder. 4And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 5I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? 6Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. 7But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? 8Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 9How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. 11Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. 12But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? 13Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you. 15Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 16Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; 17Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? 21But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not. 22Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
Verses to carry from Isaiah 36
“Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.”Isaiah 36:6
“Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.”Isaiah 36:15
“Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?”Isaiah 36:20
Thematic connection
How Isaiah 36 points to Jesus
This historical chapter does not predict Christ, but it dramatizes a spiritual pattern the gospel completes. Rabshakeh's method, mocking trust in God and offering false comfort in exchange for surrender, echoes the voice of the tempter, who in the wilderness urged Jesus to distrust His Father and seize an easier path. Where Judah's people were told to stay silent under the taunt, Jesus met the tempter's distortions with the word of God and held fast.
The chapter's central question, on whom dost thou trust, is the question every believer faces, and the New Testament answers it by pointing to the God who did deliver Jerusalem and who finally delivers His people through Christ. The connection is thematic, illuminating the nature of faith under assault.
Questions about Isaiah 36
Why does Rabshakeh speak in Hebrew instead of Aramaic?
The officials asked him to use Aramaic, the language of diplomacy, so ordinary people on the wall would not understand and panic. Rabshakeh deliberately refused and shouted in Hebrew, precisely because he wanted to reach and frighten the common people. His aim was psychological: to spread fear, undermine Hezekiah's leadership, and provoke surrender from below before any siege was needed.
Is there any truth mixed into Rabshakeh's mockery?
His taunts are propaganda, but they contain half-truths designed to unsettle. It was true that Egypt was an unreliable ally, and true that Hezekiah had removed high places, though not, as Rabshakeh implied, in defiance of God. By blending facts with distortion he made his lies more persuasive. Discerning faith must recognize how real details can be twisted to lead the fearful away from trusting God.
Reflection
I know the voice that mocks trust and dresses surrender as relief. Rabshakeh still whispers, on whom do you rely, and offers comfortable compromise instead of costly faith. Like the people on the wall, I may need the discipline of silence, refusing to argue with the taunt, and carrying my fear to God rather than negotiating with despair.
A prayer from Isaiah 36
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