The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 336

he ahall hear a rumour; lltere.lly, he ,hall Judooan monarch in some way. He aends hear 11 11wrsay; i.e. he shnll be told some- n. letter, therefore, as more weighty antl thing, whioh shall determine him on a he.sty impre,sive than a mere message. He warns retre.1t. It is best, I think, to understand, not news or Til'hake.h's advance (Knobel, Hezekiah ago.inst being himself deceived by Keil, Bahr), much lees news of an insur- Jehovah (ver. 10); and he expands his rection in some other po.rt of the empire inductive n.rgument in proof of the irre- (Cheyne), but information of the disaster to eislible might of Assyria, by n.n enumeration bis army. It is no obj"ction to this that of four more recent conquests (ver. 12). Benn1toherib was" with his army." No doubt he was. But ho would learn the catastrophe Otherwise, he does little bnt repeat what from the mouth of some one who came into Rabshakeh hn.d already urged. his tent o.nd told him-he would " hear a hearsay." And shall return to his own land Ver. 9.-And when he heard say of Tir- (see ver. 36), and I will co.use him to fall by hake.h Kmg of Ethiopia. Tirhake.h was the sword in his own land. (On Sennache- one of the most distinguished of the later rib's murder, see the comment upon ver. 37.) Egyptian mon:1rchs. An Ethiopian by birth, Ver. 8.-So Rabshe.keh returned. Rab- and originally ruling from Napata over the she.keh's embassy came to an end with the Upper Nile valley from the First Cataract retirement of Hezekiah's officers from their to (perlaps) Khartoum, he extended his conference with the three envoys of Sen- dominion over Egypt probably about B.C. 'iOO, nacherib. No further communication was maintaining, however, !Shahatok, as :1 s0rt held with him. He had outraged all pro- of puppet-king, npon the throne. About priety by his appeal to the "men upon the B.c. 693 he succeeded Shabatok, and held wall" (eh. xviii. 27-35); and it seems to the throne till B.C. 667, being engaged in have been thought most dignified to give many wars with the Aseyrians. The native him no o.nswer at all. He had offered no form of his name is "Tahrak" or "Tahark" terms-he had simply delivered a summons the Assyrian "Tarku" , r " Tarq u,'' the to surrender, and the closed gotes and Greek " Taro.cos" or "Tearchon." He ha.~ guarrled walls were a sufficient reply. So left numerous memorials in Egypt an,l he fcH, nnd returned to his master, re infecta. Ethiopia, and was regarded by the Greek, And found the King of Assyria warring as a great conq m,ror. At the time of against Libne.h. The positio:1 of Libnah Sennacherib's second attack on Hezekiah relatively to Lncbish is uncertain. The (ubout B.C. 699) he was, as appears in the site of Lachish mny be regarded as fixed to text, not yet King of Egypt, but only of Um-Lalci~; but that of Libnah rests wholly Ethiopia. Slill, he regarded Egypt ns prac- on conjecture. It liae been plo.ced at Tel- ticn.lly under his suzerainty, and when it was es-Safieh, twelve miles north-cast of Um- threatened by Sennacherib's approach, he Laki8; at Aral.-el-Menshiyeh, about five miles marcl,ed to the rescue. :Behold, he is come nearly due east of the so.me; and near Umm- out to fight against thee. He may have el-Bik11r, four miles south-east of Um-Lal.i~. regarded himself as bound in honour to A removal from Um-Lakis to Tel-el-Safieh come to the relief of Hezekinh, or he may would mean a retreat. A march from Um- have been simply bent on <lden,ling his own Lakis to either of the other sites would be territory. He sent messengers again unto quite oompo.tible with an intention to push Hezekiah, saying, on to Egypt. For he he.d heard that he Ver. 10.-Thue shall ye speak to Hezekiah was departed from Le.chish. Whether King of J'udah, saying. The messengers Ln.chieh had been to.ken or not oo.nnot be brought a. "letter" (C':1~S'), as we see from determined from these words. But we con ver. 14 ; but still they were to "speak to ecal'Cely suppose tho.t a place of suoh slight Hezekiah "-i.e. they were first to read the strength oo.n have defied the A~eyrie.n e.rws contents to him, and then to hand him the successfully. It is best therefore to suppose, copy. Let not thy God in whom thou with Keil o.nd Thenius, that Lacbish had trustest deceive thee, aaying, J' erusal em been takeu. shall not be delive.-ed into the hand of the Kmg of Assyria. Sennacherib drops the Vere. 9-H.-Sennacherib's letter to Re- fiction that he himself is seut by Jehovah 1ekiah, Sennn.cherib seems to h11ve been to attack J udw<1 nod destroy it (eh.xvi ii. 25), induced to write to Hezekiah by the foot n.nd contents himself with suggesting that that he could not mo.roh age.inst him at once. any announcements which llezekit1h muy A forward ml!lvement on the part of Tirbe.k11h have received from his God are untrust- worthy. Proba.bly he spoke his convictions. was reported to him (ver. 9),und he thought He did n0t think it possible that Jerusalem it necessary to meet, or at lee.et watch it. could resist or escape him (oomp. Tua. x. But he must vent hie anger on the rebel 8-1111-ud lS, 14).  884 THE SECOND llOOK OF THE KINGS. [on. XIX. 1-37.