Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 32:17
He also wrote letters mocking the LORD, the God of Israel, and saying against Him: “Just as the gods of the nations did not deliver their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Sennacherib’s agents compose letters mocking Yahweh, the God of Israel, to terrify Jerusalem’s defenders before capturing the city.
The words — The Hebrew term חָרֵף (cha-ref) denotes taunting or reproach, while סְפָרִים (sefarim) refers to the written letters themselves.
The thread — This Assyrian rhetoric appears in 2 Kings 19:12 and Isaiah 37:14, where the same claims are recorded alongside Hezekiah’s prayerful response.
Why it lands — The text confronts readers with the futility of opposing God, demanding steadfast trust rather than fear of human threats.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He wrote also letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 19:12 Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
- Isaiah 37:14 So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
- Isaiah 37:28 But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.
- 2 Kings 19:9 Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
- 2 Kings 19:14 So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
- 2 Kings 19:22 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
- 2 Kings 19:28 Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’
- Nehemiah 6:5 The fifth time, Sanballat sent me this same message by his young servant, who had in his hand an unsealed letter
- Isaiah 10:15 Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
- Isaiah 37:23 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!