Bible Strands
2 Kings 16:7
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hands of the kings of Aram and Israel, who are rising up against me.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Ahaz addresses Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, declaring himself a servant and son to request military rescue from the kings of Aram and Israel. This communication follows Rezin king of Aram’s campaign to recover Elath and displace Judah’s population with Edomites (2 Kings 16:6).
The words — וַ/יִּשְׁלַ֨ח (va/i.yishlach) translates literally as "and he sent," denoting the formal dispatch of diplomatic envoys. אָחָ֜ז ('ahaz) identifies the Judahite monarch who initiates the contact with the Assyrian court.
The thread — The formula of voluntary submission appears in 1 Kings 20:4 and 1 Kings 20:32, where leaders declare themselves to a king. The same Assyrian ruler is noted as a regional military presence in 2 Kings 15:29.
Why it lands — The passage records a vassal’s pledge of loyalty to a foreign empire in exchange for military intervention. It requires the reader to track how political survival drives a ruler to outsource security to an external power.
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
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath–pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.
- 1 Kings 20:4 And the king of Israel replied, “Just as you say, my lord the king: I am yours, along with all that I have.”
- 1 Kings 20:32 So with sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please spare my life.’” And the king answered, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
- 1 Chronicles 5:26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this day.
- 2 Chronicles 28:16 At that time King Ahaz sent for help from the king of Assyria.
- 2 Chronicles 28:20 Then Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came to Ahaz but afflicted him rather than strengthening him.
- Psalms 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
- Jeremiah 17:5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Lamentations 4:17 All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us.
- Hosea 14:3 Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.”