Bible Strands
2 Kings 18:17
Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the Assyrian king dispatching his top commanders and a large force from Lachish to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, immediately following Hezekiah’s payment of temple gold.
The words — The opening verb וַיִּשְׁלַח (va-yishlach) translates literally as "and he sent," marking the deliberate mobilization of the invasion. The title תַרְתָּן (tartan) denotes the commander in chief, establishing the formal military structure of the opposing force.
The thread — The deployment of the Assyrian chief commander aligns with Isaiah 20:1, while the troops' location at the aqueduct of the upper pool recalls the landmark identified in Isaiah 7:3.
Why it lands — The text documents a foreign army occupying Jerusalem’s upper water supply, requiring the reader to acknowledge the concrete military pressure surrounding Hezekiah before any diplomatic or theological response occurs.
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
And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab–shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 20:20 As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, along with all his might and how he constructed the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
- Isaiah 7:3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,
- Isaiah 20:1 Before the year that the chief commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it,
- Isaiah 36:2 And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.
- 2 Chronicles 32:9 Later, as Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces besieged Lachish, he sent his servants to Jerusalem with a message for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem:
- Isaiah 22:9 You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the City of David. You collected water from the lower pool.