Bible Strands
2 Kings 19:13
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Assyrian field commander addresses Hezekiah’s envoys while laying siege to Jerusalem. He lists conquered cities to prove his power and dismiss Judah’s God as powerless. The words — אַיִן (ayin) means “where [is]?” or “they are no more,” and מֶלֶךְ (melekh) means “king.” Together they form a rhetorical question that functions as a boast of total victory. The thread — The same list appears in 2 Kings 18:34, where the official mocks the gods of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah. The geographic markers connect to Numbers 13:21 and 34:8, which place Lebo-hamath at the northern frontier of Israel. Why it lands — The text records a conqueror’s claim that human might has erased divine protection. It asks the reader to weigh the declared finality of earthly power against the historical record of God’s deliverance.
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
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 18:34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
- Numbers 13:21 So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo-hamath.
- Numbers 34:8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath, then extend to Zedad,
- 2 Kings 17:24 Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.
- Isaiah 11:11 On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
- Isaiah 37:13 Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
- Jeremiah 39:5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They seized him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on him.
- Jeremiah 49:23 Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard a bad report; they are agitated like the sea; their anxiety cannot be calmed.
- Zechariah 9:2 and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd.