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.’

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — YHWH speaks through Isaiah to the Assyrian commander Sennacherib during his campaign against Jerusalem. The declaration follows God’s statement that He fully perceives the king’s movements and hostility.

The words — The Hebrew חַחִ֜י (cha.Ch/i) means "my hook," paired with the verb שַׂמְתִּי (sam.Ti), "I will put." These terms describe a metal bit or harness used to control and redirect a mounted animal.

The thread — The same harness imagery appears in Ezekiel 29:4 and Ezekiel 38:4, where YHWH repeats the metaphor to pull foreign rulers from their courses and force their withdrawal.

Why it lands — The text states that unchecked human arrogance triggers divine intervention through forced redirection. It requires the reader to acknowledge that opposition to God ends in submission, not debate.

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

יַ֚עַןYa.'anbecause הִתְרַגֶּזְךָ֣hit.ra.gez./Kharaging/ you אֵלַ֔י'e.La/iagainst/ me וְשַׁאֲנַנְךָ֖ve./sha.'a.nan./Khaand/ arrogance/ your עָלָ֣ה'a.Lahit has come up בְאָזְנָ֑יve./'a.ze.Na/iin/ ears/ my וְשַׂמְתִּ֨יve./sam.Tiand/ I will put חַחִ֜יcha.Ch/ihook/ my בְּאַפֶּ֗ךָbe./'a.Pe./khain/ nose/ your וּמִתְגִּי֙u./mit.G/iand/ bridle/ my בִּשְׂפָתֶ֔יךָbi/s.fa.Tei./khaon/ lips/ your וַהֲשִׁ֣בֹתִ֔יךָva./ha.Shi.vo.Ti./khaand/ I will bring back/ you בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְba./De.rekhby the/ way אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which בָּ֥אתָBa.tayou cameבָּֽהּ׃Ba/hby/ it

King James Version

Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 29:4 But I will put hooks in your jaws and cause the fish of your streams to cling to your scales. I will haul you up out of your rivers, and all the fish of your streams will cling to your scales.
2 Kings 19:33 He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city, declares the LORD.
Ezekiel 38:4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army—your horses, your horsemen in full armor, and a great company armed with shields and bucklers, all brandishing their swords.
Amos 4:2 The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness: “Behold, the days are coming when you will be taken away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
Job 41:2 Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?
Isaiah 30:28 His breath is like a rushing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction; He bridles the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.
2 Kings 19:36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
Psalms 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
Psalms 7:6 Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.
Psalms 10:13 Why has the wicked man renounced God? He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.”