Bible Strands
Isaiah 36:16
Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The king of Assyria speaks through his official to the besieged citizens of Jerusalem, immediately after warning them not to trust Hezekiah’s claim that Yahweh will deliver the city. He offers immediate surrender in exchange for agricultural security.
The words — תִּשְׁמְעוּ (tish'me'u) commands "you listen," and כֹּה (koh) translates literally as "thus," anchoring the subsequent promise to the Assyrian monarch’s own authority.
The thread — The vine and fig tree motif appears in 1 Kings 4:25, Zechariah 3:10, and Micah 4:4 as a standard biblical marker of untroubled prosperity. Isaiah 36:16 repurposes that imagery as a tactical offer of survival under foreign rule.
Why it lands — It forces a reader to weigh a ruler’s tangible, short-term guarantees against a prophet’s unfulfilled divine claim. The text demands a clear-eyed assessment of who controls the terms of peace.
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
Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 4:25 Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.
- Zechariah 3:10 On that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, you will each invite your neighbor to sit under your own vine and fig tree.’”
- Micah 4:4 And each man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, with no one to frighten him. For the mouth of the LORD of Hosts has spoken.
- Genesis 32:20 You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I will appease Esau with the gift that is going before me. After that I can face him, and perhaps he will accept me.”
- Genesis 33:11 Please accept my gift that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” So Jacob pressed him until he accepted.
- 1 Samuel 11:3 “Hold off for seven days,” replied the elders of Jabesh, “and let us send messengers throughout Israel. If there is no one to save us, we will surrender to you.”
- 1 Samuel 25:27 Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.
- 2 Samuel 8:6 Then he placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to David and brought him tribute. So the LORD made David victorious wherever he went.
- 1 Kings 4:20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
- 2 Kings 5:15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, “Now I know for sure that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”