Bible Strands
Isaiah 36:5
You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Assyrian commander Rabshakeh addresses King Hezekiah’s officials during the siege of Jerusalem, directly questioning the foundation of their political and military alliances.
The words — The phrase אַךְ דְּבַר שְׂפָתַיִם ('akh de.var se.fa.Ta.yim) translates literally to "only a word of lips," reducing the claimed war strategy to mere empty talk.
The thread — This theme of rebelling against a dominant empire while relying on foreign support appears in 2 Kings 18:7 and 2 Kings 24:1.
Why it lands — The text demands a reader identify whether confidence is placed in visible human arrangements or in the authority who permits them.
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
I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 18:7 And the LORD was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.
- 2 Kings 24:1 During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.
- Nehemiah 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
- Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- Proverbs 24:5 A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge enhances his strength.
- Jeremiah 52:3 For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence. And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.
- Ezekiel 17:15 But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and yet escape?’