Bible Strands
Isaiah 37:12
Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Assyrian king addresses Judah’s leadership after detailing his campaign of devastation against neighboring kingdoms. He uses past conquests to challenge the viability of any remaining divine protection.
The words — The verb הִצִּ֨ילוּ (hi.Tzi.lu) means “did they deliver,” paired with הִשְׁחִ֣יתוּ (hish.Chi.tu) meaning “they destroyed.” These terms frame the rhetorical question around failed rescue versus certain ruin.
The thread — The listed cities and nations appear in Genesis 11:31, 2 Kings 17:6, and 2 Kings 18:11 as sites of exile and military conquest. The text traces a pattern of Assyrian expansion that the king claims no deity could halt.
Why it lands — The verse demands a direct assessment of whether historical evidence supports the claimed power of foreign gods. It forces a choice between trusting recorded outcomes or accepting a different authority.
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
Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?
Cross-references
- Genesis 11:31 And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there.
- 2 Kings 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
- 2 Kings 18:11 The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
- 2 Kings 19:12 Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
- Acts 7:2 And Stephen declared: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
- Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
- Genesis 12:1 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.
- Genesis 12:14 So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
- Genesis 28:10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran.
- Genesis 29:4 “My brothers,” Jacob asked the shepherds, “where are you from?” “We are from Haran,” they answered.