Bible Strands
Isaiah 37:24
Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest heights, the densest of its forests.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Assyrian king speaks through his officials during the siege of Jerusalem, directing his boasts against the God of Israel. He claims to have conquered Lebanon's highest peaks and densest forests using his military forces.
The words — The text uses חֵרַפְתָּ (che.Raf.ta), literally "you have taunted," to describe the king's direct challenge to אֲדֹנָי (Adonai). It pairs this with בְּרֹב (be./Ro), meaning "with the abundance of," to quantify his reliance on chariotry and military might.
The thread — The boasting over Lebanon's cedars echoes Isaiah 14:8, where the fallen trees exult over the defeated ruler. The claim of drying up waters and conquering foreign lands parallels the enemy's pursuit in Exodus 15:9 and the promised destruction of forested splendor in Isaiah 10:18.
Why it lands — The verse records the king's explicit claim that his chariots and conquests have reached the highest places of the earth. It demands the reader weigh human military pride against the stated reality that such boasts are directed at the Holy One of Israel.
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
By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 14:8 Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
- Isaiah 10:18 The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.
- Exodus 15:9 The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
- 2 Kings 19:22 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
- Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
- Isaiah 10:13 For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
- Isaiah 29:17 In a very short time, will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest?
- Isaiah 36:9 For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
- Isaiah 36:15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
- Isaiah 37:4 Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”