Bible Strands
Isaiah 37:8
When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator reports that the Rabshakeh withdrew upon learning the Assyrian king left Lachish and encountered him besieging Libnah. This movement follows directly after God’s declaration that He will interrupt the campaign through a rumor.
The words — The verb וַ/יָּ֙שָׁב֙ (va/i.Ya.shov) literally means “and he returned” or “withdrew,” while רַב־שָׁקֵ֔ה (rav-shaqeh) translates to “chief commander.”
The thread — The tactical shift between Lachish and Libnah mirrors earlier Israelite military progress recorded in Joshua 10:29–31 and the wilderness encampment at Libnah in Numbers 33:20.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to observe that battlefield movements are dictated by divine timing rather than human strategy, demanding attention to how geopolitical events execute prophetic declarations.
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
So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
Cross-references
- Joshua 10:29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.
- Numbers 33:20 They set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah.
- Joshua 10:31 And Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish. They laid siege to it and fought against it.
- Joshua 12:11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;
- Joshua 15:39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,
- Joshua 21:13 So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,
- 2 Kings 8:22 So to this day Edom has been in rebellion against the hand of Judah. Likewise, Libnah rebelled at the same time.
- 2 Kings 19:8 When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
- 2 Chronicles 21:10 So to this day Edom has been in rebellion against the hand of Judah. Likewise, Libnah rebelled against his hand at the same time, because Jehoram had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers.