2 Kings 19:27

But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(27) But I know thy abode . . .—Literally, and thy down sitting, and thy going out, and thy coming in I know. Clearly something has fallen out at the opening of the sentence. Probably the words before me is thine uprising have been omitted by some copyist, owing to their resemblance to the words which end the last verse. So Wellhausen. (See Psalm 139:2.) The thought thus expressed is this: I know all thy plans and thy doings; I see also thy present rebellion against me. What thou hast hitherto done was done because I willed it: now I will check thee.

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 19:27. But I know thy abode, &c. — Though thou dost not know me, yet I thoroughly know thee, and all thy designs and actions, all thy secret contrivances in the place of thy abode, in thy own kingdom and court; and the execution of thy designs abroad, what thou intendest in thy going out, and with what farther thoughts thou comest in, or returnest to thy own land. And thy rage against me — Against Hezekiah my servant, and my people, because they will not deliver up Jerusalem to thee, and against my temple, to destroy it. Things are frequently said to be done against God which are only done against his people, his cause, and worship, because of that near relation and union which are between them.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

19:20-34 All Sennacherib's motions were under the Divine cognizance. God himself undertakes to defend the city; and that person, that place, cannot but be safe, which he undertakes to protect. The invasion of the Assyrians probably had prevented the land from being sown that year. The next is supposed to have been the sabbatical year, but the Lord engaged that the produce of the land should be sufficient for their support during those two years. As the performance of this promise was to be after the destruction of Sennacherib's army, it was a sign to Hezekiah's faith, assuring him of that present deliverance, as an earnest of the Lord's future care of the kingdom of Judah. This the Lord would perform, not for their righteousness, but his own glory. May our hearts be as good ground, that his word may strike root therein, and bring forth fruit in our lives.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See 1 Kings 3:7 note.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

20. Then Isaiah … sent—A revelation having been made to Isaiah, the prophet announced to the king that his prayer was heard. The prophetic message consisted of three different portions:—First, Sennacherib is apostrophized (2Ki 19:21-28) in a highly poetical strain, admirably descriptive of the turgid vanity, haughty pretensions, and presumptuous impiety of the Assyrian despot. Secondly, Hezekiah is addressed (2Ki 19:29-31), and a sign is given him of the promised deliverance—namely, that for two years the presence of the enemy would interrupt the peaceful pursuits of husbandry, but in the third year the people would be in circumstances to till their fields and vineyards and reap the fruits as formerly. Thirdly, the issue of Sennacherib's invasion is announced (2Ki 19:32-34).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Though thou dost not know me, yet I thoroughly know thee, and all thy designs and actions, all thy secret and subtle contrivances in the place of

thy abode, in thy own kingdom and court, and the execution of thy designs abroad, what thou intendest in thy going out, and with what successes or former thoughts thou comest in, or returnest to thy own land. For the phrase, compare Deu 31:2 Psalm 139:2,3.

And thy rage against me, i.e. against my servant Hezekiah, and my people, against whom he was engaged, because they would not deliver up Jerusalem to him, which he demanded. Things are frequently said to be done against God, which are only done against his people, because of that near union and relation which is between them. See Zechariah 2:8 Acts 9:4,5. But the words may well be rendered, and thy rage is with me, or before me, as the Syriac hath it; or, is manifest to me, as the Chaldee renders it. And so this branch of the verse answers to the former, I know, &c., and it is before me.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it,.... The report of Rabshakeh's speech, recorded in the preceding chapter:

that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth; rent his clothes because of the blasphemy in the speech; and he put on sackcloth, in token of mourning, for the calamities he feared were coming on him and his people: and he went into the house of the Lord; the temple, to pray unto him. The message he sent to Isaiah, with his answer, and the threatening letter of the king of Assyria, Hezekiah's prayer upon it, and the encouraging answer he had from the Lord, with the account of the destruction of the Assyrian army, and the death of Sennacherib, are the same "verbatim" as in Isaiah 37:1 throughout; and therefore the reader is referred thither for the exposition of them; only would add what Rauwolff (t) observes, that still to this day (1575) there are two great holes to be seen, wherein they flung the dead bodies (of the Assyrian army), one whereof is close by the road towards Bethlehem, the other towards the right hand against old Bethel.

(t) Travels, par. 3. ch. 22. p. 317.

Geneva Study Bible

But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

27. But I know thy abode] R.V. sitting down. The verse expresses to the full, but with wonderful conciseness, how God has observed and is observing every action of Sennacherib. His dwelling, his movements to and fro, and the spirit which actuates them are all open before God’s eyes, and He identifies Himself so completely with Hezekiah and Jerusalem as to call the rage of the Assyrian against them rage against Himself.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 27. - But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in. "Resting in peace, going out, and coming in, cover all the activity of a man" (Bahr), or rather, cover his whole life, active and passive. Jehovah claims an absolute knowledge of all that Sennacherib does or thinks, both when he is in action and when he is at rest. Nothing is hid from him (comp. Psalm 139:1-16). Human pride should stand abashed before such absolute knowledge. And thy rage against me. Opposition to their will fills violent men with fury and rage. Sennacherib's anger was primarily against Hezekiah, but when once he was convinced that Hezekiah really trusted in Jehovah (ver. 10), his fury would turn against God himself (see Psalm 2:1-3, where the Lord's anointed is primarily David). 2 Kings 19:27

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

2 Kings 19:26 is closely connected, so far as the sense is concerned, with the last clause of 2 Kings 19:25, but in form it is only loosely attached: "and their inhabitants were," instead of "that their inhabitants might be." יד קצרי, of short hand, i.e., without power to offer a successful resistance (cf. Numbers 11:23, and Isaiah 50:2; Isaiah 59:1). - They were herbage of the field, etc., just as perishable as the herbage, grass, etc., which quickly fade away (cf. Psalm 37:2; Psalm 90:5-6; Isaiah 40:6). The grass of the roofs fades still more quickly, because it cannot strike deep roots (cf. Psalm 129:6). Blighted corn before the stalk, i.e., corn which is blighted and withered up, before it shoots up into a stalk. In Isaiah we have שׁדמה instead of שׁדפה, with a change of the labials, probably for the purpose of preserving an assonance with קמה, which must not therefore be altered into שׁדמה. The thought in the two verses is this: The Assyrian does not owe his victories and conquests to his irresistible might, but purely to the fact that God had long ago resolved to deliver the nations into his hands, so that it was possible to overcome them without their being able to offer any resistance. This the Assyrian had not perceived, but in his daring pride had exalted himself above the living God. This conduct of his the Lord was well acquainted with, and He would humble him for it. Sitting and going out and coming denote all the actions of a man, like sitting down and rising up in Psalm 139:2. Instead of rising up, we generally find going out and coming in (cf. Deuteronomy 28:6 and Psalm 121:8). התרגּזך, thy raging, commotio furibunda, quae ex ira nascitur superbiae mixta (Vitr.). We must repeat רען before שׁאננך; and באזני עלה is to be taken in a relative sense: on account of thy self-security, which has come to my ears. שׁאנן is the security of the ungodly which springs from the feeling of great superiority in power. The figurative words, "I put my ring into thy nose," are taken from the custom of restraining wild animals, such as lions (Ezekiel 19:4) and other wild beasts (Ezekiel 29:4 and Isaiah 30:28), in this manner. For "the bridle in the lips" of ungovernable horses, see Psalm 32:9. To lead a person back by the way by which he had come, i.e., to lead him back disappointed, without having reached the goal that he set before him.