2 Kings 19:31

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(31)A remnant.—Isaiah’s favourite doctrine of the remnant (Isaiah 4:2-3; Isaiah 10:20-21).

They that escape.—A survival.

Out of Jerusalem.—The ravaged land was to be newly stocked from thence.

The zeal (jealousy) of the Lord of hosts shall do this.—Another of the phrases of Isaiah. (See Isaiah 10:7.) (The word hosts, wanting in the common Hebrew text, is found in many MSS., and all the versions).

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 19:31. For out of Judah shall go forth a remnant — That handful of Jews who were now gathered together, and shut up in Jerusalem, should go out to their several habitations, and, by God’s singular blessing, increase exceedingly. The zeal of the Lord shall do this — Although, when you reflect upon yourselves, and consider either your present fewness and weakness, or your great unworthiness, this may seem too great a blessing for you to expect; yet God will do it from the zeal which he hath, both for his own name, and for the good of his undeserving people.

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

The remnant that is escaped - Terrible ravages seem to have been committed in the first attack (2 Kings 18:13 note). And though the second invasion was comparatively harmless, yet it probably fell heavily on the cities of the west and the southwest. Thus the "escaped" were but "a remnant."

Bear fruit upward - The flourishing time of Josiah is the special fulfillment of this prophecy 2 Kings 23:15-20.

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

A remnant; that handful of Jews who now were gathered together, and shut up in Jerusalem, shall go out to their several habitations, and by my singular blessing increase exceedingly.

They that escape out of Mount Zion; the same thing expressed in other words, which is usual in the Hebrew language.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this: although when you reflect upon yourselves, and consider either your present fewness and weakness, or your great unworthiness, this may seem too great a blessing for you to expect or believe; yet God will do it from the zeal which he hath, both for his own name, to vindicate it from the blasphemous reproaches of the Assyrians, and for the good of his undeserving people.

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

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the {x} zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

(x) The love, that God has for his Church will overcome the counsels and enterprises of men.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

31. And they that escape out of mount Zion] R.V. And out of mount Zion they that shall escape. The change of order, as well as the change of tense, makes the sense more clear, and improves the parallelism.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do [R.V. perform] this] In the Massoretic text there is a space left without consonants for the words in italics, and the vowel-points only are written there. The complete text exists in Isaiah, and ought to be here, but because in the early authoritative copies it did not occur, it has been continually left out. The R.V., which translates the Kethib, omits the italics.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 31. - For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant. The march of Sennacherib and the raid of Rabshakeh had driven the mass of the escaped population of Judaea to take refuge within the walls of Jerusalem, from which, on the retirement of the invaders, they would gladly "go forth," to recultivate their lands (ver. 29) and restore their ruined homes. And they that escape - rather, that shall escape - out of Mount Zion - "Mount Zion" is a variant for Jerusalem, as in ver. 21, and in Isaiah and the Psalms so continually - the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. So in Isaiah 9:7 and Isaiah 37:32. Here most manuscripts have "the zeal of the Lord," omitting "of hosts;" and this is probably the right reading. The meaning is that God's zealous love and care for his people will effect their complete restoration to prosperity and glory, difficult as it was at the time to imagine such a restoration. 2 Kings 19:31

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The sign is followed in 2 Kings 19:30, 2 Kings 19:31 by the distinct promise of the deliverance of Judah and Jerusalem, for which Isaiah uses the sign itself as a type. "And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah will again strike roots downwards and bear fruit upwards; for from Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and that which is escaped from Mount Zion; the zeal of Jehovah will do this." שׁרשׁ יסף, to add roots, i.e., to strike fresh roots. The meaning is, that Judah will not succumb to this judgment. The remnant of the nation that has escaped from destruction by the Assyrians will once more grow and flourish vigorously; for from Jerusalem will a rescued remnant go forth. פּליטה denotes those who have escaped destruction by the judgment (cf. Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 10:20, etc.). The deliverance was attached to Jerusalem or to Mount Zion, not so much because the power of the Assyrians was to be destroyed before the gates of Jerusalem, as because of the greater importance which Jerusalem and Mount Zion, as the centre of the kingdom of God, the seat of the God-King, possessed in relation to the covenant-nation, so that, according to Isaiah 2:3, it was thence that the Messianic salvation was also to proceed. This deliverance is traced to the zeal of the Lord on behalf of His people and against His foes (see at Exodus 20:5), like the coming of the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6 to establish an everlasting kingdom of peace and righteousness. The deliverance of Judah out of the power of Asshur was a prelude and type of the deliverance of the people of God by the Messiah out of the power of all that was ungodly. The צבאות of Isaiah is omitted after יהוה, just as in 2 Kings 19:15; though here it is supplied by the Masora as Keri. - In 2 Kings 19:32-34 Isaiah concludes by announcing that Sennacherib will not come to Jerusalem, nor even shoot at the city and besiege it, but will return disappointed, because the Lord will defend and save the city for the sake of His promise. The result of the whole prophecy is introduced with לכן: therefore, because this is how the matter stands, viz., as explained in what precedes. אל־מלך, with regard to the king, as in 2 Kings 19:20. מגן יקדּמנּה לא, "he will not attack it with a shield," i.e., will not advance with shields to make an attack upon it. קדּם with a double accusative, as in Psalm 21:4. It only occurs here in a hostile sense: to come against, as in Psalm 18:19, i.e., to advance against a city, to storm it. The four clauses of the verse stand in a graduated relation to one another: not to take, not even to shoot at and attack, yea, not even to besiege the city, will he come. In 2 Kings 19:33 we have 2 Kings 19:28 taken up again, and 2 Kings 19:32 is repeated in 2 Kings 19:33 for the purpose of strengthening the promise. Instead of בּהּ יבוא we have in Isaiah בּהּ בּא: "by which he has come." The perfect is actually more exact, and the imperfect may be explained from the fact that Sennacherib was at that very time advancing against Jerusalem. In 2 Kings 19:34 we have אל גּנּותי instead of the על גּנּותי of Isaiah: על is more correct than אל. "For my sake," as Hezekiah had prayed in v. 19; and "for my servant David's sake," because Jehovah, as the unchangeably true One, must fulfil the promise which He gave to David (sees at 1 Kings 11:13).