Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

ISAIAH 36:18KJV
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Isaiah 36:18 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 36:18 mean?

Isaiah 36:18 records an Assyrian official’s attempt to make the people of Jerusalem doubt King Hezekiah’s promise that the LORD will rescue them. The official points to Assyria’s victories over other nations as evidence that Jerusalem cannot expect a different outcome.

The speaker is the Assyrian king’s representative, addressing people within hearing of Jerusalem’s wall. His question treats the LORD as comparable to the gods of conquered nations. The phrase “out of the hand of the king of Assyria” pictures the Assyrian king as holding power over those lands.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 36:18

  • “persuade” — סוּת (sut): This word can mean to persuade or entice someone toward a course of action. Here the official uses it to portray Hezekiah’s assurance as an attempt to lead the people astray.
  • “deliver” — נָצַל (natsal): This word can mean to rescue or snatch away from danger or control. The verse uses the same Hebrew word for the rescue Hezekiah promises and the rescue the official says other gods failed to provide.

Why Isaiah 36:18 matters

  • The claim about Hezekiah comes from an enemy speaker. The warning “Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you” is part of the official’s effort to influence the people, rather than the narrator’s own description of Hezekiah.
  • The question presses the listeners to judge Jerusalem’s future by Assyria’s past victories. In the following verse, the official names places whose gods, he claims, did not save them.
  • The contest concerns whom the people will trust. Earlier in the speech, the official urges them to make peace with the Assyrian king rather than listen to Hezekiah.

Where else these words appear

“persuade” Hebrew H5496 · used in 18 verses

  • Deuteronomy 13:6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
  • 1 Kings 21:25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
  • 2 Chronicles 32:15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?

“Hezekiah” Hebrew H2396 · used in 78 verses

  • 2 Kings 16:20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
  • 2 Kings 20:3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
  • Isaiah 36:15 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

“Assyria” Hebrew H804 · used in 138 verses

  • Genesis 2:14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
  • 2 Kings 20:6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
  • Isaiah 36:8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.