NOTES for Isa 37:1-38

The God of Israel accepts Rabshakeh’s challenge (chapter 36) and answers it. The answer is entirely convincing: a plague breaks out in the Assyrian camp (historians add that problems also arise in Assyria itself—new enemies attack), and Rabshakeh is forced to lift the siege and leave Judah. But this does not save the Assyrian king: he dies at the hands of conspirators. Let us note that God does all this not as revenge for blasphemy, but in response to King Hezekiah’s prayer and “to save this city for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.”