2Ki 19:21-28 | NETfull | STEP | This is what the Lord says about him: “The virgin daughter Zion despises you, she makes fun of you; Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head after you.

2 Kings 19:21-28

21 This is what the Lord says about him: ^{▼▼ Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”}

“The virgin daughter Zion ^{▼▼ Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.}
despises you, she makes fun of you;
Daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you. ^{▼▼ Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.}
22 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted, ^{▼▼ Heb “have you raised a voice.”}
and looked so arrogantly? ^{▼▼ Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?”}
At the Holy One of Israel! ^{▼▼ This divine title pictures the Lord as the sovereign king who rules over his covenant people and exercises moral authority over them.}
23 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ^{▼▼ The word is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai), “lord,” but some Hebrew mss have יְהוָה (yehvah), “Lord.”}
‘With my many chariots ^{▼▼ The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּרֶכֶב (b^erekhev), but this must be dittographic (note the following רִכְבִּי [rikhbi], “my chariots”). The marginal reading (Qere) בְּרֹב (b^erov), “with many,” is supported by many Hebrew mss and ancient versions, as well as the parallel passage in Isa 37:24.}
I climbed up the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars,
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions, ^{▼▼ Heb “the lodging place of its extremity.”}
its thickest woods.
24 I dug wells and drank
water in foreign lands. ^{▼▼ Heb “I dug and drank foreign waters.”}
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.’
25 ^{▼▼ Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23–24, the Lord now speaks to the king.} Certainly you must have heard! ^{▼▼ Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.}
Long ago I worked it out,
In ancient times I planned ^{▼▼ Heb “formed.”} it;
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins. ^{▼▼ Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְּהִי (t^ehi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.}
26 Their residents are powerless, ^{▼▼ Heb “short of hand.”}
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field,
or green vegetation. ^{▼▼ Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5–6; Isa 40:6–8, 24.}
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops ^{▼▼ Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.}
when it is scorched by the east wind. ^{▼▼ The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah), “standing grain,” to קָדִים (qadim), “east wind” (with the support of 1Q Isa^a in Isa 37:27).}
27 I know where you live,
and everything you do. ^{▼▼ Heb “your going out and your coming in.” The MT also has here, “and how you have raged against me.” However, this line is probably dittographic (note the beginning of the next line).}
28 Because you rage against me,
and the uproar you create has reached my ears; ^{▼▼ Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךְ (sha’anankh), “your complacency,” is emended to שַׁאֲוַנְךְ (sha’avankh), “your uproar.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38.}
I will put my hook in your nose, ^{▼▼ The word picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.}
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back the way
you came.”