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2 Chronicles32:1–8

Sennacherib Invades Judah

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2 Chronicles 32:1–8 — Sennacherib Invades Judah. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

1

After all these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, intending to conquer them for himself.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’a·ḥă·rê hā·’êl·leh had·də·ḇā·rîm wə·hā·’ĕ·meṯ san·ḥê·rîḇ me·leḵ- ’aš·šūr bā way·yā·ḇō ḇî·hū·ḏāh way·yi·ḥan ‘al- hab·bə·ṣu·rō·wṯ he·‘ā·rîm way·yō·mer lə·ḇiq·‘ām ’ê·lāw

Word by word17 · parsed
אַחֲרֵ֨י’a·ḥă·rêAfterH310
√ ʼachar — properly, the hind partPreposition
ʼachar: the hind part, after A bare temporal preposition; its whole weight here comes from what follows it.
הָאֵ֔לֶּהhā·’êl·lehall theseH428
√ ʼêl-leh — these or thoseArticlePronouncommon plural
הַדְּבָרִ֤יםhad·də·ḇā·rîmactsH1697
√ dâbâr — a wordArticleNounmasculine plural
וְהָאֱמֶת֙wə·hā·’ĕ·meṯof faithfulnessH571
√ ʼemeth — stabilityConjunctive waw, ArticleNounfeminine singular
ʼemeth: stability, faithfulness The hinge of the verse, and Maclaren builds his whole exposition on it: the Revised Version's after these things and this faithfulness makes the invasion the sequel to obedience rather than to sin. The noun is drawn forward from 2 Chronicles 31:20, where the same word closes the summary of Hezekiah's reform, so the Chronicler deliberately sets reward-language and invasion-language side by side without resolving them.
סַנְחֵרִ֣יבsan·ḥê·rîḇSennacheribH5576
√ Çanchêrîyb — Sancherib, an Assyrian kingNounpropermasculine singular
Çanchêrîyb: Sennacherib, an Assyrian king A rare name in Scripture (13 verses), all of them in this one crisis. Ellicott and Cambridge give the Assyrian original as Sin-ahi-iriba and point to the king's own hexagonal prism, where he boasts of taking forty-six (Cambridge: forty-two) fortified cities of Hezekiah. The extra-biblical record and the biblical one agree on the invasion and differ only on what its end was.
מֶֽלֶךְ־me·leḵ-kingH4428
√ melek — a kingNounmasculine singular construct
אַשּׁ֑וּר’aš·šūrof AssyriaH804
√ ʼAshshûwr — Ashshur, the second son of ShemNounproperfeminine singular
בָּ֖אcameH935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
bôwʼ: to go or come Perfect, then repeated as consecutive imperfect in the next word: the doubling is the Chronicler's compressed way of saying the thing happened and then unfolded.
וַיָּבֹ֣אway·yā·ḇōand invadedH935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
בִֽיהוּדָ֗הḇî·hū·ḏāhJudahH3063
√ Yᵉhûwdâh — Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five IsraelitesPreposition-bNounpropermasculine singular
וַיִּ֙חַן֙way·yi·ḥanHe laid siegeH2583
√ chânâh — properly, to inclineConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
chânâh: to incline, to encamp The verb of pitching camp, used all through the wilderness itineraries of Israel's own encampments. Here the tents that go down in the land belong to Assyria.
עַל־‘al-toH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
הַבְּצֻר֔וֹתhab·bə·ṣu·rō·wṯthe fortifiedH1219
√ bâtsar — to gather grapesArticleAdjectivefeminine plural
bâtsar: to gather grapes, hence to fortify An adjective from the root for enclosing, the standing term for walled cities. It is one of the shared lexemes the Verifier finds binding this verse to 2 Kings 18:13 and Isaiah 36:1.
הֶעָרִ֣יםhe·‘ā·rîmcitiesH5892
√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)ArticleNounfeminine plural
וַיֹּ֖אמֶרway·yō·merintendingH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
לְבִקְעָ֥םlə·ḇiq·‘āmto conquer themH1234
√ bâqaʻ — to cleavePreposition-lVerbQalInfinitive constructthird person masculine plural
bâqaʻ: to cleave, break open The infinitive construct with a plural suffix: to split them open. Ellicott allows either said to himself or commanded; Gill lists the Latin renderings perrumpere, diffindere, abscindere. The sentence ends on a boast, and the next seven verses are Hezekiah's answer to it.
אֵלָֽיו׃’ê·lāwfor himselfH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine singular
2

When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come to make war against Jerusalem,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

yə·ḥiz·qî·yā·hū way·yar kî- san·ḥê·rîḇ ū·p̄ā·nāw ḇā lam·mil·ḥā·māh ‘al- yə·rū·šā·lim

Word by word9 · parsed
יְחִזְקִיָּ֔הוּyə·ḥiz·qî·yā·hūWhen HezekiahH2396
√ Chizqîyâh — Chizkijah, a king of Judah, also the name of two other IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
Chizqîyâh: Chizkijah, a king of Judah The name itself carries the root châzaq, to be strong, which then drives vv. 5 and 7: the king who strengthens himself and says be strong is named for the strengthening of Jah.
וַיַּרְא֙way·yarsawH7200
√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
râʼâh: to see The Chronicler's turning point. Hezekiah's faith in this unit begins in accurate sight of a real army, not in ignoring it.
כִּי־kî-thatH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
סַנְחֵרִ֑יבsan·ḥê·rîḇSennacheribH5576
√ Çanchêrîyb — Sancherib, an Assyrian kingNounpropermasculine singular
וּפָנָ֕יוū·p̄ā·nāw. . .H6440
√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Conjunctive wawNouncommon plural constructthird person masculine singular
pânîym: the face, as the part that turns A construct plural with suffix, untranslated in BSB. Hebrew locates intention in the face: to set the face toward a place is to have resolved on it. K&D paraphrases his face was to war against Jerusalem as he purposed to capture Jerusalem. The word returns twice in v. 7, where fear is named as a thing felt from before the face of king and multitude, so the unit answers a face with a face.
בָ֖אḇāhad comeH935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
לַמִּלְחָמָ֖הlam·mil·ḥā·māhto make warH4421
√ milchâmâh — a battle (iPreposition-l, ArticleNounfeminine singular
milchâmâh: a battle The word that will be given back to the LORD in v. 8. Sennacherib owns the war here; by the end of the speech the battles are ours and the fighter is Yahweh.
עַל־‘al-againstH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃yə·rū·šā·limJerusalemH3389
√ Yᵉrûwshâlaim — Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of PalestineNounproperfeminine singular
Yᵉrûwshâlaim: Jerushalaim, the capital city Named as the objective. The Chronicler's interest narrows from the fortified cities of v. 1 to the one city where the temple he has just described stands.
3

he consulted with his leaders and mighty men about stopping up the waters of the springs outside the city, and they helped him carry it out.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yiw·wā·‘aṣ ‘im- śā·rāw wə·ḡib·bō·rāw lis·tō·wm ’eṯ- mê·mê hā·‘ă·yā·nō·wṯ ’ă·šer mi·ḥūṣ lā·‘îr way·ya‘·zə·rū·hū

Word by word12 · parsed
וַיִּוָּעַ֗ץway·yiw·wā·‘aṣhe consultedH3289
√ yâʻats — to adviseConjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
yâʻats: to advise Nifal consecutive imperfect. Hezekiah's first act after seeing is not prayer and not a sortie but deliberation with named men. Geneva draws the moral on v. 8: he trusted God and yet made himself strong and used lawful means.
עִם־‘im-withH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPreposition
שָׂרָיו֙śā·rāwhis leadersH8269
√ sar — a head person (of any rank or class)Nounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular
וְגִבֹּרָ֔יוwə·ḡib·bō·rāwand mighty menH1368
√ gibbôwr — powerfulConjunctive wawAdjectivemasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular
gibbôwr: powerful, mighty man The word used of David's heroes. Set beside sar (princes, officials), it pairs civil and military leadership in a single council.
לִסְתּוֹם֙lis·tō·wmabout stopping upH5640
√ çâtham — to stop upPreposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct
çâtham: to stop up A rare root (14 verses), and the Verifier's link to Moab's stopped wells in 2 Kings 3:19 and 3:25. There Israel ruins an enemy's water at Elisha's word; here Judah hides its own from an enemy. K&D reads the verb as covering and diverting rather than destroying, which fits the tunnel Cambridge describes.
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
מֵימֵ֣יmê·mêthe watersH4325
√ mayim — waterNounmasculine plural construct
הָעֲיָנ֔וֹתhā·‘ă·yā·nō·wṯof the springsH5869
√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)ArticleNouncommon plural
ʻayin: an eye, a spring Hebrew sees a spring as the ground's eye. To cover the springs is, in the idiom, to shut the land's eyes to the invader.
אֲשֶׁ֖ר’ă·šerH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
מִח֣וּץmi·ḥūṣoutsideH2351
√ chûwts — properly, separate by awall, iPreposition-mNounmasculine singular
chûwts: separate by a wall, outside The single word that makes the strategy intelligible: the water is outside, the people inside, and the whole labour is to reverse that.
לָעִ֑ירlā·‘îrthe cityH5892
√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Preposition-l, ArticleNounfeminine singular
וַֽיַּעְזְרֽוּהוּ׃way·ya‘·zə·rū·hūand they helped him carry it outH5826
√ ʻâzar — to surround, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine pluralthird person masculine singular
ʻâzar: to surround, to help Third masculine plural with singular suffix. A quiet but real structural anchor: the unit's last word about God (v. 8, to help us) uses this same root, so the help of the princes prefigures the help that is claimed at the gate.
4

Many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

rāḇ ‘am- way·yiq·qā·ḇə·ṣū way·yis·tə·mū ’eṯ- kāl- ham·ma‘·yā·nō·wṯ wə·’eṯ- han·na·ḥal haš·šō·w·ṭêp̄ bə·ṯō·wḵ- hā·’ā·reṣ lām·māh mal·ḵê ’aš·šūr yā·ḇō·w·’ū ū·mā·ṣə·’ū rab·bîm ma·yim lê·mōr

Word by word20 · parsed
רָ֔בrāḇManyH7227
√ rab — abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality)Adjectivemasculine singular
rab: abundant, many Adjective. The word governs the whole verse's arithmetic: much people work so that the enemy will not find many waters, and in v. 7 the same root declares that what is with Judah is more.
עַם־‘am-peopleH5971
√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)Nounmasculine singular
וַיִּקָּבְצ֣וּway·yiq·qā·ḇə·ṣūassembledH6908
√ qâbats — to grasp, iConjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural
qâbats: to grasp, gather Nifal. A national levy, and the same root Hezekiah will use actively at the gate in v. 6.
וַֽיִּסְתְּמוּ֙way·yis·tə·mūand stoppedH5640
√ çâtham — to stop upConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
כָּל־kāl-up allH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
הַמַּעְיָנ֔וֹתham·ma‘·yā·nō·wṯthe springsH4599
√ maʻyân — a fountain (also collectively), figuratively, a source (of satisfaction)ArticleNounmasculine plural
maʻyân: a fountain, figuratively a source The variant form Ellicott flags against ʻayānôth in v. 3. It is one of the Verifier's shared lexemes with 2 Kings 3:19 and 3:25, the only other place where springs are stopped in war.
וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker
הַנַּ֛חַלhan·na·ḥaland the streamH5158
√ nachal — a stream, especially a winter torrentArticleNounmasculine singular
הַשּׁוֹטֵ֥ףhaš·šō·w·ṭêp̄that flowedH7857
√ shâṭaph — to gushArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
shâṭaph: to gush, overflow Qal participle with the article. Isaiah uses this verb of Assyria as a flood sweeping up to the neck (Isaiah 8:8) and of the LORD's own overflowing breath (Isaiah 30:28). Here it describes the water Judah hides: the land's own flooding stream is pulled underground so that the human flood above finds nothing.
בְּתוֹךְ־bə·ṯō·wḵ-throughH8432
√ tâvek — a bisection, iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct
הָאָ֖רֶץhā·’ā·reṣthe landH776
√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular
לָ֤מָּהlām·māhWhyH4100
√ mâh — properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?)Interrogative
mâh: interrogative what, why Introduces the people's reported reasoning. Faith in this unit talks like a quartermaster.
מַלְכֵ֣יmal·ḵêshould the kingsH4428
√ melek — a kingNounmasculine plural construct
melek: a king Construct plural. Ellicott and K&D read it as a rhetorical plural for the single Assyrian; Gill takes it of subject kings in his train. Either way the plural swells the threat just before v. 7 dismisses it.
אַשּׁ֔וּר’aš·šūrof AssyriaH804
√ ʼAshshûwr — Ashshur, the second son of ShemNounproperfeminine singular
יָב֙וֹאוּ֙yā·ḇō·w·’ūcomeH935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural
וּמָצְא֖וּū·mā·ṣə·’ūand findH4672
√ mâtsâʼ — properly, to come forth to, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person common plural
רַבִּֽים׃rab·bîmplentyH7227
√ rab — abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality)Adjectivemasculine plural
מַ֥יִםma·yimof waterH4325
√ mayim — waterNounmasculine plural
לֵאמֹ֑רlê·mōrthey saidH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct
ʼâmar: to say The infinitive construct lêmōr, the ordinary quotation marker, placed last in the interlinear order but heading the quoted question in Hebrew.
5

Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David, and he produced an abundance of weapons and shields.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yiṯ·ḥaz·zaq way·yi·ḇen ’eṯ- kāl- hap·pə·rū·ṣāh ha·ḥō·w·māh way·ya·‘al ‘al- ham·miḡ·dā·lō·wṯ ’a·ḥe·reṯ wə·la·ḥū·ṣāh ha·ḥō·w·māh way·ḥaz·zêq ’eṯ- ham·mil·lō·w ‘îr dā·wîḏ way·ya·‘aś lā·rōḇ še·laḥ ū·mā·ḡin·nîm

Word by word21 · parsed
וַיִּתְחַזַּ֡קway·yiṯ·ḥaz·zaqThen Hezekiah worked resolutelyH2388
√ châzaq — to fasten uponConjunctive wawVerbHitpaelConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
châzaq: to fasten upon, be strong Hitpael consecutive imperfect, the Chronicler's recurring idiom for a king bracing himself (Pulpit lists 1 Chronicles 11:10; 2 Chronicles 12:1; 25:11; 26:8). The root runs through the unit three times in three different stems: reflexive of the king here, Piel of the Millo in word 12, imperative of the people in v. 7. Hezekiah's own name is built on it.
וַיִּבֶן֩way·yi·ḇento rebuildH1129
√ bânâh — to build (literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
כָּל־kāl-allH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
הַפְּרוּצָ֜הhap·pə·rū·ṣāhthe broken sections ofH6555
√ pârats — to break out (in many applications, direct and indirect, literal and figurative)ArticleVerbQalQalPassParticiplefeminine singular
pârats: to break out, break through Qal passive participle. The root is used of walls bursting and of God breaking forth on his enemies; here it names the standing wound the reform had not yet reached.
הַחוֹמָ֨הha·ḥō·w·māhthe wallH2346
√ chôwmâh — a wall of protectionArticleNounfeminine singular
chôwmâh: a wall of protection The defensive wall, distinguished from a mere fence. It occurs twice in this verse, inner and outer, and is one of the Verifier's shared lexemes with 1 Kings 9:15 and Nehemiah 4:7.
וַיַּ֣עַלway·ya·‘aland to raise upH5927
√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
עַל־‘al-. . .H5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
הַמִּגְדָּל֗וֹתham·miḡ·dā·lō·wṯtowers [on it]H4026
√ migdâl — a tower (from its size or height)ArticleNounmasculine plural
אַחֶ֔רֶת’a·ḥe·reṯ[He also built] anH312
√ ʼachêr — properly, hinderAdjectivefeminine singular
וְלַח֙וּצָה֙wə·la·ḥū·ṣāhouterH2351
√ chûwts — properly, separate by awall, iConjunctive waw, Preposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singularthird person feminine singular
הַחוֹמָ֣הha·ḥō·w·māhwallH2346
√ chôwmâh — a wall of protectionArticleNounfeminine singular
וַיְחַזֵּ֥קway·ḥaz·zêqand reinforcedH2388
√ châzaq — to fasten uponConjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
châzaq: to fasten upon, make strong Piel, causative-intensive: he made the Millo strong. The same root that described the king's inner resolve now describes masonry, which is the theological shape of the whole pericope.
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
הַמִּלּ֖וֹאham·mil·lō·wthe supporting terracesH4407
√ millôwʼ — a rampart (as filled in), iArticleNounproperfeminine singular
millôwʼ: a rampart, as filled in A very rare word (6 verses). Every other occurrence belongs to the building of the City of David by David himself (2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Chronicles 11:8) or by Solomon (1 Kings 9:15, 9:24). Hezekiah is repairing the dynasty's oldest fortification, which is the Chronicler's way of saying the house of David is still standing.
עִ֣יר‘îrof the CityH5892
√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Nounfeminine singular construct
דָּוִ֑ידdā·wîḏof DavidH1732
√ Dâvid — David, the youngest son of JesseNounpropermasculine singular
וַיַּ֥עַשׂway·ya·‘aśand he producedH6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
לָרֹ֖בlā·rōḇan abundance ofH7230
√ rôb — abundance (in any respect)Preposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singular
שֶׁ֛לַחše·laḥweaponsH7973
√ shelach — a missile of attack, iNounmasculine singular
shelach: a missile of attack Cambridge argues the specific sense (dart, missile) reveals the plan: arming the general population to man the walls. K&D takes it as a defensive weapon after Joel 2:8. Either way the verse ends with mass-produced arms in civilian hands, which sets up the address of v. 6.
וּמָגִנִּֽים׃ū·mā·ḡin·nîmand shieldsH4043
√ mâgên — a shield (iConjunctive wawNouncommon plural
mâgên: a shield The ordinary small shield, paired with the dart. The same noun is a frequent figure for God as shield, which the speech of vv. 7 and 8 will make explicit without using the word.
6

Hezekiah appointed military commanders over the people and gathered the people in the square of the city gate. Then he encouraged them, saying,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yit·tên mil·ḥā·mō·wṯ śā·rê ‘al- hā·‘ām way·yiq·bə·ṣêm ’ê·lāw ’el- rə·ḥō·wḇ hā·‘îr ša·‘ar way·ḏab·bêr ‘al- lə·ḇā·ḇām lê·mōr

Word by word15 · parsed
וַיִּתֵּ֛ןway·yit·tênHezekiah appointedH5414
√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
nâthan: to give, to set The broadest verb in Hebrew, here simply he put officers in place. Function word weight; the interest is in what they are called.
מִלְחָמ֖וֹתmil·ḥā·mō·wṯmilitaryH4421
√ milchâmâh — a battle (iNounfeminine plural
milchâmâh: a battle Plural in a construct chain that Ellicott says occurs nowhere else in Scripture. The Chronicler coins a title, and the coinage points forward: these are captains of battles that v. 8 will assign to the LORD.
שָׂרֵ֥יśā·rêcommandersH8269
√ sar — a head person (of any rank or class)Nounmasculine plural construct
עַל־‘al-overH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
הָעָ֑םhā·‘āmthe peopleH5971
√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)ArticleNounmasculine singular
וַיִּקְבְּצֵ֣םway·yiq·bə·ṣêmand gatheredH6908
√ qâbats — to grasp, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine plural
qâbats: to grasp, gather Qal with a plural suffix, answering the Nifal they were gathered of v. 4. The people who assembled for engineering are now assembled for a word.
אֵלָ֗יו’ê·lāwthe people inH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine singular
אֶל־’el-. . .H413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
רְחוֹב֙rə·ḥō·wḇthe squareH7339
√ rᵉchôb — a width, iNounfeminine singular construct
rᵉchôb: a width, a broad place Barnes identifies the gate as Ephraim's, the great northern gate facing the Assyrian camp; Pulpit allows either that or the corner gate; Cambridge says frankly there is nothing here to show which. The uncertainty is worth keeping: the Chronicler cared that it was public, not where it was.
הָעִ֔ירhā·‘îrof the cityH5892
√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)ArticleNounfeminine singular
שַׁ֣עַרša·‘argateH8179
√ shaʻar — an opening, iNounmasculine singular construct
וַיְדַבֵּ֥רway·ḏab·bêrThen he encouragedH1696
√ dâbar — perhaps properly, to arrangeConjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
dâbar: to arrange, to speak Piel. With ʻal-lēbāb following, the verb is not command but consolation: speech laid on the heart. The people's response in v. 8 uses a different verb of leaning on these same words.
עַל־‘al-. . .H5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
לְבָבָ֖םlə·ḇā·ḇāmthemH3824
√ lêbâb — the heart (as the most interior organ)Nounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine plural
lêbâb: the heart, the most interior organ The seat of thought and will, not of feeling alone, so the phrase speak upon their heart aims at the faculty that decides rather than at morale. Ellicott sends the reader to 2 Chronicles 30:22, where Hezekiah does the same thing to the Levites after the Passover, which makes this the second time the Chronicler shows this king talking to the inside of his people. ⚙ The idiom is also the one Isaiah uses for consolation (Isaiah 40:2 reads literally speak upon the heart of Jerusalem), so the verse describes comfort laid on the will, not a commander raising a cheer: Hezekiah's siege preparation ends at the one place the walls cannot reach.
לֵאמֹֽר׃lê·mōrsayingH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct
ʼâmar: to say The quotation marker that opens the only direct speech in the unit.
7

“Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged before the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater One with us than with him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ḥiz·qū wə·’im·ṣū ’al- tî·rə·’ū wə·’al- tê·ḥat·tū mip·pə·nê me·leḵ ’aš·šūr ū·mil·lip̄·nê kāl- he·hā·mō·wn ’ă·šer- ‘im·mōw kî- raḇ ‘im·mā·nū mê·‘im·mōw

Word by word18 · parsed
חִזְק֣וּḥiz·qūBe strongH2388
√ châzaq — to fasten uponVerbQalImperativemasculine plural
châzaq: to fasten upon, be strong Qal imperative masculine plural, the third stem of this root in the unit. The king who strengthened himself (v. 5, Hitpael) and strengthened the Millo (v. 5, Piel) now commands the same strength in his people. Ellicott and K&D both hear Deuteronomy 31:6 and Joshua's commissioning language behind it.
וְאִמְצ֔וּwə·’im·ṣūand courageousH553
√ ʼâmats — to be alert, physically (on foot) or mentally (in courage)Conjunctive wawVerbQalImperativemasculine plural
ʼâmats: to be alert, physically or mentally, in courage The standing partner of châzaq in the classic war-encouragement formula. The pairing is what makes this a formal charge rather than a pep talk.
אַל־’al-Do notH408
√ ʼal — not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative)Adverb
ʼal: not, the qualified negation used as a deprecative The negative of entreaty, not of prohibition by law: please do not.
תִּֽירְא֣וּtî·rə·’ūbe afraidH3372
√ yârêʼ — to fearVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine plural
וְאַל־wə·’al-. . .H408
√ ʼal — not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative)Conjunctive wawAdverb
תֵּחַ֗תּוּtê·ḥat·tūor discouragedH2865
√ châthath — properly, to prostrateVerbNifalImperfectsecond person masculine plural
châthath: properly, to prostrate Nifal imperfect. The verb is used of a bow being shattered and of men dismayed to collapse. Coupled with yârêʼ (to fear) it covers both the emotion and its result: do not be afraid, and do not be broken by being afraid.
מִפְּנֵי֙mip·pə·nêbeforeH6440
√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-mNouncommon plural construct
מֶ֣לֶךְme·leḵthe kingH4428
√ melek — a kingNounmasculine singular construct
אַשּׁ֔וּר’aš·šūrof AssyriaH804
√ ʼAshshûwr — Ashshur, the second son of ShemNounproperfeminine singular
וּמִלִּפְנֵ֖יū·mil·lip̄·nê[and]H6440
√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m, Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct
כָּל־kāl-. . .H3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
הֶהָמ֣וֹןhe·hā·mō·wnthe vast armyH1995
√ hâmôwn — a noise, tumult, crowdArticleNounmasculine singular
hâmôwn: a noise, tumult, crowd Not an ordered army but a roaring multitude; the word names the sound of a host as much as its size. Ellicott compares Jehoshaphat's this great multitude in 2 Chronicles 20:15, where the same reassurance answers the same word.
אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
עִמּ֑וֹ‘im·mōwwith himH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionthird person masculine singular
כִּֽי־kî-forH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
רַ֖בraḇthere is a greater [One]H7227
√ rab — abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality)Adjectivemasculine singular
rab: abundant, many, greater One syllable carrying the whole argument, and deliberately without a subject. Judah has been counting all unit long (much people, many waters, abundance of weapons, a vast army). Hezekiah does not out-count Assyria; he says the count is on the other side and waits until v. 8 to say why.
עִמָּ֥נוּ‘im·mā·nūwith usH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionfirst person common plural
ʻim: with The preposition with first person plural suffix: ʻimmānû, with us. It appears three times in two verses, and it is the exact word that Isaiah, in this same Assyrian crisis, joins to ʼēl for the name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14; 8:8-10). Cambridge cross-references Isaiah 8:10 on with us is the LORD.
מֵעִמּֽוֹ׃mê·‘im·mōwthan with himH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPreposition-mthird person masculine singular
8

With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

‘im·mōw zə·rō·w·a‘ bā·śār wə·‘im·mā·nū Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê·nū lə·‘ā·zə·rê·nū ū·lə·hil·lā·ḥêm mil·ḥă·mō·ṯê·nū hā·‘ām way·yis·sā·mə·ḵū ‘al- diḇ·rê yə·ḥiz·qî·yā·hū me·leḵ- yə·hū·ḏāh

Word by word16 · parsed
עִמּוֹ֙‘im·mōwWith him [is only]H5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionthird person masculine singular
זְר֣וֹעַzə·rō·w·a‘the armH2220
√ zᵉrôwaʻ — the arm (as stretched out), or (of animals) the forelegNounfeminine singular construct
zᵉrôwaʻ: the arm, as stretched out Feminine singular construct. The arm is Hebrew's standing figure for effective power, and Cambridge notes it also means an ally. Isaiah, prophesying in this very crisis, uses the same noun of the LORD's revealed arm (Isaiah 52:10; 53:1), so the contrast Hezekiah draws is the contrast the book of Isaiah develops.
בָּשָׂ֔רbā·śārof fleshH1320
√ bâsâr — flesh (from its freshness)Nounmasculine singular
bâsâr: flesh, from its freshness Not a moral term here but a term of frailty and creatureliness. K&D glosses an arm of flesh equals frail human power and gathers Isaiah 31:3, Jeremiah 17:5, and Psalm 56:5 as the field of the idiom. Ellicott adds Isaiah's their horses are flesh and not spirit.
וְעִמָּ֜נוּwə·‘im·mā·nūbut with us [is]H5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iConjunctive wawPrepositionfirst person common plural
ʻim: with The third ʻimmānû of the speech, now with the divine name attached. The preposition is the whole theology of the passage.
יְהוָ֤הYah·wehthe LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
Yᵉhôvâh: Jehovah, the Jewish national name of God The covenant name, withheld through the counsel, the springs, the wall and the weapons, and produced only now. Everything before it was lawful means; this is the ground.
אֱלֹהֵ֙ינוּ֙’ĕ·lō·hê·nūour GodH430
√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common plural
לְעָזְרֵ֔נוּlə·‘ā·zə·rê·nūto help usH5826
√ ʻâzar — to surround, iPreposition-lVerbQalInfinitive constructfirst person common plural
ʻâzar: to surround, to help Infinitive construct with first person plural suffix, the same root that described the princes helping Hezekiah in v. 3. The help of the council is real and is not confused with the help of God.
וּלְהִלָּחֵ֖םū·lə·hil·lā·ḥêmand to fightH3898
√ lâcham — to feed onConjunctive waw, Preposition-lVerbNifalInfinitive construct
lâcham: to feed on, to do battle Nifal infinitive construct. Ellicott ties the phrase to 1 Samuel 8:20, where Israel asks for a king to fight their battles. The best Davidic king in the Chronicler's account refuses to be that king and names Yahweh instead.
מִלְחֲמֹתֵ֑נוּmil·ḥă·mō·ṯê·nūour battlesH4421
√ milchâmâh — a battle (iNounfeminine plural constructfirst person common plural
milchâmâh: a battle The word's third appearance in the unit (Sennacherib's war in v. 2, the captains of battles in v. 6, our battles here), and the only one where it belongs to Judah with God as the fighter.
הָעָ֔םhā·‘āmSo the peopleH5971
√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)ArticleNounmasculine singular
וַיִּסָּמְכ֣וּway·yis·sā·mə·ḵūwere strengthenedH5564
√ çâmak — to prop (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural
çâmak: to prop, literally or figuratively Nifal consecutive imperfect. The unit ends with the people's weight resting on words. Barnes points out, bluntly, that this faith soon wavered and gave way to submission (2 Kings 18:14-16), which the Chronicler does not record.
עַל־‘al-byH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
דִּבְרֵ֖יdiḇ·rêthe wordsH1697
√ dâbâr — a wordNounmasculine plural construct
dâbâr: a word The same noun as the matters of v. 1, which framed the faithfulness that invited the invasion. The unit opens on Hezekiah's deeds and closes on his words, with the people leaning on them.
יְחִזְקִיָּ֥הוּyə·ḥiz·qî·yā·hūof HezekiahH2396
√ Chizqîyâh — Chizkijah, a king of Judah, also the name of two other IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
מֶֽלֶךְ־me·leḵ-kingH4428
√ melek — a kingNounmasculine singular construct
יְהוּדָֽה׃פyə·hū·ḏāhof JudahH3063
√ Yᵉhûwdâh — Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. After this faithfulness, Sennacherib — 32:1-2

The Chronicler will not date the invasion. Where 2 Kings 18:13 gives a regnal year, this verse gives a moral position: אַחֲרֵי הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה וְהָאֱמֶת, after these matters and this faithfulness. Cambridge calls the pair a hendiadys standing for after these faithful dealings; Pulpit renders the second noun this truth, meaning truthfulness of conduct, and notes it is lifted from the summary two verses earlier. K&D observes that the loose formula of connection replaces the chronological statement of Kings, and that the very form of the sentence shows the narrative's didactic and rhetorical purpose.

Maclaren makes this the whole burden of the verse: the Revised Version's rendering, he says, is much more accurate and significant, and he hears in the Chronicler's voice a tone of perplexity that this is what followed the best king's reform. Benson reaches the same place by a different road, calling it an emphatical preface and adding that God ordered the timing so that the trial came only after the reformation was finished, since earlier it would have stopped the good work. Ellicott gives the counter-evidence from Sennacherib's own terra-cotta prism, where the king boasts of taking forty-six fortified cities of Hazakiyahu of the country of the Jews, and then names the Chronicler's editorial method plainly: his object is the deliverance, so he omits what would weaken the impression. JFB supplies the political cause the text withholds, that Hezekiah had refused the tribute his father bound himself to pay.

⚙ So two things are true at once and the Chronicler holds both. The invasion is not punishment: the sentence structure forbids that reading. And the invasion is not an accident: the man who says לְבִקְעָם (to split them open, bâqaʻ, H1234) is boasting on a prism in Nineveh while the Chronicler quietly reports what he said. Between the boast of v. 1 and the speech of v. 7 stand six verses of digging and masonry.

ii. The water hidden and the wall raised — 32:3-5

Hezekiah's first move after seeing is וַיִּוָּעַץ, a Nifal: he takes counsel with his princes and his mighty men. Then the rare verb סָתַם (çâtham, H5640, only 14 verses in the canon). K&D is emphatic that it does not denote to obstruct, but only to hide by covering and conducting the water into subterranean channels, and identifies the vanished brook as the Gihon, dried up when its springs were covered. Poole and Benson read the same verb as filling the springs with earth so that no water could be found; Pulpit, having counted all thirteen or so occurrences, concludes that shut off would fit every one, and that we are not told how it was done, only that the water was turned from one direction into another. Cambridge brings the spade: an underground tunnel cut through rock, 586 yards of windings for 368 yards of distance, running from a well outside the wall to a pool probably inside it, and a Hebrew inscription found in place describing the digging, which nevertheless does not let us fix the date.

Then the wall. Ellicott, K&D and Cambridge all stop at וַיַּעַל עַל־הַמִּגְדָּלוֹת, and their honesty is worth more than a smooth translation: K&D says the clause is obscure, that he mounted on the towers has no meaning, that the Septuagint omitted the words and the Vulgate's et exstruxit turres desuper looks like a guess. Ellicott and Cambridge prefer re-dividing the consonants to get and raised towers upon it. The verse ends in arms, and Cambridge reads the specific word שֶׁלַח (a dart or missile) as evidence of the plan: these were for the levy en masse, not for trained soldiers, a dart to throw and a shield to cover the thrower.

⚙ Notice what the Hebrew does with one root. In v. 5 Hezekiah strengthens himself (Hitpael of châzaq) and strengthens the Millo (Piel of the same root), and in v. 7 he commands be strong (Qal imperative). His own name is that root. Geneva draws the conclusion on v. 8 and we cannot improve on it: he trusted God, and yet made himself strong and used lawful means, lest he should seem to tempt God. Henry states the same balance in the other direction: those who trust God with their safety must use proper means, or else they tempt him.

iii. The unnamed Greater, and a name at last — 32:6-8

The muster is at רְחוֹב שַׁעַר הָעִיר, the broad place at the city gate. Barnes takes it for the gate of Ephraim, the great northern gate facing the Assyrian camp; Cambridge says there is nothing in the text to show which broad place is meant. Ellicott notes that the title Hezekiah gives his officers, captains of battles, is a phrase found here only, and that what the king then does is literally to speak upon their heart. JFB pictures the scene: soldiers equipped, the king addressing them in an animated strain, dwelling on the favour and helping power of God.

The speech is built out of older speech. Ellicott traces be strong and courageous, be not afraid to Deuteronomy 31:6, and there be more with us than with him to Elisha's word at Dothan in 2 Kings 6:16; K&D adds Jehoshaphat's charge in 2 Chronicles 20:15. Ellicott then says something a synthesis must not bury: it is not necessary to suppose the Chronicler gives the exact words, but only the substance and spirit of the exhortation. The rhetoric turns on a single unnamed adjective. K&D notes that רַב is quite general, its definition withheld until the next verse; Gill weighs whether angels are meant and decides Hezekiah had only the LORD in view. Then v. 8 names him: with Assyria an arm of flesh, which Ellicott hears as a reminiscence of Jeremiah 17:5 and K&D glosses as frail human power; with Judah יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, to help us and to fight our battles, a phrase Ellicott traces to Israel's request for a king in 1 Samuel 8:20. Cambridge sharpens the figure: an arm, in Hebrew, is an ally, and the arm of flesh stands over against a mighty hand and a stretched out arm.

⚙ And then the people lean: Nifal of çâmak, weight transferred, as onto a staff (Ellicott), trusted in (K&D). Barnes will not let the movement end in triumph, and he is right not to: this faith presently wavered, died away, and was succeeded by despair and submission, as 2 Kings 18:14-16 records and the Chronicler does not. The unit as the Chronicler wrote it is true; it is also curated.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read under Sola Scriptura, this pericope is about the order of two true things, and its grammar teaches the order better than any summary. Hezekiah hears that a face is set against Jerusalem and he does not pray first in this account: he takes counsel, hides water, closes a breach, raises towers, builds a second wall, repairs the Millo, and mass-produces darts and shields. Then he stands in the open place at the gate and says that all of it is nothing. The arm of flesh is the enemy's, but it is also, quite obviously, his own: he has just spent three verses manufacturing one. The speech does not cancel the work; it refuses to lean on it. Hebrew marks the difference with two verbs the English blurs. The princes help him (ʻâzar, v. 3) and God helps us (ʻâzar, v. 8): the same word, and the passage will not let them be the same thing. The people, at the end, lean (çâmak) on neither wall nor water but on a word.

What we will not do is tidy the frame. The Chronicler has set faithfulness and Sennacherib came in the same breath and left them there, and Maclaren is right that it reads as perplexity. Obedience did not buy exemption; it bought a finished reform and a trained will just in time to need them. Nor will we hide that the confidence of v. 8 did not hold: Barnes, reading Kings, records the tribute and the temple gold. The truest thing in the unit is therefore not the courage but the sentence Hezekiah says with the enemy already inside the fortified cities: more is with us than with him, and he leaves the more unnamed for one whole verse before he dares to say the Name. Faith here is arithmetic that refuses to count what it can see.

Not Scripture, a reader's line: he built the wall with both hands and leaned on neither.

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The same invasion told three times, and edited once verbal / quotation: confirmed

2 Chronicles 32:1 stands in a tight synoptic relation to 2 Kings 18:13 and Isaiah 36:1, and the Verifier finds the lexical spine of that relation: the rare royal name סַנְחֵרִיב (Çanchêrîyb, H5576, only 13 verses in the whole canon), with bâtsar (H1219, fortified cities) and ʼAshshûwr (H804). Barnes states the literary relation flatly: 2 Chronicles 32:1-8 form a passage supplementary to 2 Kings 18:13-16. Cambridge and JFB reconstruct what the supplement leaves out, the renounced suzerainty and the heavy tribute. Ellicott names the editorial motive and attributes the defence of it to Keil: the negotiations had no influence on the after-course and issue of the war. The link is verbal in the strict sense (a rare shared lexeme, all Hebrew), but the interest is what one witness omits.

2 Kings 18:13 · Isaiah 36:1 · 2 Kings 19:36

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H5576 Çanchêrîyb (rare, in 13 vv), H1219 bâtsar (in 37 vv), H804 ʼAshshûwr (in 138 vv). The rarity of H5576, which occurs only in this one crisis across Kings, Chronicles and Isaiah, carries the verbal tier; no quotation of one book by another is claimed. The 2 Kings 19:36 candidate shares H5576 and H804 only, not H1219.

Stopping the springs: the only other siege that does this verbal / quotation: confirmed

סָתַם (çâtham, H5640) appears in only 14 verses, and two of them are 2 Kings 3:19 and 3:25, where Elisha tells Israel to stop up every spring of water in Moab and they do it. Ellicott cross-references exactly those verses on the word to stop here. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme twice over, together with maʻyân (H4599, springs, in 23 verses). The inversion is the point: there the prophet commands the ruin of an enemy's water, here Judah hides its own water from an enemy. K&D's reading of the verb as covering and diverting rather than destroying is what makes Hezekiah's act the mirror image of Moab's rather than its repetition. Nehemiah 4:7 supplies the third Nifal use, of breaches in a wall beginning to be closed, and pairs it with chôwmâh as this verse does.

2 Kings 3:19 · 2 Kings 3:25 · Nehemiah 4:7

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H5640 çâtham (rare, in 14 vv, counted twice in the candidate) plus H4599 maʻyân (in 23 vv) for the Kings pair, and H5640 with H2346 chôwmâh (in 123 vv) for Nehemiah 4:7. Rare lexeme within a shared act of siege hydrology; the reading of the inversion is ⚙ synthesis.

The Millo: a rampart only ever built by the house of David verbal / quotation: confirmed

הַמִּלּוֹא (millôwʼ, H4407, a rampart, as filled in) occurs in just 6 verses. Every other one belongs to David taking the stronghold and building round from the Millo inward (2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Chronicles 11:8) or to Solomon building it (1 Kings 9:15, 9:24). Hezekiah does not build it: he strengthens it, Piel of châzaq. The Verifier records the shared lexemes millôwʼ and bânâh. Ellicott, Barnes, Poole, Gill, Cambridge and K&D all send the reader back to those founding notices rather than explaining the structure, because the cross-reference is the explanation: the Chronicler is saying that the city of David is still being held by a son of David three centuries on.

2 Samuel 5:9 · 1 Chronicles 11:8 · 1 Kings 9:15

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H4407 millôwʼ (very rare, in 6 vv) and H1129 bânâh (in 344 vv); 1 Kings 9:15 adds H2346 chôwmâh (in 123 vv). The extreme rarity of H4407, confined to the Davidic building notices, carries the verbal tier.

Do not be afraid of the multitude: a formula handed down structural / thematic: confirmed

Hezekiah's charge is assembled from older charges, and the commentators, not the Verifier, are the ones who record it. Ellicott traces be strong and courageous, be not afraid to Deuteronomy 31:6, be not afraid nor dismayed for this great multitude to Jehoshaphat's battle in 2 Chronicles 20:15, and there be more with us than with him to Elisha at Dothan in 2 Kings 6:16, where the unseen host outnumbers the visible one. K&D independently cites 2 Chronicles 20:15 and Deuteronomy 31:6 on this verse, and Pulpit sends the reader to 2 Kings 6:16 on v. 8. The shared vocabulary is real (châzaq, ʼâmats, yârêʼ, hâmôwn, rab) but these are common words, so the link rests on the formula as a whole rather than on any rare lexeme. Ellicott's own caution belongs in the badge: he holds that the Chronicler may give the substance and spirit of the speech rather than its exact words.

Deuteronomy 31:6 · 2 Chronicles 20:15 · 2 Kings 6:16

basis: Basis is commentator-recorded, not Verifier-computed: Ellicott cites Deuteronomy 31:6, 2 Chronicles 20:15 and 2 Kings 6:16 on this verse, K&D cites the first two. Shared roots (H2388 châzaq, H553 ʼâmats, H3372 yârêʼ, H7227 rab) are all common, so no verbal claim is made; the link is the reused holy-war encouragement formula.

If God is for us: Hezekiah's arithmetic in Paul's mouth structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ Matthew Henry, commenting on this passage, puts Hezekiah's sentence into New Testament words: let the good subjects and soldiers of Jesus Christ rest upon his word and boldly say, since God is for us, who can be against us. That is Romans 8:31, and Henry is the one who makes the connection, not us. The logic genuinely matches: an enumerated threat (v. 7's all the multitude) answered not by a counter-count but by a Presence, and in Paul's chapter by the same move against a list of powers. Because the link crosses from Hebrew to Greek it cannot rest on shared Strong's numbers at all: there is no lexical evidence to cite, only a shared argumentative shape, so it is tiered structural and stays there.

Romans 8:31 · 2 Kings 6:16

basis: Cross-Testament (Hebrew to Greek), so shared Strong's lexemes are impossible by definition and no verbal tier is available. Recorded basis: Henry's own comment on 2 Chronicles 32:1-23 phrases this passage in the words of Romans 8:31; the shared structure is a counted threat answered by presence rather than by numbers.

The conduit, the two walls, and a stone that will not give a date flagged: verify source

Ellicott, Barnes, Cambridge and K&D all link Hezekiah's waterworks and walls to 2 Kings 20:20 and Isaiah 22:9-11, and Cambridge and K&D note that Isaiah already speaks of the two walls with water brought between them, which would make the prophet a contemporary witness to v. 5. Then the provenance frays. Cambridge, describing the Siloam tunnel and the inscription found in it, says outright that the inscription does not enable us to fix the date of the tunnel for certain, and reports Bliss's excavated wall only as something that may date back as far as Hezekiah. Ellicott adds Ecclesiasticus 48:17 in two divergent Septuagint readings, one of which gives the Gog and the other water. The identification is probable and is held by every commentator here; it is not established, and none of these refs appear in the Verifier's computed candidate list, so we flag it rather than confirm it.

2 Kings 20:20 · Isaiah 22:9

basis: No Verifier-computed lexeme basis for either ref. Basis is commentator assertion (Ellicott, Barnes, JFB, Cambridge, K&D) plus archaeology that the same commentators call undated: Cambridge states the Siloam inscription does not fix the tunnel's date, and Ellicott's supporting Ecclesiasticus 48:17 citation has two divergent LXX readings. Flagged for provenance, not doubted in substance.

Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

With us: the word that becomes a name in the same war novel

Three times in two verses Hezekiah says עִמָּנוּ (ʻimmānû, H5973 with the first person plural suffix): more is with us, with us is the LORD our God. Cambridge, on v. 8, cross-references Isaiah 8:10 for with us is the Lord, and Isaiah 8:10 is the verse where the prophet answers this same Assyrian flood with עִמָּנוּ אֵל, the two words that Isaiah 7:14 had already fused into a child's name and that Matthew 1:23 applies to Jesus. ⚙ So Hezekiah, in Isaiah's own crisis, is speaking the first half of the name Immanuel over a mustered citizenry, and Isaiah is standing nearby completing it. What the king can only assert, the sign given to his father's house will embody.

We mark this novel in its Chronicles form and ancient in its substance: the Immanuel reading of Isaiah 7 and 8 is apostolic, recorded in Matthew, but none of the twelve commentators on this unit draws the line from 2 Chronicles 32:7-8 to it. Cambridge's cross-reference to Isaiah 8:10 is the furthest the sources go, and the last step is ours.

Isaiah 8:10 · Isaiah 7:14 · Matthew 1:23

An arm of flesh, and the Arm that was revealed ancient/widely-held

The contrast Hezekiah draws is lexical: זְרוֹעַ בָּשָׂר, an arm of flesh, against the LORD who helps and fights. Cambridge sets it against the frequent phrase a mighty hand and a stretched out arm used of Jehovah, and notes that in Hebrew an arm means an ally or helper. Ellicott hears Jeremiah 17:5 behind it and K&D gathers Isaiah 31:3, Jeremiah 17:5 and Psalm 56:5 as the idiom's field. ⚙ The same noun zᵉrôwaʻ (H2220) is the one Isaiah uses when the LORD bares his holy arm before all nations (Isaiah 52:10) and then asks to whom the arm of the LORD has been revealed (Isaiah 53:1), answering with a man of no appearance who is stricken for others. John 12:38 quotes that question of Christ explicitly, and Paul quotes it in Romans 10:16. So the antithesis Hezekiah states in the gate is the antithesis Isaiah carries forward: not flesh, but an Arm, and the Arm when revealed turns out to be wearing flesh after all.

This is the apostolic reading of Isaiah 53, quoted in the New Testament itself, and is ancient and widely held; the observation that zᵉrôwaʻ in this verse is the same noun is ⚙ ours.

Isaiah 52:10 · Isaiah 53:1 · John 12:38

A king who will not be the one who fights their battles novel

Ellicott notes that to fight our battles reproduces 1 Samuel 8:20, the reason Israel demanded a king in the first place: that he might go out before us and fight our battles. ⚙ Hezekiah, the reforming son of David with a mustered levy in front of him, is precisely the king they asked for, and he stands in the gate and hands the office back: with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles. Gill records that the Targum already read the clause as the Word of the Lord our God is for us to help us, and fight our battles, which is an ancient Jewish paraphrase, not a Christian one, and which locates the fighting in a divine Word rather than in a man.

The Chronicler's whole movement here, a Davidic king who gathers the people at the open place, speaks upon their heart, and makes their safety rest on Yahweh rather than on himself, is the office that Christ fills without abdicating, since in him the king and the LORD who fights are not two. That figural step is ours, offered to be tested; the Targum reading and the 1 Samuel 8:20 link are sourced.

1 Samuel 8:20 · Exodus 14:14

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (c. 1905)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text and versions. Verse 5 contains the unit's one genuinely damaged clause: וַיַּעַל עַל־הַמִּגְדָּלוֹת. K&D reports that the Septuagint omits the words entirely and that the Vulgate's et exstruxit turres desuper looks like a guess, and he refuses both he mounted on the towers (no meaning) and a causative reading (no object). Ellicott and Cambridge prefer redividing the consonants to yield and raised towers upon it; Thenius, reported by Ellicott, keeps the received text as heightened the towers; Cambridge renders repaired the towers and admits the ellipse is harsh. Our literal keeps the ambiguity rather than choosing. At v. 4 Pulpit records that the Septuagint reads through the midst of the city for the midst of the land, and at v. 6 Ellicott records the Septuagint's the broad place of the gate of the ravine, which the Hebrew does not specify.

Sources and their disagreements, left open. (1) The sense of çâtham in vv. 3 and 4: K&D says cover and divert, Poole and Benson say fill in with earth, Pulpit says shut off and declines to say how. (2) The identity of the brook: Benson says Kidron, Barnes, Ellicott, Gill and K&D say the Gihon of the Tyropoeon valley (JFB quotes Barclay at length for the latter), and Cambridge observes that no perennial stream runs in either valley today. (3) The gate of the assembly in v. 6: Barnes names Ephraim, Pulpit allows Ephraim or the corner gate, Cambridge says the text gives no way to decide. (4) The date and identification of the Siloam works: Cambridge states plainly that the Siloam inscription does not fix the tunnel's date, which is why our conduit thread is flagged rather than confirmed.

What this unit omits. Every commentator here except Geneva raises 2 Kings 18:14-16, the submission and the tribute paid out of the temple's gold, which the Chronicler does not mention. Ellicott attributes to Keil the judgement that the negotiations had no influence on the issue of the war, and reports and rejects Thenius's suggestion that the Chronicler was avoiding embarrassment. Barnes says the faith of v. 8 presently wavered; Pulpit calls the compiler's silence unfortunate in its suggestion and admits uncertainty about whether v. 2 stands before or after the tribute. We have kept those judgements visible in the voices rather than resolving them, because resolving them would require evidence we do not have.

Machine layer and word indices. All parse, Strong's and lexicon data above come from the Berean interlinear as supplied in the brief. The word indices used as note keys follow the interlinear's alignment to the BSB, which is not Hebrew clause order (in v. 1 the two forms of bôwʼ are indices 7 and 8; in v. 2 Hezekiah at index 0 precedes the verb at index 1; in v. 4 the quotation marker lêmōr is last at index 19 though it heads the quoted speech in Hebrew). Our literal renderings restore Hebrew order, so they will not track the index numbers one for one. Hebrew surface forms in the divergence fields are quoted with the pointing given in the brief. Every cross-reference badge either names a Verifier-computed lexeme basis or says explicitly that its basis is a commentator's assertion; the Romans 8:31 thread crosses testaments and therefore carries no lexical evidence at all, by design and not by omission. The three Christ readings are marked novel, ancient, novel respectively, and the ⚙ steps inside each are labelled where they occur.

= human, public-domain source, quoted and named. = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)