Chapter 37 – FAMILIA MUNDIAL
1 [3] A proverbial expression. In the Bible the pangs of childbirth often typify extreme anguish; cf ⇒ Isaiah 13:8; ⇒ Jeremiah 6:24; ⇒ Micah 4:9, ⇒ 10. In this instance there is reference to the desperate situation of Hezekiah from which he was scarcely able to free himself.
2 [9] Tirhakah: may have been general of the Egyptian army in 701 B.C.; later he became king, one of the Ethiopian dynasty of Egyptian kings (c. 690-664 B.C.). Many consider that this account in Isaiah combines features of two originally distinct sieges of Jerusalem by Sennacherib.
3 [16] In contrast to the empty boasting of the Assyrians, Hezekiah proclaims the Lord as God over all the kingdoms of the earth.
4 [30] You: Hezekiah. A sign: it is difficult to know the nature of this sign. Either it is merely a proverbial expression to signify that prosperity follows adversity, or it indicates that after two years the normal conditions of life will be resumed.
5 [36] The destruction of Sennacherib’s army is also recorded by Herodotus, a Greek historian of the fifth century B.C. It was probably due to the bubonic plague, but the sacred author attributes it to its ultimate cause, God through his angel.
6 [38] The violent death of Sennacherib (681 B.C.) is also mentioned in non-biblical sources. It occurred twenty years after his invasion of Judea.