Reading for October 8th

Read 2 Kings 18.9-27 In verses 9-12: These verses reiterate the information about the fall of Israel in ch 17. In 14: A talent could weigh between 45 and 130 pounds. In verse 17: Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh are all tities for Assyrian military officers. The exact location of the conduit of the upper pool is unknown. In verse 18: The three Assyrians meet with three officials of the court of Judah-Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah. The precise functions of their offices as the one in charge of the palace, secretary, and recorder are uncertain. In verses 19-25: Part of the tactics of ancient warfare involved speeches like this one designed to discourage th enemy. The Rabshakeh makes the point that the Assyrians greatly outnumber the forces of Judah (vv. 23-24) and asks who else the people of Judah are relying on. He observes, quite correctly, that the Egyptians to who Hezekiah may have looked for help (v. 24), are powerless compared with the Assyrian army. His comparison of Egypt to a broken reed of a staff in v. 21 is also found in Ezek 29.6 and may have been a proverb. The other possibilty he raises is that they are dependent on the Lord. To counter this, he states that Hezekiah removed the Lord's high places and altars (v. 22), which may have been true ina sense. That is, in his effort to centralize the government ad religion of Judah, Hezekiah may have outlawed all shrines outside of Jerusalem. The Rabshakeh also claims that the Lord sent the Assyrians against Jerusalem. This claim may also have had a measure of truth to the extent that Hezekiah or his predesessors likely swore an oath by the Lord to be loyal to their Assyrian overlord. In verse 26: Aramaic was the language of diplomacy of the time. The fates described here refer to the conditions of starvation of a city under siege. Comments or Questions...