2 Kings 19:1

“And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, etc.] The report of Rabshakeh’s speech, recorded in the preceding chapter, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth; rent his clothes because of the blasphemy in the speech; and he put on sackcloth, in token of mourning, for the calamities he feared were coming on him and his people: and he went into the house of the Lord; the temple, to pray unto him. The message he sent to Isaiah, with his answer, and the threatening letter of the king of Assyria, Hezekiah’s prayer upon it, and the encouraging answer he had from the Lord, with the account of the destruction of the Assyrian army, and the death of Sennacherib, are the same…”

“HEZEKIAH IN DEEP AFFLICTION. (Kg2 19:1-5) when king Hezekiah heard it, he rent his clothes--The rending of his clothes was a mode of expressing horror at the daring blasphemy--the assumption of sackcloth a sign of his mental distress--his entrance into the temple to pray the refuge of a pious man in affliction--and the forwarding an account of the Assyrian's speech to Isaiah was to obtain the prophet's counsel and comfort. The expression in which the message was conveyed described, by a strong figure, the desperate condition of the kingdom, together with their own inability to help themselves; and it intimated also a hope, that the blasphemous defiance of Jehovah's power by the impious…”

“Hezekiah, like his officers, probably rent his clothes on account of Rab-shakeh’s blasphemies: and he put on sackcloth in self-humiliation and in grief. The only hope left was in Yahweh, for Egypt could not be trusted to effect anything of importance. Rab-shakeh’s boldness had told upon Hezekiah. He was dispirited and dejected. He perhaps began to doubt whether he had done right in yielding to the bolder counsels of Eliakim and Isaiah. He had not lost his faith in God; but his faith was being severely tried. He wisely went and strove by prayer to strengthen it. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Rent his cloaths, &c. - Great men must not think it any disparagement to them, to sympathize with the injured honour of the great God. 4 Kings (2 Kings) 19:3”

“19:1 Hezekiah showed his grief in the same way his representatives had (see Joel 1:13). He wisely went to the Temple, where he laid bare his soul before God in heartfelt worship and supplication (see Pss 5:7; 48:9-10; 63:1-3).”

“when king: Isa 37:1-7 he rent: Kg2 5:7, Kg2 18:37; Sa1 4:12; Ezr 9:3; Job 1:20; Jer 36:24; Mat 26:65 covered: Kg2 6:30; Gen 37:34; Kg1 21:27, Kg1 21:29; Est 4:1-4; Psa 35:13; Jon 3:8; Mat 11:21 went into: Ch2 7:15, Ch2 7:16; Job 1:20, Job 1:21 4 Kings (2 Kings) 19:2”

“When Hezekiah had heard from his counsellors the report of Rabshakeh's words, he rent his clothes with horror at his daring mockery of the living God ( Kg2 19:4), put on mourning clothes as a sign of the trouble of his soul and went into the temple, and at the same time sent Eliakim and Shebna with the oldest of the priests in mourning costume to the prophet Isaiah, to entreat him to intercede with the Lord in these desperate circumstances. (Note: "But the most wise king did not meet his blasphemies with weapons, but with prayer, and tears, and sackcloth, and entreated the prophet Isaiah to be his ambassador." - Theodoret.) The order of the words: Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, is…”