Isaiah 37:12

“Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, &c.] They have not. But what then? is the God of Israel to be put upon a level with such dunghill gods? so Sennacherib reckoned him, as Rabshakeh before, in his name, (<233618>Isaiah 36:18-20): as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden, which were in Telassar. Gozan was the same, it may be, with the Gausanitis of Ptolemyf703 which he makes mention of in his description of Mesopotamia; and the rather, since Haran or Chapman was a city of Mesopotamia, (<011131>Genesis 11:31 <440702>Acts 7:2,4) called by Ptolemy by the name of Carraef704; and who also, in the same place, makes mention of Rezeph, under…”

“Gozan--in Mesopotamia, on the Chabour (Kg2 17:6; Kg2 18:11). Gozan is the name of the district, Chabour of the river. Haran--more to the west. Abraham removed to it from Ur (Gen 11:31); the Carroe of the Romans. Rezeph--farther west, in Syria. Eden--There is an ancient village, Adna, north of Baghdad. Some think Eden to be the name of a region (of Mesopotamia or its vicinity) in which was Paradise; Paradise was not Eden itself (Gen 2:8). "A garden in Eden." Telassar--now Tel-afer, west of Mosul [LAYARD]. Tel means a "hill" in Arabic and Assyrian names.”

“My fathers - My predecessors on the throne. Gozan - This was a region or country in the northern part of Mesopotamia, and on the river Chaboras. There was a river of the name of Gozan in Media, which ran through the province, and gave it its name. The river fell probably into the Chaboras. This region is known to have been under the dominion of Assyria, for Shalmaneser, when he had subdued the ten tribes, carried them away beyond the Euphrates to a country bordering on the river Gozan 2 Kings 17:6. According to Gesenius, the river which is referred to, is the Chaboras itself. He translates the passage in 2 Kings 17:6, thus: ‘And placed them in Chaleitis (Halah), and on the Chabor (Habor), a…”

“37:12 The argument was that Judah’s god, like the gods of other nations already conquered by Assyria, would be unable to save Judah (see also 36:18-20). • Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, . . . Eden, and Tel-assar were cities in Mesopotamia.”

“the gods: Isa 36:20, Isa 46:5-7 Gozan: Kg2 17:6, Kg2 18:11, Kg2 19:12 Haran: Haran, the Carrhe of the Greeks and Romans, is situated in the north-west part of Mesopotamia, between the Euphrates and the river Chebar; about 110 miles west of Nisibis, 90 east of Bir, 100 south of Diarbekir, and 170 north of Palmyra. Gen 11:31, Gen 12:14, Gen 28:10, Gen 29:4; Act 7:2 Eden: It is probable that this Eden is the country near Diarbekir, on the Tigris, called Madon, according to Asseman. Gen 2:8; Eze 27:23, Eze 28:13; Amo 1:5 Telassar: Telassar is probably the same as Ellasar, Gen 14:1, as the Jerusalem Targum reads; for both of which the Syriac has Dolassar; and perhaps, as Doederlein supposes, the…”