Isaiah 37:5

Old Testament Major Prophet ASV (1901)

What does Isaiah 37:5 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
Isaiah 37:5 — American Standard Version

Context — Isaiah 37

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
5So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.] And delivered the above message to him from the king: these servants are mentioned (<233702>Isaiah 37:2). Musculus thinks that the third and fourth verses are the words of the king to the messengers, and not of the messengers to the prophet; and that the first clause of the “third” verse should be rendered, “that they might say unto him”, &c.; and having received their instructions, here is an account of their going to the prophet with them, which they delivered to him, and which it was not necessary to repeat. The Arabic version reads this verse in connection with the following, thus, “when the servants of King Hezekiah, came to Isaiah,…”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“37:5-7 God answered that he would deal with the Assyrians and rescue the remnant of his people from their distress (see 63:9).”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“Isaiah's reply. "And the servants of king Hizkiyahu came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them (אליהם, K. להם), Speak thus to your lord, Thus saith Jehovah, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Asshur have blasphemed me! Behold, I will bring a spirit upon him, and he will hear a hearsay, and return to his land; and I cut him down with the sword in his own land." Luzzatto, without any necessity, takes ויּאמרוּ in Isa 37:3 in the modal sense of what they were to do (e dovevano dirgli): they were to say this to him, but he anticipated them at once with the instructions given here. The fact, so far as the style is concerned, is rather this, that…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification