Глава 37

“And the boys of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah spoke to them... this saith the Lord... behold, I will put spirit in him, and having heard the news he will return to his country” (Is. 37:5-7). He will return who, not long before, was proud of the memory of his victories and the glory of the kingdom, and said: “What I have done today, I will do in the morning.” But Solomon said: “Do not boast about the morning, for do not consider what (the day) will bring forth” (Prov. 27:1). And this is equivalent to what was said: “his wickedness is sufficient for the day” (Matthew 6:34). Sennacherib will hear the news and return, that is, he will hear the bitter news about the destruction of his troops in Judah, and then he will understand how mistaken and crazy he was, saying: “I sighed over the height of the mountains and over the last of Lebanon” (Is. 37:24). In these images he imagined glorious Jerusalem. “Have you not heard... even I created it from the days of old,” that is, I built Jerusalem. “Now I have brought him so that the city may be devastated,” that is, I have now brought the Assyrian army to devastate Jerusalem, but it will be different (Is. 37:26). “Like the strong cities in which the inhabitants have given up their hands, they are crushed, put to shame, they have become like the grass of the field” (Is. 37:26-27), that is, just as I destroyed the strong cities and crushed their inhabitants, so I will shame and crush the king of Assyria. “And I will put a bridle in your nostrils and a bridle in your mouth” (Is. 37:29), that is, I will impose punishment on those members with which the king of Assyria blasphemed. With his lips he blasphemed Jerusalem and God, and with the arrogance of his nostrils he expressed his anger; therefore there will be a furrow (ring) in the nostrils and a bridle (bit) in the mouth. Likewise, in ancient times, God struck down the Philistines and, as the prophet says: “I will give them everlasting reproach” (Ps. 77:66). “This is a sign for you: the food of this year grows of its own accord, * and in the second year it grows of its own accord... as if the remnants of Jerusalem arise” (Is. 37:30, 32). After the prediction of the destruction of the Assyrians, the prophet announces to Hezekiah another joy that the Lord will multiply the fruits of the earth: for two years there will be no need to cultivate and sow the land, but everyone will eat what the earth produces by itself. “And the Angel of the Lord went out and slew from the army of Assyria one hundred eighty-five thousand” (Is. 37:36). The king of Assyria received news of the destruction of his hordes while he was waging war against Pharak, king of the Ethiopians. “And from there Sennacherib returned... and settled in Nineveh. And from time to time they worshiped him in the house of Nasarakh (Nisroch), their god, Adramelech and Sarasar (Sharezer), his sons, who were killed by his swords, but they themselves fled to the land of Kardu” ( Isa.37:37-38) When Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, he worshiped his god and praised him for saving him from destruction; then the truth of God allowed his sons to perceive an evil thought, and they killed him in front of the idol, and they themselves fled to Armenia “And his son Asordan reigned in his place” (Is. 37:38). (Sharetsera), who killed their father and, as it is said, fled “to the land of Kardu,” that is, to the land of Ararat. Probably an error - in the accepted texts of Scripture, the instructions for what to eat in the first and second summer are different (Is. 37:30). – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: