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UTN uW Translation Notes:

Introduction to Isaiah 37

Structure and Formatting

This chapter continues the story that begins in chapter 36. 1. Hezekiah sends his officials to Isaiah (1–4) 2. Yahweh promises through Isaiah that he will rescue Jerusalem (5–7) 3. The Rabshakeh leaves, but the Assyrian king sends more messengers (8–13) 4. Hezekiah prays to Yahweh for deliverance (14–20) 5. Yahweh responds to Hezekiah through Isaiah (21–35) 6. The army of Assyria is destroyed and its king is murdered (36–38)

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Why did Sennacherib’s sons kill him?

The story records in 37:38 that after Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, while he was worshiping in the temple of the Assyrian god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer, two of his sons, assassinated him. They did that because of a bitter conflict over who would succeed him as king, as ancient Assyrian sources report. The crown prince Assur-nadin-shumi died, and Sennacherib at first named Adrammelech his heir. But later he replaced him with Esarhaddon, a younger son, for reasons that the sources do not specify. This made Adrammelech very angry, but Sennacherib refused to reinstate him. So he conspired with his brother Sharezer to assassinate their father. They had hoped to seize power for themselves, but they had to flee, and Esarhaddon became the next king.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Levels of quotation

As in chapter 36, there are two long quotations in this chapter that contain multiple levels of quotation. They are in verses 10–13 and 21–35. Notes describe ways of indicating the speakers throughout these quotations. See what you did in the case of the quotations in the previous chapter, and present these quotations in the same way.

Images in the king of Assyria’s boast

In verse 24, Yahweh uses vivid imagery to depict how the Assyrian king has been boasting of his military conquests. Here is an explanation of the various images that he uses.- As Yahweh quotes him, Assyrian king is speaking as if he had actually gone up the highest and most remote mountains of Lebanon and cut down its tallest and most valuable trees.- He is using Lebanon to represent the entire geographical area of which Israel is a part.- He is using the giant trees that grow in Lebanon to represent huge, strong entities, so that his boast to have cut them down means that he has defeated powerful foes.- By the lodging place of its end, he means the place where his army would stop at the end of a successful campaign to conquer the whole country, that is, Jerusalem.- By the forest of its garden (that is, its forest that is like a garden), he means the place where the forest has been most transformed by cultivation into a park for human recreation and enjoyment. This seems to represent the grounds of the royal palace and temple, particularly in light of how extensively cedar and cypress wood was used in the construction of those buildings.Consider how best to represent these images in your translation. A note to this verse suggests one possible way to do that.