2 Kings 19:3

2 Kings 19:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
• New International Version (NIV)They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth.

Context of 2 Kings 19:3

1When King Hezekiah heard the report of his officers, he tore his clothes. Then he put on rough sackcloth and he went into the Lord's temple. 2He sent Eliakim, Shebna and the leaders of the priests to Amoz's son, Isaiah the prophet. Eliakim was the most important officer in the king's palace. Shebna was a government officer. They were all wearing sackcloth. They told Hezekiah's message to Isaiah: ‘This is a time of great trouble. Assyria has insulted us to make us ashamed. Our nation is like a woman who is ready to give birth, but she is too weak to push the child out. 4The Assyrian officer has brought a message from his king to insult the God who lives for ever. Maybe the Lord your God has heard that message. He should punish the officer for his wicked message. So please pray for the people who remain in Jerusalem.’ 5When King Hezekiah's officers told their message to Isaiah,

2 Kings 19:3 word by word

וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֗יו כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר חִזְקִיָּ֔הוּ יוֹם־צָרָ֧ה וְתוֹכֵחָ֛ה וּנְאָצָ֖ה הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה כִּ֣י בָ֤אוּ בָנִים֙ עַד־מַשְׁבֵּ֔ר וְכֹ֥חַ אַ֖יִן לְלֵדָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And they saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Hezekiahחִזְקִיָּהוּchizqîyâh chizqîyâhû yechizqîyâh yechizqîyâhû · HezekiahH2396
• This dayיוֹםyôm · day: todayH3117
• of troubleצָרָהtsârâh · distressH6869
• and of rebukeתּוֹכֵחָהtôkêchâh tôkachath · rebukeH8433
• and blasphemyנְאָצָהne'âtsâh ne'âtsâh · contemptH5007
• for the childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• are comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• to the birthמַשְׁבֵּרmishbêr · birthH4866
• not strengthכֹּחַkôach kôach · strengthH3581
• to bring forthיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205

Cross-references for 2 Kings 19:3

• 2 Kings 18:29This is what the king says: “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot save you from my power.
• Psalms 39:11When people do wrong things, you warn them and you punish them. You destroy their valuable things, like a moth eats cloth! Yes, our lives are only a breath! Selah.
• Psalms 123:3Please be kind to us, Lord. Please forgive us. People have insulted us more and more!
• Jeremiah 30:5The Lord said, ‘People are shouting because they are afraid! Listen to them! There is no peace anywhere.
• Hosea 5:15Then I will return to my place. I will leave them to receive their full punishment. When they have suffered enough, they will turn back to me. They will want to serve me again.’
• Hosea 6:1‘Listen! We should return to serve the Lord. He has torn us to pieces, but now he will make us well again. He has hurt us, but now he will make our wounds better.
• Psalms 95:8He says, ‘Do not refuse to obey me, like my people did at Meribah. They also did that one day at Massah, in the desert.
• Hebrews 3:15We have seen what the Bible says: ‘You must listen when you hear God speak today. Do not refuse to obey him. Do not be like God's people many years ago, when they turned against God.’
• Isaiah 26:17Because of your punishment, Lord, we had much pain. We were like a woman who is giving birth and she cries out with pain.
• Isaiah 66:9The Lord your God says, ‘When I bring a baby to the moment of birth, the child is always born. I do not stop its birth.’
• Hosea 13:13They will be in pain like a woman who is giving birth. Her child is foolish. He refuses to be born!

Commentaries on 2 Kings 19:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3The children are come to the birth - The Jewish state is here represented under the emblem of a woman in travail, who has been so long in the pangs of parturition, that her strength is now entirely exhausted, and her deliverance is hopeless, without a miracle. The image is very fine and highly appropriate. A similar image is employed by Homer, when he represents the agonies which Agamemnon suffers from his wound: - ̔ ̔ ' · ̔ ' ̔, · ' ̔ ͅ , , ̈́ ̔ · ̔ '…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3The “trouble” consisted in rebuke” (rather, “chastisement,”) for sins at the hand of God, and “blasphemy” (rather, “reproach,”) at the hands of man. The children … - i. e., “we are in a fearful extremity - at the last gasp - and lack the strength that might carry us through the danger.”Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-3Leaders often asked prophets like Isaiah for guidance during emergencies (2 Kings 3:11–12) or before battles (1 Kings 22:8–10). Isaiah was active during King Hezekiah’s rule (2 Kings 20:1, 14). The phrase day of distress describes the deep distress the king felt due to the insults and disgrace against God and his people. Hezekiah understood that they were powerless without God's help.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-52Ki 19:1-5. Hezekiah in Deep Affliction. 1-3. 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…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 19:3

• Diplomacy
• Intercession

In the dictionaries

• Hezekiah
• Cause
• Coming
• Exalt
• Prayer
• Rabmag
• Bible, the
• Blasphemy
• Bring
• Chronicles, Books of

Commentaries on 2 Kings 19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings