God’s Word Translation
2 Kings 19:23
23Through your servants you defy the Lord and say, “With my many chariots I’ll ride up the high mountains, up the slopes of Lebanon. I’ll cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypresses. I’ll come to its most distant borders and its most fertile forests.
2 Kings 19:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
- New International Version (NIV)By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord. And you have said, “With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its junipers. I have reached its remotest parts, the finest of its forests.
- English Standard Version (ESV)By your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, 'With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I felled its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses; I entered its farthest lodging place, its most fruitful forest.
- New King James Version (NKJV)By your messengers you have reproached the Lord, And said: “By the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, To the limits of Lebanon; I will cut down its tall cedars And its choice cypress trees; I will enter the extremity of its borders, To its fruitful forest.
Context of 2 Kings 19:23
21This is the message that the Lord speaks to him, ‘My dear people in Zion despise you and laugh at you. My people in Jerusalem shake their heads behind your back. 22Whom are you defying and slandering? Against whom are you shouting? Who are you looking at so arrogantly? It is the Holy One of Israel! Through your servants you defy the Lord and say, “With my many chariots I’ll ride up the high mountains, up the slopes of Lebanon. I’ll cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypresses. I’ll come to its most distant borders and its most fertile forests. 24I’ll dig wells and drink foreign water. I’ll dry up all the streams of Egypt with the trampling of my feet.” 25“ ‘Haven’t you heard? I did this long ago. I planned it in the distant past. Now I make it happen so that you will turn fortified cities into piles of rubble.
Read all of 2 Kings 192 Kings 19:23 word by word
בְּיַ֣ד מַלְאָכֶיךָ֮ חֵרַ֣פְתָּ׀ אֲדֹנָי֒ וַתֹּ֗אמֶר בְּרֹ֥ב רִכְבִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י עָלִ֛יתִי מְר֥וֹם הָרִ֖ים יַרְכְּתֵ֣י לְבָנ֑וֹן וְאֶכְרֹ֞ת קוֹמַ֤ת אֲרָזָיו֙ מִבְח֣וֹר בְּרֹשָׁ֔יו וְאָב֙וֹאָה֙ מְל֣וֹן קִצּ֔וֹ יַ֖עַר כַּרְמִלּֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Byיָדyâd · hand: byH3027
- thy messengersמַלְאָךְmal'âk · messengerH4397
- thou hast reproachedחָרַףchâraph · to tauntH2778
- the Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
- and hast saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- With the multitudeרֹבrôb · abundanceH7230
- of my chariotsרֶ֫כֶבrekeb · chariotH7393
- I am come upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- to the heightמָרוֹםmârôm · heightH4791
- of the mountainsהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
- to the sidesיַרְכָהyerêkâh · flankH3411
- of Lebanonלְבָנוֹןlebânôn · LebanonH3844
- and will cut downכָּרַתkârath · to cut: cutH3772
- the tallקוֹמָהqômâh · heightH6967
- cedar treesאֶ֫רֶז'erez · cedarH730
- the choiceמִבְחוֹרmibchôr · choiceH4004
- fir treesבְּרוֹשׁberôsh · cypressH1265
- thereof: and I will enterבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- into the lodgingsמָלוֹןmâlôn · lodgingH4411
- of his bordersקֵץqêts · endH7093
- the forestיַ֫עַרya‛ar · woodH3293
- of his Carmelכַּרְמֶלkarmel · CarmelH3760
Cross-references for 2 Kings 19:23
- 2 Kings 18:17Then the king of Assyria sent his commander-in-chief, his quartermaster, and his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came there and stood at the channel for the Upper Pool on the road to the Laundryman’s Field.
- 2 Chronicles 32:17Sennacherib wrote letters cursing the Lord God of Israel. These letters said, “As the gods of the nations in other countries couldn’t rescue their people from me, Hezekiah’s God cannot rescue his people from me.”
- 2 Kings 18:23“Now, make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I’ll give you 2,000 horses if you can put riders on them.
- Psalms 20:7Some ⌞rely⌟ on chariots and others on horses, but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God.
- Isaiah 10:7But that’s not what they intend to do. Their minds don’t work that way. Their purpose is to destroy and put an end to many nations.
- Isaiah 37:24Through your servants you defy the Lord and say, “With my many chariots I’ll ride up the high mountains, up the slopes of Lebanon. I’ll cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypresses. I’ll come to its most distant heights and its most fertile forests.
- Ezekiel 31:3What about Assyria? It was a cedar in Lebanon with fine branches that shaded the forest. It was very tall. Its top was among the clouds.
Commentaries on 2 Kings 19:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23The tall cedar trees - the choice fir trees - Probably meaning the princes and nobles of the country. The forest of his Carmel - Better in the margin: the forest and his fruitful field.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23And hast said - Isaiah clothes in words the thoughts of Sennacherib‘s heart - thoughts of the most extreme self-confidence. Compare Isaiah 10:7-14, where, probably at an earlier date, the same overweening pride is ascribed to this king. With the multitude of my chariots - There are two readings here, which give, however, nearly the same sense. The more difficult and more poetical of the two is to be preferred. Literally, translated it runs - “With…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-34Verses 20-34 All Sennacherib's motions were under the Divine cognizance. God himself undertakes to defend the city; and that person, that place, cannot but be safe, which he undertakes to protect. The invasion of the Assyrians probably had prevented the land from being sown that year. The next is supposed to have been the sabbatical year, but the Lord engaged that the produce of the land should be sufficient for their support during those two years. As…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23-24the heights of the mountains … of Lebanon: In his records, Sennacherib described climbing high mountain passes and cutting down Lebanon's great trees. Sennacherib felt unbeatable, but he was just a man, no match for the all-knowing Lord of the universe (1 Chronicles 28:9).Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Kings 19:23
In the dictionaries
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
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