Isaiah 36:12

Isaiah 36:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
• New International Version (NIV)But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”
• English Standard Version (ESV)But the Rabshakeh said, "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?"
• New King James Version (NKJV)But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?”

Context of Isaiah 36:12

10What’s more, do you think we have invaded your land without the Lord’s direction? The Lord himself told us, ‘Attack this land and destroy it!’” 11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff, “Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don’t speak in Hebrew, for the people on the wall will hear.” But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied, “Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine.” 13Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, “Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria! 14This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you.

Isaiah 36:12 word by word

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר רַב־שָׁקֵ֗ה הַאֶ֨ל אֲדֹנֶ֤יךָ וְאֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ שְׁלָחַ֣נִי אֲדֹנִ֔י לְדַבֵּ֖ר אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֑לֶּה הֲלֹ֣א עַל־הָאֲנָשִׁ֗ים הַיֹּֽשְׁבִים֙ עַל־הַ֣חוֹמָ֔ה לֶאֱכֹ֣ל אֶת־צוֹאָתָ֗ם וְלִשְׁתּ֛וֹת אֶת־מֵימֵ֥י רַגְלֵיהֶ֖ם עִמָּכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• But Rabshakehרַבְשָׁקֵהrabshâqêh · RabshakehH7262
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Hath my masterאָדוֹן'âdôn 'âdôn · lordH113
• sentשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971
• and to thee to speakדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
• these wordsדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
• to the menאֱנוֹשׁ'ĕnôsh · humanH582
• that sitיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
• upon the wallחוֹמָהchômâh · wallH2346
• that they may eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• their own dungצֹאָהtsô'âh tsô'âh · filthH6675
• their own dungחֶרֶאchere' chărîy · dungH2716
• and drinkשָׁתָהshâthâh · to drinkH8354
• their own pissשַׁ֫יִןshayin · urineH7890
• their own pissרֶ֫גֶלregel · footH7272
• their own pissמַיmayim · waterH4325

Cross-references for Isaiah 36:12

• Isaiah 9:20They will attack their neighbor on the right but will still be hungry. They will devour their neighbor on the left but will not be satisfied. In the end they will even eat their own children.
• Leviticus 26:29Then you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters.
• Deuteronomy 28:53“The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you.
• 2 Kings 6:25As a result, there was a great famine in the city. The siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a cup of dove’s dung sold for five pieces of silver.
• 2 Kings 18:27But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied, “Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine.”
• Jeremiah 19:9I will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is gone. Then those trapped inside will eat their own sons and daughters and friends. They will be driven to utter despair.’
• Daniel 4:9“I said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too great for you to solve. Now tell me what my dream means.
• Ezekiel 4:16Then he told me, “Son of man, I will make food very scarce in Jerusalem. It will be weighed out with great care and eaten fearfully. The water will be rationed out drop by drop, and the people will drink it with dismay.

Commentaries on Isaiah 36:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12That they may eat their own dung "Destined to eat their own dung" - לאכל leechol, that they may eat, as our translation literally renders it. But the Syriac reads מאכל meechol, that they may not eat, perhaps rightly, and afterward ומשתות umishshethoth, or ושתות ushethoth, to the same purpose. Seventeen of Dr. Kennicott's MSS., ten of De Rossi's and two of my own, read מימי meymey, the water; mine have שניהם מימי meymey sheneyhem, and write in the margin…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee? - To Hezekiah, and to you alone. A part of my purpose is to address the people, to induce them to leave Hezekiah, and to offer no resistance to the Assyrian. To the men that sit on the wall … - The meaning of this is, that the inhabitants of the city, if they do not surrender, will be subjected to the severest evils of famine. If they did not surrender, it was the purpose of the Assyrian to lay siege to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-22The Assyrian chief of staff tried to use intimidation to negotiate a peaceful settlement. In his first speech (Isaiah 36:4–10), he correctly argued that Egypt could not rescue them but incorrectly accused Hezekiah of misplaced trust in the Lord. Interestingly, the Assyrian did not view the contest as between the gods of Assyria and the Lord, but rather between Sennacherib (the great king) and the Lord.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. Is it to thy master and thee that I am sent? Nay, it is to the men on the wall, to let them know (so far am I from wishing them not to hear, as you would wish), that unless they surrender, they shall be reduced to the direst extremities of famine in the siege (2Ch 32:11, explains the word here), namely, to eat their own excrements: or, connecting, "that they may eat," &c., with "sit upon the wall"; who, as they hold the wall, are knowingly exposing…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 36:12

• Diplomacy
• Siege

In the dictionaries

• Destroy
• Hezekiah
• Isaiah
• Rabmag
• Sennacherib
• Bible, the
• Chronicles, Books of
• Chronology of the Old Testament
• Dung; Dung Gate
• Hezekiah (2)

Commentaries on Isaiah 36

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• 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