37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria | his god, that Adrammelech and Sharedeparted, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch

a ch. 14. 9-12.

zer his sons smote " him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

1 Ararat

New Translation.

37. [the people] arose in the morning they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria decamped, and went away, and returned, and

38. dwelt at Nineveh. And as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisroch his God, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat; and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

}

37. So Sennacherib-departed. Probably with some portion of his army and retinue with him. It is by no means probable that the whole army had been destroyed. In 2 Chron. xxxii. 21, it is said that the angel "cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria." His army was thus entirely disabled, and the loss of so large a part of it, and the consternation produced by their sudden destruction, would of course lead him to abandon the siege. Went and returned. Went from before Jerusalem, and returned to his own land. And dwelt at Nineveh. How long he dwelt there is not certainly known. Berosus, the Chaldean, says it was "a little while." See Jos. Ant. B. x. ch. 1, § 5. Nineveh was on the Tigris, and was the capital of Assyria. For an account of its site, and its present situation, see "the American Biblical Repository," for Jan. 1837, pp. 139-159.

Of

38. As he was worshipping. Perhaps this time was selected because he might be then attended with fewer guards, or because they were able to surprise him without the possibility of his summoning his attendants to his rescue. In the house. In the temple. Nisroch his god. The god whom he particularly adored. Gesenius supposes that the word Nisroch denotes an eagle, or a great eagle. The eagle was regarded as a sacred bird in the Persian religion, and was the symbol of Ormuzd. This god or idol had been probably introduced into Nineveh from Persia. Among the ancient Arabs the eagle occurs as an idol. Josephus calls the idol Araskes; the author of the book of Tobit calls it Dagon. Vitringa supposes that it was the Assyrian Bel, and was worshipped under the figure of Mars, the god

More probably it was the figure of the eagle, though it

That Adrammelech

What was the cause These two sons subse

of war. might have been regarded as the god of war. and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword. of this rebellion and parricide is unknown. quently became, in Armenia, the heads of two celebrated families there, the Arzerunii, and the Genunii. See Josephus' Ant. B. x. ch. i. § 5,

crown.

This would lead us to suppose that

Note. And they escaped, &c. it was some private matter which led them to commit the parricide, and that they did not do it with the expectation of succeeding to the Into the land of Armenia. Heb. as in the margin, Ararat. The Chaldee renders this, "the land of Kardoo" -that is Kardianum, or, the mountains of the Kurds. The modern Koordistan includes a considerable part of the ancient Assyria and Media, together with a large portion of Armenia. This expression is generally substituted for Ararat by the Syriac, Chaldee, and Arabic translators, when they do not retain the original word Ararat. It is a region among the mountains of Ararat or Armenia. The Syriac

renders it in the same way 10 of Kurdoya -the Kurds. The LXX render it into Armenia." Jerome says that "Ararat was a champaign region in Armenia, through which the Araxes flowed, and was of considerable fertility." Ararat was a region or province in Armenia, near the middle of the country between the Araxes and the lakes Van and Ormiah. It is still called by the Armenians Ararat. On one of the mountains in this region the ark of Noah rested. Gen. viii. 4. The name Ararat belongs properly to the region of country, and not to any particular mountain. For an account of this region, see Sir R. K. Porter's Travels, vol. i. p. 178, seq.; Smith and Dwight's Researches in Armenia, vol. ii. p. 73, seq., and Morier's Second Journey, p. 312. For a very interesting account of the situation of Ararat, including a description of an ascent to the summit of the mountain which bears that name, see the Biblical Repository for April, 1836, pp. 390 -416. "The origin of the name Armenia is unknown. The Armenians call themselves after their fabulous progenitor Haig, and derive the name Armen from the son of Haig, Armenag. They are probably a tribe of the ancient Assyrians; their language and history speak alike in favour of it. Their traditions say also that Haig came from Babylon."

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER.

THIS chapter contains the record of an important transaction which occurred in the time of Isaiah, and in which he was deeply interested-the dangerous sickness, and the remarkable recovery of Hezekiah. It is introduced here, doubtless, because the account was drawn up by Isaiah, and is a part of his writings (see Analysis of ch. xxxvi.); and because it records the agency of Isaiah at an important crisis of the history. A record of the same transaction, evidently from the same hand, occurs in 2 Kings xx. 1-11. Bat the account differs more than the records in the two previous chapters. It is abridged in Isaiah by omitting what is recorded in Kings in ver. 4, and in the close of ver. 6, it is transposed in the statement which occurs in regard to the application of the "lump of figs;" and it is enlarged by the introduction of the record which Hezekiah made of his sickness and recovery, vs 9-20.

The contents of the chapter are (1.) the statement of the dangerous sickness of Hezekiah, and the message of God to him by the prophet, ver. 1; (2.) the prayer which Hezekiah offered for his recovery, vs. 3, 4; (3) the assurance which God gave to him by the prophet that his days should be lengthened out fifteen years, and the sign given to confirm it by the retrocession of the shadow on the sun dial of Ahaz, vs. 4-8; (4) the record which Hezekiah made in gratitude to God for his recovery, vs. 9-20; and (5.) the statement of the manner in which his recovery was effected, vs. 21, 22.

1 In those days was Hezekiah sick | said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, 2 unto death. And Isaiah the prophet, Set thine house in order: for thou the son of Amoz, came unto him, and shalt die, and not live.

c 2 Kings 20. 1, &c. 2 Chron. 32. 24.

2 Give charge concerning thy house.

New Translation.

1. In those days was Hezekiah sick with a mortal disease, and Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet, came unto him and said unto him, Thus saith JEHOVAH, Give command concerning thy house, for thou shalt die,

1. In those days. At that time; or his sickness commenced about the period in which the army of Sennacherib was destroyed. It has been made a question whether the sickness of Hezekiah was before or after the invasion of Sennacherib. The most natural interpretation certainly is, that it occurred after that invasion, and probably at no distant period. The only objection to this view is the statement in ver. 6, that God would deliver him out of the hand of the king of Assyria, which has been understood by many as implying that he was then threatened with the invasion. But this may mean simply that

he would be perpetually and finally delivered from his hand; he would be secure in the independence of a foreign yoke which he had long sought (2 Kings xviii. 7); and the Assyrian should not be able again to bring the Jews into subjection. See Note ch. xxxvii. 30, 31. Comp. Note on ver. 6. Jerome supposes that it was brought upon him lest his heart should be elated with the signal triumph, and in order that, in his circumstances, he might be kept humble. Josephus says that the sickness occurred soon after the destruction of the army of Sennacherib. Ant. B. x. ch. ii. § 1. Prideaux places his sickness before the invasion of the Assyrians. Connex. vol. i. p. 137. Was sick. What was the exact nature of this sickness is not certainly known. In ver. 21 it is said that it was a "boil," and probably it was a pestilential boil. The pestilence or plague is attended with an eruption or boil. "No one," says Jahn, "ever recovered from the pestilence unless the boil of the pestilence came out upon him, and even then he could not always be cured." Archaol. § 190. The pestilence was, and is still, rapid in its progress. It terminates the life of those who are affected with it almost immediately, and at the farthest within three or four days. Hence we see one ground of the alarm of Hezekiah. Another cause of his anxiety was, that he had at this time no children, and consequently he had reason to apprehend that his kingdom would be thrown into contention by conflicting strifes for the crown. ¶ Unto death. Ready to die; with a sickness which in the ordinary course would terminate his life. Set thine house in order. Heb. Give command (1) to thy house,' i. e. to thy family. If you have any directions to give in regard to the succession to the crown, or in regard to domestic and private arrangements, let it be done soon. Hezekiah was yet in middle life. He came to the throne when he was twenty-five years old (2 Kings xviii. 2), and he had now reigned about fourteen years. It is possible that he had as yet made no arrangements in regard to the succession, and as this was very important to the peace of the nation, Isaiah was sent to him to apprize him of the necessity of leaving the affairs of his kingdom so that there should not be anarchy when he should die. The direction, also, may be understood in a more general sense as denoting that he was to make whatever arrangements might be necessary as preparatory to his death. We see here (1.) the boldness and fidelity of a man of God. Isaiah was not afraid to go in and freely tell even a monarch that he must die. The subsequent part of the narrative

would lead us to suppose that until this announcement Hezekiah did not regard himself as in immediate danger. It is evident here, that the physician of Hezekiah had not informed him of it—perhaps from fear, perhaps from the apprehension that his disease would be aggravated by the agitation of his mind on the subject. The duty was, therefore, left, as it is often, and indeed generally now, to a minister of religion-a duty which even many ministers are slow to perform, and which many physicians are reluctant to have performed. (2.) No danger is to be apprehended commonly from announcing to those who are sick their true condition. Friends and relatives are often reluctant to do it, for fear of agitating and alarming them. Physicians often prohibit them from knowing their true condition under the apprehension that their disease may be aggravated. Yet here was a case in which pre-eminently there might be danger from announcing the danger of death. The disease was deeply seated. It was making rapid progress. It was usually incurable. Nay, there was here a moral certainty that the monarch would die. And this was a case, therefore, which particularly demanded, it would seem, that the patient should be kept quiet, and free from alarms. But, God regarded it as of great importance that he should know his true condition; and the prophet was directed to go to him and faithfully to state it. Physicians and friends often err in this. There is no species of cruelty greater than to suffer a friend to lie on a dying bed under a delusion. There is no sin more aggravated than that of designedly deceiving a dying man, and flattering him with the hope of recovery when there is a moral certainty that he will not, and cannot recover. And there is evidently no danger to be apprehended from communicating to the sick their true condition. It should be done tenderly, and with affection; but it should be done faithfully. I have had many opportunities of witness. ing the effect of apprizing the sick of their situation, and of the moral certainty that they must die. And I cannot now recall an instance in which the announcement has had any unhappy effect on the disease. Often, on the contrary, the effect is to calm the mind, and to lead the dying to look up to God, and peacefully to repose on him. And the effect of THAT is always salutary. Nothing is more favorable for a recovery than a peaceful, calm, heavenly submission to God; and the repose and quiet which Physicians so much desire their patients to possess, is often best obtained by securing confidence in God, and a calm resignation to his will. (3.) Every man with the prospect of