^36:2The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser² from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem,³ along with a large army. The chief adviser⁴ stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth.⁵^36:3Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet him.

^36:4The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence?⁶^36:5Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk.⁷ In whom are you trusting, that you would dare to rebel against me? ^36:6Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him! ^36:7Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar.’

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Footnotes

2 For a discussion of this title see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
3 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
4 Heb “he”; the referent (the chief adviser) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 Heb “the field of the washer”; traditionally “the fuller’s field” (so , , , , ).
6 Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?”
7 Heb “you say only a word of lips, counsel and might for battle.” Sennacherib’s message appears to be in broken Hebrew at this point. The phrase “word of lips” refers to mere or empty talk in Prov 14:23.