Isaiah 36:2
ESV
And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer 's Field.
NIV
Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,
NASB
And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a large army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the road to the fuller’s field.
CSB
Then the king of Assyria sent his royal spokesman, along with a massive army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. The Assyrian stood near the conduit of the upper pool, by the road to the Launderer’s Field.
NLT
Then the king of Assyria sent his chief of staff from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.
KJV
And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field.
NKJV
Then the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field.
What does Isaiah 36:2 mean?
The king of Assyria, Sennacherib, has been on a campaign to put down rebellions throughout the conquered people of his empire. Those rebellions took the form of refusals to pay tribute, as well as alliances between nations to stand together against the invaders. King Hezekiah of Judah had made an alliance with the Egyptians for that purpose. He called other the smaller nations to join him in refusing to acknowledge Assyria's right to rule over them.The enormous and well-ordered Assyrian army put down one nation after another. Moving from the north, they arrived at Judah and successfully defeated all the fortified cities in the nation. Only Jerusalem remains. The siege of the city of Lachish, not far from Jerusalem, was apparently nearing its end.
Sennacherib sends a delegation to Jerusalem to demand Hezekiah surrender. He deploys a high-ranking military official described using the word Rabshaqeh. Some translations leave this as a proper name, others as a title, and others translate it as a sort of commander or ambassador. The parallel account in 2 Kings notes two other Assyrian officials, the "Tartan" (Isaiah 20:1), and the "Rab-saris," but they don't contribute much to the conversation.
The Assyrian delegates wait outside of Jerusalem (Isaiah 36:11). Modern scholars aren't sure exactly where this; it may have been outside of Jerusalem's eastern gates. It was a significant spot for Isaiah. This is where he met with Hezekiah's father, Ahaz, in confrontation over a foolish alliance with the Assyrians (Isaiah 7:3). Ahaz had refused to trust the Lord.
