Isaiah 37:34
ESV
By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord.
NIV
By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city," declares the Lord.
NASB
By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares the Lord.
CSB
He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city. This is the Lord’s declaration.
NLT
The king will return to his own country by the same road on which he came. He will not enter this city,’ says the Lord.
KJV
By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.
NKJV
By the way that he came, By the same shall he return; And he shall not come into this city,’ Says the Lord.
What does Isaiah 37:34 mean?
No one in the world of Isaiah's time would have given Hezekiah and Jerusalem a chance of escaping destruction, especially if they refused to surrender (Isaiah 36:1–3). The Assyrians did not lose. When they came for conquest, they took cities decisively and with great cruelty. That aggressive war machine was coming for Jerusalem.Yet the Lord makes a promise to King Hezekiah: Assyria might approach, but they'll be sent back to where they came from (Isaiah 37:29). Jerusalem will be untouched. Assyria's king Sennacherib will never set foot inside Jerusalem or even have the chance to fire an arrow into the city. There will be no siege shields or fortifications. The Assyrians will literally never lay a finger on Jerusalem, even if they succeed in surrounding the city. This is the declaration of the Lord.
Scripture doesn't give us insight into Hezekiah's thoughts between hearing this promise and the morning when he learns what happened to the invading army (Isaiah 37:36–38). Was he fully confident? Was he full of doubt? Did he go back and forth? He already demonstrated enough faith in the Lord to ask for help. Believing the Lord's answer would also require faith. The Bible doesn't say when the Assyrians were destroyed, so some commentators think Hezekiah stayed in Judah for the year of trouble also mentioned by Isaiah (Isaiah 37:30).
