Isaiah 37:23 - Printer Friendly

ESV: "‘Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel!

NIV: Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

NASB: Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice And haughtily raised your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!

CSB: Who is it you have mocked and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

NLT: 'Whom have you been defying and ridiculing? Against whom did you raise your voice? At whom did you look with such haughty eyes? It was the Holy One of Israel!

KJV: Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.

NKJV: “Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, And lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.

One of the things Hezekiah asked of the Lord was for Him to take note of Sennacherib's insults (Isaiah 37:10–12, 17). Through Isaiah, the Lord confirms that He sees and hears all the Assyrian king's arrogance. While Assyria threatened Jerusalem with a massive army (Isaiah 36:12–15), God replies with the image of a little girl openly mocking the Assyrian king (Isaiah 37:22).

The phrasing here is rhetorical: it uses the form of a question but is understood to be a firm statement. The Lord asks the king of the Assyrians who he thinks he has been mocking and insulting. He challenges Sennacherib to think about whom he has been yelling at and lifting his eyes toward in a gesture of haughty superiority. Sennacherib would likely say he has been sneering at the tiny nation of Judah (Isaiah 36:9). He would think of their God as no better than the idols of other defeated nations.

But Assyria is insulting the One True God: the Holy One of Israel (Exodus 3:14–15; Psalm 89:18; Isaiah 5:19). He's faced imaginary idols before, but now he confronts the living Creator (Genesis 1:1). If the prior verse suggested a small child laughing at a bully, this verse might depict the child's massive, powerful father suddenly appearing on the scene.

Isaiah 37:21–38 contains the Lord's response to Hezekiah's humble prayer (Isaiah 37:14–20). Through Isaiah, the Lord first addresses Sennacherib in a poem. He tells the most powerful man on earth at the time that God will turn him around and send him home. Next the Lord promises Hezekiah that Sennacherib will never even approach Jerusalem, let alone attack it. The remnant of Judah will survive and thrive. As the Assyrians plan to engage in a different battle, the Lord destroys nearly the entire army in a single night. Sennacherib goes home. He is later killed by his sons.

Hezekiah is overcome with grief at news that Sennacherib has mocked the Lord and is coming to destroy Jerusalem. God reassures Hezekiah that the Asyrian king will return home to be killed there. Hezekiah prays in the temple, asking the Lord to defend His name and save Judah. Through Isaiah, the Lord reveals to Hezekiah that Jerusalem will not be touched. Assyria's army won't even have the chance to attack. Responding to their aggression and blasphemy, the "angel of the Lord" virtually wipes out the gigantic Assyrian army overnight. Sennacherib returns home and is later killed by his sons.

Isaiah 37 continues the narrative started in Isaiah 36. Assyrian messengers threaten to bring their enormous, nearby army to take Jerusalem. Hezekiah seeks God in response and is reassured that Jerusalem will not see so much as a single Assyrian arrow. The Lord promises to save the city and make the survivors prosper. The angel of the Lord kills an overwhelming number of Assyrian soldiers overnight. Sennacherib returns home and is eventually killed by his own sons. Hezekiah will then face a serious illness and be granted a brief reprieve by God (Isaiah 38).

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).