Isaiah 36:17-18
until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
English Standard Version (ESV)
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Rabshakeh's description of a "land like your own" isn't about genuine similarity, but a manipulative lure. He promises familiar bounty – grain, wine, bread, vineyards – to soften the blow of forced exile, masking the Assyrian policy of uprooting and scattering conquered peoples as a means of control, not as an offer of a comfortable new home.
Rabshakeh, the Assyrian commander, is speaking directly to the people of Jerusalem on the city walls. He's been sent by King Sennacherib to demand their surrender, and he's trying to intimidate them by boasting of Assyrian military might and belittling their king Hezekiah and their trust in God. He claims their resistance is futile and that their ultimate fate, if they don't surrender, is exile to a foreign land, though he paints it as a land as fertile as their own.
Rabshakeh, the Assyrian envoy, paints a picture of a new home for Judah. But is it a genuine offer of comfort, or a cunning trap?
Rabshakeh’s words in Isaiah 36:17 are designed to deceive and demoralize. He promises a land "like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards." This sounds appealing, but it's a strategic manipulation.
The Goal: Voluntary Surrender
Rabshakeh isn't offering a fair trade; he's trying to convince Jerusalem to surrender without a fight. By describing a land that sounds similar to their beloved homeland, he hopes to make the idea of exile seem less terrifying. This tactic is common for conquerors: soften the blow of defeat with enticing, yet ultimately false, assurances.
The Reality: Forced Deportation
History shows that Assyrian policy involved forcibly removing conquered peoples. This wasn't about resettlement for their well-being, but about control and preventing rebellion. The description of a fertile land was a smokescreen to hide the harsh reality of losing their home, their identity, and their connection to God's promises.
The Deeper Deception
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This promise distracts from the true loss: leaving the land God specifically gave them, the land of His presence. Rabshakeh’s words appeal to immediate physical comfort while ignoring spiritual and eternal realities.
Why would an ancient conqueror move entire populations? It wasn't about kindness, but about power and control. Understand the strategy behind Assyrian deportations.
Rabshakeh's threat to "take you away to a land like your own land" reflects a well-established Assyrian policy of mass deportation. This wasn't a random act of cruelty but a calculated strategy.
Reasons for Deportation:
A Pattern of Conquest:
This policy was not unique to Judah. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had already been conquered and deported by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:6). Rabshakeh is essentially telling Judah, "This is what happens to those who resist us." He uses the fate of their northern neighbors as a chilling precedent.
Understand the original words
YHWH · Hebrew Proper Noun
The foundational covenant name for the God of Israel, revealed to Moses, signifying His self-existence, eternal nature, and faithfulness to His people. It is the name through which God enters into a personal, redemptive relationship with humanity.
natsal · Hebrew Verb
The act of rescuing, saving, or setting free from danger, oppression, or judgment. Biblically, it refers to God's intervention to save His people, culminating in the ultimate deliverance from sin and death through Jesus Christ.
elohim · Hebrew Noun
An object of worship, whether a divine being, an idol, or a false authority that people trust in place of the one true God. These are ultimately shown to be powerless, man-made creations compared to the Creator.
erets · Hebrew Noun
In the biblical worldview, a 'land' is often seen as a gift of covenant inheritance from God to His people. Possession of the land is inextricably linked to obedience and relationship with the Lord.
Rabshakeh's threat to exile Judah to a fertile land echoes the earlier deportation of the northern tribes, presenting exile as a common Assyrian policy, but his words are a calculated deception to break Jerusalem's will to resist.
c. 722 BC
Assyrian Exile of Northern Kingdom
The Northern Kingdom of Israel (ten tribes) is conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire and its population is exiled to various parts of the empire, a precedent for future deportations.
c. 701 BC— this verse
Sennacherib's Campaign in Judah
King Sennacherib of Assyria invades Judah, conquering many fortified cities and besieging Jerusalem, with his general, the Rabshakeh, delivering a defiant message to King Hezekiah.
c. 701 BC
Assyrian Siege of Jerusalem
The Assyrian army surrounds Jerusalem, but miraculously withdraws after a plague decimates their ranks, sparing the city and Hezekiah.
c. 605 BC
First Babylonian Deportation
Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian army conquers Judah, deporting a portion of the population, including members of the royal family and educated elite, to Babylon.
c. 586 BC
Destruction of Jerusalem and Temple
The Babylonians destroy Jerusalem and its Temple, exiling the remaining population to Babylon, marking the end of the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
This passage provides the fuller context of Rabshakeh's speech, including the additional description of the promised land as one 'of olive oil and honey,' emphasizing the Assyrian attempt to lure the people with promises of abundance.
Deuteronomy 8:7-9This scripture describes the Promised Land God gave to Israel, highlighting its abundance with grain, wine, oil, honey, and fruitfulness, which Rabshakeh twisted to sound like a comparable, though ultimately deceptive, offer.
Jeremiah 29:4-7This passage describes God's instruction to the exiles in Babylon to settle, build, and even seek the welfare of the land they were taken to, paralleling the Assyrian threat of deportation with God's sovereign, albeit disciplinary, purpose.
Isaiah 10:5-7This earlier prophecy in Isaiah speaks of Assyria as an instrument of God's judgment, framing Rabshakeh's threats within God's larger plan, even when that plan involves severe consequences for His people.
barnesIsaiah 36:17: "Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards."
Until I come - These are the words of the king of Assyria delivered by Rabshakeh. It was proposed that they should remain safely in Jerusalem until Sennacherib should himself come and remove them to his own land. He was now engaged in the siege of Lachish Isaiah 36:2 , and it is probable that he purposed to take some other of the unsubdued towns in that part of Pa…
pulpitIsaiah 36:17: "Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards."
Verse 17. - Until I come and take you away. It was so much thee usual policy of Assyria to remove to a new locality a conquered people, which had given them trouble, that Rabshakeh felt safe in assuming that the fate in store for the Jews, if they submitted themselves, was a transplantation. Sargon had transported the Israelites to Gozan and Media (2 Kings 18:11),…
Rabshakeh's description of a "land like your own" isn't about genuine similarity, but a manipulative lure. He promises familiar bounty – grain, wine, bread, vineyards – to soften the blow of forced exile, masking the Assyrian policy of uprooting and scattering conquered peoples as a means of control, not as an offer of a comfortable new home.
Rabshakeh, the Assyrian commander, is speaking directly to the people of Jerusalem on the city walls. He's been sent by King Sennacherib to demand their surrender, and he's trying to intimidate them by boasting of Assyrian military might and belittling their king Hezekiah and their trust in God. He claims their resistance is futile and that their ultimate fate, if they don't surrender, is exile to a foreign land, though he paints it as a land as fertile as their own.
Rabshakeh, the Assyrian commander, is speaking directly to the people of Jerusalem on the city walls. He's been sent by King Sennacherib to demand their surrender, and he's trying to intimidate them by boasting of Assyrian military might and belittling their king Hezekiah and their trust in God. He claims their resistance is futile and that their ultimate fate, if they don't surrender, is exile to a foreign land, though he paints it as a land as fertile as their own.
"until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his…" — Rabshakeh's description of a "land like your own" isn't about genuine similarity, but a manipulative lure. He promises familiar bounty – grain, wine, bread, vineyards – to soften the blow of forced e…
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