Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 36:22

"Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh." — Isaiah 36:22 (ASV)

With their clothes torn - This was a common mark of grief among the Jews (see 2 Samuel 3:21; 1 Kings 21:27; Ezra 9:3; Job 1:20; Job 2:12; Jeremiah 36:24; and the notes on Matthew 26:65). The causes of their grief were the insolence and arrogance of Rabshakeh; the proposal to surrender the city; the threat of the siege on the one hand, and of the removal on the other, and the blasphemy of the name of their God, and the reproach of the king. All these things filled their hearts with grief, and they hastened to report to Hezekiah.