John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 36:2

"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." — Isaiah 36:2 (ASV)

Then the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh. The order of the narrative may have been altered here; for he had formerly said that Sennacherib had taken all the cities of Judea, and now he says that he sent Rabshakeh from Lachish, implying that he was besieging it, and consequently he had not yet stormed them all.

But it should be observed that historical connection is frequently disturbed, and that what was first in the order of time often comes last in the narrative.

Besides, the Scriptures frequently make use of a figure of speech in which a part is taken for the whole. By this figure, it might be said that all the cities were taken, because those that remained were few, and Hezekiah had no means of communication with them.

It appeared, therefore, that the king of Assyria had brought the whole of Judea under his dominion, because nearly all that remained was Jerusalem alone, in which Hezekiah was shut up.

This history is more fully related in the Books of Kings, where it is shown how eager Hezekiah was for peace; for he labored to obtain it on any terms. He had delivered up “three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold,” which that tyrant had demanded; and he found it necessary to seize the vessels of the Temple and the golden plates that had been attached to its doors to make up that sum, because his treasury was exhausted (2 Kings 18:14).

But as such gulfs are insatiable, when he had received that money, he next demanded more and sought to impose harsher conditions. This was done partly to provoke and torment Hezekiah (for, having once abused the ready compliance of the pious king, he thought that he would obtain anything) and partly because he sought an opportunity to renew the war.

Yet it should be noted that the people were justly punished for their iniquities, as had been foretold; for although true religion flourished in external worship, yet their life was not changed for the better, their wickedness was not removed, nor was the inward pollution cleansed from their hearts.

Accordingly, because the people did not repent, it was necessary that their obstinate depravity should be severely chastised. But because the measure of their iniquities was not yet full, God abated the fierceness of his anger, and suddenly, when matters were desperate, brought such assistance as could not have been believed.