Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
The words were a direct challenge sent by Sennacherib to Hezekiah in the Assyrian crisis over Jerusalem. The challenge named the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad, together with the rulers of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah, holding them up as peoples who had not escaped Assyrian conquest and power. The taunting question, where are they now, was meant to prove from their defeat that resistance was useless. It was a boast to support the claim that Jerusalem would likewise fall and that Hezekiah's God, the God of Israel, could not deliver it.
The words were a direct challenge sent by Sennacherib to Hezekiah in the Assyrian crisis over Jerusalem. The challenge named the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad, together with the rulers of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah, holding them up as peoples who had not escaped Assyrian conquest and power. The taunting question, where are they now, was meant to prove from their defeat that resistance was useless. It was a boast to support the claim that Jerusalem would likewise fall and that Hezekiah's God, the God of Israel, could not deliver it.