Isaiah 37:22
This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
The Lord spoke through the prophet to Hezekiah when the Assyrian king threatened Judah and Jerusalem, answering his humility and prayer by personifying Zion and Jerusalem as an innocent virgin daughter who despises and mocks Sennacherib and shakes her head at him, declaring his boast will fail and he will not enter the city. God Himself defended and delivered Jerusalem by direct miraculous intervention, sending His angel to strike down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in a single night though His people were outnumbered and in danger. The virgin daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem are names for God's true church, for His people are represented under the figure of a woman, and the word virgin spiritually describes a church kept distinct from corrupt and apostate churches. She is as a comely and delicate woman whose husband is the Lord of hosts, to whom alone she is to look for help and give love and honor, but when she turns to the nations of the world for help she becomes a harlot, the daughter of Babylon committing fornication with the kings of the earth, so Jerusalem stands as Babylon's opposed rival. God's word against Assyria in answer to the united prayer of Isaiah and Hezekiah shows the wonders of prayer and that dependence on God is safer than dependence on human wisdom or strength, for Hezekiah spread the taunting letter before the Lord and was not alone, and the overthrow left Assyria not without witness that He is God above all.
Context and Deliverance
This is the word the Lord spoke concerning him, given through the prophet to Hezekiah within the experiences of Hezekiah recorded in Isaiah 36-39, when the king of Assyria came up and threatened Judah and Jerusalem and the land. It was given in answer to Hezekiah's humility, and in answer to the prayer of Hezekiah and Isaiah to Heaven that God would vindicate His own name and cause against Sennacherib's blasphemy and contempt against God. In that answer God announced His wonderful deliverance of Jerusalem from the power of Assyria by His angel, with fuller details of the invasion and of the saving of Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from Sennacherib.
The campaign recorded here was Sennacherib's campaign in Judah, which came from the southwest. Its course and details distinguish it from the campaign from the northeast described in Isaiah 10, which was made by Sargon after Samaria and her idols fell.
Zion and Jerusalem are personified as one person, an innocent, confident maiden, the virgin daughter of Zion also called the daughter of Jerusalem. She despises and laughs to scorn, mockingly rejects and scornfully rejects, and shakes her head at her enemy. That enemy is Sennacherib, the Assyrian king and Assyrian foe who threatened and besieged the city and defied God, and the taunt declares that his boastful power will fail and he will not enter the city.
The deliverance comes through God's direct, miraculous intervention, not by human strength, showing that the God of heaven is mightier than the gods of the nations. Though Hezekiah and Israel were outnumbered and in danger under insult and threat, the strength of the Assyrian army did not make it stronger than God, for God vindicated His power and defended Jerusalem from Assyria. He saved the city by sending His angel to cut off the Assyrian camp, striking down 185,000 soldiers in a single night, in twelve hours, so the invading army suffered that loss and its threatening king was scorned rather than allowed to conquer Jerusalem.
The chapter is the same as and alike to 2 Kings 19, so the verse has a parallel account there. Isaiah 37 differs considerably in wording from its parallel in 2 Kings 19.
Virgin Daughter as Church
The people of God are represented under the figure of a woman, and the virgin daughter of Zion and the daughter of Jerusalem are names for God's true church. The word virgin shows that a virgin can represent God's true church, spiritually describing a church kept distinct from corrupt and apostate churches. The church is likened to a comely and delicate woman whose husband is the Lord of hosts, to whom alone she is to look for help and to whom alone love and honor belong.
When the daughter of Zion turns to the nations of the world instead of God she becomes a harlot, the daughter of Babylon, committing fornication with the kings of the earth and bringing confusion. Jerusalem thus stands as Babylon's rival, opposed to her though Babylon appears successful, despising and mocking her enemy. As a virgin betrothed to the Prince of Peace, Zion can take refuge in the Lord when Satan's emissary tries to turn her from her rightful Lord, for the Lord is a strong tower and keeps the righteous safe, enabling her scornfully to reject her enemy. The beautiful virgin daughter of Zion was the apostolic church at Rome in its early purity, which corrupted her ways by substituting the wisdom of the world for the wisdom of God revealed in His word, and fell like a snowflake from heaven to hell.
Faith Prayer and Witness
The taunt against Hezekiah fastened on his helpless condition, and he met it by spreading the insulting letter out before the Lord. He was not alone in that stand, because God was with him. God is a majority for one person standing alone in opposition to wrong, and the invading army suffered the loss of 185,000 men in a single night. Isaiah and Hezekiah subdued their enemies through faith and spiritual gifts, and their victory stands as an example of what Christians could do if they retained that faith and those gifts.
Hezekiah appealed to God on behalf of Jerusalem and God's covenant people when Jerusalem and God's power were insulted and denied. Dependence on God is safer than dependence on human wisdom or strength, for God heard him and delivered the city. The word of God against Assyria was given in answer to the united prayer of Isaiah and Hezekiah, showing the wonders of prayer. It was fulfilled when 185,000 Assyrians died in twelve hours. The slaughter of Sennacherib's host left God not without witness to Assyria that He is God above all. That witness came not by rain and fruitful seasons alone but by revelation and living testimony. It was the most notable of repeated witnesses, given after God had sent a Hebrew prophet to call Assyria to repentance when it had grown corrupt and gone far from God.