(21) And the Lord sent an angel.--See 2Kings 19:35, seq.; Isaiah 37:36, seq. Hitzig thinks that Psalms 46-48. were composed by Isaiah to commemorate this great natural miracle, an hypothesis which is borne out by the similarity observable between the language and ideas of these psalms and those of Isaiah's prophecies.

Which cut off . . . valour.--Literally, and he hid (i.e., caused to disappear, destroyed; the Greek ?????????; Exodus 23:23) every valiant warrior, and leader and captain. (Comp. Psalm 76:5, a psalm which in the LXX. bears the title ??? ???? ??? ????????.) Kings gives the number of those who perished as 185,000.

With shame of face.--Psalm 44:15, "The shame of my face hath covered me." (Ezra 9:7.)

And when he was come . . . with the sword.--And he went into the house of his god, and certain of his own offspring there felled him with the sword. 2Kings 19:37 gives the names of the parricides--viz., Adrammelech and Sharezer; and the name of the god--viz., Nisroch--which is probably corrupt. It is added that the assassins "escaped into the land of Ararat." The chronicler as usual suppresses unfamiliar foreign'names.

They that came forth.--Some of the issue (yaci, a verbal noun only found here). (For the whole phrase, comp. Genesis 15:4; 2Samuel 7:12.)

Verse 21. - The exact matter corresponding with this one verse is embraced by vers. 35-37 in the parallel (2 Kings 19.). It gives the number of slain as a hundred and eighty-five thousand. It does not speak of the heavy proportion of leaders and captains lost. It leads us to suppose that for all survivers it was a surprise in the morning - that silent vision of the dead in such vast array. Stating, on the other hand, in mere historic dry detail, the return of Sennacherib to his own land, his dwelling at Nineveh, and assassination, in the house of Nisroch "his god," at the hands of his own two sons, mentioned by name Adrammelech and Sharezer, who had to fly for it to Armenia (Ararat), it does not show the obviously designed moral touch of our compiler, so he returned with shame of face to his own land, nor the similarly complexioned description of the time, place, and agents of his assassination. Lastly, it gives Esarhaddon as the name of his successor on the throne.

32:1-23 Those who trust God with their safety, must use proper means, else they tempt him. God will provide, but so must we also. Hezekiah gathered his people together, and spake comfortably to them. A believing confidence in God, will raise us above the prevailing fear of man. Let the good subjects and soldiers of Jesus Christ, rest upon his word, and boldly say, Since God is for us, who can be against us? By the favour of God, enemies are lost, and friends gained.And the Lord sent an angel,.... The Targum is,"the Word of the Lord sent Gabriel;''Josephus (a) takes this angel, or messenger sent of God, to be the pestilence; and others suppose it to be a hot pestilential wind, common in the eastern countries, called "Samiel", or the poison wind, by which multitudes are sometimes destroyed at once; of which Thevenot and other travellers make mention; see Gill on Job 27:21; see Gill on Psalm 91:6, but be it as it may, it was sent of God, was under his direction, and by his power and providence did the execution according to his prediction:

which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria; the generals and officers of his army, with the common soldiers, to the number of 185,000, Isaiah 36:1, among these, no doubt, were the three generals sent with railing letters to Hezekiah, particularly Rabshakeh; see Gill on Isaiah 37:36.

so he returned with shame of face to his own land; Assyria, particularly to Nineveh, the metropolis of it, Isaiah 37:37.

and when he was come into the house of his god; the temple of his idol, whose name was Nisroch:

they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword; his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer, Isaiah 37:38.

(a) Antiqu. l. 10. c. 1. sect. 5.