Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall return unto his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

Behold, I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a message, and shall return to his own country, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own country.

Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return unto his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

Lo, I am giving in him a spirit, and he hath heard a report, and hath turned back unto his land, and I have caused him to fall by the sword in his land.'

See, I will put a spirit into him, and bad news will come to his ears, and he will go back to his land; and there I will have him put to death.

Behold, I will send a spirit to him, and he will hear a message, and he will return to his own land. And I will cause him to fall by the sword, in his own land."

Ecce apponam illi ventum; audiet enim rumorem, et revertetur in terrain suam; et faciam ut cadat gladio in terra sua.

Behold, I will bring a wind upon him. Others translate it, "I will put my Spirit in him," as if the Prophet were speaking of a secret influence of the heart; but that is a forced interpretation. It is a highly appropriate metaphor that there is in the hand of God a wind or whirlwind to drive Sennacherib in another direction. To compare wicked men to "straw or chaff,' (Psalm 1:4) is a mode of expression frequently employed in Scripture, because God easily drives them wherever he thinks proper, when they think that they are standing very firm. The commotion that arose in the kingdom of Sennacherib is compared by the Prophet to a "wind" or "storm" which drove him out of Judea, and then he shews that the Lord will find no more difficulty in repelling that enemy than if he wished to move straw or chaff; and the very same thing might be said of all tyrants, however powerful. For he shall hear a report. The words "and he shall hear" are evidently added for the sake of explanation, and therefore I have chosen to interpret them as assigning a reason, "For he shall hear." [1] This is the wind by the raising of which Sennacherib was suddenly driven away; for a report which he heard about the kings of Egypt and Ethiopia constrained him to return to his own country. And I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. This means as if he had said, "He now annoys and harasses others, and endeavors to extend widely the limits of his empire; but I will raise up enemies to him, in the very bosom of his own land, who shall discomfit him." Some expound it to mean the land of Israel, but that is an excessively forced interpretation; for he speaks of the land of the king of Assyria himself, and there is an implied contrast, "He who subdued other men's cities and kingdoms shall not be able to defend his own country, but shall be destroyed and perish in it."

Footnotes

1 - akousas angelian, "having heard a message." "Havendo inteso un certo grido," "having heard a certain noise." -- Ital. "Uno foll etmas heren," "and shall hear something." -- Luth. Germ.

Behold, I will send a blast upon him - Margin, 'Put a spirit into him.' The word rendered 'blast' (רוח rûach) is commonly rendered 'spirit.' It may denote breath, air, soul, or spirit. There is no reason to think that the word is used here in the sense of blast of wind, as our translators seem to have supposed. The sense is probably, 'I will infuse into him a spirit of fear, by which be shall be alarmed by the rumour which he shall hear, and return to his own land.' The word is often used in this sense (compare 1-Samuel 16:14; see also Isaiah 31:8-9). Gesenius understands it here in the sense of will or disposition. 'I will change his will or disposition, so that he will return to his own land.'
And he shall hear a rumour - The rumour or report here referred to, was doubtless that respecting Tirhakah king of Ethiopia Isaiah 37:9. It was this which would alarm him, and drive him in haste from the cities which he was now besieging, and be the means of expelling him from the land.
And I will cause him - This is said in accordance with the usual statements in the Scriptures, that all events are under God's providential control (compare the note at Isaiah 10:5-6).
By the sword in his own land - (See the note at Isaiah 37:38).

I will send a blast "I will infuse a spirit into him" - "נותין בו רוח nothen bo roach never signifies any thing but putting a spirit into a person: this was πνευμα δειλιας, the spirit of deceit." - Secker. "I will send a blast" - I do not think that Archbishop Secker has hit the true meaning of these words. I believe רוח ruach means here a pestilential wind, such as the Arabs call simoom, that instantly suffocates both man and beast; and is what is termed "the angel of the Lord," God's messenger of death to the Assyrians, Isaiah 37:36.

Behold, I will send a wind upon him, and he shall hear a (f) rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
(f) Of the Egyptians and Ethiopians, who will come and fight against him.

Behold, I will send a blast upon him,.... The king of Assyria; a pestilential one, as he afterwards did, which destroyed his army: or,
I will put a spirit into him (s); a spirit of fear and dread, which will oblige him to desist from his purposes, and flee; though some interpret it only of an inclination, a will (t) in him, to return: it may be understood of an angel, a ministering spirit, and be rendered "I will send a spirit against him"; an angelic spirit, as he did, which cut off his army in one night:
and he shall hear a rumour; of the sudden and total destruction of his army; though some refer this to the rumour of the king of Ethiopia coming out to make war against him, Isaiah 37:9, but upon this he did not return to his own land, nor was he slain with the sword, as follows:
and return to his own land; as he did, immediately upon the slaughter of his army by the angel:
and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land: as he did, being slain by his own sons, Isaiah 37:37.
(s) "indam ei Spiritum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (t) So Ben Melech explains it by "will", "desire", "purpose".

blast--rather, "I will put a spirit (Isaiah 28:6; 1-Kings 22:23) into him," that is, so influence his judgment that when he hears the report (Isaiah 37:9, concerning Tirhakah), he shall return [GESENIUS]; the "report" also of the destruction of his army at Jerusalem, reaching Sennacherib, while he was in the southwest of Palestine on the borders of Egypt, led him to retreat.
by the sword-- (Isaiah 37:38).