King Hezekiah of Judah prepared for war with Assyria by extending and widening Jerusalem’s walls. Back in chapter 22 Isaiah rails against this costly maneuver, especially as it required the demolishing of many homes. According to some scholars those were likely the modest homes of the recent refugees from the Northern Kingdom of Israel, already attacked by Assyria, who flocked to Jerusalem and settled further on the hillside beyond the original walled city. But the prophet’s protests were not a national priority. To accommodate the growing city’s protection needs, the king would build the biggest wall Jerusalem had yet seen - but to no avail. Eventually, these walls too would be breached - not by the Assyrians but by the Babylonians, almost a century later. Neither Isaiah nor Hezekiah would live to city their city fall, but both knew it was coming, and each prepared in different ways.
Isaiah’s words endured the test of time - and so did some of Hezekiah’s wall. In the 1970’s, parts of the wall were unearthed by Israeli archaeologist Nahman Avigad - dating to the late eighth century BCE. Avigad's dig demonstrated that by that time the city had expanded to include the hill to the west of the Temple Mount - just as described in the Books of Kings and Isaiah. The motivation for building the walls is believed to be Sennacherib's campaign in Judah.
The wall features in today’s chapter, bringing the first part of the book of Isaiah to a close - and it also plays an important part on this day as marked on the Jewish calendar - the fast day of The 17th of Tammuz.
This day of lamenting which starts the mournful period of the three weeks, has several reasons, some rooted in myth and some recorded in history. According to the prophet Jeremiah, the Babylonians breached the wall of Jerusalem on the 9th day of Tammuz. Later traditions debate the date and combine it with the assumed date - the 17th of the same month - on which the same thing happened to Jerusalem’s wall six centuries later - this time by the Romans. Over time this consolidated date became the marker of the destruction of Jerusalem, twice. So far.
Although Hezekiah’s wall was almost 10 feet wide it stood no chance against the mighty armies of Babylon. But he breach in the wall didn’t start with heavy weapons.
It started with words.
Today’s chapter brings the story back to beginning of the wall and the words that will eventually topple it - the exact year is 701 BCE, the 14th year of King Hezekiah’s reign. Chapter 36 describes in almost identical words what we already read in the Book of Kings - a description of the dramatic encounter between the Assyiran delegate Rabshakeh and the Judean King’s courtiers - right on the Jerusalem wall - in the presence of Jerusalem’s people. You can refresh your memory HERE.
Rabshakeh, the Assyrian leader speaks the local Judean dialect - and addresses the king’s delegation on the walls of the city. And after boasting the power of the empire and what will befall Judah if they do not surrender, the courtiers beseech him to speak in Aramaic - the official language of the empire, and not in the Judean - the language of the masses who are listening with terror:
“Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah replied to the Rabshakeh, “Please, speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it; do not speak to us in Judean in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
It’s such a vivid scene - we can practically see it - the masses assembled on the wall, the proud general, the worried courtiers. He refuses of course, and proceeds to deliver an even longer speech in Judean - using psychological warfare to plant terror in the hearts of the people. Eventually these will be the seeds that will grow to Jerusalem’s downfall. “It you who will eat your own shit and drink your own piss,” he tells the people, trying to convince them to abdomen their God, give up, and surrender.
The drama is only getting started, and Isaiah will be called to the court in the next scene.
The remains of the broad wall are a tourist attraction these days, in the middle of the contested city that has grown to proportions neither Hezekiah, Isaiah or Rabeshka could have even dreamed of. On this day that marks the first breach in that wall alongside so many other milestones of enmity and suffering - may we all be better at building bridges between each other, and fewer walls - with every word.
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