32. The terrible God. Similar phraseology appears in Deut. 10:17 and Neh. 1:5. To those who reject His mercy God appears as Judge (see Rev. 6:14-17).
Who keepest covenant. This thought occurs also in Ps. 89:28 and Neh. 1:5.
The kings of Assyria. Shalmaneser III of Assyriaânot mentioned in the Bibleârecords that he defeated Ahab, and forced Jehu to pay tribute to him and kneel before him. Tiglath-pileser III (called Pul in Babylonia) took tribute from Menahem (2 Kings 15:19, 20), and carried two and a half tribes into captivity (2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chron. 5:26). A third Assyrian king, Shalmaneser V, laid siege to Samaria (2 Kings 17:5-23) and most probably took it just before his death. A fourth, Senacherib, took all the fenced cities of Judah from Hezekiah and forced him to redeem Jerusalem by paying a great ransom (2 Kings 18:13-16). Another Assyrian king, either Esarhaddon or Ashurbanipal, took Manasseh as a prisoner to Babylon (2 Chron. 33:11). This was the last Assyrian expedition into Judah. The Lord, through Isaiah, called the Assyrian monarch “the rod of mine anger” (Isa. 10:5). For these contacts between Assyrian kings and the Hebrews, see II, 159, 160.