Yesaya 37:38

37:38 One day, ¹  as he was worshiping ²  in the temple of his god Nisroch, ³  his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. ⁴  They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

Yesaya 49:2

49:2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,

he hid me in the hollow of his hand;

he made me like a sharpened ⁵  arrow,

he hid me in his quiver. ⁶ 

[37:38]  ¹ sn The assassination of King Sennacherib probably took place in 681 b.c.

[37:38]  ² tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[37:38]  ³ sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a corruption of Nusku.

[37:38]  ⁴ sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.

[49:2]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps, “polished” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NASB “a select arrow.”

[49:2]  ⁶ sn The figurative language emphasizes the servant’s importance as the Lord’s effective instrument. The servant’s mouth, which stands metonymically for his words, is compared to a sharp sword because he will be an effective spokesman on God’s behalf (see 50:4). The Lord holds his hand on the servant, ready to draw and use him at the appropriate time. The servant is like a sharpened arrow reserved in a quiver for just the right moment.