2 Kings 19:29 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

This shall be a sign unto thee Of the certain accomplishment of the promises here made; that Zion shall triumph over this insulting enemy, 2 Kings 19:21; and that God will not only preserve the city from Sennacherib's present fury, but also will bless his people with durable prosperity, and a happy increase, 2 Kings 19:30-31. For the sign here given is not so much intended to be a token of their present deliverance from Sennacherib, which would be effected before the sign took place, as of their future preservation from him and the Assyrians, and of blessings which were to continue long after it. In other passages of Scripture we have signs given in the same manner, particularly in Exo 3:12 and Isaiah 7:14. At the time that Isaiah spoke this, nothing seemed more improbable than that the Jews, delivered from the Assyrians, should freely use and enjoy their own land, and be supported from its productions. They had cause to fear that the Assyrians would be greatly enraged at their shameful repulse, and the destruction of their army, and would quickly recruit their forces and come against them with far greater strength and violence than before. But if not, they had reason to fear another enemy equally formidable and destructive, a grievous famine. The Assyrian army had trodden down or eaten up all their corn, and the next year, which was the fifteenth of Hezekiah, was the sabbatical year, in which their law neither allowed them to plough nor sow. How were they to be supported? God engages they shall have sufficient support: Ye shall eat this year ספיח, sapiach, sponte natum, the natural produce of the ground, which the invasion of the Assyrian army in a great measure prevented you from ploughing and sowing. And the second year, that which springeth of the same סחישׁ, sachish, sponte renatum, the name here given to the spontaneous productions of the earth the second year that it had not been sown. And in the third year, sow ye, and reap You shall not sow, and another reap, as has lately been the case; but you shall enjoy the fruit of your own labour. Now this was an excellent sign, for it was miraculous, especially considering the waste and destruction which the Assyrians had made in the land, and that the Jews had been forced to retire into their strong holds, and consequently to neglect their tilling, sowing, and reaping. And these events taking place accordingly, year after year, and the predictions being punctually fulfilled, the hopes of Hezekiah and his people would be revived and confirmed more and more, and assurance would be given them that they had nothing further to fear from the Assyrians, and that God would yet defend, bless, and prosper his people.