ISAIAH CHAPTER 20 The captivity of Egypt and Ethiopia represented, to take off the Jews from seeking to them for help. Tartan; a great commander in Sennacherib's army, 2 Kings 18:17. Ashdod; an eminent and strong city of the Philistines, Joshua 13:3 1 Samuel 5:1, in the utmost part of the land of Canaan, towards Egypt. Sargon: what king of Assyria this was is much disputed. It is well known, and confessed, that one and the same person hath frequently several names, both in Scripture, as hath been observed again and again, and in other authors. And therefore this may be either,
1. Shalmaneser, who, when he took Samaria, might also by Tartan take this place. Or,
2. Sennacherib, who, before he came to Jerusalem, came up against and took all the fenced cities of Judah, 2 Kings 18:13, of which Ashdod might be reckoned one, as being in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 13:3, Joshua 15:47, and taken by Hezekiah from the Philistines, as it seems very probable from that passage, 2 Kings 18:8, He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. Or,
3. Esarhaddon, Sennacherib's son, who, by cutting off the first letter, is called Sarchedon, /APC Tob 1:21, and thence possibly, by abbreviation, Sargon; who might do this thing in Hezekiah's time, some years after his father's death, and his coming to the empire, although it be not recorded in Scripture; for no man doubts that there were many great actions in those times which are wholly omitted in the sacred writings.