Synopsis of the Chapter
Isaiah predicts to Hezekiah victory over Sennacherib: wherefore an Angel slays 185,000 from his camp.
Verse 34: For the Sake of David ¶
34. FOR THE SAKE OF DAVID. You will ask: Why did He not say: "For the sake of Hezekiah and Isaiah," whose prayers were undoubtedly most pleasing to God? The answer is best given by Giveas, Part II of his Annals, cited in the Gloss: "These words," he says, "were divinely uttered so that Hezekiah would not think his prayer was heard on account of his own righteousness with which he was endowed."
Verse 37: Esarhaddon His Son Reigned in His Place ¶
37. AND ESARHADDON HIS SON REIGNED IN HIS PLACE. Genebrardus in his Chronology, Pererius, Arias Montanus, and Serarius on Judith chapter 1, verse 1, think this Esarhaddon was Sardanapalus, first, because just as Sardanapalus is placed by the pagan historians as the last king and monarch of the Assyrians, so also in Scripture Esarhaddon is placed as the last king of the Assyrians: for after him are named Baladan, Merodach, Nebuchadnezzar, Evil-Merodach, and Belshazzar, who were all princes and kings of the Babylonians. Secondly, because the name Sardanapalus seems to be formed from Assar and Don or Haddon with the addition of the name Pul; therefore it is the same as Esarhaddon. Thirdly, because the things which Jonah and Nahum predict about the future destruction of Nineveh through the flooding of the Tigris river, Diodorus attests happened under Sardanapalus.
But Eusebius, Torniellus, Salianus, and the other chronologists place Sardanapalus earlier, namely under Azariah king of Judah: for then Jonah prophesied and predicted to Sardanapalus the destruction of Nineveh, as I said in chapter 15, verse 2, and on Jonah chapter 3, verses 6ff.