Verse 26
26. Speak… in the Syrian language The Jewish officers thus interrupted Rab-shakeh in the midst of his address. Such words as those of 2 Kings 18:25 are, alas! too true, and have support, whether Assyria fully comprehends it or not, in oracles which Jehovah’s own prophets have uttered. For a representative of Assyria to speak of them in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people may easily occasion murmurings and rebellion. The Syrian language, more properly the Aramaic, ( ארמית ,) seems at this time to have been commonly understood in Syria, Assyria, and Babylonia. Its close affinity with the Hebrew would enable those who spoke one of these languages as their vernacular easily to acquire the use of the other; but the mass of the people would be familiar only with the tongue in which they were born.
On the wall So it appears that this interview was held near the walls of the city, and within hearing of the soldiers stationed thereon.
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