‘Where Are the Gods of Hamath?’ (2 Kings 18.34 // Isaiah 36.19): The Use of Foreign Deities in the Rabshakeh's Speech

Abstract

This article uses a range of critical approaches in order to provide new insights into the Rabshakeh's speech and its biblical context. On one level, it suggests a cluster of meanings relating to 2 Kgs 18.34 and the use of foreign gods. These include a possible reference to the Assyrian practice of plundering foreign divine statues, as well as the identification of a Deuteronomistic trope, ‘Where are the gods?’ On another level, this article demonstrates that the Rabshakeh's speech is an integral part of 2 Kings: it builds directly on the narrative of 2 Kings 17, thus contrasting the fall of Samaria with the deliverance of Jerusalem. Finally, this study reevaluates the tone of the speech: rather than being seen as an example of ‘masterful rhetoric’, it should be more properly viewed as superficial bluster, taking part in the larger Deuteronomistic (and prophetic) ridicule of false gods and divine statues.