Chapter 18 in Melachim B opens with the rise of Chizkiyahu king of Yehudah, and reaches its climax in the difficult scene of the arrival of Sancheriv king of Ashur's emissaries at the walls of Yerushalayim. The Tartan, the Rav Saris and the Ravshakeh stand at the conduit of the upper pool, and facing them come out the three ministers of the king: Elyakim ben Chilkiyahu who was over the household, Shevna the scribe, and Yoach ben Asaf the recorder. From here on unfolds the speech of the Ravshakeh, a speech that is entirely propaganda and demagoguery, and we will follow his words pasuk by pasuk in the footsteps of the Malbim's explanation.
The Opening of the Speech: "The Great King"
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם רַבְשָׁקֵה אִמְרוּ נָא אֶל חִזְקִיָּהוּ כֹּה אָמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ הַגָּדוֹל מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר מָה הַבִּטָּחוֹן הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר בָּטָחְתָּ - And the Ravshakeh said to them: Say now to Chizkiyahu, thus says the great king, the king of Ashur, what is this confidence in which you trust?
The Ravshakeh asks the ministers to convey a message to Chizkiyahu: "Thus says the great king, the king of Ashur." The title "the great king" is said deliberately, to distinguish him from Chizkiyahu who is a small king. There is one great king in the world, and it is the king of Ashur. And if so, asks the Ravshakeh, what is this confidence in which you trust? On whom did you rely when you rose up and rebelled against me a second time?
"But the Word of Lips is Counsel and Strength for War"
אָמַרְתָּ אַךְ דְּבַר שְׂפָתַיִם עֵצָה וּגְבוּרָה לַמִּלְחָמָה עַתָּה עַל מִי בָטַחְתָּ כִּי מָרַדְתָּ בִּי - You said, but it is only the word of lips, that there is counsel and strength for war; now on whom did you trust that you rebelled against me?
The pasuk requires explanation, and we will bring several interpretations of it. Rashi explains: until now you said "I will serve the king of Ashur," but this was merely a declarative matter, you threw out a declaration into the air and had no intention whatsoever to fulfill it. As long as the king of Ashur did not come against you with force and army, you did not need counsel and strength, and you spoke only words. But now, when we have arrived here with an army, now you need counsel and strength for war: how will you get out of this predicament?
The Radak, in the name of his father, explains differently: you thought to be saved by the word of lips, that is, by prayer. You imagined that prayer alone would suffice to achieve victory in war. The Ravshakeh says to him: you are mistaken. War requires counsel and strength, and the word of lips will not redeem you from the trouble.
The Radak also brings an interpretation in the name of the Ibn Ezra: you told your men that you have counsel and strength. They asked you on what you rely, and you told them, do not worry, everything is planned. But in truth it was only the word of lips, you sold them with words, for in reality you prepared nothing and you have no solution at all for the situation you are in.
The Metzudat David explains: you think that war is waged by advisors. You have advisors who advised you to rebel against Sancheriv, and you suppose that with advisors alone one wages war. Advisors are an important and pleasant thing, but war requires counsel and strength. This one will tell you attack from here, and that one will tell you let us do this, what good will advisors be to you if you do not have counsel and strength for the war itself?
The Malbim goes in the direction of Rashi, that all your words were only the word of lips, except that he adds and explains the continuation of the pasuk: you made a covenant with the king of Ashur and agreed that you would serve him, but your whole purpose was to gain time. To acquire weapons, to muster an army, to obtain shields and spears and arrows and bows, everything needed to prepare for war. You sought to draw out time in order to organize for battle. This is "but the word of lips": all your agreement with the king of Ashur was merely lip service, so that meanwhile you would prepare for yourself "counsel and strength for war."
And this is exactly the method that Hamas and Hezbollah employ against us in our times. Ostensibly there is quiet, but this is the word of lips: let us lull them, there will be peace and everything will be fine, and meanwhile we will bring in through the tunnels more and more weapons, so that when we wake up the war will already be between forces close to equal. The Ravshakeh says to him: you are thinking that same scheme regarding us. You are preparing the tools of war and the stratagems of war, you sealed the upper pool in order to burden the army that would come to fight you, you prepared for yourself shields and weapons, and all this shows that your face is toward war, and everything you said about making peace with us and accepting my kingship was only the word of lips.
And from here: "Now on whom do you rely that you have rebelled against me?" Had you simply accepted my sovereignty, I would not have exiled you; at most I would have imposed heavy taxes upon you. But now, after you already paid me tribute and accepted my rule, if you fight against me you have the status of a slave who rebels against his master. This is not a war between two sovereign states that decided to go to war with each other, but a state that had been subject to the other, slaves rising in rebellion against their masters, and the punishment for that is far more severe. When I come against you I will exile you and all the people with you, and you will be punished for your deeds. If so, on what did you rely to do such a thing?
The First Possibility: Leaning on the Broken Reed
From here on Ravshakeh explains his argument. He lists the two possibilities on which Chizkiyahu could rely, and shows that this reliance is a mere illusion, that he has no one to lean upon.
עַתָּה הִנֵּה בָטַחְתָּ לְּךָ עַל מִשְׁעֶנֶת הַקָּנֶה הָרָצוּץ הַזֶּה עַל מִצְרַיִם אֲשֶׁר יִסָּמֵךְ אִישׁ עָלָיו וּבָא בְכַפּוֹ וּנְקָבָהּ כֵּן פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם לְכָל הַבֹּטְחִים עָלָיו - Now behold, you have relied for yourself upon the support of this broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man leans it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.
Ravshakeh says to him: since you have no might of your own, it is clear that you relied on mercenaries, and those are the Egyptians. The prophet speaks at length about how they turned to Egypt and leaned upon them. And Egypt is like the support of a broken reed, which has two flaws. The first flaw: "on which if a man leans" - one who leans on it imagines that he has a support, and therefore does not rely on the strength of his own legs. This is reality: when there is someone to lean on, a person does not rely on himself. And because of this he does not notice that the support is weak, and in the end he falls. Had you held yourself up and said "I rely on my own strength," you would have prevailed. But when you lean on another and think that salvation will come from him, you place all your trust in him and lean on him with all your strength, and you do not notice that this support has no power to hold you.
The second flaw: "it will go into his hand and pierce it" - relying on Pharaoh will even cause you harm. Do you think Pharaoh will demand nothing of you? He will come back to you and ask for payment, and will want you to be a tributary to him. Instead of Ashur taking tribute from you, you will pay tribute to Pharaoh and be his slave. If so, what did you gain from all of this? This is indeed the support of a broken reed.
The Second Possibility: Relying on Hashem - and the Argument of the Bamot
וְכִי תֹאמְרוּן אֵלַי אֶל ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ בָּטָחְנוּ הֲלוֹא הוּא אֲשֶׁר הֵסִיר חִזְקִיָּהוּ אֶת בָּמֹתָיו וְאֶת מִזְבְּחֹתָיו וַיֹּאמֶר לִיהוּדָה וְלִירוּשָׁלַ͏ִם לִפְנֵי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ הַזֶּה תִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ בִּירוּשָׁלָ͏ִם - And if you say to me, "We rely on Hashem our God," is He not the one whose bamot and altars Chizkiyahu removed, saying to Yehudah and to Yerushalayim, "Before this altar you shall bow down in Yerushalayim"?
In its simple sense one could understand this as the argument of Israel: we rely on Hashem because Chizkiyahu removed the bamot, and he has merits before Him, so Hashem will save us. But the Malbim explains that this is part of Ravshakeh's own argument, and he is saying precisely the opposite: Chizkiyahu has a demerit before Hashem. Until now there were bamot and altars throughout the land and it was possible to offer to Hashem in every place, and Chizkiyahu came and, as it were, caused harm to the Creator of the world, abolished all the bamot and told everyone to come to Yerushalayim. And why? For the sake of his own honor, that everyone come to his royal city, perhaps they would pay taxes, perhaps they would witness his glory and bow before him. It turns out that the whole reason you abolished the altars of Hashem throughout the land is your own honor, and on the contrary this is a reason for wrath against you. How did you abolish the altars of Hashem throughout the land? Surely it is fitting to offer incense and present a meal offering to Hashem in every place. If so, on whom do you think you have to lean?
"Make a wager, please" - Horses with No Riders
After he had ostensibly proven that Chizkiyahu has no one to lean upon, neither Egypt nor Hashem, Ravshakeh moves on to show that even from a practical standpoint he has no ability to wage war, even if Egypt were willing to help him.
וְעַתָּה הִתְעָרֶב נָא אֶת אֲדֹנִי אֶת מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר וְאֶתְּנָה לְךָ אַלְפַּיִם סוּסִים אִם תּוּכַל לָתֶת לְךָ רֹכְבִים עֲלֵיהֶם - And now, make a wager, please, with my master the king of Ashur, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put riders upon them.
The concept of "making a bet" is familiar to us in everyday speech, and we need to understand why it is called this. When I say to you, "Let us bet a thousand shekels," who guarantees me that when you lose you will pay me, and who guarantees you that when I lose I will pay you? Therefore it was customary to place the money as a deposit: you bring a thousand shekels and deposit them with Reuven, and the other party also deposits with him, and Reuven decides who won and gives the money to the one who deserves it. This is "to make a bet": to set up a third person and place the money with him as a deposit.
Ravshakeh says to him: make a bet now with my master the king of Ashur, we are ready to put up a deposit on it. I will give you two thousand horses, if you can set riders upon them. In plain terms: I am willing to give you two hundred tanks, do you have anyone who knows how to drive a tank? And if you claim that you rely on Mitzrayim, Mitzrayim too will not save you when they give you chariots and horsemen, for you need to have riders. For my part I am willing to give you chariots, but will you supply the riders? Why do you need a horse and chariot if you have no horsemen to ride upon them?
וְאֵיךְ תָּשִׁיב אֵת פְּנֵי פַחַת אַחַד עַבְדֵי אֲדֹנִי הַקְּטַנִּים וַתִּבְטַח לְךָ עַל מִצְרַיִם לְרֶכֶב וּלְפָרָשִׁים - And how will you turn back the face of even one of the least of my master's servants, and yet you rely on Mitzrayim for chariots and horsemen?
How do you think you could stand up even against one of my master's minor officers? The least of them was a commander over ten thousand men, and you do not even have two thousand riders. And if you cannot stand against one of the least of them, all the more so against his entire army which numbered many millions.
"Hashem said to me" - demagoguery in the name of Heaven
עַתָּה הֲמִבַּלְעֲדֵי ה' עָלִיתִי עַל הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה לְהַשְׁחִתוֹ ה' אָמַר אֵלַי עֲלֵה עַל הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת וְהַשְׁחִיתָהּ - Now, is it without Hashem that I have come up against this place to destroy it? Hashem said to me: go up against this land and destroy it.
See what a demagogue Ravshakeh was, a demagogue in an extraordinary way. You say that you rely on Hashem? I myself came here on a mission from Hashem, Hashem told me to go up. And where did Hashem tell him to come? Rashi explains that Yeshayahu prophesied already in the days of Achaz, the father of Chizkiyahu, and it is stated there, "Hashem will bring upon you and upon your people the king of Ashur," and this is an explicit prophecy that he was destined to come here. The Radak brings that Yeshayahu prophesied and said, "Behold, I am bringing up against them the mighty and abundant waters of the river, the king of Ashur." From all this, incidentally, it is proven that Ravshakeh was an apostate Jew, for we see that he was too well versed in these matters: he knew the prophecies and knew what Yeshayahu had prophesied, and on this basis he built himself a spiritual backing to come and wage war against the people of Yisrael.
The Malbim explains differently: he does not mean that Hashem revealed Himself to him and actually spoke with him, but rather he is saying to Chizkiyahu: you opposed Hashem when you abolished all the altars, and as we explained, in Ravshakeh's view this was a sin on Chizkiyahu's part, and therefore he has no one to rely upon. It follows that when I come to wage war against you, whose war am I waging? The Creator's war. I am now waging Hashem's war and demanding His honor, because you abolished His altars. If so, my coming to wage war against you is on a mission of Divine providence.
"Please speak to your servants in Aramaic"
וַיֹּאמֶר אֶלְיָקִים בֶּן חִלְקִיָּהוּ וְשֶׁבְנָה וְיוֹאָח אֶל רַבְשָׁקֵה דַּבֶּר נָא אֶל עֲבָדֶיךָ אֲרָמִית כִּי שֹׁמְעִים אֲנָחְנוּ וְאַל תְּדַבֵּר עִמָּנוּ יְהוּדִית בְּאָזְנֵי הָעָם אֲשֶׁר עַל הַחֹמָה - And Elyakim son of Chilkiyahu, and Shevnah, and Yoach said to Ravshakeh: please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it, and do not speak with us in Yehudit in the ears of the people who are on the wall.
The three officers turn to him with a request. The Aramaic language was customary among the courtiers, among the important people, whereas "Yehudit," named after the tribe of Yehudah, is the holy tongue that was the common language which the entire people understood. After they went down into exile the matter reversed: the scholars knew the holy tongue and most of the people needed a translation in order to understand the Torah and the words of Chazal. The officers say to him: we are courtiers of the king and know Aramaic, speak to us in Aramaic and we will hear and understand.
And this was their mistake: they thought that he had come to speak with them as messengers to Chizkiyahu. If your words are directed to the king, why are you speaking Yehudit, in the language that the entire people understands, when the matter does not concern the people?
וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם רַבְשָׁקֵה הַעַל אֲדֹנֶיךָ וְאֵלֶיךָ שְׁלָחַנִי אֲדֹנִי לְדַבֵּר אֶת הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה הֲלֹא עַל הָאֲנָשִׁים הַיֹּשְׁבִים עַל הַחֹמָה לֶאֱכֹל אֶת צוֹאָתָם וְלִשְׁתּוֹת אֶת מֵימֵי רַגְלֵיהֶם עִמָּכֶם - And Ravshakeh said to them: Was it to your master and to you that my master sent me to speak these words? Was it not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine along with you?
Here Ravshakeh reveals that it was no accident that he spoke in the Holy Tongue. He tells them: you are mistaken, I was not sent to you at all. For Chizkiyahu there is no remedy. From the moment he rebelled against the king of Ashur he is bound to pay the price, he will be punished, removed from his kingship, and perhaps even killed. There is no point in speaking with him, he is not a party to the matter. I am addressing the people, and I wish to convince them that it is not worth their while to attach themselves to Chizkiyahu, who is already like a dead dog with no power against me. What a propagandist Ravshakeh was: why address Chizkiyahu? Address the people, create rebellion and unrest from within, and the people themselves will say that Chizkiyahu is causing them harm and will bring him down, and you will not need to fight him yourself.
And what was the substance of his words? Know this, you men sitting on the wall, that if you continue the rebellion I will lay siege here until you are forced to eat your own dung and drink your own urine, and you will die of famine. Is it worth it to you? Surely it is better that you make peace with me.
The appeal to the people: "Let not Chizkiyahu deceive you"
וַיַּעֲמֹד רַבְשָׁקֵה וַיִּקְרָא בְקוֹל גָּדוֹל יְהוּדִית וַיְדַבֵּר וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁמְעוּ דְּבַר הַמֶּלֶךְ הַגָּדוֹל מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר - And Ravshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in Judean and spoke and said: Hear the word of the great king, the king of Ashur.
"And he spoke and said" - he doubles his words in order to convince and reinforce, and he calls out in a loud voice in Judean, for his true audience is the people.
כֹּה אָמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ אַל יַשִּׁא לָכֶם חִזְקִיָּהוּ כִּי לֹא יוּכַל לְהַצִּיל אֶתְכֶם מִיָּדוֹ - So says the king: Let not Chizkiyahu deceive you, for he will not be able to save you from his hand.
Listen to the great king, the king of Ashur, for Chizkiyahu is a small king. "Let not Chizkiyahu deceive you" - do not let him seduce you, for you have no one to rely upon. First he told them not to trust in their own might, then he told them not to trust in Hashem, and now he tells them not to listen to the words of Chizkiyahu.
And what is the difference between "to deceive" (lehasi) and "to entice" (lehasit)? The Malbim explains: lehasi is when a person is afraid to do something, and I persuade him to do it without fear. "The serpent deceived me (hisiani)" - it told her there is nothing to fear and nothing to worry about. Always, when it is against fear, the term used is lehasi. Lehasit, however, is not necessarily against fear, but rather when one wishes to convince a person to do something one entices him to do it. Incidentally, Chazal expound there why it is written in the term "hisiani," a term of marriage: from here we learn that the serpent came upon Chava and cast filth into her. Ravshakeh tells them: do not trust in Chizkiyahu to strengthen you and tell you there is nothing to worry about, that we will succeed.
וְאַל יַבְטַח אֶתְכֶם חִזְקִיָּהוּ אֶל ה' לֵאמֹר הַצֵּל יַצִּילֵנוּ ה' וְלֹא תִנָּתֵן אֶת הָעִיר הַזֹּאת בְּיַד מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר - And let not Chizkiyahu make you trust in Hashem, saying: Hashem will surely save us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Ashur.
Do not rely on Chizkiyahu's promises that the Holy One, blessed be He, will save you, whether by virtue of the merits you have or because this city is the city of Hashem, and surely Hashem will not allow His city to fall into the hand of the king of Ashur.
"Make peace with me" - the offer of peace and the comfortable exile
אַל תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל חִזְקִיָּהוּ כִּי כֹה אָמַר מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר עֲשׂוּ אִתִּי בְרָכָה וּצְאוּ אֵלַי וְאִכְלוּ אִישׁ גַּפְנוֹ וְאִישׁ תְּאֵנָתוֹ וּשְׁתוּ אִישׁ מֵי בֹרוֹ - Do not listen to Chizkiyahu, for thus says the king of Ashur: Make a blessing with me and come out to me, and every man will eat of his own vine and his own fig tree, and every man will drink the waters of his own cistern.
"Make a blessing with me" means make peace with me, like "and Yaakov blessed Pharaoh," where the intent is he greeted him in peace. He tells them: nothing good will come to you from the rebellion, but if you come out and greet me you will profit. First, I will immediately lift the siege from you, and once there is no siege you will be able to eat every man of his own vine and his own fig tree and drink every man the waters of his own cistern, for the main vineyards and fig trees and the growing areas were outside the wall and not inside it, and the moment the siege is lifted you will be able to go out and eat from all that you grew.
עַד בֹּאִי וְלָקַחְתִּי אֶתְכֶם אֶל אֶרֶץ כְּאַרְצְכֶם אֶרֶץ דָּגָן וְתִירוֹשׁ אֶרֶץ לֶחֶם וּכְרָמִים אֶרֶץ זֵית יִצְהָר וּדְבַשׁ וִחְיוּ וְלֹא תָמֻתוּ וְאַל תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל חִזְקִיָּהוּ כִּי יַסִּית אֶתְכֶם לֵאמֹר ה' יַצִּילֵנוּ - Until I come and take you to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey, that you may live and not die. And do not listen to Chizkiyahu, for he incites you, saying: Hashem will save us.
And do not think that if I lift the siege you will pay no price. You will pay a price in any case, but it is a cheap one: I will exile you. Against this there is nothing you can do, for every nation that rebelled against Sancheriv was exiled, and you too will be exiled. But I will not exile you to the desert and to a parched and desolate land, where even if you wish to begin to live and build a new life for yourselves - do you know what it means to begin to sow and plant? It takes years, three years of orlah, and if you sow wheat, by the time it grows and by the time you grind it you will meanwhile die of hunger. Rather I will bring you to a land like your own land, to a ready place, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey.
And from where? From the nation that I exiled from there. For Sancheriv would exile nations from place to place and carry out population exchanges, and there are places where everything is already available: the produce in the storehouses, the wheat growing in the ground, the vineyards full of vines. I will simply take you from here and bring you there. It turns out that this exile is not as bitter as you think, and you will have sustenance in the place to which I lead you. By contrast, if you do not surrender, know that I will take you to a parched land and desert and there you will die of hunger. Thus there are two advantages here: the siege will be lifted at once and you will be able to eat and drink and live in tranquility until the exile, and when I exile you it will be to a place where there is a livelihood, ready houses and sown fields, and you will be better off than in rebellion.
And he concluded: do not listen to Chizkiyahu, for he incites you, saying: Hashem will save us. As we have seen, to incite is to bring proofs and evidence, and he will bring you proofs that Hashem will save you - and I tell you, do not trust in Hashem, He will not save you.
"Have the gods of the nations saved" - blasphemy and reviling
הַהַצֵּל הִצִּילוּ אֱלֹהֵי הַגּוֹיִם אִישׁ אֶת אַרְצוֹ מִיַּד מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר - Have the gods of the nations at all saved, each one his land, from the hand of the king of Ashur?
Have you not read history? Which god succeeded in saving from the king of Ashur? Why do you suppose that your God will succeed where all the idols failed?
אַיֵּה אֱלֹהֵי חֲמָת וְאַרְפָּד אַיֵּה אֱלֹהֵי סְפַרְוַיִם הֵנַע וְעִוָּה כִּי הִצִּילוּ אֶת שֹׁמְרוֹן מִיָּדִי - Where are the gods of Chamat and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sefarvayim, Hena and Ivah? Did they save Shomron from my hand?
All these are states that were exiled by Sancheriv and whose gods did not help them. "Hena and Ivah" - there are two possibilities: either these are names of places or of idols, the god Hena and the god Ivah, or the meaning is that King Sancheriv drove them off and removed them from their place. And if you should say that the God of Israel is stronger and mightier and cannot be compared to weak gods - well, "did they save Shomron from my hand," who was the God of Shomron? The God of Israel, and behold you see that He did not save Shomron from my hand. And if I succeeded in part, why should I not succeed in all? Just as it availed nothing in Shomron, it will avail nothing in Yehudah.
In truth all of this is nonsense and vanity. First, it is not fitting to say that He did not succeed, for the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself brought Sancheriv in order to exile them. Second, the people of Shomron were wicked, and if you wish to speak of their god, speak of the calves and not of the Holy One, blessed be He, for the calves were their gods, and throughout they corrupted and did abominations and committed all evil and wickedness. And how can you compare them to us and to Chizkiyahu, who was a righteous king, of whom it was said that there was none like him among the kings of Yehudah? There is an enormous difference between the examples he gives and the reality on the ground. But as stated, this did not concern Ravshakeh, who was a demagogue, and a demagogue is a person who knows how to perform tricks with words even though they have no backing.
מִי בְּכָל אֱלֹהֵי הָאֲרָצוֹת אֲשֶׁר הִצִּילוּ אֶת אַרְצָם מִיָּדִי כִּי יַצִּיל ה' אֶת יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם מִיָּדִי - Who among all the gods of the lands has saved their land from my hand, that Hashem should save Jerusalem from my hand?
Among all these lands there was not found even one god who managed to save his people for any reason at all. In any particular case one can find claims and distinctions and explanations, but is it possible that not a single one succeeded? Rather, the success is in my hand. And why do you think that your God will succeed where all others have failed?
The People's Silence and the Tearing of Garments
וְהֶחֱרִישׁוּ הָעָם וְלֹא עָנוּ אֹתוֹ דָּבָר כִּי מִצְוַת הַמֶּלֶךְ הִיא לֵאמֹר לֹא תַעֲנֻהוּ - And the people were silent and did not answer him a word, for it was the king's command, saying: Do not answer him.
The people were silent, even though it would have been fitting to take vengeance on him for reviling and blaspheming the ranks of the living God, but the king commanded that no one answer him. And this is good advice in general: when a person comes and reviles and blasphemes, the best counsel is to flee. For if you try to silence him, he will grow stronger, speak more, and his words will make a greater impression, and therefore one must flee from this.
וַיָּבֹא אֶלְיָקִים בֶּן חִלְקִיָּה אֲשֶׁר עַל הַבַּיִת וְשֶׁבְנָא הַסֹּפֵר וְיוֹאָח בֶּן אָסָף הַמַּזְכִּיר אֶל חִזְקִיָּהוּ קְרוּעֵי בְגָדִים וַיַּגִּדוּ לוֹ דִּבְרֵי רַבְשָׁקֵה - And Elyakim son of Chilkiyahu, who was over the household, and Shevna the scribe, and Yoach son of Asaf the recorder, came to Chizkiyahu with their garments torn, and they told him the words of Ravshakeh.
Why did they come with their garments torn? Chazal say: because they heard a blessing of the Name, and "blessing" is a euphemism for cursing. And where was the blasphemy? In his saying, "Who among all the gods of the lands has saved their land from my hand, that Hashem should save Jerusalem from my hand?" There is no greater reviling and blasphemy than this: to come and compare wood and stone to the God of the heavens. Is there any resemblance at all? Is there any comparison whatsoever? The very statement itself contains reviling and blasphemy toward Heaven, and therefore they tore their garments, and so it is fitting for a person to do when he hears a blessing of the Name.
In summary: This chapter places before us the peak of the Assyrian propaganda. Ravshakeh strips Chizkiyahu of all his supports: his own might (that he does not even have riders for two thousand horses), Egypt (a splintered reed of a staff, which neither holds firm and also pierces the palm of the one leaning on it), and trust in Hashem (with the claim that the abolition of the high places was for his own honor, and that the gods of the nations did not save their land). He bypasses the king and turns directly to the people on the wall, threatening with siege and enticing with a comfortable exile to a land of grain and wine, and all of this specifically in the holy tongue, in order to sow unrest from within. The people kept silent as the king commanded, and the officers returned to Chizkiyahu with their garments torn over having heard reviling and blasphemy toward Heaven. At this moment it seems that Ravshakeh, the Tartan, and the Rav Saris stand above, reviling and blaspheming, but in the next chapter we will see how the wheel turns.