“Then I turned
To Yahweh
To seek
An answer,
By prayer,
By supplications,
With fasting,
With sackcloth,
With ashes.”
Daniel, in the first-person singular, turned to Yahweh, and not the God of heaven or the Most High God, as earlier in this book. This was the traditional Hebrew name of Yahweh. Daniel assumed the traditional role of a penitent with prayers and supplications while fasting, and wearing sackcloth with ashes on him.
“The king sent Eliakim,
Who was in charge of the palace,
Shebna the secretary,
With the senior priests,
Covered with sackcloth,
To the prophet Isaiah,
Son of Amoz.
They said to him.
‘Thus says King Hezekiah.
This day is a day of distress.
This day is a day of rebuke.
This day is a day of disgrace.
Children have come to birth.
But there is no strength to bring them forth.
It may be that Yahweh your God
Heard the words of Rabshakeh,
Whom his master,
The king of Assyria,
Has sent to mock the living God.
Will you rebuke the words
That Yahweh your God has heard?
Therefore,
Lift up your prayer
For the remnant that is left.’”
Once again, this is almost word for word from 2 Kings, chapter 19. King Hezekiah decided to send his consultants, Eliakim, Shebnah, and the senior priests to the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz. Notice that Joah the recorder did not go, but instead senior priests went. They would all be wearing sackcloth because things were in distress and disgrace. In an interesting metaphor, they say that women are coming to the moment of childbirth, but have no strength to bring their children into the world. They mentioned that perhaps Yahweh had heard the mocking words of Rabshakeh, as the king of Assyria’s representative mocked the living God. How would you rebuke him? They wanted prayers for the “remnant.” This theme of the faithful few left behind occurs quite often in Isaiah.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 