Isaiah 36 · Verse 11

Isaiah 36:11

Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
Isaiah 36:11, King James Version

Isaiah 36:11 in other translations

BSBThen Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
WEBThen Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don’t speak to us in the Jews’ language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
ASVThen said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
YLTAnd Eliakim saith--and Shebna and Joah--unto Rabshakeh, ‘Speak, we pray thee, unto thy servants in Aramaean, for we are understanding; and do not speak unto us in Jewish, in the ears of the people who are on the wall.'
DARBYAnd Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to Rab-shakeh, Speak, we pray thee, to thy servants in Syriac, for we understand it; and speak not to us in the Jewish language in the ears of the people that are upon the wall.
BBEThen Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rab-shakeh, Please make use of the Aramaean language in talking to your servants, for we are used to it, and do not make use of the Jews' language in the hearing of the people on the wall.
WebsterThen said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah to Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jew's language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

What does Isaiah 36:11 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
11. Syrian--rather, "Aramean": the language spoken north and east of Palestine, and understood by the Assyrians as belonging to the same family of languages as their own: nearly akin to Hebrew also, though not intelligible to the multitude (compare 2Ki 5:5-7). "Aram" means a "high land," and includes parts of Assyria as well as Syria. Jews' language--The men of Judah since the disruption of Israel, claimed the Hebrew as their own peculiarly, as if they were now the only true representatives of the whole Hebrew twelve tribes. ears of ... people on ... wall--The interview is within hearing distance of the city. The people crowd on the wall, curious to hear the Assyrian message. The Jewish rulers fear that it will terrify the people and therefore beg Rab-shakeh to speak Aramean.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Isaiah 36:11 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
אֶלְיָקִים֩'el.ya.KimEliakimH471
וְשֶׁבְנָ֨אve.shev.Na'and ShebnaH7644
וְיוֹאָ֜חve.yo.'Achand JoahH3098
אֶל\־'el-toH413
רַב\־rav-[the] chiefH7262
שָׁקֵ֗הsha.KehcommanderH7262
דַּבֶּר\־da.ber-speakH1696
נָ֤אna'pleaseH4994
אֶל\־'el-toH413
עֲבָדֶ֙יךָ֙'a.va.Dei.khaservants yourH5650
אֲרָמִ֔ית'a.ra.MitAramaicH762
כִּ֥יkiforH3588
שֹׁמְעִ֖יםsho.me.'Im[are] understandingH8085
אֲנָ֑חְנוּ'a.Na.che.nuweH587
וְאַל\־ve.'al-and may notH408
תְּדַבֵּ֤רte.da.Beryou speakH1696
אֵלֵ֙ינוּ֙'e.Lei.nuto usH413
יְהוּדִ֔יתye.hu.Dit[in] JudeanH3066
בְּאָזְנֵ֣יbe.'a.ze.Neiin [the] ears ofH241
הָעָ֔םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
אֲשֶׁ֖ר'a.SherwhichH834
עַל\־'al-[is] onH5921
הַחוֹמָֽה\׃ha.cho.Mahthe city wallH2346

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 36:11

  • Ezra 4:7

    And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.

  • Daniel 2:4

    Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.

  • 2 Kings 18:26-27

    Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rab–shakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. But Rab–shakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
in the Syrian.
2Ki 18:26,27; Ezr 4:7; Da 2:4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 36:10

    And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? the Lord said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

  • Isaiah 36:11

    Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

  • Isaiah 36:12

    But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?

Read all of Isaiah 36

Isaiah 36:11 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Entonces dijo Eliacim, y Sebna y Joah á Rabsaces: Rogámoste que hables á tus siervos en lengua siriaca, porque nosotros la entendemos: y no hables con nosotros en lengua judáica, oyéndolo el pueblo que está sobre el muro.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et Éliakim et Shebna et Joakh dirent au Rab-Shaké: Parle, nous te prions, à tes serviteurs en syriaque, car nous le comprenons, et ne nous parle pas en langue judaïque, aux oreilles du peuple qui est sur la muraille.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Eljakim und Schebna und Joach sprachen zu dem Rabsake: Rede doch zu deinen Knechten auf aramäisch, denn wir verstehen es; und rede nicht zu uns auf jüdisch vor den Ohren des Volkes, das auf der Mauer ist.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et dixit Eliacim, et Sobna, et Joahe, ad Rabsacen: Loquere ad servos tuos syra lingua; intelligimus enim; ne loquaris ad nos judaice in auribus populi qui est super murum.