The threatening words of Sennacherib, which begin here and continue to the end of verse 15, contain several rhetorical questions and embedded quotations. Some models to simplify this structure and avoid the embedded quotations will be given in the discussion of the following verses.

Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: This third person self-reference of the king of Assyria may be translated in the first person as in Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version.

On what are you relying, that you stand siege in Jerusalem?: This is a rhetorical question that asks about the origin of Judah’s confidence. It emphasizes that it is foolish for the people of Judah to have any confidence in the face of Assyrian power. The Hebrew pronoun for you is plural. Stand siege in Jerusalem is literally “sit in a state of siege.” Its meaning is well expressed by Parole de Vie as “remain in Jerusalem during the attack.”

For this whole verse Contemporary English Version has “I am King Sennacherib of Assyria, and I have Jerusalem surrounded. Do you think you can survive my attack?” The rhetorical question in Contemporary English Version may be rendered “There is no way that you can survive my attack.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .