Good News Translation continues the embedded quotation as indirect rather than direct, but clearly shows that the boast of the Assyrian king continues. The pronouns are therefore second person singular rather than first person singular.

I dug wells: This expression is considered to be metaphorical by many interpreters, but it is usually translated literally in modern versions.

Foreign waters: In the parallel text in Isa 37.25, the adjective foreign does not appear, but it should be included here. The drinking of water in foreign places is yet another symbol of Sennacherib’s domination of the known world.

I dried up with the sole of my foot …: This is thought to be an allusion to the large number of soldiers under Sennacherib’s command. La Bible du Semeur, for example, says “I have dried up under the steps of my troops….” The soldiers are depicted as being so numerous that their feet dried up the rivers through which they marched. This is clearly an exaggeration, but in most languages such overstatement is characteristic of boasts.

All the streams of Egypt: The Hebrew word translated streams is elsewhere rendered as “rivers” (Psa 78.44) and sometimes even as “the Nile” (Exo 8.3) since it is actually the Egyptian name for the Nile River. The use of the plural form here, however, is generally thought to refer to the various branches of water in the Nile Delta. Knox, therefore, speaks here of “the banked channels of the Nile.” Others may consider translating “the Nile Delta” (La Bible du Semeur), “all the branches of the Nile” (Nouvelle Bible Segond), or “the entire lower Nile River.” The Hebrew word translated Egypt is not the usual word for Egypt, although it is similar in spelling. Some take this as a poetic form of the name, while others think this word means “fortress,” from a root meaning “to fortify.” Probably the Hebrew word should be correctly rendered “Egypt” as in nearly all translations.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .