Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: After the messengers read Sennacherib’s letter to Hezekiah, he took it from them and read it for himself, presumably to confirm its contents. This verse begins with the common Hebrew conjunction, but it may be omitted at the beginning of this new paragraph. The letter was written on a scroll and did not have the shape and form of a modern letter (see the comments on 29.11, where the Hebrew word for letter is rendered “book”). The word for letter is plural in Hebrew. It is best to make it singular, as in the Septuagint. Hebrew often moves between singular and plural forms in poetry with no apparent distinction intended.

And Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD: Hezekiah had gone to the Temple earlier after hearing the Assyrian ambassador’s threatening words (see 37.1); now he goes again, this time with Sennacherib’s letter. The Hebrew verb rendered went up can refer to upward movement, but here it may be translated simply “went” (Good News Translation).

And spread it before the LORD: The purpose of this action is not certain, but it seems likely that Hezekiah wanted to present to God the arrogant and terrible words of the Assyrian king. In this context spread it possibly means “unrolled it and placed it.” Exactly how or where he placed it is not mentioned, which may be a difficulty in some languages if specific locations are required for the verb “place.” If so, this clause may be rendered “and he presented it before Yahweh” (similarly Bible en français courant).

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, then went to the Temple and presented it before Yahweh.

• King Hezekiah accepted the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went to the Temple and placed it before Yahweh.

The messengers took the letter to Hezekiah. He read it, then went to the Temple and placed it before the LORD.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .