Contemporary English Version and Revised English Bible begin this verse with the connector “Meanwhile” to render the common Hebrew conjunction. This fits well here, but translators may omit the connector at the beginning of this new section.

The Rabshakeh returned: The Assyrian ambassador returned to his king. For Rabshakeh see 36.2. For this clause New American Bible has “the commander returned to Lachish,” where he learned that his king was now attacking Libnah. This is a poor rendering since the Hebrew text says nothing about where the ambassador learned of the king’s move. For languages that need to say where he returned, an alternative model is “The Assyrian ambassador went back to his king.”

And found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah: The ambassador met his king fighting against the city of Libnah. The verb found may be rendered “caught up with” or “met up with.” Of course, it is not the king himself that is doing the fighting, but his army. Translators may make this clear if there is a risk of misunderstanding (see the first example below). The exact location of Libnah is uncertain, but it probably was near Lachish, which Good News Translation specifies by saying “the nearby city of Libnah.”

For he had heard that the king had left Lachish: When the king sent his ambassador, he sent him from Lachish, where he was fighting at that time (see the comments on 36.2). The ambassador did not go back there since he learned that the king had already defeated Lachish and was now attacking Libnah.

Good News Translation restructures this verse according to the actual order of events. It places the king’s departure from Lachish before his move to Libnah. Then it mentions that his ambassador returned to him. Some translators will prefer to follow this sequential order.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• The Rabshakeh went back. He met up with the king of Assyria, who [or, whose army] was now fighting against Libnah. He had already heard that the king had departed from Lachish.

• The Assyrian ambassador headed back. He went to Libnah, having heard that his king had already left Lachish and was now fighting there.

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 .