But: The common Hebrew conjunction here is not rendered in Revised English Bible and New American Bible, but most English versions have a contrasting conjunction since there is a transition here from speaking about the defeated people in the previous verse to addressing Sennacherib himself in this verse.

Your sitting down: The Qumran text of the parallel passage in Isa 37.28 has “your rising up and your sitting down,” and this reading is followed here in 2 Kings by Revised English Bible, New American Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible. This is a more balanced and logical reading (compare Lam 3.63), and the textual experts have decided that it represents the original text. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} degree of certainty to the longer reading in this case, assuming that the Hebrew word translated “your rising up” was accidentally omitted because of similar spelling to the previous word in the text. The longer text is an all-inclusive statement very similar to the one that follows. The first two lines in this verse point out that God knows everything that Sennacherib does. “Your rising up and your sitting down” may be rendered “where you live” (NET Bible).

Your going out and coming in: In Hebrew the expression “go out and come in” usually signifies the general daily activity of a person although it is sometimes used as a military expression to describe going to battle and returning home after the completion of a battle (see Josh 14.11; 1 Sam 18.13, 16; 29.6; 2 Sam 3.25; Psa 121.8). Here the idea seems to be “everything that you do” or “Every move you make” (Moffatt).

Your raging against me: In addition to knowing all about the Assyrian king in general, Yahweh also assures him that he knows quite specifically how he has raved against him. The Hebrew verb used here is translated in other contexts as “quarrel” (Gen 45.24) and “tremble” (Deut 2.25). But here the idea is that of an excited or violent demonstration of opposition to Yahweh. In some languages the idea of raging may have to be translated as “angry talk” or “boastful frenzy.”

Some versions (Revised English Bible, New American Bible, American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) omit this last line since it is not found in a couple of Hebrew manuscripts. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensiasuggests that this clause should perhaps be considered an accidental repetition of the beginning of verse 28 and should, therefore, be omitted. However, Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, which gives an {A} rating to the Masoretic Text, argues that these words are original but were accidentally omitted in a few manuscripts.

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 .