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New Defender's Study Bible Notes
20:1 Tartan came unto Ashdod. Tartan (II Kings 18:17) was one of the three Assyrian commanders of the invading Assyrian armies. Ashdod was the chief city of Philistia.
20:1 Sargon the king. Both King Sargon and his captain, Tartan, are named in an inscription found in the ruins of Ashdod, confirming their conquest of Ashdod as noted in this verse. This is the only Biblical mention of the Assyrian king Sargon, although he is the one who claimed to have captured Samaria and taken the Israelites into captivity. See note on II Kings 18:11. The palace of Sargon has been discovered some twelve miles north of Nineveh.
20:4 naked and barefoot. This prophecy was fulfilled when many of the leaders of Egypt and Ethiopia were taken into captive exile by the Assyrians about 670 B.C.
20:5 Egypt their glory. The Assyrians at this time had already taken the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity, and were threatening Judah and Jerusalem. The kings of Judah, therefore, would be tempted to look to Egypt and Ethiopia for help. But these countries were already tributary to Assyria and were soon destined to be devastated themselves by the Babylonians. See on Isaiah 19:4, and also note Isaiah 20:4.