Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.
Then they shouted loudly in the Hebrew language to the people of Jerusalem who were standing on the city wall, trying to frighten and upset them so they could capture the city.
The writer is describing how the Assyrian army tried to terrorize the people of Jerusalem by shouting threats in their own language to break their morale and make the city easier to conquer.
📚 Historical Context
This occurred during King Hezekiah's reign when the Assyrian king Sennacherib was besieging Jerusalem around 701 BC. The Assyrians were known for their psychological warfare tactics, often shouting threats and propaganda in the local language to demoralize defenders before attacking a city. This was part of their strategy to avoid costly sieges by convincing cities to surrender through fear.
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