Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?: There are three more rhetorical questions in this verse. These first two questions refer to the gods worshiped in the cities of Hamath, Arpad, and Sepharvaim. The Assyrian king is not asking for the location of these gods, but he is making strong statements that these gods were unable to protect their worshipers in these cities. Bible en français courant says “What have they done, the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And those of Sepharvaim?” Contemporary English Version has “What happened to the gods of Hamath, Arpad, and Sepharvaim?” For languages that prefer statements here, see the second example below. For the location of Hamath and Arpad, see the comments on 10.9. The location of Sepharvaim is unknown. Sennacherib’s father, Sargon~II, captured Hamath and Arpad in 720 B.C., but King Tiglath-Pileser~III had defeated Arpad before, in 738.

Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?: The pronoun they refers to Samaria’s gods, not those of Sepharvaim. Some versions insert another question before this one to make it clear; for example, Revised English Bible adds “Where are the gods of Samaria?” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible). However, there is no textual evidence for this (so Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). It may be helpful to say “Have the gods of Samaria delivered it out of my hands?” Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, which the Assyrians conquered in 721 B.C. (see 2 Kgs 18.11-12). The northern kingdom worshiped Yahweh, but its kings often encouraged the worship of other gods also.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• What about the gods of the cities of Hamath and Arpad? What about the gods of Sepharvaim? Have Samaria’s gods saved it from defeat at my hands?

• The gods of the cities of Hamath and Arpad haven’t saved them! Nor have the gods of Sepharvaim saved it! Samaria’s gods were unable to save it from my hands!

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 .