Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD himself told me, 'Go up against this land, and destroy it'" — the Rab-shakeh's final argument claims divine sanction for Sennacherib's invasion: the LORD himself commanded the campaign. The phrase 'the LORD himself told me' represents a profound theological claim: the Rab-shakeh appropriates Yahwistic theology to legitimize Assyrian conquest. This claim invokes the pattern of divine judgment through external enemies (as with Assyrian conquest of Israel). The Rab-shakeh's argument: if the LORD sent Assyria against Judea, resistance is futile and impious. This represents the most sophisticated Assyrian theological argument, couching imperial violence in the language of divine judgment.

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