'Who among all the gods of the lands has delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'" — the rhetorical question culminates the Rab-shakeh's argument: if all other gods failed to protect their lands, why should Jerusalem's god (the LORD) prove different? The question frames the theological stakes: the LORD's credibility is on trial. The Rab-shakeh's entire speech constructs a theodicy of Assyrian inevitability: divine power proves unable to resist imperial might. From the Rab-shakeh's perspective, Hezekiah's appeal to the LORD is not merely foolish but theologically discredited by the historical record of conquered gods.

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