When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, 'Say to your master, Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have mocked me — Isaiah's response immediately reframes the crisis: the LORD speaks directly through the prophet, and the Rab-shakeh's challenge is understood as mockery of the LORD himself. The formula 'Thus says the LORD' (כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה, *ko amar YHWH*) establishes prophetic authority and divine voice. Isaiah's opening command—'Do not be afraid'—counters the psychological terror the Rab-shakeh was cultivating. The reinterpretation of Assyrian insults as mockery of the LORD transforms the political crisis into a theological one: the question is not Judean security but divine honor.

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