Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. (2 Kings 18:26)
This statement shows that the Syrian, or Aramaic, language was already in use, at least to some extent, both in Assyria and among the Hebrews. Contemporary materials show that Aramaic was now beginning to be the language of diplomacy and commerce throughout Western Asia. Among the Hebrews, however, it was not yet common, for the ordinary people were not able to understand it. After the Babylonian Exile, the Aramaic language gradually took the place of the Hebrew among the Jews.
The Jews’ language.
Outside of this narrative with its parallels in 2 Chron. 32, and Isa. 36, the expression occurs only in Neh. 13:24. The word “Jew” appears first in 2 Kings 16:6, but in the later Biblical books the name becomes common. According to contemporary Assyrian usage the people of the southern kingdom of Judah were already known as Yehudim, or Jews, and their language as Jewish.
On the wall.
The parley was held within hearing of the soldiers and perhaps others upon the wall, and the words of the Assyrian envoys would thus be carried throughout the city.