About this time a new young king became the ruler of Assyria. His name was Sennacherib. However, many of the tributaries of the new king thought he would be more lenient than his cruel predecessors so they stopped paying their assessments. Sennacherib therefore resolved to teach them all a lesson. In the process he swept down upon Judah, as well as the other small countries. Altogether he conquered 46 cities in Judah, many of them located along the Jordan valley and near the Sea of Galilee. These areas belonged primarily to the tribe of Zebulun and Naphtali and his brings us to the opening portion of this chapter.
Here Isaiah identifies the areas of Zebulun and Naphtali which would be grievously afflicted by the Assyrian armies.