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| 1 And it cometh to pass, in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, reigned hath Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah; |
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| 2 a son of twenty and five years was he in his reigning, and twenty and nine years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother [is] Abi daughter of Zechariah. |
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| 3 And he doth that which [is] right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father did, |
Did that which was right – The fact that so good a son could come from so evil a father is an evidence that under divine providence it is not necessary that we should inherit all the evil traits of our ancestors. R2379:2
The secret of the difference between the father and the son was a godly mother. R3462:3
His faithfulness formed the basis for his later prayer for an extension of life. R3588:4
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| 4 he hath turned aside the high places, and broken in pieces the standing-pillars, and cut down the shrine, and beaten down the brazen serpent that Moses made, for unto these days were the sons of Israel making perfume to it, and he calleth it 'a piece of brass.' |
Removed the high places – He began in the first month of his reign to inaugurate reforms; the restoration of the worship of Jehovah as divinely appointed. (2 Chron 29:3) R2379:3,5
The antitypical cleansing of the Lord's Temple, his Church, is still in progress. R3463:4
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| 5 In Jehovah, God of Israel, he hath trusted, and after him there hath not been like him among all the kings of Judah, nor [among any] who were before him; |
None like him – Hezekiah was reckoned in the Lord's sight as one of the three most acceptable kings--David and Josiah being the other two. R3462:3
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| 6 and he cleaveth to Jehovah, he hath not turned aside from after Him, and keepeth His commands that Jehovah commanded Moses. |
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| 7 And Jehovah hath been with him, in every place where he goeth out he acteth wisely, and he rebelleth against the king of Asshur, and hath not served him; |
He rebelled against – By joining the confederacy of Egyptians, Philistines and Sidonians, contrary to the Lord's admonition through (Isa 8:12), this error was allowed t R4832:3
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| 8 he hath smitten the Philistines unto Gaza, and its borders, from a tower of watchers unto the fenced city. |
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| 9 And it cometh to pass, in the fourth year of king Hezekiah it [is] the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel come up hath Shalmaneser king of Asshur against Samaria, and layeth siege to it, |
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| 10 and they capture it at the end of three years; in the sixth year of Hezekiah it [is] the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel hath Samaria been captureth, |
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| 11 and the king of Asshur removeth Israel to Asshur, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor [by] the river Gozan, and [in] cities of the Medes, |
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| 12 because that they have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah their God, and transgress His covenant all that He commanded Moses, servant of Jehovah yea, they have not hearkened nor done [it]. |
Not hear . . . nor do them – If reproofs do not have a corrective influence they will have the opposite effect--the sinner will be the more obstinate and opposed to God. R4820:2
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| 13 And in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah hath Sennacherib king of Asshur come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and seizeth them, |
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| 14 and Hezekiah king of Judah sendeth unto the king of Asshur to Lachish, saying, 'I have sinned, turn back from off me; that which thou puttest on me I bear;' and the king of Asshur layeth on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold, |
To Lachish – The siege and capture of Lachish is amply illustrated on the walls of the palaces in Nineveh, with full particulars given. R2382:5, R520:3*
That which thou puttest – Hezekiah's first move was to placate his adversary by becoming his vassal and paying annual tribute, wherein he greatly erred. R2381:3
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| 15 and Hezekiah giveth all the silver that is found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the house of the king; |
All the silver – Spiritual Israelites may be disposed to do as Hezekiah, purchase peace with things consecrated to the Lord--to compromise the truth, to subtract from the time, influence, means, etc., consecrated to the Lord. R2381:6
If the Lord's consecrated people do this, he will permit to come upon them the very difficulties they dread and seek to avert by unholy compromise. R2381:6
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| 16 at that time hath Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and the pillars that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and giveth them to the king of Asshur. |
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| 17 And the king of Asshur sendeth Tartan, and the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the butlers, from Lachish, unto king Hezekiah, with a heavy force, to Jerusalem, and they go up and come in to Jerusalem, and they go up, and come in and stand by the conduit of the upper pool that [is] in the highway of the fuller's field. |
Against Jerusalem – Sennacherib rued his agreement and violated it. R4832:6
This attack was permitted as a consequence of Hezekiah's failure to recognize Jehovah at once as the almighty ruler and preserver of his people. R2381:3
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| 18 And they call unto the king, and go out unto them doth Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the remembrancer. |
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| 19 And the chief of the butlers saith unto them, 'Say, I pray you, unto Hezekiah, Thus said the great king, the king of Asshur, What [is] this confidence in which thou hast confided |
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| 20 Thou hast said: Only a word of the lips! counsel and might [are] for battle; now, on whom hast thou trusted that thou hast rebelled against me |
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| 21 'Now, lo, thou hast trusted for thee on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; which a man leaneth on, and it hath gone into his hand, and pierced it! so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trusting on him. |
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| 22 'And when ye say unto me, Unto Jehovah our God we have trusted, is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath turned aside, and saith to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar do ye bow yourselves in Jerusalem |
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| 23 'And, now, give a pledge for thee, I pray thee, to my lord the king of Asshur, and I give to thee two thousand horses, if thou art able to give for thee riders on them. |
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| 24 And how dost thou turn back the face of one captain of the least of the servants of my lord, that thou dost trust for thee on Egypt for chariot, and for horsemen |
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| 25 Now, without Jehovah have I come up against this place to destroy it Jehovah said unto me, Go up against this land, and thou hast destroyed it.' |
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| 26 And Eliakim son of Hilkiah saith and Shebna, and Joah to the chief of the butlers, 'Speak, we pray thee, unto thy servants [in] Aramaean, for we are understanding, and do not speak with us [in] Jewish, in the ears of the people who [are] on the wall.' |
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| 27 And the chief of the butlers saith unto them, 'For thy lord, and unto thee, hath my lord sent me to speak these words is it not for the men, those sitting on the wall to eat their own dung and to drink their own water, with you ' |
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| 28 And the chief of the butlers standeth and calleth with a great voice [in] Jewish, and speaketh and saith, 'Hear ye a word of the great king, the king of Asshur: |
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| 29 thus said the king, Let not Hezekiah lift you up, for he is not able to deliver you out of his hand; |
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| 30 and let not Hezekiah make you trust unto Jehovah, saying, Jehovah doth certainly deliver us, and this city is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur. |
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| 31 'Do not hearken unto Hezekiah, for thus said the king of Asshur, Make with me a blessing, and come out unto me, and eat ye each of his vine, and each of his fig-tree, and drink ye each the waters of his own well, |
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| 32 till my coming in, and I have taken you unto a land like your own land, a land of corn and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive, and honey, and live, and die not; and do not hearken unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, Jehovah doth deliver us. |
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| 33 'Have the gods of the nations delivered at all each his land out of the hand of the king of Asshur |
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| 34 Where [are] the gods of Hamath and Arpad where the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah, that they have delivered Samaria out of my hand |
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| 35 Who [are they] among all the gods of the lands that have delivered their land out of my hand, that Jehovah doth deliver Jerusalem out of my hand ' |
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| 36 And the people have kept silent, and have not answered him a word, for the command of the king is, saying, 'Do not answer him.' |
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| 37 And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who [is] over the house, cometh in, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the remembrancer, unto Hezekiah, with rent garments, and they declare to him the words of the chief of the butlers. |
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