2 Kings 20:1-11. Sickness of king Hezekiah. His life is prolonged in answer to his prayer. The sign given by God that this should be so (2 Chronicles 32:24; Isaiah 38:1-22) 1. _In those days was Hezekiah sick_ Scripture writers are not precise in specifying times, and -in those days" may mean no mor... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then he turned his face to the wall_ He was in deep sorrow, and would pray without being observed. Ahab did the like, but it was in childish petulance (1 Kings 21:4). If Manasseh was the eldest son of Hezekiah, the king was at this time childless, for Manasseh was but twelve years old at his father... [ Continue Reading ]
_I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now_ R.V. REMEMBER NOW, O LORD, I BESEECH THEE. The R.V. adopts the order of the words in Isaiah. It was only at a moment of great elation and prosperity that Hezekiah forgat God. The testimony which he himself bears to his own character appears to be generally tru... [ Continue Reading ]
into _the middle court_ R.V. MIDDLE PART OF THE CITY. The variation is due to a difference of reading, the R.V. translating, as is nearly always the case, the _Kethib_. The LXX. and most of the versions render the _Keri_, which the A.V. follows. The _Kethib_has הציר, the _Keri_substitutes חצר, which... [ Continue Reading ]
_tell_[R.V. SAY TO] _Hezekiah the captain_[R.V. PRINCE] _of my people_ The first of these changes is in conformity with Isaiah. The latter clause -the captain &c." is not in the parallel place in Isaiah, where, in this portion of the narrative, the whole record is much briefer. The name -prince" (H... [ Continue Reading ]
_fifteen years_ See above on verse 1. _I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria_ Some stress has been laid on these words as though they necessarily implied that Jerusalem was still besieged. The preposition rendered -out of" is literally -from", and if that be borne... [ Continue Reading ]
_Take a lump_[R.V. CAKE] _of figs_ Except here and in Isaiah 38. -cake" is the constant rendering of A.V. for this word. See 1Sa 25:18; 1 Samuel 30:12; 1 Chronicles 12:40. The figs were closely pressed together for better keeping when they were dried, just as we find is done at the present time. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
_What_shall be _the sign_ The king would have some token at once that the promise made to him should come to pass, and though the time was out very brief to wait, yet his request is granted. In Isaiah 7:11 there was a sign _offered_by God to Hezekiah's father.... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall the shadow go forward ten degrees_[R.V. STEPS], _or go back ten degrees_ R.V. STEPS. In the Hebrew there is no sign of interrogation in the first clause. But instances are not rare in which the interrogative sign is left out (cf. 1 Samuel 16:4; 2 Samuel 18:29). A greater difficulty is in the... [ Continue Reading ]
_It is a light thing for the shadow to go down_[R.V. DECLINE] _ten degrees_ R.V. STEPS. The verb is not the same as that translated -to go down" in verse 11. The king's meaning is that it appears more natural and therefore easier, for the shadow to make a sudden advance in the direction in which it... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord_ This verse and the two preceding are much compressed in the narrative of Isaiah, and nothing is said of Isaiah's supplication, nor of the alternatives offered to the king. The whole is put into the form of a direct message from God, -Behold I will bring a... [ Continue Reading ]
An embassy to Hezekiah from the king of Babylon. Isaiah's message to Hezekiah. Death of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:25-33; Isaiah 39:1-8) 12. _Berodach-baladan_ The first part of the name is given as Merodach in Isaiah. This is the more correct form, but the interchange of the two labials is very eas... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Hezekiah hearkened unto them_ In Isaiah we read he -was glad of them", and there is no doubt that is the correct reading. The LXX. gives ἐχάρη, he rejoiced, in this passage. The difference in the Hebrew words is very slight. Here we have ישמצ, in Isaiah ישמח. _and shewed them all the house of h... [ Continue Reading ]
_What said these men?_ Hezekiah does not answer this question. To tell of the proposals which had been made to him by the Babylonians, and of the remarks which had been called forth in praise of all that he had shewn them, would have provoked some reproach from God's prophet, who was probably averse... [ Continue Reading ]
_All_the things _that_are _in mine house_ R.V. ALL THAT IS IN MINE HOUSE. The rendering of the same Hebrew in Isaiah. It has also the advantage of getting rid of the italics.... [ Continue Reading ]
_nothing shall be left_ Though some few Jews remained behind among the ruins of the desolated city, nothing worth taking as booty was left behind. For a description of the overthrow and the plunder, see below 2 Kings 25:9-17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_thy sons … shall they take_away] This came to pass in the case of Manasseh, Hezekiah's own son (2 Chronicles 33:11), who was carried as a prisoner to Babylon. That was, however, but the beginning of the sorrows to which this prophecy of Isaiah looked forward. _in the palace of the king of Babylon_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Good_is _the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken_ Bp Hall takes these words of Hezekiah as uttered in a proper spirit. -The rod was smart, yet good Hezekiah kisses it. His heart struck him no less than the mouth of the prophet, meekly therefore doth he yield to this divine correction … God's ch... [ Continue Reading ]
_And_[R.V. NOW] _the rest of the acts of Hezekiah_ The Chronicler enlarges somewhat on Hezekiah's prosperity, -The Lord guided [the king and his people] on every side. And many brought gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah, so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations fr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hezekiah slept with his fathers_ The Chronicler adds -and they buried him in the chiefest (R.V. THE ASCENT) of the sepulchres of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death". The change of rendering in the R.V. is necessary and shews us that it was... [ Continue Reading ]