ISAIAH—NOTE ON ISAIAH 39:1 MERODACH-BALADAN was king of BABYLON (reigned c. 721–709 B.C.) until Sargon II (reigned c. 721–705 B.C.) of Assyria defeated him. After Sargon died, Merodach-baladan re-established Babylonian independence. His ENVOYS hoped Hezekiah would be his ally. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = do... [ Continue Reading ]
ISAIAH—NOTE ON ISAIAH 39:2 HEZEKIAH WELCOMED THEM GLADLY. The man whose faith stood firm against Assyrian intimidation now melts in the face of Babylonian flattery. He is foolish not to look for ulterior motives and is unguarded in his openness to their visit. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElement... [ Continue Reading ]
ISAIAH—NOTE ON ISAIAH 39:3 Isaiah’s questions reveal he is alert to the danger that the Babylonians could cause Judah. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
ISAIAH—NOTE ON ISAIAH 39:6 Isaiah foretells the deportation TO BABYLON. This prepares the way for chs. Isaiah 40:1, which envision Jerusalem in captivity in Babylon and ready to return. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
ISAIAH—NOTE ON ISAIAH 39:8 THERE WILL BE PEACE AND SECURITY IN MY DAYS. Irresponsibly, Hezekiah thinks only of himself (and he was one of the good kings of Judah!). Hezekiah is disappointing as the steward of David’s dynasty. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, le... [ Continue Reading ]