2 Kings 20:11-15
11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dialc of Ahaz.
12 At that time Berodachbaladan,d the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things,e the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.
15 And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
How can these verses speak of the visitors from Berodach- Baladan as coming after the invasion of Sennacherib?
PROBLEM: According to the sequence of events as they are presented in 2 Kings 20:12-15, the delegation sent from Berodach-Baladan (spelled Merodach-Baladan in Isaiah 39:1) came to visit Hezekiah after the invasion of Sennacherib in 701 B.C. However, according to historical evidence, Berodach-Baladan had fled to Elan after having been expelled from Babylon by Sennacherib in 702 B.C. How can the chronology of these verses be reconciled?
SOLUTION: The fact that the description of the invasion of Sennacherib in both 2 Kings and Isaiah comes before the description of the visit of the delegation from Berodach- Baladan does not mean that this is the actual order. In 2 Kings 20:1 we find the introductory phrase “In those days.” However, this does not necessarily indicate that the following events took place in the same time period as the previous section. This phrase is sometimes used to introduce a new section and is similar in function to the phrase “And it came to pass.” We find this type of use in Judges 17:6; Judges 18:1; Judges 19:1, and Esther 1:2. It may also be pointed out that the Hebrew word hem that is translated here as “those” can also be rendered “these.” It is the context that determines its function. The beginning phrase could be translated, “In these days.”
The visit recorded in 2 Kings 20:12-15 actually took place before the invasion of Sennacherib recorded in 2 Kings 18–19. This is attested by the fact that Hezekiah died sometime between 698 and 696 B.C. Since God extended his life by 15 years, this would put the time of Hezekiah’s illness at about 713 B.C. This time frame would coincide well with a visit by a delegation from Berodach-Baladan who was expelled by Sennacherib in 702 B.C.