HEZEKIAH'S SICKNESS AND RECOVERY 1. In those days] The incidents related in this chapter probably took place _before_ Sennacherib's invasion, for (_a_) the deliverance from the Assyrians is still future (2 Kings 20:6); (_b_) Hezekiah is in possession of great treasures (2 Kings 20:13), which could s... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW I HAVE WALKED, etc.] In the absence of any complete belief in a future life, this world was held to be the only sphere within which God's moral governance of mankind displayed itself, length of days being regarded as the reward of righteousness, and a short life being thought to imply great guil... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MIDDLE COURT] RV 'the middle part of the city.'... [ Continue Reading ]
A LUMP OF FIGS] A plaster of figs is known from other sources to have been used as a remedy for boils, but since Hezekiah was 'sick unto death' (v. l), his cure is doubtless regarded as miraculous.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT _shall be_ THE SIGN, etc.] 2 Kings 20:8 ought to precede the statement of the king's recovery in 2 Kings 20:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL THE SHADOW, etc.] better, as in RM, 'the shadow is gone forward ten steps, shall it go back ten steps?'... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DIAL OF AHAZ] Probably a platform surrounded by steps and surmounted by a pillar, the shadow of which fell upon a smaller or larger number of the steps according as the sun mounted or declined in the sky. It has been conjectured that a slight alteration of the length of the sun's shadow might be... [ Continue Reading ]
BERODACH-BALADAN] Isaiah 39:1 has the more correct form 'Merodach-baladan.' This prince was a Chaldean who twice made himself master of Babylon and was twice expelled from it by the Assyrians. In 2 Chronicles 32:31 the motive of his embassy is said to have been a wish to enquire into the unusual occ... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOUSE OF HIS ARMOUR] Probably the house of the forest of Lebanon; cp. 1 Kings 10:17; Isaiah 22:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN CAME ISAIAH] Isaiah opposed all political entanglements as involving reliance upon material resources instead of confidence in the Lord. Hezekiah had still to learn how powerless was his own strength or that of foreign allies to save him in the hour of his need.... [ Continue Reading ]
INTO BABYLON] The prophet probably regarded Babylon as a province of Assyria, not as an independent power; and it was to Babylon that an Assyrian king carried Manasseh the son of Hezekiah (according to 2 Chronicles 33:11).... [ Continue Reading ]
GOOD _IS_ THE WORD] Hezekiah showed the same submissiveness as Eli had manifested on a similar occasion (1 Samuel 3:18).... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REST OF THE ACTS] Among other acts related in 2 Chronicles 29-31 are the purification of the Temple (desecrated by Ahaz), the celebration of a solemn passover, and the arrangement of the priestly courses. A POOL, AND A CONDUIT] The 'pool' is probably the pool of Siloam, which was fed by a condui... [ Continue Reading ]