2 Kings 20 Commentary

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Chart from recommended resource Jensen's Survey of the OT - used by permission
1 Kings Chart from Charles Swindoll

THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL

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Ryrie Study Bible - Borrow
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(NOTE: Many consider Amaziah and Hezekiah as "good" kings)

SEE ALSO:
ESV chart - kings of Israel - more information
ESV chart - kings of Judah - more information
Another Chart with Variable Dates for Reigns of King

2 Kings 20:1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’”

• was Hezekiah: 2Ch 32:24-26 Isa 38:1-20 Joh 11:1-5 Php 2:27,30 
• the prophet: 2Ki 19:2,20 
• Set thine house in order: Heb. Give charge concerning thine house, 2Sa 17:23 Isa 38:1 *margins
• thou shalt die: Jer 18:7-10 Jon 3:4-10 

In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live

The illness of Hezekiah probably occurred just before the invasion of Sennacherib into the land of Judah. Sennacherib's invasion took place in 701 B.C., the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah (18:13). Hezekiah had 15 years of life added to him as a result of God's mercy in answering his prayer, and died in 686 B.C., after a reign of 29 years (beginning in 715 B.C.; cf. 18:2).
 

2 Kings 20:2 Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying,

• he turned: 1Ki 8:30 Ps 50:15 Isa 38:2,3 Mt 6:6

Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying,

2 Kings 20:3 “Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

• remember: Ge 8:1 Ne 5:19 13:14,22,31 Ps 25:7 89:47,50 119:49 Isa 63:11 
• I have walked: 2Ki 18:3-6 Ge 5:22,24 17:1 1Ki 2:4 3:6 Job 1:1,8 Lu 1:6 
• in truth: 2Ch 31:20,21 Ps 32:2 145:18 Jer 4:2  Joh 1:47 2Co 1:12 1Jn 3:21,22 
• a perfect heart: 1Ki 8:61 11:4 15:14 2Ch 16:9 
• wept sore: Heb. wept with a great weeping, 2Sa 12:21,22 Ps 6:6 102:9 Isa 38:14 Heb 5:7 

“Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

2 Kings 20:4 Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

• court: or, city, 2Ki 22:14 1Ki 7:8 

Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

2 Kings 20:5 “Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD.

• Turn again: 2Sa 7:3-5 1Ch 17:2-4 
• the captain: Jos 5:14,15 1Sa 9:16 10:1 2Sa 5:2 2Ch 13:12 Heb 2:10 
• the God: 2Ch 34:3 Isa 38:5 55:3 Mt 22:32 
• I have heard: 2Ki 19:20 Ps 65:2 66:19,20 Lu 1:13 
• I have seen: Ps 39:12 56:8 126:5 Rev 7:17 
• I will heal: 2Ki 20:7 Ex 15:26 De 32:39 Job 33:19-26 Ps 147:3 Jas 5:14,15 
• thou shalt go: 2Ki 20:8 Ps 66:13-15,19,20 116:12-14 118:17-19 Isa 38:22  Joh 5:14 

Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD.

2 Kings 20:6 “I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’”

• I will add: Ps 116:15 Ac 27:24 
• I will defend: 2Ki 19:34 2Ch 32:22 Isa 10:24 

I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake

2 Kings 20:7 Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.  

• Take a lump: 2Ki 2:20-22 4:41 Isa 38:21 
• the boil: The word {shechin,} from the Arabic {sachana,} to be hot, signifies an inflammatory tumour, or burning boil; and some think that Hezekiah's malady was a pleurisy; others, that it was the plague; and others, the elephantiasis, a species of leprosy, as one of the Hexapla versions renders in Job 2:7.  A poultice of figs might be very proper to maturate a boil, or dismiss any obstinate inflammatory swelling; but we need not discuss its propriety in this case, because it was as much the means which God chose to bless for his recovery, as the clay which Christ moistened to anoint the eyes of the blind man; for in both cases, without Divine interposition the cure could not have been effected.

Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.  

2 Kings 20:8 Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD the third day?”

• What shall be: 2Ki 20:5 19:29 Jud 6:17,37-40 Isa 7:11,14 38:22 Ho 6:2 

Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD the third day

2 Kings 20:9 Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?”

• This sign: Isa 38:7,8 Mt 16:1-4 Mk 8:11,12 Lu 11:29,30 

Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps

2 Kings 20:10 So Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.”

• 2Ki 2:10 3:18 Isa 49:6 Mk 9:28,29 Joh 14:12 

So Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps

Hezekiah requested that the sundial do the unnatural, i.e., change its direction from descending to ascending at an accelerated rate. Through the years, men have tried again and again to explain what transpired but have failed to reach a consensus. Although the details of this phenomenon are not given, clearly it was localized in its effect and confined to Judah (cf. 2 Chr. 32:31). God simply chose this unusual happening to indicate His answer and confirm His mercy upon Hezekiah, showing thereby His omnipotence and omniscience.

2 Kings 20:11 Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD, and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

• cried unto: Ex 14:15 1Ki 17:20,21 18:36-38 Ac 9:40 
• he brought: Jos 10:12-14 2Ch 32:24,31 Isa 38:8 
• dial: Heb. degrees

Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD, and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

Ryrie -  the stairway of Ahaz. A westward facing flight of stairs on which, normally, the declining sun would cause a shadow to move upward. As a confirmatory sign to Hezekiah, the shadow went down 10 steps. 
 

2 Kings 20:12 At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

• Berodachbaladan: Isa 39:1-8, Merodach-baladan
• king: 2Ch 32:31 
• Babylon: Ge 10:10 11:9 Isa 13:1,19 14:4 
• sent letters: 2Sa 8:10 10:2 
• for he had heard: Isa 39:1 

At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick

Berodach-Baladan (usually called Merodach-Baladan) ruled Babylon from 721-710 B.C. and again in 703-702 B.C. After 702 B.C. he continued his opposition to Assyrian control as a refugee in Elam. It was likely during this time that he sought the support of Judah by means of this embassy. Babylon had long been in a struggle with Assyria, and Merodach-Baladan had been personally involved for over 20 years.

2 Kings 20:13 Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

• showed: 2Ch 32:27 Isa 39:2 
• precious things: or, spicery, 1Ki 10:2,10,15,25 
• armour: or, jewels, Heb. vessels
• there was nothing: 2Ch 32:25,26 Pr 23:5 Ec 7:20 

Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

This was an exhibition of arrogance on the part of Hezekiah. It was met with significant rebuke (vv. 17, 18), and eventually brought the downfall of Judah.

2 Kings 20:14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.”

• came Isaiah: Isa 39:3-8 
• What said: 2Ki 5:25,26 2Sa 12:7-15 2Ch 16:7-10 25:7-9,15,16 Ps 141:5 Pr 25:12 Jer 26:18,19 Am 7:12,13 Mk 6:18,19 
• a far country: De 28:49 Jos 9:6,9 Isa 13:5 

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.”

2 Kings 20:15 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”  

• All the things: 2Ki 20:13 Jos 7:19 Job 31:33 Pr 28:13 1Jn 1:8-10 

He said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them

2 Kings 20:16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD.

• Hear: 2Ki 7:1 1Ki 22:19 Isa 1:10 Am 7:16 

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD.

Vs. 20:16-18  A prediction of the Babylonian captivity 115 years hence (especially remarkable since Assyria was the world power at that time). 

2 Kings 20:17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD.

• shall be carried: 2Ki 24:13 25:13-15 Lev 26:19 2Ch 36:10,18 Jer 27:21,22 52:17-19 

Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD.

This prophecy from Isaiah came to pass one century later, when the great Nebuchadnezzar II came to power in Babylon (Jer. 27:21, 22; 52:17).
 

2 Kings 20:18 ‘Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

• thy sons: 2Ki 24:12 25:6 2Ch 33:11 
• they shall be: "Fulfilled in Da. 1:3-7."

Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon

take away.  "All the princes, and all the mighty men of valor," were taken captive into Babylon (2 Kings 24:14).

   20:18 eunuchs.  Among those placed "in the palace of the king of Babylon" were "Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah" (Daniel 1:6). They were "of the king's seed, and of the princes" and were placed in the king's palace under "Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs" (Daniel 1:3). Later they were placed directly under Melzar by "the prince of the eunuchs" (Daniel 1:11).

2 Kings 20:19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?”  

• Good: Lev 10:3 1Sa 3:18 Job 1:21 Ps 39:9 La 3:22,39, It is not good, etc. or, Shall there not be peace and truth, etc.  peace and truth. Es 9:30 Jer 33:6 Zec 8:19 Lu 2:10,14 

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?”

2 Kings 20:20 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

• he made a pool: 2Ch 32:4,30,32 Ne 3:16 Isa 22:9-11 
• the book: 2Ki 8:23 15:6,26 16:19 1Ki 14:19 15:7,23 

Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah

The conduit and pool were constructed by King Hezekiah in anticipation of the coming Assyrian siege in order to assure a water supply for Jerusalem during the siege. The tunnel was rediscovered in the nineteenth century, cut in solid rock under Mt. Zion and the city walls, extending 1780 feet from Gihon Spring to the pool of Siloam. On the tunnel wall, near its exit, was found a Hebrew inscription commemorating the completion of the tunnel and noting the surveying skill of its engineers, who constructed it simultaneously from both ends, meeting in the center.

In his preparations against Sennacherib, Hezekiah ordered his engineers to construct a tunnel that would bring water from the spring of Gihon into the city proper. The tunnel was excavated through solid rock for a distance of almost 600 yards. When it was completed, it emerged just inside the southeastern corner of the old city, where what was later known as the Pool of Siloam was situated. This conduit, referred to in this verse and in 2 Chr. 32:30, was a remarkable engineering accomplishment, for the excavators worked with hand tools from opposite ends, meeting in the center. The tunnel was discovered in 1880 and bore a graffiti inscription detailing the completion of the project.

2 Kings 20:21 So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son became king in his place.

• slept: 2Ki 21:18 1Ki 2:10 11:43 14:31 2Ch 26:23 32:33 
• Manasseh: 2Ki 21:1 

So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son became king in his place.