2 Kings 20:13

_AND HEZEKIAH HEARKENED UNTO THEM, AND SHEWED THEM ALL THE HOUSE OF HIS PRECIOUS THINGS, 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._ Hezekiah hearkened unto them, х_ YISHMA`_ (H8085); but the parallel passage, Isaiah 39:2, has _ YISMACH _ (H8055), was glad. The latter must, from the tenor of the context, be regarded as the proper reading, because the Babylonians came not as suppliants for a favour, but as the bearers of a congratulatory message. It is confirmatory of the correctness of this view that the Septuagint has echaree ep' autois in both passages]. The king of Judah, flattered with this

12-21 The king of Babylon was at this time independent of the king of Assyria, though shortly after subdued by him. Hezekiah showed his treasures and armour, and other proofs of his wealth and power. This was the effect of pride and ostentation, and departing from simple reliance on God. He also seems to have missed the opportunity of speaking to the Chaldeans, about Him who had wrought the miracles which excited their attention, and of pointing out to them the absurdity and evil of idolatry. What is more common than to show our friends our houses and possessions? But if we do this in the pride of ours hearts, to gain applause from men, not giving praise to God, it becomes sin in us, as it did in Hezekiah. We may expect vexation from every object with which we are unduly pleased. Isaiah, who had often been Hezekiah's comforter, is now is reprover. The blessed Spirit is both, John 16:7;...

Verse 2 Kings 20:13. _HEZEKIAH HEARKENED UNTO THEM_] Instead of וישמע _vaiyishma, he hearkened_, וישמח vaiyismach, he rejoiced or _was_ _glad_, is the reading of _twelve_ of _Kennicott's_ and _De Rossi's_ MSS., the _parallel_ place, Isaiah 39:2, the _Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Arabic_, some copies of the _Targum_, and the Babylonian _Talmud_. _ALL THE HOUSE OF HIS PRECIOUS THINGS_] Interpreters are not well agreed about the meaning of the original נכתה _nechothoh_, which we here translate _precious things_, and in the margin _spicery_ or _jewels_. I suppose the last to be meant. _THERE WAS NOTHING IN HIS HOUSE_] He showed them through a spirit of folly and exultation, all hi

HEZEKIAH HEARKENED UNTO THEM, AND SHEWED THEM - The Jewish king lent a favorable ear to the proposals of the ambassadors, and exhibited to them the resources which he possessed, in order to induce them to report well of him to their master. ALL THE HOUSE OF HIS PRECIOUS THINGS - literally, the “spice-house;” the phrase had acquired the more generic sense of “treasure-house” from the fact that the gold, the silver, and the spices were all stored together....

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 20:1 ILLNESS OF HEZEKIAH AND EMBASSY OF MERODACH-BALADAN. HEZEKIAH'S DEATH. The writer proceeds to relate an illness and a recovery of Hezekiah, which happened about the middle of his reign, probably in B.C. 713, and which was accompanied by strange, if not miraculous, circumstances (2 Kings 20:1). Hezekiah's recovery was followed by an embassy of congratulation from Merodach-Baladan, King of Babylon, which led Hezekiah into an act of folly, and brought upon him the rebuke of Isaiah (verses 12-19). The narrative terminates with a notice of some of Hezekiah's great works, and of h

2 Kings 20:12...

3. HEZEKIAH'S ILLNESS, RECOVERY, FAILURE, AND DEATH CHAPTER 20 _ 1. Hezekiah's illness and recovery (2 Kings 20:1; 2 Chronicles 32:24)_ 2. Hezekiah's failure (2 Kings 20:12; 2 Chronicles 32:25) 3. The death of Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:32) Hezekiah's sickness must have occurred about the second invasion of the Assyrian. Then the prophet Isaiah delivered to him the m

THE EMBASSY OF MERODACH-BALADAN. The correct name of this king (_mg._) is preserved in the parallel passage, Isaiah 39. The sickness of Hezekiah and the embassy for which his recovery was an excuse must have taken place before the events in chs. 18f. (see above). 2 Kings 20:13. Hezekiah's display of his treasures and armour was evidently intended to impress the king of Babylon with his readiness to enter upon a concerted rebellion against Assyria. This must have been before the spoliation of the Temple to pay the tribute to Assyria (2 Kings 18:16). 2 Kings 20:17. Isaiah, as we see from his prophecies, was consistently opposed to any intrigues with foreign nations to throw off the yoke o

HEARKENED. He did not pray as in 2 Kings 20:2, or as in 2 Kings 19:15. See the notes and Isaiah 39:2, "was glad". ALL. Some codices, with Syriac and Vulgate, omit this "all". HIS. The depletion of 2 Kings 18:15; 2 Kings 18:16 was not of "his" house, but of the house of Jehovah as well as "the king's house". AND. Note the Figure of speech _Polysyndeton_ (App-6) emphasizing each item. ALL THE HOUSE OF HIS ARMOUR. all his armoury. TREASURES. treasuries....

_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 his precious things_ On the margin both A.V. and R.V. give -spicery" instead of -precious things"; and the word (with a very slight difference of form) is used in that sense in Genesis 37:25; Genesis 43:11. But here as the house seems to have contained the various things which follow after, silver and gold as well as spices, perhaps the more general rendering is to be preferred. The storehouse which at first had its name from the aromatic treasures bestowed there, came in time to be used, without change