2 Kings 20:14

_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._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

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;...

Hezekiah did not answer Isaiah’s first question, “What said these men?” but only his second. Probably he knew that Isaiah would oppose reliance on an “arm of flesh.” Babylon now for the first time became revealed to the Jews as an actual power in the world, which might effect them politically. As yet even the prophets had spoken but little of the great southern city; up to this time she had been little more to them than Tyre, or Tarshish, or any other rich and powerful idolatrous city. Henceforth, all this was wholly changed. The prophetic utterance of Isaiah on this occasion 2 Kings 20:16 never was, never could be, forgotten. He followed it up with a burst of prophecy Isa. 40–66, in which Babylon usurps altogether the place of Assyria as Israel’s enemy, and the captivity being assumed as a matter of certainty, the hopes of the

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

THEN CAME ISAIAH. He was to Hezekiah what Nathan was to David (2 Samuel 12:1). WHAT SAID... ? Figure of speech _Anthropopatheia_: for God knew who the men were, and what they had said. A FAR COUNTRY. Some codices, with three early printed editions, Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulg, add "unto me"....

_What said these men?_ Hezekiah does not answer this question. To tell of the proposals which had been made to him by the Babylonians, and of the remarks which had been called forth in praise of all that he had shewn them, would have provoked some reproach from God's prophet, who was probably averse to any alliance with foreign and idolatrous powers, knowing that in Jehovah there was present help so long as His people trusted in Him only. even _from Babylon_ Except as one of the places whence colonists were brought to occupy Samaria (2 Kings 17:24), Babylon has not before come into Jewish history. Soon it begins to figure largely, especially in the writings of the prophets, and at last becomes the victor of Jerusalem, and the scene of the long captivity of the two tribes....

B. HEZEKIAH'S FOOLISH MISTAKE AND SUBSEQUENT REBUKE 20:12-19 TRANSLATION (12) At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah was sick. (13) And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, the gold, the spices and precious oil and the house of all his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was not a thing which Hezekiah did not show them in his house and in his domain. (14) And Isaiah the prophet came unto King Hezekiah and said unto him, What did these men say? From whence did they come unto you? And Hezekiah said, From a distant land, they came from Babylon. (15) And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah said, All which is in my house they have seen; there is not a thing which I did not show them in my treasurie...