2 Kings 20:21

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;...

Consult the marginal references....

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

AND HEZEKIAH SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS,.... Died, as they did; no mention is here made of the place of his burial, but there is in 2 Chronicles 32:33 where he is said to be buried in the principal part of the sepulchres of the sons of David, and to have honour done him at his death by the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, by the vast concourse of people attending his interment, and by burning spices for him, and making a public mourning on his account a certain stated time: AND MANASSEH HIS SON REIGNED IN HIS STEAD; of whose wicked reign an account is given in the next chapter....

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

SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS. See note on Deuteronomy 31:16....

_Hezekiah slept with his fathers_ The Chronicler adds -and they buried him in the chiefest (R.V. THE ASCENT) of the sepulchres of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death". The change of rendering in the R.V. is necessary and shews us that it was not in the tombs of the kings that Hezekiah was buried, but in some place of an elevated character near thereto. From this time the kings of Judah are no longer laid in the tombs of the kings....

AND HEZEKIAH SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS— See on 2 Chronicles 32:30. In the innermost and chief room of the royal sepulchre of the house of David was the body of Hezekiah, placed in a niche, which was at the upper end of the room, and, very likely, cut at that time on purpose to do him the greater honour. The prophets who are supposed to have been living in his son's and his reign, were Hosea, Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, some say Obadiah, and Isaiah, the greatest of them all....

IV. CONCLUSION TO THE REIGN OF HEZEKIAH 20:20-21 TRANSLATION (20) And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all of his might, and how he made a pool and a conduit that the water might come to the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? (21) And Hezekiah slept with his fathers; and Manasseh his son reigned in his place. COMMENTS Hezekiah was a powerful as well as a pious king. The author of Kings declines to discuss his _might_ but refers the reader to his source of information, the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. Hezekiah's might was chiefly displayed in the early part of his reign during which time he was able to make incursions into Philistine territory (cf. 2 Kings 18:8). Hezekiah was, of course, no match for Assyria, and would have been crushed by them were it not for the miraculous deliverance of God....