Did Hezekiah... put him at all to death? — Literally, make him die the death, the same phrase as in Jeremiah 26:8. There is no special record of the repentance thus referred to, but it is quite in accord with Hezekiah’s general character, as seen in 2 Chronicles 29:6 (which may be the occasion referred to) and 2 Chronicles 32:26. The whole tone of the advice of “old experience,” approximating to something like “prophetic strain,” in this case, reminds us of the counsels of Gamaliel in Acts 5:35. The closing words, “Thus might we procure great evil to our souls,” present an exact parallel to “lest haply we be found even to fight against God.” The result of the counsel thus given is left to be inferred. It obviously left the prophet free to continue his work as a preacher, though probably under a kind of police surveillance, like that implied in Jeremiah 36:1. The favourable result is attributed in Jeremiah 26:24 to the influence of Ahikam.

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