CHAPTER XX _Hezekiah's sickness, and the message of the prophet to him, to_ _prepare for death_, 1. _His distress and prayer to God_, 2, 3. _The Lord hears, and promises to add_ fifteen _years to his life,_ _and Isaiah prescribes a means of cure_, 4-7. _Hezekiah seeks a sign; and to assure him... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 20:3. _I BESEECH THEE, O LORD_] Hezekiah knew that, although the words of Isaiah were delivered to him in an _absolute_ form, yet they were to be _conditionally_ understood, else he could not have prayed to God to reverse a purpose which he knew to be irrevocable. Even this passage is... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 20:4. _INTO THE MIDDLE COURT_] הצר _hatstser, the court_. This is the reading of the Masoretic _Keri_: העיר haair, "of the city," is the reading of the text, and of most MSS.; but the _versions_ follow the _Keri_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 20:6. _I WILL ADD UNTO THY DAYS FIFTEEN YEARS_] This is the _first_ and _only_ man who was ever informed of the _term of his_ _life_. And was this a _privilege_! Surely no. If Hezekiah was attached to life, as he appears to have been, how must his mind be affected to mark the _sinking... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 20:7. _TAKE A LUMP OF FIGS - AND LAID IT ON THE BOIL_] We cannot exactly say in what Hezekiah's malady consisted. שחין _shechin_ signifies any _inflammatory tumour, boil, abscess_, c. The _versions_ translate it _sore, wound_, and such like. Some think it was a _pleurisy_ others, that... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 20:8. _WHAT_ SHALL BE _THE SIGN_] He wished to be fully convinced that his cure was to be entirely supernatural; and, in order to this, he seeks one miracle to prove the truth of the other, that nothing might remain _equivocal_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 20:11. _HE BROUGHT THE SHADOW TEN DEGREES BACKWARD_] We cannot suppose that these _ten degrees_ meant _ten hours_; there were _ten_ _divisions of time_ on this dial: and perhaps it would not be right to suppose that the _sun_ went ten degrees back in the heavens, or that the _earth_ t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 20:12. _AT THAT TIME BERODACH-BALADAN_] He is called _Merodach-Baladan_, Isaiah 39:1, and by the _Septuagint, Syriac_, and _Arabic_ versions, and by several of _Kennicott's_ and _De Rossi's_ MSS.; and also by the _Babylonian_ and _Jerusalem Talmuds_. The true reading seems to be _Merod... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 20:17. _BEHOLD, THE DAYS COME_] This was fulfilled in the days of the latter Jewish kings, when the Babylonians had led the people away into captivity, and stripped the land, the temple, c., of all their riches. See Daniel 1:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 20:18. _THEY SHALL BE EUNUCHS_] Perhaps this means no more than that they should become _household servants_ to the kings of Babylon. See the fulfillment, 2 Kings 24:13-12, and Daniel 1:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 20:19. _GOOD_ IS _THE WORD OF THE LORD_] _He_ has spoken _right,_ I have done _foolishly_. I submit to his judgments. IS IT _NOT_ GOOD _IF PEACE AND TRUTH BE IN MY DAYS?_] I believe Hezekiah inquires whether there shall be peace and truth in his days. And the question seems to be rath... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 20:20. _THE REST OF THE ACTS OF HEZEKIAH_] See the parallel places in Isaiah and in 2 Chronicles. In this latter book, 2 Chronicles 32:24-14, we find several particulars that are not inserted here; especially concerning his pride, the increase of his riches, his storehouses of corn, wi... [ Continue Reading ]