Isaiah 39:1

At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. MERODACH-BALADAN. For 150 years before the overthrow of Nineveh by Cyaxares the Mede, a succession of rulers, mostly viceroys of Assyria, ruled Babylon, from the time of Nabonassar, 747 BC That date is called "the Era of Nabonassar." Pul or Phallukha was then expelled, and a new dynasty set up at Nineveh under Tiglath-pileser. Semiramis, Pul's wife, then retired to Babylon, with Nabonassar, her son, whose advent to the throne of Babylon, after the overthrow of the old line at Nineveh, marked a new era. Babylon takes its name from Balal, to confound (). The native etymology is Bab-il, the gate of God; this was the original sense of the appellation given by Nimrod; the other sense was divinel...

1._At that time. _Some think that this was the first king of the Chaldee nation; for his father, _Baladin, _had held the government over the Babylonians without the title of king. This Merodach, therefore, after having reigned twelve years, subdued the Assyrians, and made them tributaries to the Chaldeans; for it is a mistake to suppose that the war was begun by Nebuchadnezzar. It is indeed possible that he completed the subjugation of them; but it is probable that already they were half subdued, so that nothing else remained than to establish the royal power gained by the victory of his predecessor. _Sent letters and a present to Hezekiah _Although the Prophet simply relates that messengers were sent, yet it is of importance to observe that this was done craftily by the Babylonian, in order to flatter and cajole Hezekiah. He was at this time threatening the Assyrians, whom he knew to be...

CHAPTER XXXIX _The Babylonish monarch sends letters of congratulation and a_ _present to Hezekiah, on account of his recovery from his late_ _dangerous illness_, 1. _The king of Judah shows the messengers of Merodach-baladan all_ _the treasures of his house and kingdom_, 2. _The prophet takes occasion from this ostentatious display of_ _the king to predict the captivity of the royal family, and of_ _the people, by the Babylonians_, 3-8. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIX Hitherto the copy of this history in the second book of Kings has been much the most correct; in this chapter

AT THAT TIME - That is, soon after his recovery; or after he had amassed great wealth, and was surrounded with the evidences of prosperity 2 Chronicles 32:27. MERODACH-BALADAN, THE SON OF BALDDAN, KING OF BABYLON - In the parallel place in 2 Kings 20:12, this name is written Berodach-baladan, by a change of a single letter. Probably the name was written and pronounced both ways. Merodach was an idol of the Babylonians Jeremiah 50:2 : ‘Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is confounded.’ This idol, according to Gesenius, was probably the planet Mars, or Mars the god of war. To this god, as well as to Saturn, the ancient Semi

EXPOSITION This chapter is parallel with 2 Kings 20:12, and scarcely differs from it at all. Verse I has the additional words, "and was recovered;" 2 Kings 20:2, the phrase, "was glad of them," for "hearkened unto them;" 2 Kings 20:5, "Lord of hosts," for "Lord" simply; and 2 Kings 20:8 makes Hezekiah's last utterance an observation instead of a question. Otherwise the two accounts are almost word for word the same. Both relate the novel and important fact of ambassadors being sent _to _Hezekiah by the King of Babylon, shortly after his illness, and tell of the reception which he gave them, of the message which Is

AT THAT TIME MERODACHBALADAN, THE SON OF BALADAN, KING OF BABYLON,.... The same is called Berodach, 2 Kings 20:12 which, according to Hillerus z, is the same with Barmerodach, the son of Merodach; though it is generally took to be a slip of the scribe's there, or a change of letter, as is common in names; he was either afterwards made a god of, or he had his name from an idol of the Babylonians so called, Jeremiah 50:1, which signifies "a pure lord." Jerom observes it, as the opinion of the Jews, that he was the father of Nebuchadnezzar, which is not probable. Kimchi takes him to be the same with Esarhaddon, the son of Sennacherib; but he was king of Assyria, not of Babylon; it is most likely that he is the Assyrian king, whom Ptolemy in his canon calls Mardocempad; his other name Baladan, which is compo

CHAPTER 39 Hezekiah's Self-Exaltation 1. _The ambassadors of Merodach-baladan (Isaiah 39:1)_ 2. _Hezekiah's boasting (Isaiah 39:2)_ 3. _Isaiah's inquiry (Isaiah 39:3)_ 4. _The Babylonian captivity announced (Isaiah 39:5)_ 5. _Hezekiah's submission and comfort (Isaiah 39:8)_ The prediction of Isaiah of the Babylonian captivity, fulfilled through King Nebuchadnezzar about 100 years after these words were spoken, is startling. The reader will bear in mind that the Assyrian was not yet overcome, for the sickness and self-exaltation

ISAIAH 36-39. This section has been extracted from 2 Kings 18:13 to 2 Kings 20:19, and the Song of Hezekiah has been added. For an exposition see the notes on 2 K.; here we have simply to deal with the Song of Hezekiah. ISAIAH 38:10. THANKSGIVING FOR DELIVERANCE FROM IMMINENT DEATH. This is now generally regarded as a post-exilic psalm. Its absence in the parallel narratine in Kings is significant. Apparently it was inserted here by an editor who thought it suitable to Hezekiah's circumstances. If, as seems likely, it has been influenced by the Book of Job, it must be post-exilic. The title cannot, any more than the Psalm titles, weigh against internal evidence. Hezekiah's writing after his recov

AT THAT TIME: i.e. shortly after the two miracles of the shadow and Hezekiah's recovery from his sickness. Compare 2 Chronicles 32:31. LETTERS AND. PRESENT. These were more potent than Sennacherib's hosts; just as Ahab's daughter and feast were than his men of war with Jehoshaphat. See 2 Chronicles 18:1. Compare with 2 Chronicles 17:1....

_Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan_ The form "Berodach" in 2 Kings 20:12 is less correct. Marduk-habal-iddina is described in the monuments as "son of Yakin"; but this is no reason for doubting the identity of the person. The latter is probably his dynastic title. _letters_ A LETTER, as ch. Isaiah 37:14. LXX. adds καὶ πρέσβεις i.e. "ambassadors," whose presence is assumed in the next verse. _for he had heard_ So in 2 Kings 20:12 correctly. The text here reads strictly "and he heard." The motive here specified was merely a pretext to veil the real political object of the mission. This appears clearly enough in what follows. According to...