Isaiah 39:2

And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. HEZEKIAH WAS GLAD. It was not the mere act, but the spirit of it, which provoked God - 2 Chronicles 32:25, "Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; because his heart was lifted up:" also cf. Isa. 39:31 , "in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon ... God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart." God 'tries' His people at different times by different ways, bringing out 'all that is in their heart,' to show them its varied corruptions Compare David i...

2._And Hezekiah was glad _The Prophet performs the part of the historian; for he merely relates what Hezekiah did, and will afterwards explain why he did it; that is, that Hezekiah, blinded by ambition, made an ostentatious display to the messengers; while he censures an improper kind of joy, which afterwards gave rise to an eager desire of treating them in a friendly manner. Any person who shall barely read this history will con-elude that Hezekiah did nothing wrong; for it was an act of humanity to give a cheerful and hospitable reception to the messengers, and to shew them every proof of good-will; and it would have been the act of a barbarian to disdain those who had come to him on a friendly visit, and to spurn the friendship of so powerful a king. But still there lurked in his heart a desire of vain ostentation; for he wished to make a favorable display of himself, that the Babylon...

AND HEZEKIAH WAS GLAD OF THEM - Possibly he regarded himself as flattered by an embassage from so great a distance, and so celebrated a place as Babylon. It is certain that he erred in some way in regard to the manner in which he received them, and especially in the ostentatious display which he made of his treasures 2 Chronicles 32:31. AND SHOWED THEM THE HOUSE OF HIS PRECIOUS THINGS - The Septuagint renders this, Νεχωθᾶ _Nechōtha_ - ‘The house of Nechotha,’ retaining the Hebrew word. The Margin, ‘Spicery.’ The Hebrew word (נכתה _n__e__kotoh_) properly means, according to Gesenius, a contusion, a breaking to pieces; hence, aromatic powder, or spices reduced to powder, and then any kind of ar

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

AND HEZEKIAH WAS GLAD OF THEM,.... Not of the presents, for he was very rich, and stood in no need of them, nor does it appear that he was covetous; but of the ambassadors, and of the honour that was done him in having such sent to him from such a prince; his sin was vain glory; and because he might hope that such a powerful ally would be a security to him against any after attempt of the king of Assyria, in which he was guilty of another sin, vain confidence, or trusting in an arm of flesh; and being lifted up with pride that his name was become so famous abroad, and that he had got so good an ally: and in order to ingratiate himself the more into his esteem and favour, he "showed" these his ambassadors THE HOUSE OF HIS PRECIOUS THINGS; where his jewels and precious stones lay, and where were THE SILVER AND THE GOLD; large quantities of not only which he and his predecessors had laid...

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

GLAD OF THEM. This is further Divine information, given by Him Who knew Hezekiah's heart. 2 Kings 20:13 records what Hezekiah did: viz. "hearkened unto them". Man could see the _ear,_ but only Jehovah could know the _heart._ Hezekiah forgot to pray, as in Isaiah 37:4; Isaiah 37:14; Isaiah 37:15, and Isaiah 38:2. Hence his failure. AND. Note the Figure of speech _Polysyndeton_, to emphasise and call attention (by five "ands") to every detail. HIS. Note the Figure of speech _Repetitio_ to mark Hezekiah's ostentatio

_And Hezekiah was glad of them_ Not only was his vanity flattered, but the arrival of the envoys fell in with political projects to which he was even then too ready to lend his ear. The reading is decidedly preferable to the flat and meaningless "heard of them" in 2 Kings 20:13 (not LXX.). _the house of his precious things_ R.V. marg. has "house of his spicery," identifying the word with one found in Genesis 37:25; Genesis 43:11. But this rendering has only an apparent justification in the "spices" mentioned below. The right meaning is given by the Targ. and Peshito: TREASURE-HOUSE. According to the younger Delitzsch it is the Assyrian _bit nakanti_. It is obvious that Hezekiah's treasury was still

AND HEZEKIAH WAS GLAD, &C.— This action of Hezekiah favoured of great weakness, as nothing more strongly excites the enmity of neighbouring states, than such an unseasonable display of riches: it favours of ostentation and vanity, both of them vices very unsuitable to that temper of mind, which his late cure, and the miracle that he had seen, should have wrought in him; and perhaps it favours something of impiety, since Hezekiah seems to have displayed his treasures as his own acquisitions, without ascribing the possession of them to the goodness and power of God. See Vitringa....