2 Kings 18:5

18:5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after. ¹ 

2 Kings 18:29-30

18:29 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you from my hand! ²  18:30 Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord when he says, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”

2 Kings 18:2

18:2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. ³  His mother ⁴  was Abi, ⁵  the daughter of Zechariah.

2 Kings 1:15

1:15 The Lord’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down ⁶  with him to the king.

Isaiah 37:10-14

37:10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 37:11 Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands. ⁷  Do you really think you will be rescued? ⁸  37:12 Were the nations whom my predecessors ⁹  destroyed – the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar – rescued by their gods? ¹⁰  37:13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the kings of Lair, ¹¹  Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

37:14 Hezekiah took the letter ¹²  from the messengers and read it. ¹³  Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord.

¹ tn Heb “and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, and those who were before him.”

² tc The MT has “his hand,” but this is due to graphic confusion of vav (ו) and yod (י). The translation reads “my hand,” along with many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate.

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ tn Heb “the name of his mother.”

⁵ tn The parallel passage in 2 Chr 29:1 has “Abijah.”

⁶ sn In this third panel the verb “come down” (יָרַד, yarad) occurs again, this time describing Elijah’s descent from the hill at the Lord’s command. The moral of the story seems clear: Those who act as if they have authority over God and his servants just may pay for their arrogance with their lives; those who, like the third commander, humble themselves and show the proper respect for God’s authority and for his servants will be spared and find God quite cooperative.

⁷ tn Heb “Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them.”

⁸ tn Heb “and will you be rescued?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No, of course not!”

⁹ tn Heb “fathers” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “forefathers”; NCV “ancestors.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed rescue them – Gozan and Haran, and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who are in Telassar?”

¹¹ sn Lair was a city located in northeastern Babylon. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 235.

¹² tc The Hebrew text has the plural, “letters.” The final mem (ם) may be dittographic (note the initial mem on the form that immediately follows). Some Greek and Aramaic witnesses have the singular. If so, one still has to deal with the yod that is part of the plural ending. J. N. Oswalt refers to various commentators who have suggested ways to understand the plural form (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:652).

¹³ tn In the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:14 the verb has the plural suffix, “them,” but this probably reflects a later harmonization to the preceding textual corruption (of “letter” to “letters”).