2 Kings 18:1--20:21
third <07969> [A.M. 3278. B.C. 726. in the third.]
Hezekiah <02396> [Hezekiah.]
[Ezekias.]
twenty-five years old .......... twenty-nine years <06242 02568 08141 01121> [Twenty and five years old.]
As Ahaz was 20 years old when he began to reign, and died when he had reigned 16 years, his whole age only amounted to 36 years; and as Hezekiah was, at least, entering on his 25th year when he began to reign, then Ahaz must have been under 12 years of age when his son was born! This is not at all impossible: and there are well-attested facts of men having children at as early a period, especially in eastern countries.
Abi <021> [A.M. 3278-3306. B.C. 726-698. Abi.]
[Abijah.]
approved <05869 03477> [right in the sight.]
David <01732> [according.]
eliminated <05493> [removed.]
smashed ............... demolished <07665 03807> [brake.]
sacred pillars <04676> [images. Heb. statues. the brasen serpent.]
time <03117> [unto those days.]
Nehushtan <05180> [Nehushtan.]
That is, a piece of brass.
trusted <0982> [trusted.]
kings ....... after <0310 04428> [after him.]
loyal <01692> [he clave.]
None of the kings of Judah, from the time of the division of the kingdom, equalled Hezekiah in the stedfastness and simplicity of his dependence upon the Lord; in which he aspired to an equality with his progenitor David, who had reigned over the whole land. Even Asa, through weakness of faith, sought the assistance of a heathen prince; and Jehoshaphat formed an alliance with idolatrous Ahab; but Hezekiah clave to the Lord, in entire confidence and unreserved obedience, to the end of his life.
him ... obeyed <0310 08104> [from following him. Heb. from after him. kept.]
Lord <03068> [And the Lord.]
endeavors <07919> [he prospered.]
rebelled <04775> [rebelled.]
Philistines <06430> [the Philistines.]
Gaza <05804> [Gaza. Heb. Azzah. from the tower.]
fourth year .......... year <08141 07243> [A.M. 3281. B.C. 723. the fourth year.]
Shalmaneser <08022> [Shalmaneser.]
[Shalman.]
captured ..... sixth .................. captured <03920 08337> [A.M. 3283. B.C. 721. they took it.]
king <04428> [the king.]
Halah <02477> [Halah.]
It is thought, with much probability, that Halah, or Chalach, is Ptolemy's Calachene, the northern part of Assyria; that Habor, or Chabor, is the mountain or mountainous country, between Media and Assyria, called by Ptolemy, [Chaboras,] Chaboras; and that Gozan is Gauzanitis of Ptolemy, situated between that mountain and the Caspian sea, and between the two channels of the river Cyrus.
obey ............... pay attention <08085 06963> [they obeyed not.]
Moses <04872> [Moses.]
fourteenth <0702> [A.M. 3291. B.C. 713. the fourteenth.]
Sennacherib <05576> [Sennacherib. Heb. Sanherib. come up.]
have violated <02398> [I have offended.]
doors <01817> [gold.]
King ............................. king <04428> [it. Heb. them.]
king .................. King <04428> [A.M. 3294. B.C. 710. the king.]
general <08661> [Tartan.]
Calmet remarks, that these are not the names of persons, but of offices: {Tartan} signifies "he who presides over gifts or tribute;" {Rabsaris,} "the chief of the eunuchs;" and {Rabshakeh,} "the chief cup-bearer."
large <03515> [great. Heb. heavy. the conduit of the upper pool.]
If the Fuller's field were near En-Rogel, or the Fuller's fountain, east of Jerusalem, as is generally supposed, then the conduit of the upper pool may been an aqueduct that brought the water from the upper or eastern reservoir of that fountain, which had been seized in order to distress the city.
Eliakim <0471> [Eliakim.]
Shebna <07644> [Shebna.]
scribe <05608> [the scribe. or, secretary.]
secretary <02142> [the recorder.]
chief adviser <07262> [Rab-shakeh.]
He was the chief speaker, being a very eloquent man, and, according to the Hebrews, whom Procopius follows, an apostate Jew; which is not improbable, as he spoke Hebrew so fluently; and when he blasphemed the Divine Majesty, the king and nobles rent their clothes, which was usual unless the blasphemer were an Israelite.
said .... Tell <0559> [Thus saith.]
confidence <0986> [What confidence.]
claim <0559> [sayest. or, talkest. vain words. Heb. word of the lips. I have counsel and strength for the war. or, but counsel and strength are for the war.]
rebel <04775> [rebellest.]
trusting .................................. trust <0982> [trustest. Heb. trustest thee. the staff.]
Egypt ........................... Egypt <04714> [upon Egypt.]
Pharaoh <06547> [so is Pharaoh.]
trusting <0982> [We trust.]
high places <01116> [whose high places.]
deal <06148> [pledges. Heb. hostages.]
give <05414> [I will deliver.]
refuse <07725> [How then.]
trust <0982> [thy trust.]
chariots <07393> [chariots.]
marched up ............ March up <05927> [Am I now.]
Speak ............ speak <01696> [Speak.]
Perceiving that the object of this blasphemous caitiff was to stir up the people to sedition, they mildly and reasonably required him to make his proposals in the Syrian language.
Aramaic <0762> [in the Syrian language.]
eat <0398> [eat.]
<04325> [their own piss. Heb. the water of their feet.]
chief adviser <07262> [Rab-shakeh.]
king ... king ... Assyria <04428 0804> [the king of Assyria.]
says <0559> [saith.]
Hezekiah <02396> [Let not.]
trusting <0982> [make you.]
city <05892> [this city.]
Send .... token of your submission <06213 01293> [Make an agreement with me. or, Seek my favour. Heb. Make with me a blessing.]
each ..... eat .... own ........... own <0398 0376> [eat ye.]
cistern <0953> [cistern. or, pit.]
come <0935> [I come.]
land ....... land ........ land ....... land <0776> [like your own.]
misleading <05496> [persuadeth. or, deceiveth.]
actually <0376> [Hath any.]
gods ......... gods <0430> [the gods.]
Hamath <02574> [Hamath.]
Hamath, there is little doubt, was the Epiphania of the Greeks, as Josephus, Theodoret, and Jerome, expressly assert. It was a celebrated city of Syria, situated on the Orontes, and the present Hamah doubtless occupies its site; as Abulfeda, who was prince or emir of Hamah about A.D. 1345, expressly states, in his Description of Syria, that Hamah is an ancient city mentioned in the writings of the Israelites. It is still a considerable town, situated on both sides of the Orontes, about three days' journey and a half from Tripoli; and must contain, Burckhardt says, at least 30,000 inhabitants.
Arpad <0774> [Arpad.]
Arpad is probably the town of Arphas, mentioned by Josephus as limiting the province of Gamalitis, Gaulanitis, Batanea, and Trachonitis, to the N. E.; and the Raphan, or Raphanea, which Stephanus places near Epiphania.
gods ......... gods <0430> [the gods.]
[Ava.]
rescue <05337> [have they delivered.]
gods <0430> [Who are.]
Lord <03068> [that the Lord.]
silent <02790> [held their peace.]
clothes torn <0899 07167> [with their clothes rent.]
King <04428> [when king.]
tore <07167> [he rent.]
<03680> [covered.]
went ..... temple <0935 01004> [went into.]
sent Eliakim <0471 07971> [he sent Eliakim.]
Isaiah <03470> [to Isaiah.]
[Esaias. the son of Amoz.]
day ........ when <03117> [This day.]
humiliation <05007> [blasphemy. or, provocation.]
baby <01121> [for the children.]
Lord ................................. Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
king <04428> [whom the king.]
punish <03198> [reprove.]
perhaps <05375> [lift up.]
remnant <07611> [the remnant.]
remains <04672> [left. Heb. found.]
Isaiah <03470> [Isaiah.]
afraid <03372> [Be not afraid.]
servants <05288> [the servants.]
mind <07307> [a blast.]
receive ... report <08052 08085> [hear a rumour.]
cut ... down <05307> [I will cause.]
Libnah <03841> [Libnah.]
Lachish <03923> [Lachish.]
heard <08085> [when he heard.]
When Sennacherib had levied contributions on Hezekiah, he marched his army into Egypt; where, after several successes, he laid siege to Pelusium, and spent much time in it; but hearing that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, whom Strabo calls Therchon, was marching against him with a great army, to assist his kinsman Sevechus, or Sethon, the king of Egypt, he durst not abide his coming, but raised the siege; and returning to Judea, he encamped against Lachish, and afterwards against Libnah. But finding that Tirhakah pursued him as a fugitive, he marched back to encounter him; and having totally routed his army, he returned to wreak his vengeance on Hezekiah.
sent <07971> [sent.]
gods <0430> [Have the gods.]
Gozan <01470> [Gozan.]
Haran <02771> [Haran.]
[Charran. Rezeph.]
Rezeph was probably either Rezapha, which Ptolemy places in the Palmyrene, west of the Euphrates; or rather, Rezipha, in Mesopotamia, east of the Euphrates.
Eden <05729> [Eden.]
[Telassar.]
king ..... king ...... king <04428> [the king.]
Arpad <0774> [Arpad.]
[Arphad.]
Hezekiah ............ Hezekiah <02396> [Hezekiah.]
spread .... before <06566 06440> [spread it.]
prayed <06419> [prayed.]
Lord Lord God ............. God <03068 0430> [O Lord God.]
who ... enthroned <03427> [dwellest.]
God ............. God <0430> [thou art the God.]
made <06213> [thou hast made.]
Pay <05186> [bow down.]
Open <06491> [open.]
sent <07971> [which hath sent.]
true <0551> [Of a truth.]
kings <04428> [the kings.]
burned <05414> [have cast. Heb. have given.]
gods .......... gods <0430> [for they were.]
Lord ..................... Lord <03068> [O Lord.]
prayer <06419> [which thou hast.]
heard <08085> [I have heard.]
virgin <01330> [The virgin.]
daughter .......... Daughter <01323> [the daughter.]
shakes ... head <07218 05128> [shaken her head.]
taunted .............. arrogantly <02778 07311> [Whom.]
shouted ..... arrogantly <06963 07311> [exalted thy voice.]
Holy One ... Israel <06918 03478> [the Holy One.]
Through <03027> [By. Heb. By the hand of. messengers.]
<07230> [With the multitude.]
tall cedars <0730 06967> [tall cedar trees thereof. Heb. tallness of the cedar-trees thereof. the forest of his Carmel. or, the forest, and his fruitful field.]
dug <06979> [I have digged, etc.]
I have conquered strange countries, and marched through the driest places, in which I have digged wells for my army.
soles <03709> [with the sole.]
My infantry have been so numerous, that they alone have been sufficient to dry up all the rivers of besieged places, either by drinking them, or by diverting their course into other channels.
Egypt <04693> [besieged places. or, fenced places.]
heard <08085> [Hast thou not, etc. or,]
Hast thou not heard how I have made it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Should I now bring it to be laid waste, and fenced cities to be ruinous heaps? I have done it.
powerless <03027 07116> [of small power. Heb. short of hand.]
terrified ......... plants <02865 06212> [they were.]
plants ............. grass <06212 02682> [the grass.]
know <03045> [I know.]
live <03427> [abode. or, sitting. thy going out.]
rage <07264> [thy rage.]
uproar <07600> [thy tumult.]
I ... put <07760> [I will put.]
This alludes to the method by which the common people manage their beasts in the East, especially the dromedaries, which are governed by a bridle fastened to a ring, which runs through the nostril of the beast.
way <01870> [by the way.]
confirmation <0226> [a sign.]
eat ................................ consume <0398> [Ye shall eat.]
remain <07604 06413> [the remnant that, etc. Heb. the escaping of the house of]
Judah that remaineth.
<03254> [shall yet again.]
Jerusalem <03389> [For.]
come out <06413> [they that escape. Heb. the escaping. the zeal.]
enter <0935> [He shall not come.]
build siege works <05550 08210> [cast a bank.]
way <01870> [By the way.]
shield <01598> [I will defend.]
servant <05650> [for mine.]
servant <05650> [my servant.]
night <03915> [that night.]
messenger <04397> [the angel.]
killed <05221> [and smote.]
got up early <07925> [when they arose.]
Sennacherib <05576> [Sennacherib.]
Nineveh <05210> [Nineveh.]
Nisroch <05268> [Nisroch.]
struck ... down ............. son <01121 05221> [his sons smote.]
land <0776> [the land.]
Armenia or Ararat is a province of Asia, comprising the modern Turcomania and part of Persia; having Georgia on the north, Curdistan, or the ancient Assyria on the south, and Asia Minor, now Natolia, on the west.
Ararat <0780> [Armenia. Heb. Ararat.]
Esarhaddon <0634> [Esar-haddon.]
Hezekiah <02396> [A.M. 3291. B.C. 713. was Hezekiah.]
prophet <05030> [the prophet.]
household instructions <01004 06680> [Set thine house in order. Heb. Give charge concerning thine house.]
terminal .......... him .................... die <04191> [thou shalt die.]
turned <05437> [he turned.]
Remember <02142> [remember.]
<01980> [I have walked.]
faithfully <0571> [in truth.]
wholehearted <03824 08003> [a perfect heart.]
wept bitterly <01058 01419> [wept sore. Heb. wept with a great weeping.]
<02691> [court. or, city.]
back <07725> [Turn again.]
leader <05057> [the captain.]
God <0430> [the God.]
heard <08085> [I have heard.]
seen <07200> [I have seen.]
heal <07495> [I will heal.]
up <05927> [thou shalt go.]
add <03254> [I will add.]
shield <01598> [I will defend.]
Get .... cake ....... ordered <03947 01690> [Take a lump.]
ulcerated sore <07822> [the boil.]
The word {shechin,} from the Arabic {sachana,} to be hot, signifies an inflammatory tumour, or burning boil; and some think that Hezekiah's malady was a pleurisy; others, that it was the plague; and others, the elephantiasis, a species of leprosy, as one of the Hexapla versions renders in Job 2:7. A poultice of figs might be very proper to maturate a boil, or dismiss any obstinate inflammatory swelling; but we need not discuss its propriety in this case, because it was as much the means which God chose to bless for his recovery, as the clay which Christ moistened to anoint the eyes of the blind man; for in both cases, without Divine interposition the cure could not have been effected.
sign <0226> [What shall be.]
sign <0226> [This sign.]
called out .... Lord <07121 03068> [cried unto.]
made <07725> [he brought.]
steps .... stairs <04609> [dial. Heb. degrees.]
Merodach-Baladan <01255> [A.M. 3292. B.C. 712. Berodach-baladan.]
[Merodach-baladan. king.]
Babylon <0894> [Babylon.]
letters <07971 05612> [sent letters.]
heard <08085> [for he had heard.]
showed ........................... showed <07200> [shewed.]
storehouse <05238> [precious things. or, spicery.]
armory <03627> [armour. or, jewels. Heb. vessels. there was nothing.]
Isaiah .... visited ............... come ...... come <03470 0935> [came Isaiah.]
asked ....... say ........ replied <0559> [What said.]
distant land <0776 07350> [a far country.]
palace .......... palace <01004> [All the things.]
Listen <08085> [Hear.]
carried <05375> [shall be carried.]
descendants <01121> [thy sons.]
eunuchs <05631> [they shall be.]
"Fulfilled in Da. 1:3-7."
appropriate .......... peace <02896 07965> [Good.]
[It is not good, etc. or, Shall there not be peace and truth, etc. peace and truth.]
built ... pool <01295 06213> [he made a pool.]
scroll <05612> [the book.]
passed away <07901> [A.M. 3306. B.C. 698. slept.]
Manasseh <04519> [Manasseh.]
