2 Kings 18:13-16

Sennacherib Invades Judah

18:13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 18:14 King Hezekiah of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria, who was at Lachish, “I have violated our treaty. ¹  If you leave, I will do whatever you demand.” ²  So the king of Assyria demanded that King Hezekiah of Judah pay three hundred talents ³  of silver and thirty talents of gold. 18:15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver in ⁴  the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace. 18:16 At that time King Hezekiah of Judah stripped the metal overlays from the doors of the Lord’s temple and from the posts which he had plated ⁵  and gave them to the king of Assyria.

[18:14]  ¹ tn Or “I have done wrong.”

[18:14]  ² tn Heb “Return from upon me; what you place upon me, I will carry.”

[18:14]  ³ tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 22,500 pounds of silver and 2,250 pounds of gold.

[18:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “that was found.”

[18:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “At that time Hezekiah stripped the doors of the Lord’s temple, and the posts which Hezekiah king of Judah had plated.”