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2 KINGS 20

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. It is very important, when studying this section of 2 Kings, to read the parallel in 2 Chronicles 32:24-26 and Isaiah 38.
   
   
2. 2 Kings 20 is out of chronological order. Hezekiah's sickness and recovery occurred before Sennacherib's invasion of 701 B.C. (Thiele), possibly in 714-712 B.C. It predates 2 Kings 18 and 19 except for vv. 20-21.

   SPECIAL TOPIC: OT HISTORICAL NARRATIVE

   SPECIAL TOPIC: OT HISTORIOGRAPHY COMPARED WITH NEAR EASTERN CULTURES

3. This chapter involves two events apparently linked by YHWH's astral miracle.
   1. Hezekiah's illness and healing, vv. 1-11
   2. the visit of emissaries from Babylon (at this time a vassal of Assyria), vv. 12-19.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 20:1-7
  ¹In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, 'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'" ²Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³"Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. ⁴Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁵"Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. ⁶I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David's sake."'" ⁷Then Isaiah said, "Take a cake of figs." And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

20:1 "Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz" It is rather unusual to name the father of such a well known prophet. This seems to imply that the book of Isaiah may be the source of this account.

SPECIAL TOPIC: PROPHECY (OT)

▣ "Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live" Our lives are not controlled by chance, fate, or circumstance. We are in the hands of God (cf. Matt. 6:26,27; 10:29-31)!

20:2 "he turned his face to the wall" Probably there were many people in the royal bedroom where Hezekiah lay sick. He did not want them to hear or see this intimate time with YHWH. Also note 1 Kgs. 21:4.

20:3 "Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You" This seems to imply that He was urging YHWH to answer his prayer based on his faithfulness (i.e., Neh. 5:19; 13:14,31). Yet in the context it is obvious that he is speaking to YHWH out of faith, not merit (i.e., Neh. 13:22).

The MT has the FEMININE NOUN (BDB 54), which is such an important OT concept. See NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 429 and the important Special Topics below.

SPECIAL TOPIC: BELIEVE, TRUST, FAITH, AND FAITHFULNESS IN THE OT

SPECIAL TOPIC: FAITH, BELIEVE, OR TRUST

▣ "with a whole heart" This is an idiom for complete faith, obedience, and devotion. It was first used in various phrases in Deuteronomy (cf. Deut. 4:29; 6:5; 7:9; 10:12; 11:1,13,22; 19:9; 26:16; 30:2,6,10, 16,20). It then was used in the historical books for occasions and actions of certain people.

1. Solomon ‒ 1 Kgs. 8:23
2. Josiah ‒ 2 Kgs. 23:3
3. soldiers of David ‒ 1 Chr. 12:38
4. David counsels Solomon ‒ 1 Chr. 28:9
5. the people as they brought an offering for David's plans for the temple ‒ 1 Chr. 29:9
6. YHWH's obedient servants ‒ 2 Chr. 6:14
7. used of those who repent ‒ 2 Chr. 6:38

▣ "Hezekiah wept bitterly" He did not want to die because there was yet no male heir. In a sense, YHWH's healing was part of His promise to David in 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17.

Josephus, Antiq. 10.2.1, gives several reasons why he wept.

1. severe distemper
2. he was childless (i.e., no male heir)

20:4 "the word of the Lord came to him, saying" This was a very specific message from YHWH, given at a specific time. We do not understand how God regularly communicated with His prophets, but it is obvious this was audible and instantaneous.

The MT has "city" (BDB 746), but the Masoretic scholars suggested "courtyard."

1. city ‒ העיר
2. courtyard ‒ חצר

There was no "middle court" related to the palace and no part of Jerusalem was called "the middle city" (AB, p. 254).

The MT has the NOUN (KB 667; NIDOTTE, vol. 3, pp. 20-21) which denotes a leader of Israel appointed by YHWH (KB 668, #4).

1. Saul ‒ 1 Sam. 9:16; 10:1
2. David ‒ 1 Sam. 13:14; 16:6; 25:30; 2 Sam. 5:2; 6:21; 7:8; 1 Chr. 5:2; 11:2; 17:7; 28:4; 2 Chr. 6:5; Isa 55:4
3. Solomon ‒ 1 Kgs. 1:35; 1 Chr. 29:22
4. Jeroboam ‒ 1 Kgs. 14:7
5. Jehu ‒ 1 Kgs. 16:2
6. Hezekiah ‒ 2 Kgs. 20:5

This was a way to link Hezekiah to David (cf. 2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17) or to the book of Isaiah.

▣ "I have heard your prayer" Notice the number of "I's" in vv. 5-6. YHWH is the God who hears and acts, not like the idols of the nations.

▣ "I have seen your tears" The exact reason for the tears is not stated. But probably it is related to repentance. Notice Hezekiah's prayer effected God's pronouncement.

SPECIAL TOPIC: REPENTANCE (OT)

SPECIAL TOPIC: INTERCESSORY PRAYER

▣ "I will heal you" This healing would allow time for an heir, but oh my, what a terrible heir (i.e., Manasseh)!

SPECIAL TOPIC: HEALING

▣ "On the third day" This is an idiom for a brief period of time. It implies that it took an amount of time for the cure to take full effect and for Hezekiah to feel well enough to go to the temple.

20:6 "king of Assyria" This could refer to

1. Sargon II who invaded Palestine three times: 700 B.C.; 713 B.C.; 711 B.C.
2. Sennacherib from chapters 18-29

▣ "I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David's sake" God is in control both of individual destinies and national destinies. He acts on His people's behalf, first of all for Himself and His own honor and glory (cf. Ezek. 36:22-36) and secondly because of the faithfulness of those who love Him (i.e., David). See full note at 19:34.

▣ "for My own sake and for My servant David's sake" This refers to YHWH's promise to David in 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17.

SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN

SPECIAL TOPIC: MY SERVANT

20:7 "Take a cake of figs. . .laid it on the boil" This was a normal type of medical procedure for boils and carbuncles (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, p. 81) in Isaiah's day (i.e., Ugaritic texts and Pliny, Natural History, 22.7). God was using a means the king was familiar with to stimulate the king's faith but the cure was a supernatural divine act. This is similar to Jesus' use of saliva in the NT.

This NOUN (BDB 1006, KB 1462-3) has several possible root meanings.

1. שחן ‒ means to "be hot"
2. שחף ‒ means "to flow," "creep," or "ooze"

It is some type of skin issue.

▣ "and he recovered" This phrase makes unnecessary "the sign" of vv. 8-11. There seem to be two historical accounts combined. AB, pp. 256-257, suggests that Isaiah reworked an earlier account, like 2 Kings. We must acknowledge the time, person, and method of the production of the OT is unknown to moderns!

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 20:8-11
  ⁸Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?" ⁹Isaiah said, "This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?" ¹⁰So Hezekiah answered, "It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps." ¹¹Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord, and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

20:8 "What will be the sign" Probably Hezekiah's understanding of God's word being non-revokable, caused him to doubt whether the new message could become reality. Therefore, he asks for a special sign (BDB 16) from God that Isaiah's words in v. 1 would not come true.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SIGN

20:9 Verse 9 is a question to Hezekiah. Does he want the shadow to move forward or backward? To get this the Hebrew text must be slightly emended. See the parallel in Isa. 39:8. Isaiah 39:9-20 records a beautiful poem that Hezekiah wrote about his illness and YHWH healing him.

20:10 As in the plagues of the exodus, YHWH used natural events with supernatural

1. intensity
2. timing
3. locality

here, the reversal of a natural event (i.e., a shadow). Also note Joshua 10:12-13.

20:11 This shows that God is in control of heavenly bodies. This was very important to the people of the ancient world who believed the stars guided their destinies. Exactly how YHWH performed this miracle is unknown and really is not significant. God acted in response to Hezekiah's prayer and His larger purposes for Israel.

SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN

SPECIAL TOPIC: Lord OF HOSTS

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 20:12-15
  ¹²At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. ¹⁴Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?" And Hezekiah said, "They have come from a far country, from Babylon." ¹⁵He said, "What have they seen in your house?" So Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them."

20:12 "At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon" Hezekiah was very impressed by this deputation from Babylon (cf. Isaiah 39).

▣ "Berodach-baladan" Berodach can be spelled "Merodach (BDB 597, cf. Isa. 39:1), which is a Babylonian deity. The normal spelling of this Babylonian deity is Marduk (BDB 597). This Babylonian leader ruled Babylon twice during the Assyrian period of domination from 721 to 710 B.C. He was a rebellious leader in the vassal state of Babylon. He was deposed but 12 years later regained control for 6 months in 703 B.C. Josephus says that this letter from him to Hezekiah was for the purpose of a military alliance against Assyria (cf. Josephus, Antiq. 10.2.2).

▣ "Baladan" He (BDB 114) is known in the Assyrian record as "Yakin" because this Babylonian rebel was from the tribe of "Bit-Yakin."

▣ "for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick" From 1 Chronicles 32:31 we learn he also heard of the miraculous movement of the sun and probably sent representatives to study this unusual astral phenomenon. Babylon is the source of astronomy and astrology in the ANE.

The MT has "and he hears," which the UBS Text Project, p. 373, gives a "C" rating (considerable doubt). The parallel in Isa. 39:2 has "was pleased by their coming."

1. MT ‒ וישמע ‒ heard
2. LXX ‒ וישמח ‒ rejoiced, which follows Isa. 39:2

Hezekiah was prone toward trusting in foreign alliances and not in YHWH (cf. 2 Kgs. 18:21-24; Isa. 20:6; 30:2-7; 36:6).

▣ "showed them all his treasure house" See the comment in 2 Chr. 32:27-29 about Hezekiah's God-given wealth (obviously before the payment to Sennacherib in 701 B.C.).

This compound term (BDB 649, "treasure" plus "house," BDB 108) occurs only here (NIDOTTE, vol. 3, pp. 109-110).

The term "armory" (BDB 649, #2) also occurs only here and the parallel in Isa. 39:2. It may refer to Solomon's "House of Lebanon." See full note at 1 Kgs. 10:16-17 online).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 20:16-19
  ¹⁶Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the Lord. ¹⁷'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the Lord. ¹⁸'Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'" ¹⁹Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good." For he thought, "Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?"

20:17 "will be carried to Babylon" This is a precise prediction that Judah's main problem would not lie with Assyria but with Babylon! This would happen 100+ years later.

20:18 "Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away" This refers to Manasseh (2 Chr. 33:11), Jehoiachin (2 Kgs. 24:15), and Zedekiah (2 Kgs. 25:7).

▣ "will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon" This happened to Daniel and his three friends under Nebuchadnezzar (cf. Daniel 1).

SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF NEO-BABYLON

20:19 This reflects a statement of self-interest (cf. Isa. 39:8), but in context, it is an affirmation by Hezekiah that YHWH is Holy and that His word of judgment is appropriate.

▣ "peace" This is the term shalom (BDB 1022, KB 1532) which denotes the presence of good and not evil. The terms "peace," "truth," and "justice" often occur together (cf. 2 Kgs. 8:16-19).

SPECIAL TOPIC: PEACE (OT)

▣ "truth" This is the term emeth (BDB 54, KB 68). It denotes faithfulness.

SPECIAL TOPIC: BELIEVE, TRUST, FAITH, AND FAITHFULNESS IN THE OT, II. B.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 20:20-21
  ²⁰Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²¹So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son became king in his place.

20:20 "he made the pool and the conduit" This refers to the Siloam tunnel (cf. 2 Chr. 32:30). It was a tunnel dug through 1700 feet of solid rock, with workmen starting at two ends and meeting in the middle. An inscription in the tunnel, found in 1880, described its construction. It was a major architectural feat which assured water for Jerusalem even during a siege.

▣ Josephus, Antiq. 10:3.1, says Hezekiah

1. lived 54 years
2. reigned 29 years

20:21 "Manasseh" This was the most evil king that Judah ever had. He was born during the extra 15 years that YHWH gave Hezekiah to live. Through his idolatry YHWH brought the deserved judgment on Judah. Manesseh himself turned back to faith in YHWH on his deathbed!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

1. Why did Hezekiah not want to die at this time?
2. How did the prophets receive the message from God?
3. Why does God use natural means to perform miracles?
4. Is verse 18 a predictive prophecy about Nebuchadnezzar?

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