2 Kings 18
18
Hezekiah Becomes King of Judah
1 In the third year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea son of Elah, Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became king over Judah. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem.#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. His mother#tn Heb “the name of his mother.” was Abi,#tn The parallel passage in 2 Chr 29:1 has “Abijah.” the daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done.#tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, according to all which David his father had done.” 4 He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole.#tn The term is singular in the MT but plural in the LXX and other ancient versions. It is also possible to regard the singular as a collective singular, especially in the context of other plural items.sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4). He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time#tn Heb “until those days.” the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan.#tn In Hebrew the name sounds like the phrase נְחַשׁ הַנְּחֹשֶׁת (nÿkhash hannÿkhoshet), “bronze serpent.” 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.#tn Heb “and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, and those who were before him.” 6 He was loyal to#tn Heb “he hugged.” the Lord and did not abandon him.#tn Heb “and did not turn aside from after him.” He obeyed the commandments which the Lord had given to#tn Heb “had commanded.” Moses. 7 The Lord was with him; he succeeded in all his endeavors.#tn Heb “in all which he went out [to do], he was successful.” He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him.#tn Heb “and did not serve him.” 8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from the watchtower to the city fortress.#sn See the note at 2 Kgs 17:9.
9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah’s reign (it was the seventh year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea, son of Elah), King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched#tn Heb “went” (also in v. 13). up against Samaria#map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1. and besieged it. 10 After three years he captured it (in the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign); in the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign over Israel Samaria was captured. 11 The king of Assyria deported the people of Israel#tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” as the object of the verb. to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes. 12 This happened because they did not obey#tn Heb “listen to the voice of.” the Lord their God and broke his agreement with them.#tn Heb “his covenant.” They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded.#tn Heb “all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded, and they did not listen and they did not act.”
Sennacherib Invades Judah
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. 14 King Hezekiah of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria, who was at Lachish, “I have violated our treaty.#tn Or “I have done wrong.” If you leave, I will do whatever you demand.”#tn Heb “Return from upon me; what you place upon me, I will carry.” So the king of Assyria demanded that King Hezekiah of Judah pay three hundred talents#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. of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver in#tn Heb “that was found.” the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace. 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#tn Heb “At that time Hezekiah stripped the doors of the Lord’s temple, and the posts which Hezekiah king of Judah had plated.” and gave them to the king of Assyria.
17 The king of Assyria sent his commanding general, the chief eunuch, and the chief adviser#sn For a discussion of these titles see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 229-30. from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem,#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. along with a large army. They went up and arrived at Jerusalem. They went#tn Heb “and they went up and came.” and stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth.#tn Heb “the field of the washer.” 18 They summoned the king, so Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet them.
19 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence?#tn Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?” 20 Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk.#tn Heb “you say only a word of lips, counsel and might for battle.” Sennacherib’s message appears to be in broken Hebrew at this point. The phrase “word of lips” refers to mere or empty talk in Prov 14:23. In whom are you trusting that you would dare to rebel against me? 21 Now look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If a man leans for support on it, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him. 22 Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem.’ 23 Now make a deal#tn Heb “exchange pledges.” with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. 24 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen.#tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 23-24 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 21. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.” 25 Furthermore it was by the command of the Lord that I marched up against this place to destroy it. The Lord told me, ‘March#tn Heb “Go.” up against this land and destroy it.’”’”#sn In v. 25 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 22. He claims that Hezekiah has offended the Lord and that the Lord has commissioned Assyria as his instrument of discipline and judgment.
26 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic,#sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the empire. for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect#tn Or “Hebrew.” in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 27 But the chief adviser said to them, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you.#tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer. His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you.”#tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”sn The chief adviser alludes to the horrible reality of siege warfare, when the starving people in the besieged city would resort to eating and drinking anything to stay alive.
28 The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect,#tn The Hebrew text also has, “and he spoke and said.” “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria. 29 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you from my hand!#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. 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.” 31 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me.#tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.” Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you to a land just like your own – a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Then you will live and not die. Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, “The Lord will rescue us.” 33 Have any of the gods of the nations actually rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria?#tn Heb “Have the gods of the nations really rescued, each his land, from the hand of the king of Assyria?” The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the main verb. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not!” 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?#tn The parallel passage in Isa 36:19 omits “Hena and Ivvah.” The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.” Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria#map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1. from my power?#tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 33, 35). 35 Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’”#tn Heb “that the Lord might rescue Jerusalem from my hand?” The logic runs as follows: Since no god has ever been able to withstand the Assyrian onslaught, how can the people of Jerusalem possibly think the Lord will rescue them? 36 The people were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”
37 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn#sn As a sign of grief and mourning. and reported to him what the chief adviser had said.
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2 Kings 18
18
Hezekiah Reigns in Judah
1It happened in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. 2He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. 3He did right in the eyes of Yahweh according to all that David his ancestor#Or “father” had done. 4He removed the high places, and he smashed the stone pillars; he cut down the poles of Asherah worship and demolished the bronze serpent which Moses had made, for up to those days the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” were offering incense to it and called it Nehushtan. 5He trusted in Yahweh the God of Israel; there was no one like him, before or after, among all the kings of Judah. 6He held on to Yahweh; he did not depart from following him, and he kept his commands that Yahweh had commanded Moses. 7Yahweh was with him; everywhere he went, he succeeded. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8He attacked the Philistines up to Gaza and its territory from the watchtower up to the fortified city.
9It happened in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, that is, the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came against Samaria and laid siege against her. 10At the end of three years, he captured it in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel; Samaria was captured. 11Then the king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Habor, in the river regions of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, and they transgressed his covenant; all that he had commanded Moses, the servant of Yahweh, they did not listen to nor did they obey.
Sennacherib of Assyria Invades Judah
13In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 14So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me. What you impose on me I will bear.” So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15Then Hezekiah gave all of the silver found in the temple of Yahweh and in the storerooms of the house of the king. 16At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh and the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave them to the king of Assyria. 17So the king of Assyria sent the commander in chief, the chief eunuch, and the chief advisor#Traditionally “Rabshekah” from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a heavy army. They went up and came to Jerusalem, then they went up and came and stood at the aqueduct of the upper pool which is on the main road of the washer’s#Or “fuller’s” field. 18Then they called to the king, so Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who was over the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.
Assyrians Advise against Trust in Yahweh
19Then the chief advisor said to them, “Please say to Hezekiah: ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What is this confidence that you trust? 20You think only a word of lips, ‘I have advice and power for the war.’ Now, on whom do you trust that you have rebelled against me? 21Now, look! You rely#Literally “trust for yourself” on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which when a man leans on it, it goes into his hand and pierces it! So is Pharaoh the king of Egypt for all who are trusting on him! 22But if you say to me, ‘On Yahweh our God we trust,’ is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, and he had said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘In the presence of this altar you shall bow down only in Jerusalem?’ 23So then, please make a wager with my lord, with the king of Assyria, and I will give to you a thousand horses if you are able on your part to put riders on them.#Literally “if you are able to give for yourself riders upon them” 24How can you repulse a single captain among the least of the servants of my master#Literally “can you return the face of the governor one of the servants of my master”? Yet you rely for yourself on Egypt for chariots and horsemen! 25Have I now come up against this place without Yahweh to destroy it? Yahweh has said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it!’ ” ’ ”
26Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to the chief commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we are understanding, but you must not speak Judean with us in the ears of the people who are on the wall.” 27The chief commander said to them, “Is it solely to your master and to you my master has sent me to speak these words? Is it not for the men who sit on the wall to eat their feces and to drink their urine with you?”
28Then the chief commander stood and called with a great voice in Judean, and he spoke and said, “Hear the word of the king, the great king of Assyria! 29Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you from my#Hebrew “his” hand. 30Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying, “Certainly Yahweh will rescue us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria!” ’ 31Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria, ‘Make with me a treaty of peace and come out to me that each may eat from his vine and each from his fig tree, and each may drink water from his cistern! 32Until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees, olive oil, and honey, that you may live and not die! You must not listen to Hezekiah, for he has misled you by saying, “Yahweh will deliver us!” 33Did the gods of each of the nations ever rescue the land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? For did they rescue Samaria from my hand? 35Who among all of the gods of the countries have rescued their countries from my hand that Yahweh should rescue Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”
36The people were silent, and they did not answer him a word, for the command of that king was saying, “You shall not answer him.” 37Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who was over the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah with torn clothes, and they told him the words of the chief commander.
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