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2 Kings 20

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Hezekiah’s Illness and Prayer 1–11

1
In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. ​
2
Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
3
I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. ​
4
And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ​
5
Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. ​
6
And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. ​
7
And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. ​
8
And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?
9
And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? ​
10
And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
11
And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz. ​

Hezekiah Shows Treasures to Babylon 12–19

12
At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ​
13
And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. ​
14
Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.
15
And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
16
And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.
17
Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. ​
18
And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. ​
19
Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days? ​

Conclusion of Hezekiah’s Reign 20–21

20
And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ​
21
And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Kings 20

Verse 1

Set thine house in order — The same wording is used of Ahithophel, who 'put his household in order' before he died (2 Sam 17:23). The sickness came in the same period as Sennacherib's invasion (2 Kings 18:13). Isaiah 38:1 repeats the verse almost word for word, and Jeremiah states the principle behind such a warning (Jer 18:7–8).

Verse 3

with a perfect heart — Shalem, whole or undivided. Hezekiah's three claims are 'in truth', 'a perfect heart' and 'that which is good'. The first matches Solomon's description of David's walk: 'he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart' (1 Kings 3:6). The verse is repeated at Isa 38:3.

Verse 4

afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court — The answer to the prayer of vv.2–3 came before the prophet had gone out into the middle court. The first word was a warning of death, and the principle that the LORD will 'repent of the evil' when a nation turns from it is stated in Jer 18:8. Here the same mercy is shown to one man.

Verse 5

the captain of my people — Nagid, the title the LORD gave Saul at his choosing (1 Sam 9:16) and David (1 Sam 13:14). Hezekiah is addressed as the ruler on whom the people depend. The LORD names himself 'the God of David thy father', and on that ground says, 'I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears'.

Verse 6

fifteen years — Hezekiah reigned twenty and nine years (2 Kings 18:2), and Sennacherib came in the fourteenth year (2 Kings 18:13), which fits the fifteen added here. The deliverance 'for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake' repeats the words of 2 Kings 19:34. 'Defend' (ganan) is to cover, as with a shield.

Verse 7

a lump of figs — A debelah is a pressed cake of figs, the food of 1 Sam 30:12, here laid on the boil. The verb for 'recovered' is chayah, the same as 'live' in verse 1: 'thou shalt die, and not live'. Isaiah 38:21 gives the same instruction. The healing is attributed to the LORD's promise in verse 5, 'I will heal thee'.

Verse 9

ten degrees — 'Degrees' (ma'alah) are steps, the word used for the steps of an altar (Ex 20:26) and for the six steps of Solomon's throne (1 Kings 10:19). Isaiah gives the choice of the shadow going forward or back. The sign is 'from the LORD', who 'will do the thing that he hath spoken', as Isa 38:7 also says.

Verse 11

the dial of Ahaz — Isaiah 38:8 calls it 'the sun dial of Ahaz': the steps by which the shadow had gone down, named for Hezekiah's father. The sun's return is also set beside Joshua's day, when 'the sun stood still' (Josh 10:13). The sign was noticed beyond Judah: Babylon's ambassadors came 'to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land' (2 Chr 32:31).

Verse 12

Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan — Isaiah 39:1 spells the name Merodachbaladan. He sent 'letters and a present' because he had heard of the sickness, and Chronicles adds that the ambassadors came to enquire about the wonder done in the land (2 Chr 32:31). The embassy is the occasion for Isaiah's word about Babylon in vv.17–18.

Verse 13

the house of his precious things — Neko'th occurs only here and in the parallel, Isa 39:2. Chronicles gives the cause: 'Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up' (2 Chr 32:25), and 'God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart' (2 Chr 32:31).

Verse 17

shall be carried into Babylon — The same words stand at Isa 39:6. The treasures were taken in the days of Jehoiachin, when 'he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD… as the LORD had said' (2 Kings 24:13). Micah, who prophesied in Hezekiah's reign (Mic 1:1), also said, 'thou shalt go even to Babylon' (Mic 4:10).

Verse 18

they shall be eunuchs — The fulfilment is seen in Daniel 1: the king of Babylon told the master of his eunuchs to bring 'of the king's seed, and of the princes', and among them were 'the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah' (Dan 1:3, 6). Saris is an officer of a royal court, which the KJV renders 'eunuchs' here.

Verse 19

Good is the word of the LORD — Hezekiah receives the word as good, and adds, 'Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?' Isa 39:8 gives it as 'For there shall be peace and truth in my days.' Chronicles records how it stood with him: 'Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart… so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah' (2 Chr 32:26).

Verse 20

a pool, and a conduit — Chronicles describes the work: Hezekiah 'stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David' (2 Chr 32:30), after the people had stopped the fountains outside so the kings of Assyria would find no water (2 Chr 32:3–4). The fuller account of his acts is also in Isaiah's vision (2 Chr 32:32).

Verse 21

Manasseh his son reigned — Chronicles records that Hezekiah was buried 'in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David' (2 Chr 32:33). Manasseh was twelve when he began (2 Kings 21:1). Reckoning from the fourteenth year of 2 Kings 18:13, Manasseh was born after the fifteen years were promised.