For he clave to the Lord ,.... To his worship and service; to the fear of the Lord, as the Targum: and departed not from following him ; from his worship, as the same paraphrase: but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses ; both moral, ceremonial, and judicial. read more
THE EARLY YEARS Or HEZEKIAH . From his narrative of the destruction of the kingdom of Samaria, the writer turns, with evident relief, to the accession of the good king Hezekiah in Judah, and to a brief account of The narrative is still exceedingly brief, and has to be filled out from the Second Book of Chronicles, where the religious reformation of Hezekiah is treated with great fullness (2 Kings 29-31.). read more
The secret of a successful fife; or, trust in God, and its results. What a refreshing contrast to some of the lives we have been considering, is this description of the life of Hezekiah! How pleasant it is to read of such a life as his, after we have read of so many kings of Judah and Israel, that "they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin"! It is a pleasant contrast even to the life of Hezekiah's own father Ahaz. It... read more
Hezekiah the good . It is with a sense of relief that we emerge from the dark and oppressive atmosphere of the time of Ahaz into the "clear shining" ( 2 Samuel 23:4 ) of a reign like that of Hezekiah. Once more Divine mercy gave Judah a king in whom the best traditions of the theocracy were revived. I. RIGHT CONDUCT . 1. An evil upbringing belied . As if to set laws of heredity at defiance, the worst King of Judah hitherto is succeeded by one of the best—the best after... read more
A striking reformation, a ruthless despotism, and an unprincipled diplomacy. "How it came to pass," etc. Amongst the incidents recorded and the characters mentioned in this chapter, there stand out in great prominence three subjects for practical contemplation: The many strange and somewhat revolting historic events that make up the bulk of this chapter will come out in the discussion of these three subjects. I. A STRIKING REFORMATION . Hezekiah, who was now King of Judah, and... read more
God's service not really a hard service. God's service is not the hard service that some suppose it to be. No doubt it involves a certain amount of pain and suffering. For, first, there is no true service of God without self-denial; and self-denial is painful. Secondly, it involves chastening at the hand of God; for "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" ( Hebrews 12:6 ); and chastening is "not joyous, but grievous' ( Hebrews 12:11 ). But there... read more
For he clave to the Lord —rather, and he clave to the Lord ; i.e. he persevered through the whole of his life; he did not fall into sins at the last, like Asa and Azariah (see 2 Chronicles 16:7-12 ; 2 Chronicles 26:1-23 .' 16-21)— and departed not from following him. The writer probably considers "the princes of Judah" answerable for the embassy to Egypt mentioned in Isaiah 30:4 , and excuses Hezekiah's ostentatious display of his treasures to the ambassadors of Merodach-Baladan... read more
Other good kings, as Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Joash, and Amaziah, had fallen away in their later years. Hezekiah remained firm to the last. The phrase “cleaving to God” is frequent in Deuteronomy, but rare elsewhere. read more
2 Kings 18:5-6 . He trusted in the Lord God of Israel In abolishing idolatry, there was danger, as has been intimated, of disobliging his subjects, and provoking them to rebel; but he trusted in the Lord to bear him out, and defend him in what he did. When he came to the crown, he found his kingdom encompassed with enemies; but he did not apply to foreign and heathenish powers for aid or succour, as his father Ahaz had done, but trusted in the God of Israel to be the keeper of Israel, and... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 18:1-8
We have here a general account of the reign of Hezekiah. It appears, by comparing his age with his father?s, that he was born when his father was about eleven or twelve years old, divine Providence so ordering that he might be of full age, and fit for business, when the measure of his father's iniquity should be full. Here is, I. His great piety, which was the more wonderful because his father was very wicked and vile, one of the worst of the kings, yet he was one of the best, which may... read more