2 Kings 20:12-19

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Kings 20:19

Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. Hezekiah accepts the rebuke, thereby acknowledging himself to have been in the wrong, and submits without remonstrance to his punishment. "Good is the word of the Lord"—who "in his wrath has thought upon mercy." The king feels that God might, in justice, have visited him, in his own person, with some immediate affliction or calamity. It is a relief to hear that the blow will not fall during his lifetime.... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Kings 20:12

Berodach-baladan - The correct form of this name, Merodach-baladan, is given in Isaiah Isaiah 39:1. It is a name composed of three elements, Merodach, the well-known Babylonian god Jeremiah 50:2, but (pal) “a son;” and iddin, or iddina, “has given;” or Baladan may be a form of Beliddin. This king of Babylon is mentioned frequently in the Assyrian inscriptions, and he was not unknown to the Greeks. He had two reigns in Babylon. First of all, he seized the throne in the same year in which Sargon... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Kings 20:13

Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them - The Jewish king lent a favorable ear to the proposals of the ambassadors, and exhibited to them the resources which he possessed, in order to induce them to report well of him to their master.All the house of his precious things - literally, the “spice-house;” the phrase had acquired the more generic sense of “treasure-house” from the fact that the gold, the silver, and the spices were all stored together. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Kings 20:14

Hezekiah did not answer Isaiah’s first question, “What said these men?” but only his second. Probably he knew that Isaiah would oppose reliance on an “arm of flesh.”Babylon now for the first time became revealed to the Jews as an actual power in the world, which might effect them politically. As yet even the prophets had spoken but little of the great southern city; up to this time she had been little more to them than Tyre, or Tarshish, or any other rich and powerful idolatrous city.... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Kings 20:18

This prophecy had two fulfillments, each complementary to the other. Manasseh, Hezekiah’s actual son, was “carried to Babylon” 2 Chronicles 33:11, but did not become a eunuch in the palace. Daniel and others, not his actual sons, but of the royal seed Daniel 1:3, and therefore Hezekiah’s descendants, are thought by some to have literally fulfilled the latter part of the prophecy, being eunuchs in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Kings 20:19

Good is the word ... - The language is, according to some, that of a true spirit of resignation and humility; according to others, that of a feeling of relief and satisfaction that the evil was not to come in his day. Such a feeling would be but natural, and though not according to the standard of Christian perfectness, would imply no very great defect of character in one who lived under the old Dispensation.Peace and truth - Rather, “peace and continuance.” The evils threatened were war and... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Kings 20:12

2 Kings 20:12. Berodach-baladan He seems to have been the king of Assyria’s viceroy in Babylon; and, upon the terrible slaughter in the Assyrian host, and the death of Sennacherib, and the differences among his sons, to have usurped absolute sovereignty over Babylon: and either himself or his son destroyed the Assyrian monarchy, and translated the empire to Babylon. Sent letters and a present to Hezekiah Congratulating him on his happy restoration to health, and assuring him of his esteem... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Kings 20:13

2 Kings 20:13. Hezekiah hearkened unto them, &c. He was so pleased, or rather, transported with joy, at the honour the king of Babylon had done him, that he not only gave his ambassadors a gracious audience, and granted them a league and amity, but ordered his officers to show them all the rarities and precious things which he had in his treasures, with his spices, costly ointments, and the house of his armour For though his country had been lamentably harassed and plundered by the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Kings 20:14-15

2 Kings 20:14-15. Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country A vain-glorious expression, intimating the great honour which he had from all parts, far and near. Even from Babylon That potent monarchy; which he mentions to magnify his own honour and happiness. What have they seen in thy house? He asks, not because he was ignorant of it, but in order that, from Hezekiah’s answer, he might take occasion of delivering God’s message to him. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Kings 20:16

2 Kings 20:16. Isaiah said, Hear the word of the Lord Hear what his judgment is of this, and how wide his thoughts are from thy thoughts! Thou wast transported when the messengers of the king of Babylon arrived; to thy eye it appeared the most favourable conjuncture that could have happened to thee; thou madest a parade of all thy riches, and of thy armoury, to induce them to enter into an alliance with thee against the king of Assyria. Thou thoughtest if thou couldest secure their... read more

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