In these days was Hezekiah sick unto death ,.... Of this sickness of Hezekiah, the message of the prophet Isaiah to him, and his prayer upon it; see Gill on Isaiah 38:1 ; see Gill on Isaiah 38:2 ; see Gill on Isaiah 38:3 . read more
And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court ,.... Of the king's palace, which is called the other court within the porch, 1 Kings 7:8 so it is according to the marginal reading, which we follow; but the textual reading is, "the middle city"; Jerusalem was divided into three parts, and this was the middle part Isaiah was entering into: but before he did, so it was: that the word of the Lord came to him, saying ; as follows. read more
Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people ,.... The king of them, as the Targum: thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears ; See Gill on Isaiah 38:5 . behold, I will heal thee ; instantly, miraculously; and none but God could heal him, his disease being in its kind mortal, and he had been told from the Lord that he should die: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord : the temple, to give thanks... read more
And I will add unto thy days fifteen years ,.... See Gill on Isaiah 38:5 . and I will deliver thee, and this city, out of the hand of the king of Assyria ; by which it appears that this sickness and recovery were before the destruction of the Assyrian army: and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake : for the sake of his honour and glory in the temple, and the service of it, that were in Jerusalem, and for the sake of his promise to David and his... read more
And Isaiah said, take a lump of figs ,.... Not moist figs, but a cake of dried figs, as the word used signifies, and so the less likely to have any effect in curing the boil: and they took, and laid it on the boil, and he recovered ; made a plaster of it, and laid it on the ulcer, and it was healed. Physicians observe F21 Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 620. Vid. Levin. Lemnii Herb. Bibl. Explicat. c. 19. p. 60. , that as such like inflammations consist in a painful extension... read more
Set thine house in order - It appears from the text that he was smitten with such a disorder as must terminate in death, without the miraculous interposition of God: and he is now commanded to set his house in order, or to give charge concerning his house; to dispose of his affairs, or in other words, to make his will; because his death was at hand. "This sickness," says Jarchi, "took place three days before the defeat of Sennacherib." That it must have been before this defeat, is... read more
I beseech thee , O Lord - Hezekiah knew that, although the words of Isaiah were delivered to him in an absolute form, yet they were to be conditionally understood, else he could not have prayed to God to reverse a purpose which he knew to be irrevocable. Even this passage is a key to many prophecies and Divine declarations: see Isaiah 18:1-7 ; of Jeremiah. Hezekiah pleads his uprightness and holy conduct in his own behalf. Was it impious to do so? No; but it certainly did not... read more
Into the middle court - הצר hatstser , the court. This is the reading of the Masoretic Keri: העיר haair , "of the city," is the reading of the text, and of most MSS.; but the versions follow the Keri. read more
I will add unto thy days fifteen years - This is the first and only man who was ever informed of the term of his life. And was this a privilege! Surely no. If Hezekiah was attached to life, as he appears to have been, how must his mind be affected to mark the sinking years! He knew he was to die at the end of fifteen years; and how must he feel at the end of every year, when he saw that so much was cut off from life? He must necessarily feel a thousand deaths in fearing one. I... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Kings 20:1-11
The historian, having shown us blaspheming Sennacherib destroyed in the midst of the prospects of life, here shows us praying Hezekiah delivered in the midst of the prospects of death?the days of the former shortened, of the latter prolonged. I. Here is Hezekiah's sickness. In those days, that is, in the same year in which the king of Assyria besieged Jerusalem; for he reigning reigned? in all twenty-nine years, and surviving this fifteen years, this must be in his fourteenth year, and so was... read more