2 Kings20
New American Standard
1In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’”
2Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying,
3“Please, Lord, just remember how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight!” And Hezekiah wept profusely.
4And even before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
5“Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I am going to heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.
6And I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’”
7Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took it and placed it on the inflamed spot, and he recovered.
8Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?”
9Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will perform the word that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?”
10So Hezekiah said, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but have the shadow turn backward ten steps.”
11Then Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
12At that time Berodach-baladan, a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the balsam oil, the scented oil, the house of his armor, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
14Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.”
15Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”
16Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord:
17‘Behold, the days are coming when everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.
18‘And some of your sons who will come from you, whom you will father, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
19Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Is it not good, if there will be peace and security in my days?”
20Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he constructed the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
21So Hezekiah lay down with his fathers, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 2 Kings 20.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Hezekiah's sickness, His recovery in answer to prayer. (1–11). Hezekiah shows his treasures to the ambassadors from Babylon, His death. (12–21).
vv1-11
Hezekiah was sick unto death, in the same year in which the king of Assyria besieged Jerusalem. A warning to prepare for death was brought to Hezekiah by Isaiah. Prayer is one of the best preparations for death, because by it we fetch in strength and grace from God, to enable us to finish well. He wept sorely: some gather from hence that he was unwilling to die; it is in the nature of man to dread the separation of soul and body. There was also something peculiar in Hezekiah's case; he was now in the midst of his usefulness. Let Hezekiah's prayer, see Isa 38. interpret his tears; in that is nothing which is like his having been under that fear of death, which has bondage or torment. Hezekiah's piety made his sick-bed easy. “O Lord, remember now;” he does not speak as if God needed to be put in mind of any thing by us; nor, as if the reward might be demanded as due; it is Christ's righteousness only that is the purchase of mercy and grace. Hezekiah does not pray, Lord, spare me; but, Lord, remember me; whether I live or die, let me be thine. God always hears the prayers of the broken in heart, and will give health, length of days, and temporal deliverances, as much and as long as is truly good for them. Means were to be used for Hezekiah's recovery; yet, considering to what a height the disease was come, and how suddenly it was checked, the cure was miraculous. It is our duty, when sick, to use such means as are proper to help nature, else we do not trust God, but tempt him. For the confirmation of his faith, the shadow of the sun was carried back, and the light was continued longer than usual, in a miraculous manner. This work of wonder shows the power of God in heaven as well as on earth, the great notice he takes of prayer, and the great favour he bears to his chosen.
vv12-21
The king of Babylon was at this time independent of the king of Assyria, though shortly after subdued by him. Hezekiah showed his treasures and armour, and other proofs of his wealth and power. This was the effect of pride and ostentation, and departing from simple reliance on God. He also seems to have missed the opportunity of speaking to the Chaldeans, about Him who had wrought the miracles which excited their attention, and of pointing out to them the absurdity and evil of idolatry. What is more common than to show our friends our houses and possessions? But if we do this in the pride of ours hearts, to gain applause from men, not giving praise to God, it becomes sin in us, as it did in Hezekiah. We may expect vexation from every object with which we are unduly pleased. Isaiah, who had often been Hezekiah's comforter, is now is reprover. The blessed Spirit is both, Joh 16:7, 8. Ministers must be both, as there is occasion. Hezekiah allowed the justice of the sentence, and God's goodness in the respite. Yet the prospect respecting his family and nation must have given him many painful feelings. Hezekiah was indeed humbled for the pride of his heart. And blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.
Key Words
הֵם: they (only used when emphatic)
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
חִזְקִיָּה: Chizkijah, a king of Judah, also the name of two other Israelites
חָלָה: properly, to be rubbed or worn; hence (figuratively) to be weak, sick, afflicted; or (causatively) to grieve, make sick; also to stroke (in flattering), entreat
מוּת: to die (literally or figuratively); causatively, to kill
יְשַׁעְיָה: Jeshajah, the name of seven Israelites
נָבִיא: a prophet or (generally) inspired man
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָמוֹץ: Amots, an Israelite
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
Cross References
2 Kings 20The parallel account of Hezekiah's sickness and recovery, containing his personal thanksgiving song.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The exact parallel prophetic account of the Babylonian embassy and Isaiah's subsequent rebuke.
Supported by JFB
Chronicles parallel summarizing Hezekiah's sickness, the miracle of recovery, and his heart's pride.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Explains God left Hezekiah to test him during the visit of the Babylonian ambassadors.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The conditional promise to David's line that Hezekiah pleads before God in prayer.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Verbatim promise of God defending Jerusalem for His own sake and for David's sake.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Provides details on Hezekiah's engineering feat of routing the upper watercourse of Gihon.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The major Old Testament parallel where God alters the sun's natural course for His servants.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Fulfillment where Nebuchadnezzar carries all the treasures of Jerusalem's temple to Babylon.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Fulfillment of the prophecy that Hezekiah's descendants would be eunuchs in Babylon's palace.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Illustrates that conditionally expressed prophetic warnings can be averted through repentance and prayer.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Shows Manasseh was born three years after this extension, during Hezekiah's fifteen added years.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The parallel detail from Isaiah specifying the application of a lump of figs to the boil.
Supported by JFB
Eli's similar submissive response to divine judgment: 'It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.'
Supported by Matthew Henry