King James Version
2 Chronicles 32
33 verses with commentary
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself. to win: Heb. to break them up
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1-23) Invasion and Divine overthrow of Sennacherib. ( Comp. 2Kings 18:13 to 2Kings 19:37. ) The Assyrian monarch’s own record of the campaign may be read on his great hexagonal prism of terra-cotta, preserved in the British Museum, containing an inscription in 487 lines of cuneiform writing, which is lithographed in the *Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia,* III. 38, 39, and printed in G. Smit...
Read full commentary →And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, he was: Heb. his face was to war
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper, while those who ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
**PREPARATIONS FOR THE DEFENCE** (2Chronicles 32:2-8).
This section is peculiar to the Chronicles. Its contents are “perfectly credible” (*Thenius*)*,* and are borne out by Isaiah 22:8-11, and 2Kings 20:20, and by the inscription of Sennacherib.
(2) **And that he was purposed to fight.**—Literally, *and his face was for the war.* (Comp. 2Chronicles 20:3; Luke 9:53.)
**To stop.**—*To close in* with...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. he took away ... the high places--**that is, those devoted to idolatrous rites.
**took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images--**All public objects and relics of idolatry in Jerusalem and other cities through his kingdom were destroyed; but those high places where God was worshipped under the figure of an ox, as at Beth-el, were allowed to remain (1Ki 15:14); so ...
Read full commentary →He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. he built fenced cities in Judah--**(See on 1Ki 15:22).
So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water? ran: Heb. overflowed
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological pe...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **The fountains.**—*Ma‘yānôth.* 2Chronicles 32:3 has “springs” (*‘ayānôth*)*.*
**The brook.**—*Nàchal.* “The *wâdy.”* The Gihon is meant, a watercourse in the Valley of Hinnom, supplied with water by the springs which Hezekiah closed in and diverted. See Note on 2Chronicles 32:30, and 2Kings 20:20; comp. Ecclesiasticus 48:17, “Hezekiah fortified his city, and brought into their midst the Gog” ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. while the land is yet before us--**that is, while we have free and undisputed progress everywhere; no foe is near; but, as this happy time of peace may not last always and the kingdom is but small and weak, let us prepare suitable defenses in case of need. He had also an army of five hundred eighty thousand men. Judah furnished the heavily armed soldiers, and Benjamin the archers. This large ...
Read full commentary →Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance. darts: or, swords, or, weapons
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Also he strengthened himself.**—*And h***e** *took courage.* (2Chronicles 15:8; 2Chronicles 18:1.)
**Built up all the wall that was broken.**—Isaiah 22:9-10, where “many breaches” are spoken of, and it is said that “houses were pulled down to fortify the wall.”
**Raised it up to the towers.**—Heb., *and went up on the towers,* or, *and caused to go up on the towers.* A different division of ...
Read full commentary →And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying, spake: Heb. he spoke to their heart
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying,</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine re...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Captains of war.**—Literally, *captains of battles:* a phrase found here only.
**In the street.**—*Into the open space.* In like manner, “the open space that was before the water gate” is mentioned in Nehemiah 8:1; Nehemiah 8:16.
**The gate.**—Which gate we are not told; but the
LXX. reads, τὴν πλατεῖαν τῆς πύλης τῆς φάραγγος*,* “the broad place of the gate of the ravine.”
**Spake comfortabl...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian--**This could not have been from Ethiopia south of the cataracts of the Nile, for in the reign of Osorkon I, successor of Shishak, no foreign army would have been allowed a free passage through Egypt. Zerah must, therefore, have been chief of the Cushites, or Ethiopians of Arabia, as they were evidently a nomad horde who had a settlement of tent...
Read full commentary →Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Facing Assyrian invasion, Hezekiah exhorts Judah: 'Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him.' This echoes Jehoshaphat (20:15) and anticipates Elisha's prayer (2 Kings 6:16). The paradox - Assyria's visible army vastly outnumbered Judah, yet 'more with us' - reveals faith seeing ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Be not afraid . . . the multitude.**—Comp. 2Chronicles 20:15, “Be not afraid nor dismayed for this great multitude.” “Be strong and courageous, be not afraid” occurs in Deuteronomy 31:6 (Heb.).
**For there be more with us than with him.**—A reminiscence of 2Kings 6:16, “Be not thou afraid; for more are they that are with us than they that are with them.” It is not necessary to suppose that t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array ... at Mareshah--**one of the towns which Rehoboam fortified (2Ch 11:8), near a great southern pass in the low country of Judah (Jos 15:44). The engagement between the armies took place in a plain near the town, called "the valley of Zephathah," supposed to be the broad way coming down Beit Jibrin towards Tell Es-Safren [Robinso...
Read full commentary →With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. rested: Heb. leaned
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Hezekiah's exhortation to Judah explains why they need not fear Assyria: 'With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Ahaz king of Judah.' The contrast - 'arm of flesh' (zero'a basar) versus 'LORD our God' - distinguishes between mere human power and divine omnipotence. Sennacherib had only cr...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **With him is an arm of flesh.**—A reminiscence of Jeremiah 17:5, “the man that maketh flesh his arm.” (Comp. Isaiah 31:3 : “Their horses are flesh and not spirit.”) His power is human, ours superhuman.
**To fight our battles.**—1Samuel 8:20, “a king . . . to fight our battles.”
**Rested themselves upon.**—*Leaned on*—*e.g.,* a staff, Isaiah 36:6; and so *trusted in,* Isaiah 48:2.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-13. Asa cried unto the Lord his God--**Strong in the confidence that the power of God was able to give the victory equally with few as with many, the pious king marched with a comparatively small force to encounter the formidable host of marauders at his southern frontier. Committing his cause to God, he engaged in the conflict--completely routed the enemy, and succeeded in obtaining, as the ...
Read full commentary →After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying, power: Heb. dominion
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing....
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9-21) A brief summary of what is related in 2Ki 18:17 to 2Ki 19:37.
(9) **After this did Sennacherib . . . send.**—See 2Kings 18:17.
**But he himself . . . Lachish.**—The verb *nilkham, “*fought,” has perhaps fallen out. The great inscription of Sennacherib says nothing about the siege of Lachish; but a bas-relief, now in the British Museum, represents him seated on his throne receiving a file of...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-13. Asa cried unto the Lord his God--**Strong in the confidence that the power of God was able to give the victory equally with few as with many, the pious king marched with a comparatively small force to encounter the formidable host of marauders at his southern frontier. Committing his cause to God, he engaged in the conflict--completely routed the enemy, and succeeded in obtaining, as the ...
Read full commentary →Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem? siege: or, strong hold
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper, while those who ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Whereon . . . the siege.**—Rather, *Whereon are ye trusting, and why are ye sitting in distress in Jerusalem?* The phrase *sitting* or *abiding in distress* occurs in Jeremiah 10:17. (Comp. also Deuteronomy 28:53.)
2Chronicles 32:10-15 reproduce in brief the leading ideas of 2Kings 18:19-25; 2Kings 18:28-35.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11-13. Asa cried unto the Lord his God--**Strong in the confidence that the power of God was able to give the victory equally with few as with many, the pious king marched with a comparatively small force to encounter the formidable host of marauders at his southern frontier. Committing his cause to God, he engaged in the conflict--completely routed the enemy, and succeeded in obtaining, as the ...
Read full commentary →Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immedi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Doth not Hezekiah persuade you.**—*Is not Hezekiah inciting you* (2Kings 18:32; 1Chronicles 21:1). The, verb recurs in 2Chronicles 32:15.
**To give over yourselves . . . by thirst.**—*In* *order to deliver you to dying *. . . *by thirst.* A softening down of the coarse expression recorded in 2Kings 18:27. Esarhaddon in the record of his Egyptian campaign uses similar language: “siege-works ...
Read full commentary →Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes i...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **The same Hezekiah.**—*Hezekiah himself.*
**Ye shall worship . . . upon it.**—Literally, *before one altar shall ye worship, and thereon shall ye burn incense.* Comp. 2Kings 18:22 : “Is it not He whose high places and altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, Before this altar shall ye worship in Jerusalem?” The chronicler is even more emphatic than Kings in asserti...
Read full commentary →Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **What I and my fathers have done.**—The Assyrian kings are fond of such references to their predecessors.
**The people of other lands.**—Rather, *the peoples of the countries.*
**Those lands.**—*The countries.*
**Their lands.**—*Their country.* The chronicler omits the names of the vanquished states given in 2Kings 18:34, some of which had probably become obscure by lapse of time.
Assurbanip...
Read full commentary →Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological per...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Who was there among all the gods.**—Comp. 2Kings 18:35.
**Utterly destroyed.**—*Put under the ban, devoted* to destruction.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 15
2Ch 15:1-15. Judah Makes a Solemn Covenant with God.
**1. Azariah the son of Oded--**This prophet, who is mentioned nowhere else, appears at this stage of the sacred story in the discharge of an interesting mission. He went to meet Asa, as he was returning from his victorious pursuit of the Ethiopians, and the congratulatory address here recorded was publicly made to the king in pre...
Read full commentary →Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Neither yet believe him.**—*And believe him not.*
**How much less . . . deliver you.**—Rather, *much less will your gods deliver you;* or, *much more will your gods not deliver you.* (Comp. Isaiah 37:10-11.) According to ancient conceptions the gods of strong nations were strong gods. Now the Assyrians had vanquished stronger nations than Judah, and therefore, as they ignorantly supposed, s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. The Lord is with you, while ye be with him--**You have had, in your recent signal success, a remarkable proof that God's blessing is upon you; your victory has been the reward of your faith and piety. If you steadfastly adhere to the cause of God, you may expect a continuance of His favor; but if you abandon it, you will soon reap the bitter fruits of apostasy.
And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against his servant Hezekiah.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against his servant Hezekiah.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper, while those who forsake Him fa...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **Spake yet more.**—See the parallel passages in Kings and Isaiah. The verse shows that the chronicler does not profess to give a full report.
**Against the Lord God.**—Literally, *against Jehovah the* (true) *God. “*Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? . . . the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 37:23).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3-6. Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, &c.--**Some think that Azariah was referring to the sad and disastrous condition to which superstition and idolatry had brought the neighboring kingdom of Israel. His words should rather be taken in a wider sense, for it seems manifest that the prophet had his eye upon many periods in the national history, when the people were...
Read full commentary →He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's da...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **He wrote also letters to rail on.**—*And letters wrote he to reproach* (Isaiah 37:23). Sennacherib wrote to Hezekiah demanding submission, *after* the failure of the mission of the Tartan and his companions (2Kings 19:8-14). If, therefore, the chronicler had been careful about the strictly chronological sequence of events, this verse would have followed rather than preceded 18, 19. As it is...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3-6. Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, &c.--**Some think that Azariah was referring to the sad and disastrous condition to which superstition and idolatry had brought the neighboring kingdom of Israel. His words should rather be taken in a wider sense, for it seems manifest that the prophet had his eye upon many periods in the national history, when the people were...
Read full commentary →Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **They cried . . . on the wall.**—LXX. and Vulg., “he cried” (*i.e.,* the Rab-sak). (See 2Kings 18:26-28.)
**To affright them, and to trouble** (*terrify, scare*) **them; that they might take the city.**—This is the chronicler’s own statement of the purpose of the words of the Rab-sak reported in 2Kings 18:28-35.
**To affright.**—The *pi‘el* of *yārē, “*to fear,” occurs besides, thrice in Neh...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3-6. Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, &c.--**Some think that Azariah was referring to the sad and disastrous condition to which superstition and idolatry had brought the neighboring kingdom of Israel. His words should rather be taken in a wider sense, for it seems manifest that the prophet had his eye upon many periods in the national history, when the people were...
Read full commentary →And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who se...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **They spake against.**—Or, *spake of* Literally, *unto.* (Comp. Psalm 2:7; Psalm 3:2.)
**People.**—*Peoples.*
**The work.**—The versions have “works.” Instead of repeating the offers which the Assyrian envoys made to the people of Jerusalem, to induce them to submit, the chronicler dwells on that blasphemy against the God of Israel which was the cause of the Assyrian overthrow.
**The work of...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3-6. Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, &c.--**Some think that Azariah was referring to the sad and disastrous condition to which superstition and idolatry had brought the neighboring kingdom of Israel. His words should rather be taken in a wider sense, for it seems manifest that the prophet had his eye upon many periods in the national history, when the people were...
Read full commentary →Jerusalem Delivered
And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper, while those ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **For this cause.**—Upon *this* (*‘al zôth*)*.* The reference is to the Assyrian blasphemies against Jehovah, which Hezekiah urged in his prayer for deliverance (2Kings 19:16), and to which Isaiah referred in his prophetic answer (Isaiah 37:23). The prayer of Hezekiah is given in 2Kings 19:15-19; Isaiah 37:15-20. The parallel passages do not say that Isaiah also prayed; but 2Kings 19:2-4, and...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. Be ye strong--**Great resolution and indomitable energy would be required to persevere in the face of the opposition your reforming measures will encounter.
**your work shall be rewarded--**What you do in the cause and for the glory of God will assuredly be followed by the happiest results both to yourself and your subjects.
And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword. slew: Heb. made him fall
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically add...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **And the Lord sent an angel.**—See 2Kings 19:35, *seq.;* Isaiah 37:36, *seq.* Hitzig thinks that Psalms 46-48. were composed by Isaiah to commemorate this great natural miracle, an hypothesis which is borne out by the similarity observable between the language and ideas of these psalms and those of Isaiah’s prophecies.
**Which cut off . . . valour.**—Literally, *and he hid* (*i.e.,* caused t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. when Asa heard ... the prophecy of Oded the prophet--**The insertion of these words, "of Oded the prophet," is generally regarded as a corruption of the text. "The sole remedy is to erase them. They are, probably, the remains of a note, which crept in from the margin into the text" [Bertheau].
**he took courage--**Animated by the seasonable and pious address of Azariah, Asa became a more ze...
Read full commentary →Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **Thus.**—*And.* The whole verse is the chronicler’s own comment on the preceding narrative. (Comp. 2Kings 18:7.)
**The hand of all.**—Some MSS. appropriately add *his enemies,* an expression which may have fallen out of the text.
**And guided them on every side** (*round about*)*.*—A somewhat unusual phrase. The conjecture, “and gave them rest round about (*wayyānah Iāhem* for *wayyĕnahālēm*...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-15. he gathered all Judah and Benjamin--**Not satisfied with these minor measures of purification and improvement, Asa meditated a grand scheme which was to pledge his whole kingdom to complete the work of reformation, and with this in view he waited for a general assembly of the people.
**and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh--**The population of Asa's kingdom had been vas...
Read full commentary →And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth. presents: Heb. precious things
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate div...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **Brought.**—*Were bringing* =used to bring.
**Gifts.**—*An offering* (*minchah*)*,* or *tribute.*
**Presents to Hezekiah.**—Among those who brought such were the envoys of Meroaach Baladan, king of Babylon (2Kings 20:12). Probably also the neighbouring peoples—*e.g.,* the Philistines—relieved from the pressure of the Assyrian invaders, would thus evince their gratitude to the God of Israel. ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-15. he gathered all Judah and Benjamin--**Not satisfied with these minor measures of purification and improvement, Asa meditated a grand scheme which was to pledge his whole kingdom to complete the work of reformation, and with this in view he waited for a general assembly of the people.
**and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh--**The population of Asa's kingdom had been vas...
Read full commentary →Hezekiah's Illness and Pride
In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign. gave: or, wrought a miracle for him
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper,...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
**HEZEKIAH’S SICKNESS—HIS PRIDE AND WEALTH—THE BABYLONIAN EMBASSY—CONCLUSION** (2Chronicles 32:24-33).
(24) **In those days Hezekiah was sick.**—This single verse epitomises 2Kings 20:1-11; Isaiah 38
**To the death.**—*Unto dying.*
**He spake unto him.**—By the mouth of Isaiah.
**And he gave him a sign.**—The recession of the shadow on the dial of Ahaz. Literally, *and a sign He gave him;* the emp...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-15. he gathered all Judah and Benjamin--**Not satisfied with these minor measures of purification and improvement, Asa meditated a grand scheme which was to pledge his whole kingdom to complete the work of reformation, and with this in view he waited for a general assembly of the people.
**and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh--**The population of Asa's kingdom had been vas...
Read full commentary →But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **But Hezekiah.**—For Hezekiah’s pride, see the account of his reception of the Babylonian embassy (2Kings 20:12-19; Isaiah 39).
**According to the benefit done unto him.**—In his illness he promised to walk humbly all his days (Isaiah 38:15); but when he had recovered, “his heart was lifted up.”
**Therefore there was wrath upon him.**—*And wrath fell upon him.* The token of this was seen in ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-15. he gathered all Judah and Benjamin--**Not satisfied with these minor measures of purification and improvement, Asa meditated a grand scheme which was to pledge his whole kingdom to complete the work of reformation, and with this in view he waited for a general assembly of the people.
**and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh--**The population of Asa's kingdom had been vas...
Read full commentary →Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. pride: Heb. lifting up
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **Notwithstanding.**—*And.*
**The wrath of the Lord . . . days of Hezekiah.**—(Comp. Isaiah 39:8.) On hearing Isaiah’s prophecy of coming evil, Hezekiah humbly acquiesced in the will of Jehovah. “Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah. Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. And he said, There shall be peace and permanence in my own days” (2Kings 20:19).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-15. he gathered all Judah and Benjamin--**Not satisfied with these minor measures of purification and improvement, Asa meditated a grand scheme which was to pledge his whole kingdom to complete the work of reformation, and with this in view he waited for a general assembly of the people.
**and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh--**The population of Asa's kingdom had been vas...
Read full commentary →And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels; pleasant: Heb. instruments of desire
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theol...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) **Had.**—Or, *got.*
**Riches and honour** (or, *wealth; kābôd*)*.*—Comp. 1Chronicles 29:28 (David); 2Chronicles 1:12 (Solomon), 2Chronicles 17:5; 2Chronicles 18:1 (Jehoshaphat).
**He made himself treasuries.**—Comp. 2Kings 20:13; Isaiah 39:2, where silver and gold and spices are mentioned among the treasures of Hezekiah.
**Shields.**—Comp. Solomon’s golden, and Rehoboam’s brazen, shields. No ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-15. he gathered all Judah and Benjamin--**Not satisfied with these minor measures of purification and improvement, Asa meditated a grand scheme which was to pledge his whole kingdom to complete the work of reformation, and with this in view he waited for a general assembly of the people.
**and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh--**The population of Asa's kingdom had been vas...
Read full commentary →Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prospe...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **storehouses also.**—*And magazines* (2Chronicles 8:4; Exodus 1:11).
**Stalls.**—‘*Urāwôth* (Syriac, *‘ûrâwôthô*)*.* (Comp. *ûryôth,* 2Chronicles 9:25; and *‘*ă*wērôth,* “cotes,” a word only found here.)
**All manner of beasts.**—*Every kind of cattle.*
**Cotes for flocks.**—Heb., *and flocks for folds.* The words appear to have been transposed by some copyist. (Comp. LXX., καὶ μάνδρας εἰς τ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-15. he gathered all Judah and Benjamin--**Not satisfied with these minor measures of purification and improvement, Asa meditated a grand scheme which was to pledge his whole kingdom to complete the work of reformation, and with this in view he waited for a general assembly of the people.
**and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh--**The population of Asa's kingdom had been vas...
Read full commentary →Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God p...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **Moreover he provided him cities.**—*And he made him watch-towers.* The word rendered “cities” (*ārîm*) appears in this connection to mean watch-towers j or forts for the protection of the flocks and herds. Isaiah 1:8 (“a besieged city “); 2Kings 17:9; 2Chronicles 26:10.
**Had given.**—*Grave.*
**Substance.**—Wealth in kind, especially cattle (2Chronicles 31:3).
This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes im...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) **This same Hezekiah also stopped.**—*And he, Hezekiah, had closed in the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon.* (See 2Chronicles 32:3.)
**And brought . . . city of David.**—*And conducted them underground to the west of the city of David.* (Comp. 2Kings 20:20, where also this great work of Hezekiah is referred to in concluding his history: “He made the pool, and the aqueduct, and brought the ...
Read full commentary →Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart. ambassadors: Heb. interpreters
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler'...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **Howbeit.**—Literally, *And thus;* that is, and when things were thus prosperous with him. In the midst of Hezekiah’s prosperity, God left him for a moment to himself, by way of putting him to the proof.
**The princes of Babylon.**—The same vague plural which we have already noticed in 2Chronicles 28:16; 2Chronicles 30:6, and 2Chronicles 32:4, *supra.* The king who “sent letters and a presen...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. the things that his father had dedicated--**probably part of the booty obtained by his signal victory over Jeroboam, but which, though dedicated, had hitherto been unrepresented.
**and that he himself had dedicated--**of the booty taken from the Ethiopians. Both of these were now deposited in the temple as votive offerings to Him whose right hand and holy arm had given them the victory.
Hezekiah's Death
Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. goodness: Heb. kindnesses
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **Now the rest of the acts.**—See 2Kings 20:20-21.
**And his goodness.**—*His good deeds.* So 2Chronicles 35:26 (Josiah); Nehemiah 13:14.
**And in the book of the kings.**—Omit *and.* The “vision of Isaiah” is referred to as a section of the “book of the kings of Judah and Israel.” (See *Introduction.*) Kings *l.c.* says, “are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the Kings of Jud...
Read full commentary →And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead. chiefest: or, highest
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing God's deliverance of the faithful; pride's danger even after bless...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(33) **And they buried him . . . honour at his death.**—Statements peculiar to the chronicler. They go to prove an authority besides the canonical books of Kings.
**The chiefest.**—Rather, *the ascent*—i.e., *the way up to* the royal tombs. (Comp. 2Chronicles 20:16.) “The sons of David” are the kings of the house of David. Hezekiah may have chosen a favourite spot for his burial-place; but, as his...
Read full commentary →