Sennacherib came and entered Judah, 2 Chronicles 32:1. Sennacherib, in 701 B.C., attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them, 2 Kings 18:13. History tells us that when Sargon was killed in battle in the land of Tabal.
A rebellion started throughout many Mediterranean regions where Assyria had formerly conquered several small nations. Hezekiah was one who joined in with this rebellion against the Assyrians, 2 Kings 18:7-8.
At the same time, the Bible tells us that Marduk-Baladan was leading the rise of the Babylonian Empire and encouraged other nations to join in with the rebellion, 2 Kings 20:12-19 / Isaiah 39:1-8. It was during this time of rebellion that Sennacherib attacked all the cities of Judah.
When Sennacherib initially defeated Tyre, then the capital cities, except Ashkelon, Ekron and Jerusalem, Hezekiah submitted to pay tribute to Assyria. However, Sennacherib eventually defeated Ashkelon and wanted to do the same to Ekron.
The Philistines made an alliance with Shabaka of Egypt, who, in turn, called for reinforcements from Ethiopia. But Sennacherib defeated this coalition of nations at Eltekah, north of Ekron.
After his conquest of Eltekah, Timnah and Ekron, Sennacherib headed for Jerusalem. Before arriving in Jerusalem, he engaged Lachish, 2 Kings 18:14, a well-fortified city that was at the time larger than Jerusalem.
Hezekiah wants to know what he has done wrong and tells Sennacherib to back off, and he will pay him whatever he wants, 2 Kings 18:14. Notice that Hezekiah paid a large tribute to Sennacherib, 2 Kings 18:14. This is because he knew he couldn’t stop him; he was way too powerful for Judah.
Hezekiah took all the treasures out of the temple and even strips the gold overlay from the doorposts, 2 Kings 18:15 / 2 Kings 16:8. This was the first invasion of Sennacherib to the land of Judah, but another is soon to follow.
When Hezekiah found out that Sennacherib had come to wage war against Jerusalem, he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, 2 Chronicles 32:2-3.
Because Jerusalem’s water supply was open to any attack, and since it was dependent on two springs, Hezekiah’s plan was twofold: to hide the springs outside the city in order to distress the Assyrians, and to convey their water underground into the city, in order to increase his own supply during the siege, 2 Chronicles 32:4.
Hezekiah rebuilds the broken parts of the wall, 2 Chronicles 32:5, which had obviously been neglected over time, 2 Chronicles 28:1-10, and he pulls down houses to use the material to help towards repairing the wall, Isaiah 22:10.
Hezekiah encourages everyone to be strong and courageous and not to be afraid or dismayed, 2 Chronicles 32:6-7 / Isaiah 22:5-13 / Isaiah 29:3. Notice he says, what Elisha the prophet said, ‘there is a greater power with us than with him’, 2 Chronicles 32:7 / 2 Kings 6:16.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This was soon proved to be true by the slaughter made by the angel of the Lord in the Assyrian camp, 2 Kings 19:35.’
Hezekiah’s faith is seen when he says concerning Sennacherib, ‘with him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles’, 2 Chronicles 32:8 / 2 Kings 18:14-16. And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah said, 2 Chronicles 32:8.
It’s important for us to think about the chronology of these verses; otherwise, we may get a little confused.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following, concerning 2 Chronicles 32:9 / 2 Kings 18:17.
‘An interval of time must be placed between this verse and the last. Sennacherib, content with his successes, had returned to Nineveh with his spoil and his numerous captives. Hezekiah, left to himself, repented of his submission, and commenced negotiations with Egypt, 2 Kings 18:21 / 2 Kings 18:24 / Isaiah 30:2-6 / Isaiah 31:1, which implied treason against his Assyrian suzerain. It was under these circumstances that Sennacherib appears to have made his second expedition into Palestine very soon after the first.’
Gill, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This was after Hezekiah had given him a large quantity of silver and gold to depart, and he did depart from him, 2 Kings 18:14, but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him, one of the cities of Judah, Isaiah 36:2, from hence he dispatched them unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, who had retired thither for safety, upon the invasion of their country by the king of Assyria.’
Sennacherib now sends his supreme commander, chief officer and field commander to Hezekiah, 2 Chronicles 32:9 / 2 Kings 18:17. The K.J.V. uses the word ‘Tartan’ for ‘supreme commander’, meaning general, commander of the Assyrian army, Isaiah 20:1.
The K.J.V. uses the word ‘Rabsaris’, for ‘chief officer’ meaning chief eunuch, or bodyguard, Jeremiah 39:3 / Jeremiah 39:13. The K.J.V. uses the word ‘Rabshakeh’, for ‘field commander’ meaning the chief cup-bearer, a court official often in charge of administrative duties.
They go to Jerusalem and stop at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman’s Field, 2 Kings 18:17. They called for Hezekiah, but Eliakim, the palace administrator, Isaiah 22:20-22, Shebna the secretary, and Joah the recorder went out to them, 2 Kings 18:18.
Apparently, Rabshakeh was the spokesman in charge of negotiations, and so, he asks on behalf of Sennacherib what is the basis for their confidence? 2 Chronicles 32:9-10 / 2 Kings 18:19. He tells them that Hezekiah is misleading them, allowing them to die of thirst and hunger, 2 Chronicles 32:11.
He mocks them by saying that they have the council and might for war, but they are only empty words, 2 Kings 18:20. They want to know who they are dependent upon to rebel against Sennacherib, 2 Kings 18:20. It appears that Sennacherib knew all the reforms Hezekiah was doing, which included the removal of the high places, 2 Chronicles 32:12 / 2 Kings 18:3-4.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘That they may be duly apprised, if they hold on Hezekiah’s side, Jerusalem shall be most straitly besieged, and they be reduced to such a state of famine as to be obliged to eat their own excrements.’
If they say to Sennacherib, they are depending on God, isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, they must worship before this altar in Jerusalem, 2 Kings 18:22 / 2 Kings 18:4.
Rabshakeh now offers Hezekiah’s representatives to bargain with Sennacherib and they will give Hezekiah two thousand horses, if you can put riders on them, 2 Kings 18:23.
They ask how can you reject one of Sennacherib’s officers offer, even though Hezekiah is depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen, 2 Kings 18:24. It appears that Sennacherib had forgotten his earlier promise to spare the city for that vast tribute, 2 Kings 18:14.
Notice that Rabshakeh tried to discourage Hezekiah from making this alliance by telling him that he was on a mission from God, 2 Kings 18:25. In a sense, he was, but not in the sense he thought, Isaiah 10:5-11.
However, it wasn’t God’s mission for the Assyrians to take Jerusalem; that mission belonged to the Babylonians. Although Rabshakeh was arrogant, Hezekiah, with the help and guidance of Isaiah, stood firm in her revolt against the Assyrian Empire.
In 2 Kings 18:26-27, we learn that the two main languages during those days were Aramaic and Hebrew. We read of a mixture of truths and some huge lies in Rabshakeh’s rant, and the representatives of Hezekiah tried to arrange for the mission from Sennacherib to speak in a language the defenders on the walls of the city wouldn’t understand, 2 Kings 18:26.
However, this plan was rejected by Rabshakeh, who then finished his insulting speech, addressing it directly to the men on the wall, 2 Kings 18:27 / 2 Chronicles 32:11.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘That they may be duly apprised, if they hold on Hezekiah’s side, Jerusalem shall be most straitly besieged, and they be reduced to such a state of famine as to be obliged to eat their own excrements.’
The Pulpit Commentary says the following concerning this chapter.
‘This chapter of thirty-three verses is paralleled by the sixty-one verses that begin with 2 Kings 18:13, and end with 2 Kings 19:37, and by Isaiah 36:1-22 / Isaiah 37:1-38.
Our chapter gives, as might be anticipated, but a very partial and somewhat broken account, therefore, of this stretch of Hezekiah’s career, and no adequate impression whatever of the great power of some portions of the parallel. A close comparison of the two places leaves us tolerably clear as to the order and consecutiveness of the history, although perhaps not entirely so.
The style of our present chapter betrays the usual marks of disjointedness, in the case of extracts from fuller history, in the indefiniteness of its connecting phrases, found, e.g. in Isaiah 37:1 / Isaiah 37:9 / Isaiah 37:24 / Isaiah 37:31.
Our compiler, by omission, seems to shield Hezekiah, probably designedly, from the disrepute that must be felt to attach to his want of faith, courage, and fidelity in his trusteeship of the sacred property of the temple as indicated by what is written in 2 Kings 18:14-16.’
Now Rabshakeh threatens them on the wall in their Hebrew tongue, 2 Kings 18:28. Notice how arrogant Sennacherib’s officers were; they basically boast about everything they have done in other lands, 2 Chronicles 32:13.
They say that their god is greater than any other god, 2 Chronicles 32:14. He tells them not to listen to Hezekiah just because he says God will help you; that’s not true, 2 Chronicles 32:14 / 2 Kings 18:29-30.
He tells them to choose life or death, and if they surrender, they will live in peace in a land of luxury, 2 Kings 18:31-32. He questions their faith and says, if they believe God can deliver them from Sennacherib, how come no other god has been able to stop them, 2 Kings 18:32-35.
Rabshakeh appears to be giving the people a choice: they can choose to live in Assyria in captivity, or they can pay the consequences for rebelling against Sennacherib. Because Sennacherib had conquered many cities, including Samaria, this would certainly discourage the Israelites from rebelling.
However, they continue to speak against God and Hezekiah, 2 Chronicles 32:15-16 / 2 Kings 18:1 / Isaiah 36:1. Notice also that arrogant Sennacherib also wrote a letter, ridiculing God, saying that the god of Hezekiah won’t be able to save Israel, 2 Chronicles 32:17 / 2 Kings 19:9.
The psychological ridicule continues as the officers cry out to those on the wall, speaking in Hebrew, 2 Chronicles 32:18 / Isaiah 36:11. They did this to frighten Israel and cause confusion among the Israelites in an effort to take the city.
The ridicule continued as they spoke against God, 2 Chronicles 32:19; in other words, they couldn’t see any difference between Israel’s God and any other god, Isaiah 36:19.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following concerning Sennacherib’s arguments.
1. It is foolish to rely on Egypt for help.
The prophets of God had frequently warned God’s people of such a foolish course, and so this must be understood simply as a fact.
2. This argument was a theological one.
Hezekiah had indeed taken away the high places and the altars mentioned, and Rabshakeh’s false argument was that such must have displeased Jehovah. This, of course, was an outright lie. God was pleased with Hezekiah’s actions.
3. The third argument, 2 Kings 18:23-24, called attention to the overwhelmingly large army of the Assyrians.
This was true, but the joker in that argument was that it would take an army of a million just as long to besiege a city as it would take an army of one-tenth that size, and the last thing on earth that Sennacherib wanted at that stage of his operations was a long siege.
4. The most astounding argument of all is the fourth.
Rabshakeh claimed that Jehovah had ordered him to come up and destroy Judah and Jerusalem. This was exactly the manoeuvre of Adolph Hitler, who employed the Big Lie as one of his weapons.
5. The fifth argument was such a monumental falsehood that one may well wonder at the stupidity of the man who told it.
‘If you will just surrender, we will provide you free transportation to a beautiful land far away, just like the Garden of Eden!’ How stupid was Rabshakeh that he supposed the Jews could have forgotten ‘that free transportation’ provided the Northern tribes, who were driven on foot, linked together with long cables fastened in the lips, ears, cheeks or noses of their victims into northern Mesopotamia, or how all of them were put to work in fields, factories, or brickyards, where they were only slaves, starved, worked, or beaten to death.’
‘Those gracious, kind, and gentle Assyrians, which Rabshakeh pretended they were, had earned the title of ‘The Breakers’ all over the world of that era, and their cruelties and brutalities were the worst mankind ever saw. They flayed their victims alive. They impaled them. They starved and beat them unmercifully.’
6. Number six was another religious argument.
None of the gods of all the cities and countries that had fallen into the hands of Sennacherib had ever been able to deliver them. Therefore, Jehovah, the God of Judah, would not be able to deliver them. Rabshakeh himself was due to learn something with regard to this argument, as shall be dramatically revealed in 2 Kings 19.’
Hezekiah’s representatives didn’t answer them because Hezekiah had commanded them not to, 2 Kings 18:36. Hezekiah didn’t give in to Sennacherib; he trusted what God had told Isaiah, that Sennacherib wouldn’t enter the city, 2 Chronicles 32:9-19.
Notice also that Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, to tell him what Rabshakeh said, 2 Kings 18:37. Although they were deeply discouraged by what Rabshakeh had said, Hezekiah continued to trust in God to deliver Judah from the threat of the Assyrians.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It was the custom of the Hebrews, when they heard any blasphemy, to rend their clothes, because this was the greatest of crimes, as it immediately affected the majesty of God, and it was right that a religious people should have in the utmost abhorrence every insult offered to the object of their religious worship. These three ambassadors lay the matter before the king as God’s representative, he lays it before the prophet, as God’s minister, and the prophet lays it before God, as the people’s mediator.’
Hezekiah and Isaiah now cry out to God in prayer, 2 Chronicles 32:10 / 2 Kings 19:1-5 / Isaiah 37:15-20. We don’t read here the actual prayer of Isaiah, but there’s little doubt he prayed too.
Isaiah received a message from God, which he sent to Hezekiah, 2 Kings 19:6-7 / Isaiah 37:4. The Lord sent an angel, 2 Chronicles 32:21 / Isaiah 36:1, and one-hundred and eighty-five thousand died at the hand of the angel of God in one night, 2 Kings 19:35.
After this retreat from Judah, Sennacherib commissioned a record, which is preserved in the spectacular Annals of Sennacherib. One of the most significant discoveries that has been made was the discovery of the Sennacherib Prism.
This six-sided hexagonal clay prism, commonly known as the Taylor Prism, was discovered among the ruins of Nineveh, the ancient capital of the Assyrian Empire.
It contains the Annals of Sennacherib himself, the Assyrian king who had besieged Jerusalem in 701 BC during the reign of King Hezekiah. On the prism, Sennacherib boasts that he shut up ‘Hezekiah the Judahite’ within Jerusalem, his own royal city, ‘like a caged bird’.
However, he never claims to have conquered Jerusalem. This prism is among the three accounts discovered so far which have been left by the Assyrian monarch of his campaign against Israel and Judah.
Notice that sometime after he returned home, his own sons killed him, 2 Chronicles 32:21. God had taken care of Israel; He protected them and gave them the victory. Offerings were made to the lord and gifts were brought for Hezekiah because the people knew that God was with him, 2 Chronicles 32:23.
Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death, 2 Chronicles 32:24 / 2 Kings 20:1. There is no doubt that this chapter, along with the parallel accounts found in Isaiah 38 and Isaiah 39, is really difficult to put into place chronologically. Some believe that Hezekiah was taken ill before the invasion of Sennacherib in 701 B.C.
Dummelow, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The incidents related in this chapter probably took place before Sennacherib’s invasion, for (a) the deliverance from the Assyrians is still future, 2 Kings 20:6, (b) Hezekiah is in possession of great treasures, 2 Kings 20:13, which could scarcely have been the case after the surrender described in 2 Kings 18:14-15, (c) Merodach Baladan, king of Babylon, was driven from his throne before Sennacherib attacked Judah. Chronologically, therefore, this chapter should precede 2 Kings 18:7.’
The events recorded in 2 Kings 18:13, through to 2 Kings 19:37, would have taken place during the extra fifteen years of life that were given to Hezekiah. Because God answered his prayer, it’s clear that God wanted Hezekiah to lead Judah through all these difficult years of the Assyrian invasion, 2 Chronicles 32:24-26 / Isaiah 38:1-8.
Hezekiah became ill at the time of the Assyrian invasion of Judah, 2 Kings 20:1-21. Marduk-Baladan decided to send letters and gifts to Hezekiah because they heard he was ill, 2 Kings 20:12 / 2 Chronicles 32:31. It’s more probable that they did this just to spy, Isaiah 39:1-8.
Hezekiah was concerned about the threat of the Assyrians, and so, he wasted no time in providing many different gifts for the Babylonians, 2 Kings 20:13 / Isaiah 39:2 / 2 Chronicles 32:31.
He probably thought the Assyrians could help him with his struggles against the Babylonians. One thing is clear, though: these envoys were more interested in Jerusalem’s wealth than they were in Hezekiah’s health.
God speaking from Isaiah tells Hezekiah he hears his prayers and tells him to get his ‘house in order’ because he was going to die, 2 Kings 20:1. After hearing this, he turned and faced the wall to pray, 2 Kings 20:2-3, and notice he wept bitterly, 2 Kings 20:3 / Isaiah 38:9-22.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The old covenant promised temporal prosperity, including length of days, to the righteous. Hezekiah, conscious of his faithfulness and integrity, 2 Kings 18:3-6, ventures to expostulate, 2 Kings 21:1. According to the highest standard of morality revealed up to this time, there was nothing unseemly in the self-vindication of the monarch, which has many parallels in the Psalms of David, Psalms 7:3-10 / Psalms 18:19-26 / Psalms 26:1-8, etc.’
God tells him He has ‘heard his prayers’ and ‘seen his tears’ and tells him, ‘He will heal him,’ 2 Kings 20:4-5. God blessed Hezekiah with another fifteen years of life for Israel’s sake, 2 Kings 20:6, not necessarily for Hezekiah’s sake. Isaiah asks for a poultice of figs to be prepared, and they did, they applied it to the boil, and Hezekiah recovered, 2 Kings 20:7.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘We cannot exactly say in what Hezekiah’s malady consisted. The word shechin signifies any inflammatory tumour, boil, or abscess. A poultice of figs might be very proper to maturate a boil, or to discuss any obstinate inflammatory swelling.’
Hezekiah asks Isaiah what the sign will be that the Lord will heal him, 2 Kings 20:8.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Asking for a sign is a pious or a wicked act according to the spirit in which it is done. No blame is attached to the requests of Gideon, Judges 6:17 / Judges 6:37 / Judges 6:39, or to that of Hezekiah, because they were real wishes of the heart expressed humbly. The ‘evil generation’ that ‘sought for a sign’ in our Lord’s days did not really want one, but made the demand captiously, neither expecting nor wishing that it should be granted.’
Isaiah asks him, Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps? 2 Kings 20:9. Hezekiah appears to think it’s too easy for the shadow to go forward ten steps, and so, he asks to have the shadow go back ten steps, 2 Kings 20:10.
Isaiah calls upon God, and God made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz, 2 Kings 20:11 / 2 Kings 9:13. This is miraculous as God turned back time by a total of forty minutes.
Of course, this isn’t the first time God has miraculously changed time, Joshua 10:13. He probably thought the Assyrians could help him with his struggles against the Assyrians. One thing is clear, though: these envoys were more interested in Jerusalem’s wealth than they were in Hezekiah’s health.
It was during this time he received a sign from God, 2 Chronicles 32:24. The sign wasn’t a miraculous cure but the going back of the shadow on the dial of Ahaz, 2 Chronicles 32:31 / Isaiah 38:1-39:8.
Hezekiah became proud and he didn’t respond to the kindness shown him, God’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem, 2 Chronicles 32:25. His pride is seen in his unnecessarily showing off his treasures to the ambassadors from Babylon, 2 Kings 20:13.
Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem, therefore God’s wrath didn’t come on them during the days of Hezekiah, 2 Chronicles 32:26.
Hezekiah appears to have humbled himself, but the judgment for his pride, didn’t come when he was alive, it would come later during the days of his sons, 2 Kings 20:19 / Isaiah 39:5-7.
Sometimes he used his riches for good purposes, 2 Chronicles 31:3, but other times he used his wealth foolishly, 2 Kings 20:12-21. In this case, the very same people he showed them to would remove them from him, 2 Kings 20:12-21.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following concerning Hezekiah’s wealth, 2 Chronicles 32:27-29.
‘There can be no wonder that Hezekiah’s wealth was so great, because the death of that immense army, 185,000 men of Sennacherib, made all of their personal possessions the spoil for Hezekiah, as well as all of the vast treasures they had looted from Lachish and the other destroyed cities of Judah. History hardly affords another example of so great a windfall. No wonder he had to make a treasury for shields, etc.’
Wiseman, in his commentary, says the following, concerning the tunnel, 2 Chronicles 32:30 / 2 Kings 20:21-22.
‘This tunnel, found in 1880, was cut for 643 metres to cover a direct distance of 332 metres to enable the defenders to fetch water within the protective walls even during a siege.’
When envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart, 2 Chronicles 32:31.
God’s prophet Isaiah goes to Hezekiah and asks him, ‘where these men come from and what did they see?’ 2 Kings 20:14-15. And the answer was simple, they were from Babylon, and they saw everything that Hezekiah had because he showed them everything, he had, 2 Kings 20:14-15 / 2 Kings 20:12-13.
Isaiah says they came from Babylon not to see how Hezekiah was doing, but to see how much wealth he had. They were spying out the place so that they could come back again to take all the treasures away from the temple and the royal court in 586 B.C. 2 Kings 20:16-17.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This was fulfilled in the days of the latter Jewish kings, when the Babylonians had led the people away into captivity, and stripped the land, the temple, of all their riches, Daniel 1:1-3.’
Isaiah tells Hezekiah that the sons born to him will be taken away and become eunuchs in Babylon, 2 Kings 20:18 / 2 Kings 24:13-15 / 2 Chronicles 33:11 / Daniel 1:1-3 / Isaiah 24:10-17. Hezekiah correctly thought that the tragedy which Isaiah spoke about wouldn’t take place in his lifetime, 2 Kings 20:19.
Everything Hezekiah did was written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, 2 Chronicles 32:32 / Isaiah 1:1 / Isaiah 36:1, they are also written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel, 2 Kings 18:1.
The other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah, 2 Chronicles 32:24-33 / 2 Kings 20:20.
Before Hezekiah died, he brought water into the city, 2 Chronicles 32:32-33. The tunnel he made is still in existence today and is called ‘Hezekiah’s tunnel’ for obvious reasons.
Experts tell us that the water was channelled through solid rock from the Pool of Gihon on the outside of the city wall, and the tunnel itself is about five-hundred and thirty-three meters long, that is, one-thousand, seven-hundred and fifty feet.
The reason for building the tunnel was simply to bring water into the city of Jerusalem, especially during times of siege. Hezekiah’s son Manasseh took over his reign, 2 Kings 20:21.
He was buried on the hill where the tombs of David’s descendants are, 2 Chronicles 33:20 / 2 Kings 21:18 / 2 Kings 21:26 / 2 Kings 23:30. All Judah and the people of Jerusalem honoured him and Manasseh, his son, took over and reigned as king of Judah, 2 Chronicles 32:33 / 2 Kings 20:21.