Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 King 20:12 - 20:21
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Hezekiah's Vanity
v. 12. At that time Berodach-baladan (or Merodach-baladan), the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, the first king of Babylon, then still under Assyrian supremacy, mentioned in sacred history, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. This was after the return of the Assyrian army, and the object of the embassy was not merely to congratulate Hezekiah upon his recovery, but also to enter into friendly negotiations with a nation which had withstood the Assyrian power, 2Ch_32:31.
v. 13. And Hezekiah, flattered by this show of interest on the part of a great power, hearkened unto them, rejoicing on account of them and of the prospect of becoming allied with the mighty Babylonian nation, and showed them all the house of his precious things, used first of all for the storing of rare and costly spices and then for treasures of every kind, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, fine balsam-oil, manufactured from the products of the royal gardens, and all the house of his armor, in the house of the forest of Lebanon, 1Ki_7:2, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house iior in all his dominion that Hezekiah showed them not. The presence of such rich treasures in Jerusalem is not surprising, for Hezekiah had not stripped the country bare in sending gifts to Sennacherib; besides, he may have gotten rich presents after the withdrawal of the Assyrian army.
v. 14. Then came Isaiah, the prophet, unto King Hezekiah and said unto him, What said these men, and from whence came they unto thee? These questions were preparatory to calling the king to account, both for yielding to vanity and for entertaining the thought of entering into an alliance with Babylon. And Hezekiah, not realizing that he was on a wrong path, said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.
v. 15. And he, Isaiah, said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah, still not realizing that his heart was caught in vanity, answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.
v. 16. And Isaiah, in reproving the king for this show of weakness, said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord.
v. 17. Behold, the clays come that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, in the form of treasures of every kind,shall be carried into Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. The sin of vanity was to be punished by the taking away of the goods of which the king's heart was proud.
v. 18. And of thy sons, descendants in general,that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs, footmen, attendants, in the palace of the king of Babylon, reduced to a position of great humiliation, Dan_1:3.
v. 19. Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, submitting meekly to the decree of the Lord, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. He accepted the reproof. And he said, as though to himself, Is it not good if peace and truth be in my days? He acknowledged the justice, the faithfulness, and the grace of Jehovah, although it was painful to him to know that the future would bring such evils, on account of which he did not wish to survive or see their execution.
v. 20. And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he made a pool and a conduit, and brought water into the city, the aqueduct which he constructed at the approach of the Assyrian army in order to insure drinking-water to the city in case of a prolonged siege, 2Ch_32:30, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
v. 21. And Hezekiah slept with his fathers; and Manasseh, his son, reigned in his stead. Hezekiah died in the faith and was given the testimony that lie was a king after the heart of God. Blessed is he who, having departed from the way of strict probity, permits himself to be reproved by the Lord and returns to the ways which please the Master.