2 Kings 18:1–20:21

18:4 Not only was the tenor of Hezekiah’s life thoroughly David-like, he also achieved tasks that David did not need to accomplish, and which almost no king of Judah managed to do: “he removed the high places,” those idolatrous local shrines that dogged the life of the people of God. In addition, he “broke the pillars,” that is, the standing stones used at the high places (cf. 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 17:10), and “cut down the Asherah” (presumably Ahaz, like Ahab before him in 1 Kings 16:32–33, had made an Asherah). He also put an end to the otherwise unknown practice of making offerings to “Nehushtan,” the name given to the “bronze serpent that Moses had made” for the healing of the people in the wilderness in Numbers 21:4–9, by breaking the serpent into pieces.²

18:5–8 As a result, the verdict on Hezekiah’s life is more positive than that on any other Judean king’s: “He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.” He also “held fast to the Lord”³ in faithfulness to the law of Moses. In verse 7, the writer asserts that “the Lord was with him,” and as a result he was successful in all he did. David is the only other king spoken of in these terms (1 Sam. 16:18; 18:12, 14; 2 Sam. 5:10). Hezekiah also resisted the threat of the “king of Assyria” and, in another throwback to David himself, “struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city” (cf. 1 Sam. 18:27; 19:8). Hezekiah is presented as one of Judah’s truly great kings.

Five traits characterize Hezekiah, and all of them are deeply admirable: (1) obedience (2 Kings 18:3); (2) trust (v. 5); (3) commitment (v. 6—he “held fast”/“stuck” to Yahweh); (4) dependence (it appears he knew he needed God with him); and (5) courage, which he had in abundance, taking on the Philistines repeatedly. After all of the bleakness of 2 Kings, after the dramatic and not-so-dramatic decline into worldliness and idolatry, this comes as a relief. Is it even possible that this Hezekiah might be the final Davidic king promised in 2 Samuel 7? Unfortunately, he is not.

18:9–12 Meanwhile in Samaria, as we have already seen in 2 Kings 17, things are unraveling very quickly. The rather ominous note of 18:9–12 reprises 17:5–6. This is an unsubtle reminder from the writer that even though Hezekiah has arrived, all of Judah’s problems are not over. The Assyrians have not gone away, and it will take more than a hero like Hezekiah to arrest the slide of Judah.

To highlight a contrast with Hezekiah’s reign, the author provides another brief summary of the final act of Israel’s history: “In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, . . . Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria . . . and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, . . . Samaria was taken.” The repetition of the verb “take” underlines the finality of this action. More details of the dismantling of Israel are given in verse 11. Rather than focusing on the nations who are imported, this time the writer highlights the destination of the Israelites themselves, as they are exiled to “Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.” The reason for Yahweh’s drastic action is rehearsed once more in 18:12: this destruction is again traced back to the fact that they “did not obey the voice of the Lord their God” revealed through Moses. “They neither listened nor obeyed.”

18:13 It is hardly a shock that, having summarily dealt with Israel, the Assyrians, now under the command of their king, Sennacherib, turn their attention to Judah. The initial Assyrian aggression is quickly successful, as they “came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.”⁴ Even Hezekiah, it seems, is powerless to do anything about this.

Halfway through Hezekiah’s reign (around 701 BC), to use Sennacherib’s own words from his annals, he has Hezekiah “shut up in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage.” After destroying the city of Lachish, Sennacherib decides it is time to deal with Hezekiah.

18:14–16 Hezekiah capitulates quickly, groveling before Assyria by sending this message: “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” Hezekiah gives away the temple silver and gold, which is never a good idea in the book of Kings. Hezekiah applies for “vassal” (friendly conquered nation) status, which he can purchase for “three hundred talents of silver [c. 11 tons/10 metric tons] and thirty talents [2,250 lb./1,000 kg] of gold.” Hezekiah manages to scrape together this enormous sum only by giving Sennacherib “all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house.” On top of that, he “stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.” Hezekiah now joins the list of those kings who pay off foreign powers with the riches of the temple: Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:25–28), Asa (1 Kings 15:17–19), Jehoash (2 Kings 12:18–19), Amaziah (2 Kings 14:11–14), and Ahaz (2 Kings 16:7–9). Hezekiah has to undo his own generous acts to pay off this pagan king. The repetition of the phrase “king of Assyria” in this passage puts a large question mark beside the reality of the sovereignty of Yahweh and his ability to care for his people.

18:17–25 It quickly becomes obvious, however, that Judah cannot trust this Assyrian king, who, despite Hezekiah’s diplomatic bribe, soon returns. This time, he sends the “Tartan” (number two in the kingdom), the “Rab-saris” (senior eunuch, often given a military role in Assyrian campaigns, presumably because of trustworthiness), and the “Rabshakeh” (cupbearer to the king)⁵ with a “great army from Lachish to . . . Jerusalem.” The irony is that Hezekiah had bribed the Assyrians to avoid this very scenario. Despite his words, Sennacherib’s agenda is focused on overcoming Judah and defeating his enemies, which is why he details the Rabshakeh to heighten the conflict in verse 19.

The narrative slows, as this army lays siege to the Judean capital: “And they went up and came to Jerusalem.” They stand in a prominent position on the edge of the city (“by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer’s Field”).⁶ This is the place where Isaiah met Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father and assured him that the Syrian-Israelite alliance would not be successful in overcoming Judah (Isa. 7:3). Thus mention of this site carries strong overtones of the hope of divine rescue. Given the fact that Isaiah himself is about to make an appearance in the narrative, this seems to be a deliberate connection.

In 2 Kings 18:18, the Assyrians call for the king. Hezekiah has enough dignity not to deal with the minions of the Assyrian king, sending “Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.”

The Rabshakeh takes the lead in the discussions that follow (presumably because of his linguistic proficiency), and it is safe to say that he does not lack confidence. He opens by sending a message to the king of Judah that begins, “Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria.” The reader picks up instantly that this Assyrian is on dangerous ground, because he is actually taking on the one and only God. From verse 19, the focus of the Assyrians’ attack is on the trustworthiness of God (“trust” is mentioned in v. 5, as well as in vv. 19, 20, 21, 22, and 24), as the Rabshakeh asks a series of searching questions: “On what do you rest this trust of yours? . . . In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me?” The target of his propaganda is twofold. It may be that Hezekiah has sought support from Egypt in his resistance against the threat from the east, or the Rabshakeh may simply be guessing in an effort to cover his bases.

In any case, the Rabshakeh insists that such trust is futile, for Egypt is a “broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him” (v. 21). However, it is not simply Egypt that is in his sights. In verse 22, he continues, “But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?” While the Rabshakeh’s information is impressively accurate, his grasp of theology is not. It is hard to see how removing the high places would undermine real faith in Yahweh.

At this point, the Assyrians change tack, and the Rabshakeh makes a tongue-in-cheek offer: “I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.” Of course, Israel is in no position to supply that number of cavalry. The Rabshakeh’s next barb actually seems reasonable: “How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?” The Egyptians are nowhere to be seen, and the Judeans are pitifully weak. But at this point the Rabshakeh oversteps: “Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it’” (v. 25). The Assyrian’s attempt to enlist Yahweh as his sponsor is a risky play indeed.

18:26–35 Hezekiah’s three spokesmen (who likewise are all government officials, rather than soldiers or diplomats; cf. 1 Kings 4:1–6), appear to be slightly cowed by the Rabshakeh, meekly asking him, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” They seem oblivious to the fact that this is the very reason the Assyrian has spoken in Hebrew. He continues to undermine morale, pointing out that it is the general Judean public, “the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine,” who need to know the reality of their situation. Completely ignoring their request, “the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: ‘Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!’” again proclaiming the sovereignty of his master. This time, he flatly contradicts the word of the Judean king: “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. . . . Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord. . . . Do not listen to Hezekiah.” Instead, they are to listen to his master, “for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me.’”

The word of Sennacherib has supplanted the word of Yahweh. The promises of Sennacherib are a cunning parody of the promises of Yahweh, expressed in passages such as Deuteronomy 8:7–9: “Each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die” (2 Kings 18:31–32).

At the heart of this conflict is a simple question for the Judeans: Whom do you trust? The God of whom Hezekiah says, “The Lord will deliver us,” or the king of Assyria, whose soldiers are lined up around your homes? In verses 33–35, which mark the key turning point of the narrative, the Rabshakeh will play his trump card:

Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?⁷ Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

His logic is simple. The king of the Assyria is greater than any god of the lesser nations in his path. As far as Sennacherib is concerned, this fight is already over. It must be galling for the Judeans to be lectured on faith by this Assyrian—especially as they know he is right in reference to these other gods. Such hubris, however, has a way of unraveling (cf. 1 Kings 20:23ff.).

18:36–37 Wisely, no one says a word in response to the Rabshakeh’s blasphemy. There is nothing to say. A line has been crossed. The people are resolute in siding with Yahweh and his king; even at a distance, Hezekiah commands the loyalty and trust of his people. In the face of the Rabshakeh’s bombast, “the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, ‘Do not answer him.’” Instead, Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah come to Hezekiah in some distress (“with their clothes torn” in mourning) and inform him of the developments.

19:5–7 The prophet Isaiah quickly reassures the messengers that they need not have worried: “Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me” (or “blasphemed me”; also v. 22). None of this has escaped the attention of Yahweh. He has heard every word and, more than that, has every detail of this situation under control. Isaiah tells Hezekiah that Yahweh will “put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land,” with God himself making “him fall by the sword in his own land.” The siege will be lifted, and Sennacherib himself will pay the price for his preening.

19:8–13 When the Rabshakeh returns to consult with Sennacherib, he discovers that the king has left Lachish and is now “fighting against Libnah.” The king has shifted his focus because he has “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘Behold, he has set out to fight against you.’” This innocuous piece of military intelligence is confirmation that, as Isaiah has said, Yahweh is pulling the strings, as usual. Momentarily distracted from attacking Jerusalem, Sennacherib sends “messengers again to Hezekiah” to warn him that he will be back! In verses 10–13, the words of the Rabshakeh are reiterated:

Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. . . . Have the gods of the nations delivered them?

This time, the list of the “nations that my fathers destroyed” is expanded to include “Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar,” as well as the list in verse 13. Again, the identification of some of these places is uncertain.⁸ Now that the reader knows that the Lord has spoken through his prophet, however, these brash claims have lost their effectiveness.

19:14–19 The climax of the story is delayed as we come to the remarkable prayer of Hezekiah. Hezekiah’s response to Sennacherib’s letter is a model of godliness: he “received [it] . . . and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.” There is no attempt to deal with this himself. Hezekiah simply cries to the Lord. His prayer begins in verse 15 by asserting the sovereignty of Yahweh in the face of the Assyrian (and every other) threat: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.” He then moves on to ask God to recognize the mockery of the Assyrian: “Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God” (v. 16).

Hezekiah then raises the specific boast of both the Rabshakeh and the king himself: that the Assyrians have overcome the gods of every nation that ever stood in their way. “Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire.” But Hezekiah knows why this has happened: “They were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone [cf. Deut. 4:28]. Therefore they were destroyed.” This basic conviction allows Hezekiah to bring the request of 2 Kings 19:19 to God with confidence: “So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.” His prayer is ultimately not for himself or for his nation but for the honor of God himself.

19:20 Slightly unexpectedly, immediate confirmation that Yahweh has heard Hezekiah’s prayer is given through the prophet Isaiah, who then goes on to make a long pronouncement about the fate of the Assyrian King.

19:21–26 Buoyant from this gracious development, Isaiah proclaims that Sennacherib is actually the object of the contempt of the people of God (“She despises you, she scorns you—the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you—the daughter of Jerusalem”), because he has “mocked and reviled . . . the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah then rehearses the ways in which Sennacherib has “mocked the Lord” through his “messengers.” Sennacherib has boasted about driving his “many chariots [to] the heights of the mountains”; felling Lebanon’s “tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses”; digging “wells . . . and [drying] up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.” God’s response to these ridiculously extravagant claims is simple: all of this was done at the direction of God himself: “Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into heaps of ruins, while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and confounded.” Even Sennacherib’s most impressive achievements were simply favors granted by the God of Judah.

This contest turns out to be a terrible mismatch. Despite his bombast, Sennacherib cannot compete with the true and living God. His fate, it seems, was sealed before he had even thought of trying to conquer the world. Yahweh reigns supreme, and Sennacherib is about to be humbled before the one and only God. Davis comments on this section,

A little predestination cuts arrogance down to size. Predestination, of course, makes some Christians nervous; they shudder at any mention of the P word. All I can say is: If you don’t want predestination, then go ahead and live a comfortless life, bite your nails and swallow your tranquilizers, and tear your hair out as you watch the evening news. Some of us, however, prefer the pillow of predestination, that is, of having a God who is big enough never to be surprised by the blathering Sennacheribs of this age.¹⁰

19:27–31 Yahweh, it turns out, has been not only watching the Assyrian’s every move but also controlling his every step: “I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me.” And now it is time for the king to be held accountable for his actions. In another example of actions rebounding on their perpetrator, the king of Assyria is treated to the worst of Assyrian brutality: “I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth,¹¹ and I will turn you back on the way by which you came” (cf. 18:13; 19:7).

At this point, Isaiah adds a sign for Sennacherib that the fulfillment of this prophecy is approaching: “This year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.” This cryptic note seems to suggest that after three years (whether literal or metaphorical), judgment will have hit Sennacherib, and at that time normal activity will be resumed in the land, the fortunes of Judah shall turn around, and “the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.” Even through suffering and defeat, the people of God will flourish again, as “out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.” Whatever trauma his people may face, God is committed to working through this nation of Judah, and “the zeal of the Lord will do this.” God himself is the guarantor of Isaiah’s words.

19:32–34 The final words of the prophecy return to the outcome of Sennacherib’s campaign, and they are crystal clear: “He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord.” Isaiah has already announced Sennacherib’s personal fate. Now he spells out that his aggression will lead nowhere, for God promises, “I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.” As has been the case throughout the book of Kings, Yahweh is determined to ensure that the promises to David are fulfilled and his people preserved.

19:35–37 The record of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies is brief and incredibly matter-of-fact, as if to say that this is is a very small thing for Yahweh. In the first place, “that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.” Just like that, the Assyrian drive westward is halted, and, “Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.” Then, some time later, “as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat.” Yahweh’s word has, once again, determined the course of history. Sennacherib is no more, and “Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.”

Strangely, there is no mention of these deaths in the annals of Sennacherib. Like most of us, the Assyrians were much keener to record their victories than their defeats. Sennacherib just slinks home quietly to his palace and tries to forget all about this, and eventually, twenty years later, he dies with a blade in his back. This is one of the most stunning victories in the entire Bible. The reason for this is found in God’s sure promise: “I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David” (v. 34). God did this to show that he is God, and he did it for the sake of his servant David—to advance his plans to bring the ultimate Davidic king into the world.

20:4–6 Quite unexpectedly, “before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court,” Yahweh speaks to the prophet again, telling him to “turn back” and bring a further message to “Hezekiah the leader of my people.” This time, the message to Hezekiah is much more positive: “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you.” The references to the king as “leader of my people” and to “David your father” underline that this act of grace is extended to Hezekiah as God’s anointed king. It is a sign that God is not yet finished with the house of David and the people of Judah. The king is instructed, “On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord,” and then God promises, “I will add fifteen years to your life.” On top of that, God affirms, “I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” It is not clear how the timing of this prophecy relates to chapter 19, but the cumulative impact is to emphasize that God alone (and not even the great king Hezekiah) is the hope of his people.

20:7–11 Rather than simply bringing about the healing through a divine pronouncement, this time God accompanies it with a symbolic act, à la Elisha (cf. 2 Kings 2:20–22; 4:4; 5:10). “Isaiah said, ‘Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.’” It seems that some kind of skin infection has threatened the king’s life. As evidence of the suggestion above that Hezekiah is acting more out of panic than out of faith, rather than simply accepting the word of the prophet he instead asks, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” The sign Isaiah promises him is quite remarkable: “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?”

Hezekiah uniquely gets to choose the sign he himself will receive. “Hezekiah answered, ‘It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.’” The western setting sun would cause the shadow to lengthen naturally, but on the face of it, Hezekiah’s choice would seem to demand that time itself be reversed!¹² But whatever the mechanism, “Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.” The king is not only dramatically healed, but God demonstrates once again that he is the Lord of all creation, and nothing is too difficult for him.

20:12–13 This section is dominated by Hezekiah’s foolishness. Shortly after the events of verses 1–11, “Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.” For all his godliness, it seems that Hezekiah has not learned his lesson when it comes to courting other regional powers; he falls for the Babylonian subterfuge and welcomes them. More than that, the naive, and presumably boastful king decides to show the visiting Babylonians “all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.” The readers in exile must have groaned at reading this, as Hezekiah, Judah’s best king, inadvertently sows the seeds for Babylonian aggression, which will be catastrophic for the nation, as God uses them to bring judgment on his people.

20:14–15 When Isaiah asks the king to explain what is going on, Hezekiah’s naiveté shows through: “They have come from a far country, from Babylon. . . . They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

20:16–19 Once more, Isaiah calls on his king to “hear the word of the Lord.” This is an ominous word for Judah, as the truth that has begun to dawn on the reader now becomes plain: “Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord.” Isaiah is quick to point out that this will not be a matter of only property being taken, but the very people of God: “And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” The response to this tragically sad word from God is as shocking as it is inappropriate: “Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.’” How can this word from God possibly be construed as good news? The text makes it explicit: “For he thought, ‘Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?’” (echoing his own slightly self-satisfied assessment of himself in v. 3). Even the godliest king of Judah proves to be both foolish and utterly self-centered.

20:20–21 The rest of Hezekiah’s reign is summed up in standard fashion, with the added note that “he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city,”¹³ before this best of kings is succeeded by his son Manasseh, who happens to be the worst.