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2 Kings Chapter
Twenty
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 20
In
this chapter is an account of Hezekiah's sickness
and of the means of his
recovery
and of the sign given of it
2 Kings 20:1 of the
king of Babylon's congratulatory letter to him upon it
when he showed to the
messengers that brought it his treasures
in the pride and vanity of his heart
2 Kings 20:12 for
which he was reproved by the prophet Isaiah
and was humbled
and submitted to
the sentence pronounced on his house
2 Kings 20:14
and
the chapter is concluded with his reign and death
2 Kings 20:20.
2 Kings 20:1 In
those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet
the son of
Amoz
went to him and said to him
“Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your
house in order
for you shall die
and not live.’”
YLT
1In those days hath Hezekiah
been sick unto death
and come unto him doth Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet
and saith unto him
`Thus said Jehovah: Give a charge to thy house
for thou
art dying
and dost not live.'
Verses 1-3
In these days was Hezekiah sick unto death
.... Of this
sickness of Hezekiah
the message of the prophet Isaiah to him
and his prayer
upon it; see Gill on Isaiah 38:1; see
Gill on Isaiah 38:2; see
Gill on Isaiah 38:3.
2 Kings 20:2 2 Then he turned his face
toward the wall
and prayed to the Lord
saying
YLT
2And he turneth round his
face unto the wall
and prayeth unto Jehovah
saying
2 Kings 20:3 3 “Remember now
O Lord
I pray
how I
have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart
and have done what
was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
YLT
3`I pray Thee
O Jehovah
remember
I pray Thee
how I have walked habitually before Thee in truth
and
with a perfect heart
and that which [is] good in Thine eyes I have done;' and
Hezekiah weepeth -- a great weeping.
2 Kings 20:4 4 And it happened
before
Isaiah had gone out into the middle court
that the word of the Lord came to him
saying
YLT
4And it cometh to pass --
Isaiah hath not gone out to the middle court -- that the word of Jehovah hath
been unto him
saying
And it came to pass
afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle
court
.... Of the king's palace
which is called the other court within
the porch
1 Kings 7:8 so it
is according to the marginal reading
which we follow; but the textual reading
is
"the middle city"; Jerusalem was divided into three parts
and
this was the middle part Isaiah was entering into: but before he did
so it
was:
that the word of
the Lord came to him
saying; as follows.
2 Kings 20:5 5 “Return and tell Hezekiah
the leader of My people
‘Thus says the Lord
the God of David your
father: “I have heard your prayer
I have seen your tears; surely I will heal
you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.
YLT
5`Turn back
and thou hast
said unto Hezekiah
leader of My people: Thus said Jehovah
God of David thy
father
I have heard thy prayer
I have seen thy tear
lo
I give healing to
thee
on the third day thou dost go up to the house of Jehovah;
Turn again
and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people
.... The king
of them
as the Targum:
thus saith the Lord God of David thy father
I have heard thy
prayer
I have seen thy tears; See Gill on Isaiah 38:5.
behold
I will heal thee; instantly
miraculously;
and none but God could heal him
his disease being in its kind mortal
and he
had been told from the Lord that he should die:
on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord: the temple
to give thanks for his recovery; and this he should do on the third day from
thence; so soon should he be well
which would show the cure to be miraculous.
2 Kings 20:6 6 And I will add to your
days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king
of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake
and for the sake of My
servant David.”’”
YLT
6and I have added to thy
days fifteen years
and out of the hand of the king of Asshur I deliver thee
and this city
and have covered over this city for Mine own sake
and for the
sake of David My servant.'
And I will add unto thy days fifteen years
.... See Gill
on Isaiah 38:5.
and I will deliver thee
and this city
out of the hand of the
king of Assyria; by which it appears that this sickness and recovery were before
the destruction of the Assyrian army:
and I will defend this city for mine own sake
and for my servant
David's sake: for the sake of his honour and glory in the temple
and the
service of it
that were in Jerusalem
and for the sake of his promise to David
and his seed.
2 Kings 20:7 7 Then Isaiah said
“Take a
lump of figs.” So they took and laid it on the boil
and he recovered.
YLT
7And Isaiah saith
`Take ye
a cake of figs;' and they take and lay [it] on the boil
and he reviveth.
And Isaiah said
take a lump of figs
.... Not moist
figs
but a cake of dried figs
as the word used signifies
and so the less
likely to have any effect in curing the boil:
and they took
and laid it on the boil
and he recovered; made a
plaster of it
and laid it on the ulcer
and it was healed. Physicians observeF21Scheuchzer.
Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 620. Vid. Levin. Lemnii Herb. Bibl. Explicat. c. 19.
p. 60.
that as such like inflammations consist in a painful extension of the
fibres by the hinderance of the circulation of the blood
through the extreme
little arteries
which may be mitigated
or dissipated
or ripened
by such
things as are emollient and loosening
so consequently by figs; and
in a time
of pestilence
figs beaten together with butter and treacle have been applied
to plague of boils with great success; yet these figs being only a cake of dry
figs
and
the boil not only malignant
but deadly
and the cure so suddenly
performed
show that this was done not in a natural
but in a supernatural way
though means were directed to be made use of.
2 Kings 20:8 8 And Hezekiah said to
Isaiah
“What is the sign that the Lord will heal me
and that I
shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?”
YLT
8And Hezekiah saith unto
Isaiah
`What [is] the sign that Jehovah doth give healing to me
that I have
gone up on the third day to the house of Jehovah?'
And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah
.... Or "had
said"
F23ויאמר "dixerat
autem"
V. L. Vatablus. before the plaster of figs was directed to
or
however
laid on
and as soon as he was told he should be healed:
what shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me
and that I
shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day? not that he
disbelieved the promise of God
or doubted of a cure
but this he requested for
the confirmation of his faith; which good men sometimes asked
when they
doubted not
as Gideon; and Ahaz
Hezekiah's father
was bid to ask a sign for
the like purpose
and it was resented in him that he did not
see Judges 6:17.
2 Kings 20:9 9 Then Isaiah said
“This is
the sign to you from the Lord
that the Lord
will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten
degrees or go backward ten degrees?”
YLT
9And Isaiah saith
`This
[is] to thee the sign from Jehovah
that Jehovah doth the thing that He hath
spoken -- The shadow hath gone on ten degrees
or it doth turn back ten
degrees?'
And Isaiah said
this sign shalt thou have of the Lord
that the
Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken
.... Cure him of his
disorder
so that he should be able to go to the temple on the third day:
shall the shadow go forward ten degrees
or go back ten degrees? that is
the
shadow of the sun on a dial plate; it was left to his option to choose which he
would
as the confirming sign of his recovery.
2 Kings 20:10 10 And Hezekiah answered
“It
is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no
but let the shadow
go backward ten degrees.”
YLT
10And Hezekiah saith
`It
hath been light for the shadow to incline ten degrees: nay
but let the shadow
turn backward ten degrees.'
And Hezekiah answered
it is a light thing for the shadow to go
down ten degrees
.... That is
it was comparatively so
otherwise to go down ten
degrees at once would be extraordinary and miraculous; but that was more
agreeable to the nature and course of it to go forward
and so the miracle
would be less apparent:
nay
but let the shadow return backward ten degrees; which was
directly contrary to its natural order and course
whereby the miracle would
appear more clear and manifest: these degrees are by some saidF24Weemse's
Christ. Synagog. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 6. p. 167. See his Exposition of the
Judicial Laws
c. 25. p. 90. &c. to be half hours
and not full ones
since
it is observed the sun shines not twenty full hours on any dial
unless under
the pole; the sun is supposed to have been now at the fifth full hour; the sun
was brought back five whole hours
then came forward five
then came forward
two degrees
or one hour
to the sixth hour; which made sixteen; then it was
six hours to sunset; so that day was prolonged twenty two hours: the ChineseF25Martin.
Sinic. Hist. l. 4. p. 138. relate
that
in the time of Kingcungus
the planet
Mars
for sake of the king
went back three degrees.
2 Kings 20:11 11 So Isaiah the prophet
cried out to the Lord
and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward
by which it had gone down on
the sundial of Ahaz.
YLT
11And Isaiah the prophet
calleth unto Jehovah
and He bringeth back the shadow by the degrees that it
had gone down in the degrees of Ahaz -- backward ten degrees.
And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord
.... Or
prayed
as the Targum; and was very earnest in prayer
that what Hezekiah had
desired might be granted:
and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward
by which it had
gone down in the dial of Ahaz; Ben Gersom understands it not of the sun
itself
but of the shadow of it only; See Gill on Isaiah 38:8.
2 Kings 20:12 12 At that time
Berodach-Baladan[a] the son of
Baladan
king of Babylon
sent letters and a present to Hezekiah
for he heard
that Hezekiah had been sick.
YLT
12At that time hath Berodach-Baladan
son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah
for he
heard that Hezekiah had been sick;
Verses 12-19
At that time Berodachbaladan
.... He is called
Merodachbaladan
Isaiah 39:1
so
here in the Septuagint
Syriac
and Arabic versions; See Gill on Isaiah 39:1; and by
MetasthenesF26Ut supra. (De Judicio Temp. fol. 221. 2.) his father
is called Merodach
and he Ben Merodach
who reigned twenty one years
and his
father fifty two; from hence to the end of 2 Kings 20:12 the
same account is given in the same words as in Isaiah 39:1
throughout
except in 2 Kings 20:13
where it is
"hearkened unto them"
and there
"glad of
them"; heard the letter the ambassadors brought with pleasure; see the
notes there. See Gill on Isaiah 39:1 and
following.
2 Kings 20:13 13 And Hezekiah was attentive
to them
and showed them all the house of his treasures—the silver and gold
the spices and precious ointment
and all[b] his
armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house
or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
YLT
13and Hezekiah hearkeneth
unto them
and sheweth them all the house of his treasury
the silver
and the
gold
and the spices
and the good ointment
and all the house of his vessels
and all that hath been found in his treasuries; there hath not been a thing
that Hezekiah hath not shewed them
in his house
and in all his dominion.
2 Kings 20:14 14 Then Isaiah the prophet
went to King Hezekiah
and said to him
“What did these men say
and from where
did they come to you?” So Hezekiah said
“They came from a far country
from
Babylon.”
YLT
14And Isaiah the prophet
cometh in unto king Hezekiah
and saith unto him
`What said these men? and
whence come they unto thee?' And Hezekiah saith
`From a land afar off they
have come -- from Babylon.'
2 Kings 20:15 15 And he said
“What have
they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah answered
“They have seen all that is
in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”
YLT
15And he saith
`What saw
they in thy house?' and Hezekiah saith
`All that [is] in my house they saw;
there hath not been a thing that I have not shewed them among my treasures.'
2 Kings 20:16 16 Then Isaiah said to
Hezekiah
“Hear the word of the Lord:
YLT
16And Isaiah saith unto
Hezekiah
`Hear a word of Jehovah:
2 Kings 20:17 17 ‘Behold
the days are
coming when all that is in your house
and what your fathers have
accumulated until this day
shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be
left
’ says the Lord.
YLT
17Lo
days are coming
and
borne hath been all that [is] in thy house
and that thy father have treasured
up till this day
to Babylon; there is not left a thing
said Jehovah;
2 Kings 20:18 18 ‘And they shall take away
some of your sons who will descend from you
whom you will beget; and they
shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
YLT
18and of thy sons who go out
from thee
whom thou begettest
they take away
and they have been eunuchs in
the palace of the king of Babylon.'
2 Kings 20:19 19 So Hezekiah said to Isaiah
“The word of the Lord
which you have spoken is good!” For he said
“Will there not be peace
and truth at least in my days?”
YLT
19And Hezekiah saith unto
Isaiah
`Good [is] the word of Jehovah that thou hast spoken;' and he saith
`Is it not -- if peace and truth are in my days?'
2 Kings 20:20 20 Now the rest of the acts
of Hezekiah—all his might
and how he made a pool and a tunnel and brought
water into the city—are they not written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of Judah?
YLT
20And the rest of the matters
of Hezekiah
and all his might
and how he made the pool
and the conduit
and
bringeth in the waters to the city
are they not written on the book of the
Chronicles of the kings of Judah?
And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah
and all his might
.... Which he
exerted in his wars with his enemies
and in the reformation of religion
and
abolition of idolatry:
and how he made a pool
and a conduit
and brought water into the
city; at the same time that he cut it off from the enemy without
see 2 Chronicles 32:3
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Judah? a book often referred to in this history
but since lost; many
of his acts are recorded in the canonical book of Chronicles
2 Chronicles 29:1.
2 Kings 20:21 21 So Hezekiah rested with
his fathers. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
YLT
21And Hezekiah lieth with his
fathers
and reign doth Manasseh his son in his stead.
And Hezekiah slept with his fathers
.... Died
as they did;
no mention is here made of the place of his burial
but there is in 2 Chronicles 32:33
where he is said to be buried in the principal part of the sepulchres of the
sons of David
and to have honour done him at his death by the inhabitants of
Judah and Jerusalem
by the vast concourse of people attending his interment
and by burning spices for him
and making a public mourning on his account a
certain stated time:
and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead; of whose wicked
reign an account is given in the next chapter.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)