Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: 2 Kings 18:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
2Ki 18:1	Strong Concordance	Now it came to pass in the third [07969] year [08141] of Hoshea [01954] son [01121] of Elah [0425] king [04428] of Israel [03478], that Hezekiah [02396] the son [01121] of Ahaz [0271] king [04428] of Judah [03063] began to reign [04427].
	King James	Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
HEZEKIAH'S GOOD REIGN. (Kg2 18:1-3) Hezekiah . . . began to reign. Twenty and five years old--According to this statement (compare Kg2 16:2), he must have been born when his father Ahaz was no more than eleven years old. Paternity at an age so early is not unprecedented in the warm climates of the south, where the human frame is matured sooner than in our northern regions. But the case admits of solution in a different way. It was customary for the later kings of Israel to assume their son and heir into partnership in the government during their lives; and as Hezekiah began to reign in the third year of Hoshea (Kg2 18:1), and Hoshea in the twelfth year of Ahaz (Kg2 17:1), it is evident that Hezekiah began to reign in the fourteenth year of Ahaz his father, and so reigned two or three years before his father's death. So that, at the beginning of his reign in conjunction with his father, he might be only twenty-two or twenty-three, and Ahaz a few years older than the common calculation makes him. Or the case may be solved thus: As the ancient writers, in the computation of time, take notice of the year they mention, whether finished or newly begun, so Ahaz might be near twenty-one years old at the beginning of his reign, and near seventeen years older at his death; while, on the other hand, Hezekiah, when he began to reign, might be just entering into his twenty-fifth year, and so Ahaz would be near fourteen years old when his son Hezekiah was born--no uncommon age for a young man to become a father in southern latitudes [PATRICK].

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

HEZEKIAH'S GOOD REIGN. (Kg2 18:1-3)

Hezekiah . . . began to reign. Twenty and five years old--According to this statement (compare Kg2 16:2), he must have been born when his father Ahaz was no more than eleven years old. Paternity at an age so early is not unprecedented in the warm climates of the south, where the human frame is matured sooner than in our northern regions. But the case admits of solution in a different way. It was customary for the later kings of Israel to assume their son and heir into partnership in the government during their lives; and as Hezekiah began to reign in the third year of Hoshea (Kg2 18:1), and Hoshea in the twelfth year of Ahaz (Kg2 17:1), it is evident that Hezekiah began to reign in the fourteenth year of Ahaz his father, and so reigned two or three years before his father's death. So that, at the beginning of his reign in conjunction with his father, he might be only twenty-two or twenty-three, and Ahaz a few years older than the common calculation makes him. Or the case may be solved thus: As the ancient writers, in the computation of time, take notice of the year they mention, whether finished or newly begun, so Ahaz might be near twenty-one years old at the beginning of his reign, and near seventeen years older at his death; while, on the other hand, Hezekiah, when he began to reign, might be just entering into his twenty-fifth year, and so Ahaz would be near fourteen years old when his son Hezekiah was born--no uncommon age for a young man to become a father in southern latitudes [PATRICK].

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
In the third year - If Hoshea ascended the throne toward the close of the 12th year of Ahaz Kg2 17:1, and if Ahaz reigned not much more than 15 years Kg2 16:2, the first of Hezekiah might synchronise in part with Hoshea's third year. Hezekiah - The name given by our translators follows the Greek form, Ἐζεκίας Ezekias, rather than the Hebrew, which is Hizkiah. Its meaning is "strength of Yahweh."

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Kg2 18:1-2 Length and character of Hezekiah's reign. (Note: On comparing the account of Hezekiah's reign given in our books (2 Kings 18-20) with that in 2 Chron 29-32, the different plans of these two historical works are at once apparent. The prophetic author of our books first of all describes quite briefly the character of the king's reign (Kg2 18:1-8), and then gives an elaborate description of the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib and of his attempt to get Jerusalem into his power, together with the destruction of the proud Assyrian force and Sennacherib's hasty return to Nineveh and death (Kg2 18:13-19, Kg2 18:37); and finally, he also gives a circumstantial account of Hezekiah's illness and recovery, and also of the arrival of the Babylonian embassy in Jerusalem, and of Hezekiah's conduct on that occasion (2 Kings 20). The chronicler, on the other hand, has fixed his chief attention upon the religious reformation carried out by Hezekiah, and therefore first of all describes most elaborately the purification of the temple from all idolatrous abominations, the restoration of the Jehovah-cultus and the feast of passover, to which Hezekiah invited all the people, not only the subjects of his own kingdom, but the remnant of the ten tribes also (2 Chron 29-31); and then simply gives in 2 Kings 32 the most summary account of the attack made by Sennacherib upon Jerusalem and the destruction of his army, of the sickness and recovery of Hezekiah, and of his great riches, the Babylonian embassy being touched upon in only the most casual manner. The historical character of the elaborate accounts given in the Chronicles of Hezekiah's reform of worship and his celebration of the passover, which Thenius follows De Wette and Gramberg in throwing doubt upon, has been most successfully defended by Bertheau as well as others. - On the disputed question, in what year of Hezekiah's reign the solemn passover instituted by him fell, see the thorough discussion of it by C. P. Caspari (Beitrr. z. Einleit. in d. B. Jesaia, pp. 109ff.), and our Commentary on the Chronicles, which has yet to appear.) Kg2 18:1, Kg2 18:2. In the third year of Hoshea of Israel, Hezekiah became king over Judah, when he was twenty-five years old. According to Kg2 18:9, Kg2 18:10, the fourth and sixth years of Hezekiah corresponded to the seventh and ninth of Hoshea; consequently his first year apparently ran parallel to the fourth of Hoshea, so that Josephus (Ant. ix. 13, 1) represents him as having ascended the throne in the fourth year of Hoshea's reign. But there is no necessity for this alteration. If we assume that the commencement of his reign took place towards the close of the third year of Hoshea, the fourth and sixth years of his reign coincided for the most part with the sixth and ninth years of Hoshea's reign. The name הזקיּה or הזקיּהוּ (Kg2 18:9, Kg2 18:13, etc.) is given in its complete form יהזקיּהוּ, "whom Jehovah strengthens," in 2 Chr. 29ff. and Isa 1:1; and והזקיּה in Hos 1:1 and Mic 1:1. On his age when he ascended the throne, see the Comm. on Kg2 16:2. The name of his mother, אבי, is a strongly contracted form of אבי (Ch2 29:1). Kg2 18:3-4 As ruler Hezekiah walked in the footsteps of his ancestor David. He removed the high places and the other objects of idolatrous worship, trusted in Jehovah, and adhered firmly to Him without wavering; therefore the Lord made all his undertakings prosper. הבּמות, המּצּבית, and האשׁרה (see at Kg1 14:23) embrace all the objects of idolatrous worship, which had been introduced into Jerusalem and Judah in the reigns of the former kings, and more especially in that of Ahaz. The singular האשׁרה is used in a collective sense = האשׁרים (Ch2 31:1). The only other idol that is specially mentioned is the brazen serpent which Moses made in the wilderness (Num 21:8-9), and which the people with their leaning to idolatry had turned in the course of time into an object of idolatrous worship. The words, "to this day were the children of Israel burning incense to it," do not mean that this took place without interruption from the time of Moses down to that of Hezekiah, but simply, that it occurred at intervals, and that the idolatry carried on with this idol lasted till the time of Hezekiah, namely, till this king broke in pieces the brazen serpent, because of the idolatry that was associated with it. For further remarks on the meaning of this symbol, see the Comm. on Num 21:8-9. The people called (ויּקרא, one called) this serpent נחשׁתּן, i.e., a brazen thing. This epithet does not involve anything contemptuous, as the earlier commentators supposed, nor the idea of "Brass-god" (Ewald). Kg2 18:5 The verdict, "after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah," refers to Hezekiah's confidence in God (בּטח), in which he had no equal, whereas in the case of Josiah his conscientious adherence to the Mosaic law is extolled in the same words (Kg2 23:25); so that there is no ground for saying that there is a contradiction between our verse and Kg2 23:25 (Thenius). Kg2 18:6 בּיי ידבּק: he adhered faithfully to Jehovah (דּבק as in Kg1 11:2), and departed not from Him, i.e., he never gave himself up to idolatry. Kg2 18:7 The Lord therefore gave him success in all his undertakings (השׂכּיל, see at Kg1 2:3), and even in his rebellion against the king of Assyria, whom he no longer served, i.e., to whom he paid no more tribute. It was through Ahaz that Judah had been brought into dependence upon Assyria; and Hezekiah released himself from this, by refusing to pay any more tribute, probably after the departure of Salmanasar from Palestine, and possibly not till after the death of that king. Sennacherib therefore made war upon Hezekiah to subjugate Judah to himself again (see Kg2 18:13.). Kg2 18:8 Hezekiah smote the Philistines to Gaza, and their territory from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city, i.e., all the towns from the least to the greatest (see at Kg2 17:9). He thus chastised these enemies for their invasion of Judah in the time of Ahaz, wrested from them the cities which they had taken at that time (Ch2 28:18), and laid waste all their country to Gaza, i.e., Ghuzzeh, the most southerly of the chief cities of Philistia (see at Jos 13:3). This probably took place after the defeat of Sennacherib (cf. Ch2 32:22-23).

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Now - in the third year of Hoshea - See the note on Kg2 16:1 (note), where this chronology is considered.

Top

¹ In the twelfth [08147] [06240] year [08141] of Ahaz [0271] king [04428] of Judah [03063] began Hoshea [01954] the son [01121] of Elah [0425] to reign [04427] in Samaria [08111] over Israel [03478] nine [08672] years [08141].

² Twenty [06242] years [08141] old [01121] was Ahaz [0271] when he began to reign [04427], and reigned [04427] sixteen [08337] [06240] years [08141] in Jerusalem [03389], and did [06213] not that which was right [03477] in the sight [05869] of the LORD [03068] his God [0430], like David [01732] his father [01].

²² Thus the LORD [03068] saved [03467] Hezekiah [03169] and the inhabitants [03427] of Jerusalem [03389] from the hand [03027] of Sennacherib [05576] the king [04428] of Assyria [0804], and from the hand [03027] of all other, and guided [05095] them on every side [05439].
²³ And many [07227] brought [0935] gifts [04503] unto the LORD [03068] to Jerusalem [03389], and presents [04030] to Hezekiah [03169] king [04428] of Judah [03063]: so that he was magnified [05375] in the sight [05869] of all nations [01471] from thenceforth [0310].

³ From Sihor [07883], which is before [06440] Egypt [04714], even unto the borders [01366] of Ekron [06138] northward [06828], which is counted [02803] to the Canaanite [03669]: five [02568] lords [05633] of the Philistines [06430]; the Gazathites [05841], and the Ashdothites [0796], the Eshkalonites [0832], the Gittites [01663], and the Ekronites [06139]; also the Avites [05761]:

¹⁸ The Philistines [06430] also had invaded [06584] the cities [05892] of the low country [08219], and of the south [05045] of Judah [03063], and had taken [03920] Bethshemesh [01053], and Ajalon [0357], and Gederoth [01450], and Shocho [07755] with the villages [01323] thereof, and Timnah [08553] with the villages [01323] thereof, Gimzo [01579] also and the villages [01323] thereof: and they dwelt [03427] there.

⁹ And the children [01121] of Israel [03478] did secretly [02644] those things [01697] that were not right against the LORD [03068] their God [0430], and they built [01129] them high places [01116] in all their cities [05892], from the tower [04026] of the watchmen [05341] to the fenced [04013] city [05892].

⁸ He smote [05221] the Philistines [06430], even unto Gaza [05804], and the borders [01366] thereof, from the tower [04026] of the watchmen [05341] to the fenced [04013] city [05892].

³ And keep [08104] the charge [04931] of the LORD [03068] thy God [0430], to walk [03212] in his ways [01870], to keep [08104] his statutes [02708], and his commandments [04687], and his judgments [04941], and his testimonies [05715], as it is written [03789] in the law [08451] of Moses [04872], that thou mayest prosper [07919] in all that thou doest [06213], and whithersoever thou turnest [06437] thyself:

⁷ And the LORD [03068] was with him; and he prospered [07919] whithersoever he went forth [03318]: and he rebelled [04775] against the king [04428] of Assyria [0804], and served [05647] him not.

² Of the nations [01471] concerning which the LORD [03068] said [0559] unto the children [01121] of Israel [03478], Ye shall not go in [0935] to them, neither shall they come in [0935] unto you: for surely [0403] they will turn away [05186] your heart [03824] after [0310] their gods [0430]: Solomon [08010] clave [01692] unto these in love [0157].

⁶ For he clave [01692] to the LORD [03068], and departed [05493] not from following [0310] him, but kept [08104] his commandments [04687], which the LORD [03068] commanded [06680] Moses [04872].

²⁵ And like unto him was there no king [04428] before [06440] him, that turned [07725] to the LORD [03068] with all his heart [03824], and with all his soul [05315], and with all his might [03966], according to all the law [08451] of Moses [04872]; neither after [0310] him arose [06965] there any like him.

⁵ He trusted [0982] in the LORD [03068] God [0430] of Israel [03478]; so that after [0310] him was none like him among all the kings [04428] of Judah [03063], nor any that were before [06440] him.

⁸ And the LORD [03068] said [0559] unto Moses [04872], Make [06213] thee a fiery serpent [08314], and set [07760] it upon a pole [05251]: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten [05391], when he looketh [07200] upon it, shall live [02425].
⁹ And Moses [04872] made [06213] a serpent [05175] of brass [05178], and put [07760] it upon a pole [05251], and it came to pass, that if a serpent [05175] had bitten [05391] any man [0376], when he beheld [05027] the serpent [05175] of brass [05178], he lived [02425].

¹ Now when all this was finished [03615], all Israel [03478] that were present [04672] went out [03318] to the cities [05892] of Judah [03063], and brake [07665] the images [04676] in pieces [07665], and cut down [01438] the groves [0842], and threw down [05422] the high places [01116] and the altars [04196] out of all Judah [03063] and Benjamin [01144], in Ephraim [0669] also and Manasseh [04519], until they had utterly destroyed [03615] them all. Then all the children [01121] of Israel [03478] returned [07725], every man [0376] to his possession [0272], into their own cities [05892].

²³ For they also built [01129] them high places [01116], and images [04676], and groves [0842], on every high [01364] hill [01389], and under every green [07488] tree [06086].

³ And he did [06213] that which was right [03477] in the sight [05869] of the LORD [03068], according to all that David [01732] his father [01] did [06213].
⁴ He removed [05493] the high places [01116], and brake [07665] the images [04676], and cut down [03772] the groves [0842], and brake in pieces [03807] the brasen [05178] serpent [05175] that Moses [04872] had made [06213]: for unto those days [03117] the children [01121] of Israel [03478] did burn incense [06999] to it: and he called [07121] it Nehushtan [05180].

¹ Hezekiah [03169] began to reign [04427] when he was five [02568] and twenty [06242] years [08141] old [01121], and he reigned [04427] nine [08672] and twenty [06242] years [08141] in Jerusalem [03389]. And his mother's [0517] name [08034] was Abijah [029], the daughter [01323] of Zechariah [02148].

¹ The word [01697] of the LORD [03068] that came to Micah [04318] the Morasthite [04183] in the days [03117] of Jotham [03147], Ahaz [0271], and Hezekiah [03169], kings [04428] of Judah [03063], which he saw [02372] concerning Samaria [08111] and Jerusalem [03389].

¹ The word [01697] of the LORD [03068] that came unto Hosea [01954], the son [01121] of Beeri [0882], in the days [03117] of Uzziah [05818], Jotham [03147], Ahaz [0271], and Hezekiah [03169], kings [04428] of Judah [03063], and in the days [03117] of Jeroboam [03379] the son [01121] of Joash [03101], king [04428] of Israel [03478].

¹ The vision [02377] of Isaiah [03470] the son [01121] of Amoz [0531], which he saw [02372] concerning Judah [03063] and Jerusalem [03389] in the days [03117] of Uzziah [05818], Jotham [03147], Ahaz [0271], and Hezekiah [03169], kings [04428] of Judah [03063].

⁹ And it came to pass in the fourth [07243] year [08141] of king [04428] Hezekiah [02396], which was the seventh [07637] year [08141] of Hoshea [01954] son [01121] of Elah [0425] king [04428] of Israel [03478], that Shalmaneser [08022] king [04428] of Assyria [0804] came up [05927] against Samaria [08111], and besieged [06696] it.

¹⁰ And at the end [07097] of three [07969] years [08141] they took [03920] it: even in the sixth [08337] year [08141] of Hezekiah [02396], that is the ninth [08672] year [08141] of Hoshea [01954] king [04428] of Israel [03478], Samaria [08111] was taken [03920].

² Twenty [06242] and five [02568] years [08141] old [01121] was he when he began to reign [04427]; and he reigned [04427] twenty [06242] and nine [08672] years [08141] in Jerusalem [03389]. His mother's [0517] name [08034] also was Abi [021], the daughter [01323] of Zachariah [02148].

³⁷ Then came [0935] Eliakim [0471] the son [01121] of Hilkiah [02518], which was over the household [01004], and Shebna [07644] the scribe [05608], and Joah [03098] the son [01121] of Asaph [0623] the recorder [02142], to Hezekiah [02396] with their clothes [0899] rent [07167], and told [05046] him the words [01697] of Rabshakeh [07262].

¹³ Now in the fourteenth [0702] [06240] year [08141] of king [04428] Hezekiah [02396] did Sennacherib [05576] king [04428] of Assyria [0804] come up [05927] against all the fenced [01219] cities [05892] of Judah [03063], and took [08610] them.
¹⁴ And Hezekiah [02396] king [04428] of Judah [03063] sent [07971] to the king [04428] of Assyria [0804] to Lachish [03923], saying [0559], I have offended [02398]; return [07725] from me: that which thou puttest [05414] on me will I bear [05375]. And the king [04428] of Assyria [0804] appointed [07760] unto Hezekiah [02396] king [04428] of Judah [03063] three [07969] hundred [03967] talents [03603] of silver [03701] and thirty [07970] talents [03603] of gold [02091].
¹⁵ And Hezekiah [02396] gave [05414] him all the silver [03701] that was found [04672] in the house [01004] of the LORD [03068], and in the treasures [0214] of the king's [04428] house [01004].
¹⁶ At that time [06256] did Hezekiah [02396] cut off [07112] the gold from the doors [01817] of the temple [01964] of the LORD [03068], and from the pillars [0547] which Hezekiah [02396] king [04428] of Judah [03063] had overlaid [06823], and gave [05414] it to the king [04428] of Assyria [0804].
¹⁷ And the king [04428] of Assyria [0804] sent [07971] Tartan [08661] and Rabsaris [07249] and Rabshakeh [07262] from Lachish [03923] to king [04428] Hezekiah [02396] with a great [03515] host [02426] against Jerusalem [03389]. And they went up [05927] and came [0935] to Jerusalem [03389]. And when they were come up [05927], they came [0935] and stood [05975] by the conduit [08585] of the upper [05945] pool [01295], which is in the highway [04546] of the fuller's [03526] field [07704].
¹⁸ And when they had called [07121] to the king [04428], there came out [03318] to them Eliakim [0471] the son [01121] of Hilkiah [02518], which was over the household [01004], and Shebna [07644] the scribe [05608], and Joah [03098] the son [01121] of Asaph [0623] the recorder [02142].
¹⁹ And Rabshakeh [07262] said [0559] unto them, Speak [0559] ye now to Hezekiah [02396], Thus saith [0559] the great [01419] king [04428], the king [04428] of Assyria [0804], What confidence [0986] is this wherein thou trustest [0982]?

¹ Now it came to pass in the third [07969] year [08141] of Hoshea [01954] son [01121] of Elah [0425] king [04428] of Israel [03478], that Hezekiah [02396] the son [01121] of Ahaz [0271] king [04428] of Judah [03063] began to reign [04427].
² Twenty [06242] and five [02568] years [08141] old [01121] was he when he began to reign [04427]; and he reigned [04427] twenty [06242] and nine [08672] years [08141] in Jerusalem [03389]. His mother's [0517] name [08034] also was Abi [021], the daughter [01323] of Zachariah [02148].
³ And he did [06213] that which was right [03477] in the sight [05869] of the LORD [03068], according to all that David [01732] his father [01] did [06213].
⁴ He removed [05493] the high places [01116], and brake [07665] the images [04676], and cut down [03772] the groves [0842], and brake in pieces [03807] the brasen [05178] serpent [05175] that Moses [04872] had made [06213]: for unto those days [03117] the children [01121] of Israel [03478] did burn incense [06999] to it: and he called [07121] it Nehushtan [05180].
⁵ He trusted [0982] in the LORD [03068] God [0430] of Israel [03478]; so that after [0310] him was none like him among all the kings [04428] of Judah [03063], nor any that were before [06440] him.
⁶ For he clave [01692] to the LORD [03068], and departed [05493] not from following [0310] him, but kept [08104] his commandments [04687], which the LORD [03068] commanded [06680] Moses [04872].
⁷ And the LORD [03068] was with him; and he prospered [07919] whithersoever he went forth [03318]: and he rebelled [04775] against the king [04428] of Assyria [0804], and served [05647] him not.
⁸ He smote [05221] the Philistines [06430], even unto Gaza [05804], and the borders [01366] thereof, from the tower [04026] of the watchmen [05341] to the fenced [04013] city [05892].

¹ In the seventeenth [07651] [06240] [08141] year [08141] of Pekah [06492] the son [01121] of Remaliah [07425] Ahaz [0271] the son [01121] of Jotham [03147] king [04428] of Judah [03063] began to reign [04427].