CHRIST 710. CHAP. XIX. Hezekiah's prayer. Before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. + Heb. given. 16 LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. 17 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, 18 And have † cast their gods into the fire for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Isaiah's prophecy. sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. 22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. Before CHRIST 710. hand of. 23+ By thy messengers thou hast + Heb. By the reproached the LORD, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar Heb. the trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into 20 ¶ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz forest of his Carmel. 19 Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only. issue of it, is the example of the good king Hezekiah, who, when he had received that letter of defiance and blasphemy from the king of Assyria, went into the temple, and "spread it before the Lord;" and by his prayer obtained a signal deliverance to himself and his people. We cannot even present ourselves before God, without this good effect, that we are thereby instantly detached from the world which troubles us. We dare not, we cannot, give way to the weaknesses of our nature while his eye is upon us to restrain us. Jones of Nayland. — spread it before the Lord.] Spread it before the sanctuary, where the symbol of God's presence resided. Bp. Patrick. Hezekiah had before received an assurance of protection against Sennacherib; yet here we find he does not slight these repeated threatenings, upon a presumption of his interest with God; but, with a becoming modesty, and a humble fear, he lays the affair again before God, and betakes himself to prayer. This teaches us in every emergency, however promising be our prospect of success, not to be too secure, or too presuming; much less to trust to any former acts of piety or devotion; but still to commit all to God by humble prayer. Wogan. 15.-thou art the God,-of all the kingdoms of the earth;] He here directly opposes the blasphemous opinion of the Assyrians before mentioned, (ch. xvii. 27; xviii. 35,) that the God of Israel was only the particular Lord of that country, not the Creator and Sovereign of the whole world. Bp. Patrick. 20. That which thou hast prayed-I have heard.] If God before was ready to give the messengers of Hezekiah, ver. 6, an immediate answer by his Prophet, here He shews still greater forwardness to hear and relieve his faithful servant. The king is now favoured with an answer to his prayer; he sends not to the Prophet, but the Prophet sends to him. How great is the effect of pious and repeated prayer! how sweet the influence of Divine mercy! God verifies his attributes tallness, the or, the forest and his fruitful field. by relieving his people that pray to Him; and by a speedy return to their prayers, not only confirms their faith, but improves it into a full assurance of his favour and goodness. Wogan. 21. The virgin the daughter of Zion &c.] By "the daughter of Zion" he means the people that inhabited the upper part of the city where the king's palace stood; and by "the daughter of Jerusalem," the people of the lower city, and all that were not comprehended under the name of Zion. He calls the daughter of Zion "a virgin," because this fortress, since the conquest of it by David, had remained inviolable, and had not been taken by any enemy. Bp. Patrick. 23. — With the multitude of my chariots &c.] This is an admirable description of the boastings of a king, puffed up with great success, and is as much as if he had said, "What place is there into which I cannot make my way; since I have gone, even in my chariots, to the tops of high mountains? Who shall hinder me from cutting down the tallest cedars and firs of Lebanon, marching to the extreme borders of the land, and climbing up to the top of Carmel, (or entering into all the fruitful places of the country,) by making an entire conquest of it?" for Carmel often signifies not the mountain of that name, but a fruitful field, in the language of this Prophet; see Isa. x. 18; xvi. 10. Bp. Patrick. Cities in the prophetical writings are sometimes metaphorically represented by woods or forests, and the several ranks of inhabitants by the taller and lesser trees which grow there; see Isa. xxxii. 19; x. 34. And this sense perhaps best agrees with the scope of this passage, which is, to set forth the proud brags of the Assyrian in a figure of pompous rhetorick, and to represent him as threatening to take mount Zion and the capital city Jerusalem, and destroy their principal inhabitants. Lowth. I will enter into the lodgings of his borders,] At Isa. xxxvii. 24, the words are, I will enter into the height of his border;" I will take possession of the Isaiah's prophecy concerning Before CHRIST 710. || Or, fenced. Or, Hast thou not have made it KINGS. II. 25 Hast thou not heard long ago heard how I how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps. long ago, and formed it of times? should I now bring it to be laid waste, and fenced cities to be ruinous heaps? + Heb. short of hand. || Or, sitting. 26 Therefore their inhabitants were the destruction of Sennacherib, 28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. 29 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. Before CHRIST 710. Heb. the the house of escaping of 30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear Judah that fruit upward. remaineth. 31 For out of Jerusalem shall forth a remnant, and they that es- escaping. + Heb. the principal parts of his dominions: such were Lebanon embankment to guard against their inundations." Dr. and Carmel esteemed. 25. Hast thou not heard &c.] These are the words of God, in answer to the boasts of the proud Assyrian, in which He puts him in mind that all his successes ought to be ascribed to God, that his providence overruled these events, and brought them to pass in their appointed time, and made him the instrument of vengeance upon such cities as deserved utter destruction, and weakened the inhabitants so that they were unable to defend themselves. Lowth. 27.I know thy abode, &c.] God informs him that none of his designs were hid from his all-seeing eye; that He perfectly knew how much ill will he bore against his city and sanctuary; and as the successes he had obtained were owing to Him, so He could put a stop to them when He pleased. The phrase of going out and coming in, is frequently used in Scripture for leading out armies to war, and bringing them home again. Lowth. with the sole of my feet have I dried up &c.] Meaning, that he had gone dry shod with his whole army over great rivers, whose streams he had turned, and so had taken the strongest fortresses. Bp. Patrick. He seems to boast, that he could as easily turn the waters of great rivers, and cause their channels to become dry, as a gardener stops water from flowing any longer in by the sole of his foot. Thus the whole verse may be an allusion to the method of watering by rills, customary in the East. "I have digged and drunk, and caused my army to drink, out of new made rivers, 29. And this shall be a sign unto thee,] The Prophet into which I have conducted the waters that used to proceeds to assure the king, that, although the Assyrian flow elsewhere, and have laid those old channels dry army had greatly wasted his country and destroyed the with the sole of my foot, with as much ease as a gar- fruits of it; and though the ensuing year was the sabdener digs channels in his garden, and directing the batical year, in which they were neither to sow nor reap, waters of a cistern into a new channel, stops up with but to live on the natural produce of the ground; yet his foot that in which it before ran." In confirmation they should have so good a self-sown crop, as to supply of this, it is related by Thevenot, that this method of them till they should sow and reap again with peace watering by rills is still in use in those countries from and plenty. Pyle. How abundant is God's mercy to which Sennacherib came, continued down no doubt them that fear Him! Here He not only fights for his from ancient times, as it is in Egypt. Harmer. See the ancient people, and destroys their enemies, but connote on Deut. xi. 10. "Strange waters" are those firms his promise of mercy by another extraordinary brought from distant parts by pipes or conduits, or by mercy: not only saves them from the misery of death, canals dug for the purpose. Sennacherib is represented or captivity, but also from famine and want; restoring as boasting of his power, "I have digged and drunk the harvest, which the Assyrian invasion had interstrange waters, and with the sole of my feet have Icepted, and giving them two years' crop for the loss of dried up all the rivers of besieged places," or rather "of embankment:" the meaning of which I conceive to be, "I have caused waters to be brought from afar in canals, which I have digged for the supply of my army, which was SO numerous as to dry up in its passage even such large rivers, as required a dyke or 31. -the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.] His regard for his own honour, and his great love to his people, shall do these wonders; to vindicate his glory from that contempt which was cast upon it by Sennacherib. Bp. Patrick. Before CHRIST 710. An angel slayeth the Assyrians. night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 709. 37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of + Armenia. And Esarhaddon + Ararat. his son reigned in his stead. heat of its current plainly upon my face. We all fell upon our faces, until the Simoom passed on with a gentle ruffling wind. When the meteor or purple haze had passed, it was succeeded by a light air, which still blew so hot, as to threaten suffocation, which sometimes 32.-thus saith the Lord-He shall not come &c.] lasted three hours, and left the company totally enerImpotent men, what are we in the hands of the Al-vated and exhausted, labouring under asthmatick senmighty? We purpose, He overrules; we talk of great sations, weakness of stomach, and violent headaches, matters, and think we can perform wonders; He blasts from imbibing the poisonous vapour." It is remarkour projects, and they vanish with ourselves. Bp. Hall. able that the blast which destroyed the Assyrians hap35.--the angel of the Lord went out, and smote] How pened at night; whereas the Simoom usually blows in speedy an execution was this, and how miraculous! No the daytime, and mostly about noon, being raised by human arm shall have the glory of this victory. It was the intense heat of the sun. Dr. Hales. God that was defiled by this presumptuous Assyrian, it is God that shall right his own wrongs. Bp. Hall. Since it is no where expressed in Scripture in what manner this Assyrian army was destroyed, some have thought it was done by a plague, others by thunder and lightning, others by fire from heaven, others by a scorching wind, others by encountering each other in the obscurity of the night; but, by whatsoever means the defeat was effected, we have the authority of Scripture for saying, that it was done by the agency of a destroying angel. Calmet. The destruction of the army was probably effected by bringing on them the hot wind, which is frequent in those parts, and which often, when it falls on a multitude, destroys vast numbers in a moment, as frequently occurs to those great caravans of Mahometans who go on annual pilgrimages to Mecca. The words of Isaiah, ver. 7, which threatened Sennacherib with a blast, to be sent upon his army by God, seems to denote that this was the method of their destruction. Dean Prideaux. The instrument of vengeance was probably the blast, or hot pestilential south wind, blowing from the deserts of Libya, called the Samum, or Simoom, which is thus described by Mr. Bruce: and when they arose &c.] That is, when they who survived this dreadful slaughter arose "in the morning," for all were not slain, a small number were reserved to be the witnesses of a judgment so terrible, of a power so invincible, a power so superiour to Sennacherib, who had blasphemed the true God; a power so mighty to save the good Hezekiah, who had trusted in Him. The prodigious number of the slain were so many monuments of mercy to his people, of justice to his enemies, of his eternal power and Godhead to both. The few that remained were not only eye-witnesses of this great victory of the true God, and the triumph of his people, but were sent back into their own land, to proclaim and preach it there. Wogan. 37.-smote him with the sword:] It appears from Tobit i. 18, that Sennacherib, inflamed with rage for his loss and disappointment, grew cruel and tyrannical after his return, especially towards the Israelites, many of whom he caused every day to be slain, and cast into the streets; and that it was his intolerable cruelty which at last made his own family conspire against him. They were his two eldest sons who slew him, and fled in consequence into Armenia; so that Esarhaddon, his third son, reigned in his stead. Dean Prideaux. "This hot wind is called by the Arabs, Samum or Such was the tragical end of a king who had prosSimoom. It is generally preceded by an extreme red-pered to his own ruin; so intoxicated with his own sucness in the air, and usually blows from the S. E. or from the S. a little to the east. It appeared in the form of a haze, in colour like the purple part of a rainbow, but not so compressed, or thick: it was a kind of blush upon the air. The guide warned the company upon its approach to fall upon their faces, with their mouths close to the ground, and to hold their breath as long as they could, to avoid inhaling the outward air. It moved very rapidly, about twenty yards in breadth, and about twelve feet high from the ground; so that, says Bruce, I had scarcely time to turn about, and fall upon the earth with my head to the northward, when I felt the cess, and that of his ancestors, as to fancy that all the powers of heaven and earth were chained to his chariot wheels. Let every proud, insolent, blaspheming wretch, who has used his mouth to pour out horrid blasphemies against Heaven, look upon Sennacherib, and learn to humble himself with the lowliest penitence and meekness before that omnipotent Being, who is thus able to abase the loftiest of the sons of men that shall presume to exalt and magnify themselves against Him. God has declared in a most emphatical manner, that, of all sorts of sinners, He beholds the proud with peculiar indignation and aversion. And such proud men are II. KINGS. 1 Hezekiah, having received a message of death, by prayer hath his life lengthened. 8 The sun goeth ten degrees backward for a sign of that promise. 12 Berodach-baladan sending to visit Hezekiah, because of the wonder, hath notice of his treasures. 14 Isaiah understanding thereof foretelleth the Babylonian captivity. 20 Manasseh suc ceedeth Hezekiah. Na IN those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, + Heb. Give Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. charge concerning thine house. 2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, 3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah + Heb. with wept + sore. a great weeping. Or, city. 4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle || court, all they who profanely curse and swear, and treat the Deity and sacred things with irreverent language. Such proud men are they who, being often reproved, harden their hearts, hear the Divine threatenings without receiving due impressions from them, reject the laws of God to follow their own lusts, and do that which is good in their own eyes. Such proud men are they who, being considerable in this world, demean themselves as if they were above the worship of God, and endeavour to persuade or terrify others to depart from some duty of piety or virtue out of respect to them; and so to please them rather than God. Such proud men are they who depend, in any circumstances, on their arms, their numbers, their wealth, their skill, or any creature, more than their Creator, and are not careful to see that their undertakings be pleasing to God, and to engage his assistance and blessing, as their main and first support. Let such look upon Sennacherib, and learn to fear God. For they are in the same way of destruction with him: and, though it may not overtake them in this world, it is reserved for them in the next for God beholdeth the proud afar off; He will never suffer them to dwell in his presence. Reading. Chap. XX. This chapter is to be compared with 2 Chron. xxxii. 24, &c. and Isaiah xxxviii. and xxxix. Ver. 1. In those days was Hezekiah sick] Though this sickness of Hezekiah is thus placed after the defeat and death of Sennacherib, yet it plainly happened before that time; for the promise is made at ver. 6, that Jerusalem should be delivered out of the hands of the king of Assyria. It probably happened, indeed, in the very same year; and the sacred writer deferred the account of it in order that he might give the history of Sennacherib in one continued view. Calmet. 2.-turned his face to the wall,] The beds of the Hebrews were placed with their sides against the wall The sun goeth backward for a sign. that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. 6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. 8¶And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, 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? 9 And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: Before CHRIST 713. of the chamber; which illustrates this expression of Hezekiah's turning his face to the wall to pray. Fleury. 3.- And Hezekiah wept sore.] Hezekiah might be sufficiently excused for his excessive grief on this occasion, from considering how natural to man is the love of life, and how deeply implanted in our frame and constitution is the fear of death. But we should further reflect, that the denunciation against him, "thou shalt die," was not absolute and irreversible; it implied a tacit condition that, provided he duly humbled himself and repented, the time of his death would be deferred, Stackhouse. The best of men cannot strip himself of some flesh; and, while nature has an undeniable share in him, he cannot but retain some sense of the sweetness of life, of the horrours of dissolution. Both these were in Hezekiah, but neither of them could transport him to such excess of grief: they were higher feelings which swayed so holy a prince; a tender care of the glory of God, a strong pity for the church of God. Bp. Hall. 4. into the middle court,] Either the middle court of the king's house, or the middle of the city, as in the margin: it is not material which sense is taken. Bp. Patrick. 7.— And they took and laid it on the boil,] Whatever may have been Hezekiah's disorder, and whatever the quality of the medicine applied, it is plain there was special Divine interposition in the whole affair, both from the speediness of the cure, and the nature of the sign which God gave Hezekiah, in order to convince him of it. Stackhouse. and he recovered.] In the speedy healing of Hezekiah, and the miracles wrought by God in his behalf, we see the efficacy of the prayers of good men, to procure the mercies of God and revoke his threatenings. We likewise see how God keeps in his own hand the lives of all men, and prolongs or shortens them as He pleases. Ostervald. The Babylonian Before CHRIST 713. b Isa. 38. 8. Ecclus. 48. 23. + Heb. degrees. 712. e Isa. 39. 1. CHAP. XX. shall the shadow go forward ten de- 10 And Hezekiah answered, It is 12 At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house Or, spicery. of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house Or. jewels. of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. ↑ Heb. vessels. captivity foretold. phet unto king Hezekiah, and said 15 And he said, What have they 16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord. Before CHRIST 712. 17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Ba- d Chap. 24. bylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Jer. 27. 19. LORD. 18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. 19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, 14 ¶ Then came Isaiah the pro- Good is the word of the LORD which 11.. - ten degrees backward,] Ten measures of some size; hours or half hours, or, as some have thought, quarters of an hour. Bp. Patrick. We cannot be certain what portion of time is meant by these degrees; for the division of the day into hours seems not to have been so ancient. Lowth. It is as impossible to explain this miracle on any known principles of astronomy and natural philosophy, as the standing still of the sun and moon in Joshua's time. Dr. Hales. See notes on Josh. x. 12. in the dial of Ahaz.] Probably a dial in Jerusalem, then well known, which was called by the name of Ahaz. Bp. Hall. It has been the subject of much debate of what nature this sundial of Ahaz was, and how far the knowledge of astronomy then subsisting could have led to the construction of a regular sundial. The word in Hebrew signifies properly steps or stairs; and many have supposed that it was a kind of ascent to the gate of the palace, marked at proper distances with figures, shewing the division of the day, rather than a regular piece of dial-work. Univ. Hist. : 12.-sent letters and a present] This message seems to have been sent principally for two reasons: first, to enquire about the miracle of the sun's shadow going backward on the dial; for the Chaldeans, being above all other nations given to the study of astronomy, were naturally very curious in their enquiries into such matters and, second, to enter into an alliance with him against Sennacherib, whose growing power was feared with good reason by the Babylonians, as well as the Jews. It appears to have been for the purpose of making him set the greater value on his alliance, that Hezekiah shewed these ambassadours all the riches of his house, his treasury, armoury, and stores for war. Dean Prideaux. had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.] And most probably of the manner of his recovery, and of the miracle wrought for the confirmation of it. Bp. Wilson. 15. — there is nothing among my treasures] This he 13. & 25. 13. did in "the pride of his heart," mentioned at 2 Chron. xxxii. 26, which occasioned the Prophet to denounce against him the judgment which follows. O Hezekiah, what means this impotent ambition? Can thy heart be so vain as to be thus lifted up with thy wealth? Didst thou not see that heaven was at thy beck while thou wert humbled; and shall a little earthly dross have power over thy soul? Can the flattering applause of strangers let thee loose into a proud joy, when the late message of God's Prophet resolved thee into tears? O God, if thou keep us not, we are sure to perish. Bp. Hall. 17. Behold, the days come, &c.] As Hezekiah, by this display of his wealth, shewed much vanity and pride of mind, God sends him this rebuking message, and at the same time a prophecy of what the Babylonians would afterwards do to his family, in order to the humbling of that pride with which he was then elated. Dean Prideaux. 18.—they shall be eunuchs &c.] They shall wait upon the king of Babylon as his servants. This was partly fulfilled in the instance of Daniel and his companions, Dan. i. 1. Bp. Patrick. 19. Good is the word of the Lord] Hezekiah received this prediction with great humility and religious composure of mind; acknowledging the justice of the Divine judgment on so sinful a nation, and owning he had reason to be thankful that it was not inflicted in his own time, and that he was favoured with the privilege of living and dying in peace. Pyle. He acknowledges that he had well deserved a speedy judgment on himself, in his own person, although God in his mercy had not proceeded thus far against him, but, notwithstanding his offence, had promised him peace during his whole life, and a continuance of his wonted grace. This rod was smart, yet good Hezekiah kisses it. His own conscience struck him no less than the mouth of the Prophet: meekly therefore does he yield to the Divine correction. He says to the Prophet, "Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken." Thou hast |