2 Chronicles 32 · WEB
Sennacherib's Invasion; Hezekiah's Illness and Pride
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After these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fortified cities, and intended to win them for himself.
2When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come, and that his purpose was to fight against Jerusalem,
3he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the springs which were outside the city; and they helped him.
4So many people gathered together, and they stopped all the springs and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?"
5He strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken down, and raised it up to the towers, and the other wall outside, and strengthened Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in abundance.
6He set military captains over the people, and gathered them together to him in the wide place at the gate of the city, and spoke comfortably to them, saying,
7"Be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid or dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the multitude that is with him; for there is a greater with us than with him.
8With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is Yahweh our God to help us and to fight our battles." The people rested on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
9After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem (now he was before Lachish with all his force), to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,
10"Sennacherib king of Assyria says this: 'What do you trust in, that you remain in the siege in Jerusalem?
11Doesn't Hezekiah persuade you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, "Yahweh our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria"?
12Hasn't the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, "You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn incense"?
13Don't you know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands in any way able to deliver their land out of my hand?
14Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand?
15Now therefore don't let Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you in this way, and don't believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of my hand or out of the hand of my fathers. How much less shall your God deliver you out of my hand?'"
16His servants spoke yet more against Yahweh God and against his servant Hezekiah.
17He also wrote letters insulting Yahweh, the God of Israel, and speaking against him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of the lands which have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall the God of Hezekiah not deliver his people out of my hand."
18They cried with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them and terrify them, that they might take the city.
19They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men's hands.
20Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven.
21Yahweh sent an angel who cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains, in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. When he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword.
22Thus Yahweh saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.
23Many brought gifts to Yahweh to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah; so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time forward.
24In those days Hezekiah was sick even to death; and he prayed to Yahweh, and he spoke to him and gave him a sign.
25But Hezekiah didn't render again according to the benefit done to him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath on him, and on Judah and Jerusalem.
26Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Yahweh didn't come on them in the days of Hezekiah.
27Hezekiah had exceedingly great riches and honor; and he provided himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all kinds of goodly vessels;
28storehouses also for the increase of grain, new wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of animals, and flocks in folds.
29Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for God had given him very much substance.
30This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon and brought them down straight to the west side of the city of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
31However, in the matter of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
32Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
33Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper part of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. His son Manasseh reigned in his place.
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Summary
Sennacherib of Assyria invades Judah and surrounds Jerusalem, sending psychological warfare messages designed to undermine faith in God. Hezekiah and Isaiah pray together. God sends an angel that destroys 185,000 Assyrian soldiers; Sennacherib retreats and is later killed by his own sons. After this, Hezekiah falls mortally ill but prays and God heals him and extends his life by 15 years. However, Hezekiah fails to give God proper thanks — his heart lifts up in pride. He humbles himself and judgment is averted. The Chronicler notes the Hezekiah tunnel (Siloam) and the Babylonian ambassadors' visit that tested him.
Themes
- Faith under extreme psychological and military pressure
- Prayerful dependence on God producing supernatural deliverance
- The danger of pride even after great blessing
Key verses
- 2 Chr 32:20 — “Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah the prophet... prayed because of this and cried to heaven.”
- 2 Chr 32:25 — “Hezekiah didn't render again according to the benefit done to him; for his heart was lifted up.”
- 2 Chr 32:7-8 — “Be strong and courageous... there is a greater with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is Yahweh our God to help us and to fight our battles.”
Context & background
Sennacherib's invasion of Judah (701 BC) is one of the best-documented events in biblical history, confirmed by Sennacherib's own clay prism (now in the Oriental Institute, Chicago) which records his campaign and siege of Jerusalem. His Rabshakeh spoke Hebrew fluently to the Jerusalem defenders as recorded in Isaiah 36. The angel's destruction of 185,000 soldiers (2 Kings 19:35) is unparalleled in biblical narrative. The Hezekiah Tunnel (Siloam Tunnel, v. 30) still exists in Jerusalem and can be walked today — a 533-meter rock-cut tunnel directing the Gihon spring waters inside the city walls. Hezekiah's illness and recovery are detailed more fully in 2 Kings 20 and Isaiah 38.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 18-20 — More detailed parallel account of Sennacherib's invasion and Hezekiah's illness
- Isaiah 36-38 — Isaiah's version of these events
- John 15:5 — "Apart from me you can do nothing" — the inverse: "with God, nothing is impossible"
- Psalm 46 — "God is our refuge and strength... therefore we will not fear" — the spirit of Hezekiah's faith
- Sennacherib's Prism (extrabiblical) — Confirms the campaign against Judah