Bible Study 2 Kings 20
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2 Kings 20 · WEB

Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery; Sun Goes Back; Babylonian Envoys; Isaiah's Warning

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In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Yahweh says, 'Set your house in order; for you shall die and not live.'"
2Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, saying,
3"Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a whole heart, and have done that which is good in your sight." Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4Before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying,
5"Turn back and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, 'Yahweh, the God of David your father, says: "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you shall go up to Yahweh's house.
6I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake."'"
7Isaiah said, "Take a lump of figs." They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
8Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I will go up to Yahweh's house on the third day?"
9Isaiah said, "This will be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?"
10Hezekiah answered, "It is an easy thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps; no, but let the shadow return backward ten steps."
11Isaiah the prophet cried to Yahweh; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz.
12At that time, Berodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house — the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, or in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn't show them.
14Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah and asked him, "What did these men say? Where did they come from?" Hezekiah said, "They came from a far country, from Babylon."
15He asked, "What have they seen in your house?" Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."
16Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear Yahweh's word:
17'Behold, the days come that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store to this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left,' says Yahweh.
18'Of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you shall father, some shall be taken away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"
19Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "Yahweh's word which you have spoken is good." He said moreover, "Isn't it so, if peace and truth shall be in my days?"
20Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool and the conduit, and brought water into the city, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
21Hezekiah slept with his fathers; and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
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Summary

Hezekiah falls gravely ill and is told by Isaiah he will die. He prays and weeps bitterly, appealing to his faithful life before God. Before Isaiah even leaves the palace, God reverses the death sentence: Hezekiah will be healed, will go to the Temple in three days, and will live fifteen more years. God confirms this with a miraculous sign — the shadow on the sundial moves backward ten steps. Then Babylonian envoys visit, and Hezekiah — perhaps from pride or naivety — shows them everything in his treasury. Isaiah rebukes him and prophesies that all of these treasures, and even Hezekiah's descendants, will be carried to Babylon. Hezekiah's unsettling response is to express relief that at least this will not happen in his own lifetime.

Themes

  • God responds to honest, tearful prayer even when a verdict has been announced
  • Pride and naivety leading a good man to sow seeds of future catastrophe
  • The disturbing human tendency to be satisfied with peace "in my days" regardless of consequences for others
  • God's sovereignty over all nations — including Babylon, which will eventually surpass Assyria

Key verses

  • 2 Kgs 20:17-18 — “The days come that all that is in your house… shall be carried to Babylon. Of your sons… some shall be taken away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
  • 2 Kgs 20:19 — “Isn't it so, if peace and truth shall be in my days?”
  • 2 Kgs 20:3 — “Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a whole heart.”
  • 2 Kgs 20:5 — “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you.”

Context & background

Hezekiah's tunnel — mentioned in verse 20 as the pool and conduit he made — is one of the most remarkable engineering achievements of the ancient world. The 533-meter tunnel carved through solid rock beneath Jerusalem, connecting the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam, is still walkable today in Jerusalem (modern Jerusalem, Israel). An ancient inscription discovered in the tunnel in 1880 describes workers cutting from both ends and meeting in the middle. The Babylonian king Berodach-Baladan (also known as Merodach-Baladan) was a Chaldean chieftain who twice seized the throne of Babylon and was a known rebel against Assyrian authority; his embassy to Hezekiah may have been seeking an anti-Assyrian alliance. The prophecy that Hezekiah's sons would become eunuchs in Babylon was fulfilled in Daniel and his three friends (Daniel 1:3-7).

Cross-references

  • 2 Chr 32:24-31 — The Chronicler notes Hezekiah's heart was lifted up when he showed the envoys his treasures
  • Dan 1:1-7 — Hezekiah's prophecy fulfilled: young men from the royal family taken to serve as eunuchs in Babylon
  • Isa 38-39 — Isaiah's parallel account of the illness and the Babylonian visit, with a poetic lament by Hezekiah
  • John 11:35 — Jesus wept at Lazarus's tomb — God seeing human tears as an element of compassion
  • Ps 116:1-4 — "I love Yahweh, because he listens to my voice… He inclined his ear to me" — Hezekiah's experience

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  1. Observe

    What did Hezekiah appeal to in his prayer when told he would die, and how did God respond?

  2. Observe

    What did Hezekiah show the Babylonian envoys, and what did Isaiah prophesy as a result?

  3. Interpret

    What does God's reversal of Hezekiah's announced death sentence in response to prayer teach about prophetic warnings?

  4. Interpret

    How should we read Hezekiah's response to the prophecy of Babylonian exile — "Yahweh's word is good… if peace shall be in my days"?

  5. Apply

    How might personal pride lead us to display what we have in ways that create unforeseen problems?

  6. Apply

    What does it mean for our prayer life that God says "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears"?

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