The Second Book of the Kings, commonly called the Fourth Book of the Kings
2 Kings 18
Chapter XVIII · Vol. II, pp. 793–795
1 Hezekiah's good reign. 4 He abolisheth idolatry, and prospereth. 9 Samaria is carried captive for their sins. 13 Sennacherib invading Judah is pacified by a tribute. 17 Rabshakeh, sent by Sennacherib again, revileth Hezekiah, and by blasphemous persuasions soliciteth the people to revolt.
1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that aHezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
B.C. 726.
a 2 Ch.28.27; 29.1. 1 Ch.3.13. Mat.1.9,10.
2 Twenty and five years old1 was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: his mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.2
1 Ahaz is said, ch. 16. 2, to have lived 36, and if Hezekiah ascends the throne at 25, he must have been born when his father was but 11 years of age. Calculating, however, that Ahaz was 20 complete, and nearly 21 when he came to the throne, and that though he reigned but 16 complete, he had reigned nearly 17 years, then Ahaz might be 13 years complete at the birth of Hezekiah, an age of which the early marriages of the East remove the difficulty.—C.
2 Most probably the pious man who exercised such happy influence in the days of Uzziah, 2 Ch.26.5, and whose pious daughter might preserve her son from the idolatry of his father Ahaz.—Note, All history attests the incalculable blessing of a pious mother. 'A woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised,' and her acts shall be read in the life and prosperity of her children.—C.
3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, baccording to all that David his father did.
b 1 Ki.15.5,11; 22.43. ch.20.3. 2 Ch.xvii.xix.
4 He cremoved the high places, and brake the images,3 and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the dbrazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.4
5 He etrusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was fnone like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
6 For he gclave to the LORD, and departed not from following him,5 but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
7 And the LORD was hwith him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelledi against the king of Assyria,6 and served him not.
h Ge 21. 22. Nu. 24. 18. 1 Sa.18.14. Ps.60.12. Is.41. 10, 14-16. Ro. 8. 31. He.13.6.
i ch.16.7. To whom Ahaz had made the kingdom tributary.
6 Had the kingdom been his own by any principle of right, Ahaz might have alienated or rendered it tributary. But it belonged not to man, but to God, and therefore God, who had given it to Abraham, had a right to resume it from the idolatrous and persecuting usurpers.—C.
8 He ksmote the Philistines, even unto Gaza,7 and the borders thereof, lfrom the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.8
9 And mit came to pass in the fourth year9 of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
m ch.17.3. 2 Pe.2.9.
9 B.C. 723.
10 And at the nend of three years they took it; even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, (that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel,) Samaria was taken.
11 And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and oput them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes;
12 Becausep they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.1
p ch. 17. 7-23. Is. i.-iii. v. ix. xxiv. xxviii.; 24. 5, 6. Am. ii.-ix. Mi. i.-iii. Ho. i.-xiii.; 4. 1, 2. De.29.24-28. 1 Ki. 9.6-9; 14.15,16. Je.22.7-9.
1 National defection is here assigned as the cause of national calamities—a circumstance which many are inclined to think peculiar to the Jews, as dwelling under what is commonly called 'a theocracy.' But all nations are immediately under the divine government, and will, as assuredly as ever did the Jews, suffer the divine judgment for every national sin.—Note, Let Britain—long privileged with the Bible, with commerce, with riches, and power—beware, lest for neglect of the first, or abuse of the others, the Lord should 'remove her candlestick out of its place.'—C.
13 Now qin the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib2 king of Assyria come3 up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.4
2 Heb. Sanherib.
3 B.C. 713.
4 Compare what follows in this and the next two chapters with Is. xxxvi.-xxxix., where the parallel texts are more largely quoted.
14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, rI have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver[≈ 10 tonnes · 10 tons · silver worth ≈ US$18 million] and thirty talents of gold[≈ 1 tonnes · 1 tons · gold worth ≈ US$130 million].5
r ver.7. Pr.29.25.
5 In all £266,906, 5s. sterling.
15 And Hezekiah sgave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.
s 1 Ki. 15. 18. ch. 12. 18; ver.17.
16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold tfrom the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it6 to the king of Assyria.7
t 1 Ki.6.35. 2 Ch. 29. 3.
6 Heb. them.
7 A most remarkable confirmation of this narrative has recently been discovered on one of the historical tablets of Nineveh. The tablet records the expedition of Sennacherib in his own words as follows:—'Because Hezekiah king of Judah would not submit to my yoke, I came up against him, and by force of arms and by the might of my power I took 46 of his strong fenced cities; and of the smaller towns which were scattered about I took and plundered a countless number. And from these places I captured and carried off as spoil 200,150 people, old and young. . . . And Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his capital city, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the city to hem him in. . . . Then upon this Hezekiah there fell the fear of the power of my arms, and he sent out to me the chiefs of the elders of Jerusalem with 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, and divers treasures, a rich and immense booty.'—P.
17 Andu the king of Assyria sent8 Tartan, and Rabsaris, and Rab-shakeh,9 from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great1 host against Jerusalem: and they went up, and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the xconduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.
A.M. 3294. B.C. 710.
u Mar.6.26. Pr.6.35. 2 Ch.32.9-20. Is.36.2.
8 B.C. 710.
9 Some consider these not as proper names, but as titles of office. Rabsaris, master of the eunuchs, would be equivalent to the modern term comptroller of the household. Tartan, keeper of the tribute, would signify first lord of the treasury; and Rab-shakeh is equivalent to the office of chief butler, now held in Europe by an upper servant, but formerly, in royal courts, by one of much higher rank.—C.
1 Heb. heavy.
x Is.7.3; 22. 9. Ne.3. 15,16. 2 Ch.32.4,30. ch. 20.20.
18 And when they had called to the king, there came out to them yEliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe,2 and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
y Is.22.20-24; 36.3.
2 Or, secretary.
19 And Rab-shakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, zThus saith the great king,3 the king of Assyria, aWhat confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
z Jude 16. ch.19.23-26. Is.17. 10-14; 37. 10-13, 23-27. 2 Ch. 32. 10-16.
3 A title equivalent to majesty.—Note, Titles of office and honour are not sinful when legitimately employed; they are only to be condemned when they originate in flattery, or degenerate into pride.—C.
20 Thou sayest,4 (but they are but vain words,5) bI have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust,6 that thou rebellest against me?
21 Now, behold, thou trustest upon cthe staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.
c Is.36.6; 30.1-7; 31.1-3. Eze.29.6,7.
22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath dtaken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
d ver. 4. 2 Ch. 31. 1; 32.12. Is.36.7-10.
23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give 7pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
7 Or, hostages.
24 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
25 Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD esaid to me, Go up against this land, and destroy 8it.
e 1 Ki.13.18. ch.19.6, 7, 32-37, with Is. 10. 5, 6; 7.17,18; 8.6-8.
8 He speaks as by the authority and mission of God; but because he speaks boastingly (ver. 24) and idolatrously (ver. 22, 33-35), we therefore infallibly conclude, that, though daring to speak in God's name, he speaks falsely, and by his own spirit.—C.
26 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian9 language; (for we understand it;) and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
9 Perceiving that the object of this blasphemous railer was to stir up the people to sedition, they mildly and reasonably required him to make his proposals in the Syrian language.—I.
27 But Rab-shakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may feat their own dung, and drink their own 1piss with you?2
f ch.6. 25. De.28.53-57. Ex.15.9. 1 Ki.20.10. Ps.73.8. Is.36.10-13.
1 Heb. the water of their feet.
2 In the brutal vulgarity of Rabshakeh there is a curious internal note of the truth of the record, the figure is taken immediately from his own office of butler. C.——Hyperbolical expressions, denoting the utmost extremities of famine, which the people must expect to endure, in case they dared to resist the king of Assyria.—I.
28 Theng Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:
g ver.19. Is.36.13-20. 2 Ch.32.16,18,19.
29 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for hhe shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
A.M. 3294. B.C. 710.
h Da.3. 15, 17; 6. 27. Jn.19.10,11. Re.13.6.
30 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
31 Hearken not unto Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, iMake an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye kevery man of his own vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern;3
32 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, la land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil-olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth4 you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.
l Ex.3. 8. De. 32. 13, 14. Job 20.17.
4 Or, deceiveth.
33 Hath any of the mgods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?5
m Is.36.18-20; 37.10-12,18-20; 10.7-11; 44.9-19. De.32.31. ver.34,35. Ps.115.3-8. Je.10.2-16. ch.19.10-13; 17. 6, 7,24, 30,31.
5 He does not question the godhead of Jehovah; but considering him merely as a local and inferior deity, he calls in question his power to protect Hezekiah and his people against his master, his armies, and his triumphant deities.—C.
34 Where are the gods of Hamath,6 and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim,7 Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
6 Hamath on the Orontes still bears the same name; it was on the northern border of Israel Arpad is always spoken of along with Hamath, it probably adjoined it on the east beyond the Orontes. According to the probable conjecture of Busching, Hena is the town which is still called by the Arabs Anah. It lies on both sides of the Euphrates, amid rich gardens.—I.
7 This was one of the places whence Salmanassar sent a colony into Israel, ch 17.24. That it was a small state under its own king appears from ch 19. 13 We include it in Mesopotamia, because it is mentioned along with other places of that province; and Ptolemy speaks of a town of a similar name, Sipphara, as the southernmost city of Mesopotamia. Below it the Euphrates divided into two branches, one going to Seleucia, the other to Babylon. Ivah is probably the same as Ava, ch. 17. 24 Michaelis places it between Berytus and Tripoli.—I.
35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries nthat have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?
n Je.49.23 ch.17.24, 30,31; 19.12,13. Is.10.7-11.
36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word:8 for the king's commandment was, saying, oAnswer him not.
8 There are times when it is wise not to answer a fool according to his folly. An especial instance here occurs, when there was danger lest the answer should have been 'railing for railing,' an answer which Michael would not give even to Satan, and which Christians must never employ in reply to their revilers, Jude 9.—C.
o Mat.7.6. Pr. 26. 4. Am. 5. 13. Ps.38.13,14; 39.1,2.
37 Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah, with their pclothes rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.
p ver. 18. Ge. 37. 29, 34. Mat.26. 65. 1 Sa. 4. 12. 2 Sa.1.11.
Notes
Reflections.—God never makes a full end of his people, however sinful; but provides them relief in one part of the world when he almost extirpates them in another. Nay, in the darkest times he can raise up the most burning and shining lights. His grace can enable them to overcome the strongest obstacles, and to persevere to the end. Never, therefore, need they fear who boldly trust on God in the path of duty. No length of custom can ever consecrate an evil practice. If our parents have dishonoured God it is our honour to be unlike them. And fidelity in God's service will be ever accompanied with his blessing. And yet, to prove their faith and constancy, and to punish a hypocritical generation, they who are most zealous for God may be reduced to such difficulties as will make them stagger and sinfully yield. But fleeing to human confidences instead of God will but bring on us the ruin which we seek to avoid. The most solemn treaties or largest ransoms make little impression on conquering tyrants. Never then let any rob God to procure temporal advantages. What an unruly evil is an insolent tongue! It casts forth firebrands, arrows, and death, against God and men: and readily it upbraids the people of God with their greatest honours. Little reason has one power to vaunt against another; for soon may they be equally weak as well as equally treacherous. Great boasters are seldom even ordinary actors; and flattering tongues and pompous promises ought never to be trusted. How affecting is it to hear, though often improper to answer, virulent reproaches of God and his people! Silence is the best answer to insolent abuse. It but exasperates a fool to answer him according to his folly.
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.