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2 Kings 18

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Judah's King Hezekiah

1 In the third year of Israel's King Hoshea son of Elah, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.
2 He was 25 years old when he became king; he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi[a] daughter of Zechariah.
3 He did what was right in the Lord's sight just as his ancestor David had done.[b]
4 He removed the high places and shattered the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah [poles].[c] He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made,[d] for the Israelites burned incense to it up to that time. He called it Nehushtan.[e]
5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord God of Israel;[f] not one of the kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.[g]
6 He held fast to the Lord and did not turn from following Him but kept the commandments the Lord had commanded Moses.
7 The Lord was with him, and wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.

Review of Israel's Fall

9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Israel's King Hoshea son of Elah, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.
10 The Assyrians captured it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Israel's King Hoshea, Samaria was captured.
11 The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria and put them in Halah and by the Habor, Gozan's river, and in the cities of the Medes,[h]
12 because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord their God but violated His covenant-all He had commanded Moses the servant of the Lord. They did not listen, and they did not obey.

Sennacherib's Invasion

13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.[i]
14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me. Whatever you demand from me, I will pay." The king of Assyria demanded from King Hezekiah of Judah 11 tons[j] of silver and one ton[k] of gold.
15 So Hezekiah gave [him] all the silver found in the Lord's temple and in the treasuries of the king's palace.
16 At that time Hezekiah stripped [the gold from] the doors of the Lord's sanctuary and from the doorposts he had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.[l]
17 Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh,[m] along with a massive army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.[n] They advanced and came to Jerusalem, and[o] they took their position by the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is by the highway to the Fuller's Field.[p]
18 Then they called for the king, but Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebnah the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to them.[q]

The Rabshakeh's Speech

19 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, "Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: 'What are you relying on?[r][s]
20 You think mere words are strategy and strength for war. What are you now relying on so that you have rebelled against me?
21 Look, you now trust in Egypt, the stalk of this splintered reed, which if a man leans on it will go into his palm and pierce it.[t] This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who trust in him.
22 Suppose you say to me: We trust in the Lord our God. Isn't He the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed,[u] saying to Judah and to Jerusalem: You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem?'
23 "So now make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria. I'll give you 2,000 horses if you're able to supply riders for them!
24 How then can you drive back a single officer among the least of my master's servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
25 Have I attacked this place to destroy it without the Lord's [approval]? The Lord said to me, 'Attack this land and destroy it.' "
26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand [it] . Don't speak with us in Hebrew[v] within earshot of the people on the wall."
27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Hasn't [he] also [sent me] to the men who sit on the wall, [destined] with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?"[w]
28 The Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew.[x] Then he spoke: "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.
29 This is what the king says: 'Don't let Hezekiah deceive you; he can't deliver you from my hand.
30 Don't let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord by saying: Certainly the Lord will deliver us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.'[y]
31 "Don't listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: 'Make peace[z] with me and surrender to me. Then every one of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and every one may drink water from his own cistern
32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land-a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey-so that you may live and not die. But don't listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying: The Lord will deliver us.
33 Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land from the power of the king of Assyria?
34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?[aa] Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
35 Who among all the gods of the lands has delivered his land from my power? So how is the Lord to deliver Jerusalem?' "[ab]
36 But the people kept silent; they answered him not a word, for the king's command was, "Don't answer him."
37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported to him the words of the Rabshakeh.[ac]
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2 Kings 18 Commentary

Chapter 18

Good reign of Hezekiah in Judah, Idolatry. (1-8) Sennacherib invades Judah. (9-16) Rabshakeh's blasphemies. (17-37)

Verses 1-8 Hezekiah was a true son of David. Some others did that which was right, but not like David. Let us not suppose that when times and men are bad, they must needs grow worse and worse; that does not follow: after many bad kings, God raised one up like David himself. The brazen serpent had been carefully preserved, as a memorial of God's goodness to their fathers in the wilderness; but it was idle and wicked to burn incense to it. All helps to devotion, not warranted by the word of God, interrupt the exercise of faith; they always lead to superstition and other dangerous evils. Human nature perverts every thing of this kind. True faith needs not such aids; the word of God, daily thought upon and prayed over, is all the outward help we need.

Verses 9-16 The descent Sennacherib made upon Judah, was a great calamity to that kingdom, by which God would try the faith of Hezekiah, and chastise the people. The secret dislike, the hypocrisy, and lukewarmness of numbers, require correction; such trials purify the faith and hope of the upright, and bring them to simple dependence on God.

Verses 17-37 Rabshakeh tries to convince the Jews, that it was to no purpose for them to stand it out. What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? It were well if sinners would submit to the force of this argument, in seeking peace with God. It is, therefore, our wisdom to yield to him, because it is in vain to contend with him: what confidence is that which those trust in who stand out against him? A great deal of art there is in this speech of Rabshakeh; but a great deal of pride, malice, falsehood, and blasphemy. Hezekiah's nobles held their peace. There is a time to keep silence, as well as a time to speak; and there are those to whom to offer any thing religious or rational, is to cast pearls before swine. Their silence made Rabshakeh yet more proud and secure. It is often best to leave such persons to rail and blaspheme; a decided expression of abhorrence is the best testimony against them. The matter must be left to the Lord, who has all hearts in his hands, committing ourselves unto him in humble submission, believing hope, and fervent prayer.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Footnotes 29

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 18

This chapter begins with the good reign of Hezekiah king of Judah, the reformation he made in the kingdom, and the prosperity that attended him when Israel was carried captive, 2Ki 18:1-12 and gives an account of the siege of Jerusalem by the king of Assyria, and of the distress Hezekiah was in, and the hard measures he was obliged to submit unto, 2Ki 18:13-18 and of the reviling and blasphemous speech of Rabshakeh, one of the generals of the king of Assyria, urging the Jews to a revolt from their king, 2Ki 18:19-37.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

2 Kings 18 Commentaries

Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.