2 Kingschapter 18

A.Nehushtan — the bronze serpent broken in piecesvv. 1-8

1 In the third year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it. 5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. 6 He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses. 7 And the LORD was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him. 8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.

B.Samaria's fall recalled: because they obeyed notvv. 9-12

9 In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it. 10 And at the end of three years, the Assyrians captured it. So Samaria was captured in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. 11 The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes. 12 This happened because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD their God, but violated His covenant—all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded—and would neither listen nor obey.

C.Three hundred talents stripped from the temple doorsvv. 13-16

13 In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah. 14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.” And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold with which he had plated the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD, and he gave it to the king of Assyria.

D.Rabshakeh at the conduit: on whom dost thou trust?vv. 17-25

17 Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. 18 Then they called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to them. 19 The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours? 20 You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? 23 Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 24 For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 25 So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”

E.Speak not in the Jews' language — and the people held their peacevv. 26-37

26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.” 27 But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?” 28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you; he cannot deliver you from my hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own—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 do not listen to Hezekiah, for he misleads you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ 33 Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?” 36 But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.” 37 Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

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Chapter summary

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Hezekiah is the reformer Kings has waited for: he removes the high places, breaks the pillars, cuts down the Asherah, and breaks in pieces the brazen serpent Moses had made, because Israel had been burning incense to it, calling it Nehushtan. 'He trusted in Jehovah, the God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him.' In his fourteenth year Sennacherib takes the fortified cities and Hezekiah pays three hundred talents of silver, stripping the temple doors. Then Rabshakeh stands at the conduit of the upper pool and speaks deliberately in the Jews' language: Egypt is a bruised reed that will pierce the hand.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.

Context

History · Jeremiah — 2 Kings overview

A. 1–8 Nehushtan — the bronze serpent broken in pieces
B. 9–12 Samaria's fall recalled: because they obeyed not
C. 13–16 Three hundred talents stripped from the temple doors
D. 17–25 Rabshakeh at the conduit: on whom dost thou trust?
E. 26–37 Speak not in the Jews' language — and the people held their peace

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

2 Kings 196 verses
- 2 Kings 19:2And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz
- 2 Kings 19:6who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
- 2 Kings 19:10“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
- 2 Kings 19:12Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
- 2 Kings 19:17Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these nations and their lands.
- 2 Kings 19:22Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
- Read 2 Kings 19 →
Isaiah 104 verses
- Isaiah 10:8“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
- Isaiah 10:9“Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
- Isaiah 10:10As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
- Isaiah 10:13For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
- Read Isaiah 10 →
2 Kings 184 verses
- 2 Kings 18:1In the third year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.
- 2 Kings 18:7And the LORD was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.
- 2 Kings 18:21Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
- 2 Kings 18:22But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?
- Read 2 Kings 18 →
Isaiah 364 verses
- Isaiah 36:1In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.
- Isaiah 36:4The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
- Isaiah 36:11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
- Isaiah 36:13Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!
- Read Isaiah 36 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

2 Chronicles 293 verses
- 2 Chronicles 29:1Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
- 2 Chronicles 29:2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.
- 2 Chronicles 29:3In the first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah opened and repaired the doors of the house of the LORD.
- Read 2 Chronicles 29 →
2 Kings 173 verses
- 2 Kings 17:3Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.
- 2 Kings 17:6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
- 2 Kings 17:9The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities.
- Read 2 Kings 17 →
1 Kings 203 verses
- 1 Kings 20:4And the king of Israel replied, “Just as you say, my lord the king: I am yours, along with all that I have.”
- 1 Kings 20:10Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”
- 1 Kings 20:18“If they have marched out in peace,” he said, “take them alive. Even if they have marched out for war, take them alive.”
- Read 1 Kings 20 →
1 Kings 43 verses
- 1 Kings 4:3Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
- 1 Kings 4:20The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
- 1 Kings 4:25Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.
- Read 1 Kings 4 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.