2 Chronicles 32:4
in 2 Chronicles 32Many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So there was gathered much people together, and they stopped all the fountains, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?
KJV
So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?
⋯
This verse in 2 Chronicles 32
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
And that this is the correct meaning of the phrase is not only apparent from the force of circumstances, but is positively so declared in the Septuagint, where, moreover, it is called a 'river,' which, at least, implies a much larger stream than the Kedron, and comports well with the marginal reading, where it is said to overflow through the midst of the land.
This site's exposition
stopping up the waters of the springs outside the city
on 2 Chronicles 32:3-4
Stopping the fountains outside the city is material Kings never records. Hezekiah works by counsel, not command, gathering princes before the wider people join to stop the water so that an invading king should find none. The engineering here is bound up with the Gihon project verse 30 will describe.
This site's exposition
the stream that flowed through the land
The Septuagint calls this stream a river, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take it for a larger flow than the Kidron. Its channel ran through the middle of the land outside the walls. A besieging army needs water close at hand.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The water had come into that which is called the old pool ( Isa. xxii. 11 ) and the upper pool ( Isa. vii. 3 ); but he gathered the waters into a new place, for the greater convenience of the city, called the lower pool, Isa. xxii.
So there was gathered much people together,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib . . . was purposed to fight against Jerusalem--An account of the means taken to fortify Jerusalem against the threatened siege is given only in this passage.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Stopped all the fountains - This was prudently done, for without water how could an immense army subsist in an arid country? No doubt the Assyrian army suffered much through this, as a Christian army did eighteen hundred years after this. When the crusaders came, in a.d. 1099, to besiege Jerusalem, the people of the city stopped up the wells, so that the Christian army was reduced to the greatest necessities and distress.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The “brook” intended is probably not the Kidron, but the natural water-course of the Gihon, which ran down the Tyropoeon valley (compare the 1Ki 1:3 note).
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקָּבְצ֣וּ | vaiyikavetzu | and they assembled | H6908 → | 127 times |
| עַם־ | ʾam- | people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| רָ֔ב | rav | numerous | H7227 → | 454 times |
| וַֽיִּסְתְּמוּ֙ | vaiyistemu | and they stopped up | H5640 → | 14 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַמַּעְיָנ֔וֹת | hama'yanot | the springs | H4599 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַנַּ֛חַל | hanachal | the wadi | H5158 → | 141 times |
| הַשּׁוֹטֵ֥ף | hashotef | which flowed | H7857 → | |
| בְּתוֹךְ־ | betokh- | in [the] middle of | H8432 → | 418 times |
| הָאָ֖רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָ֤מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יָב֙וֹאוּ֙ | yavou | will they come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| מַלְכֵ֣י | malkhei | [the] kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אַשּׁ֔וּר | ʾashur | Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
| וּמָצְא֖וּ | umatzeu | and they will find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| מַ֥יִם | mayim | waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| רַבִּֽים׃ | rabim | many | H7227 → | 454 times |
וַיִּקָּבְצ֣וּand they assembled
vaiyikavetzuH6908 →127 times
עַם־people
ʾam-H5971 →1873 times
רָ֔בnumerous
ravH7227 →454 times
וַֽיִּסְתְּמוּ֙and they stopped up
vaiyistemuH5640 →14 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַמַּעְיָנ֔וֹתthe springs
hama'yanotH4599 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַנַּ֛חַלthe wadi
hanachalH5158 →141 times
הַשּׁוֹטֵ֥ףwhich flowed
hashotefH7857 →
בְּתוֹךְ־in [the] middle of
betokh-H8432 →418 times
הָאָ֖רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
לָ֤מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
יָב֙וֹאוּ֙will they come
yavouH935 →2568 times
מַלְכֵ֣י[the] kings of
malkheiH4428 →2525 times
אַשּׁ֔וּרAssyria
ʾashurH804 →151 times
וּמָצְא֖וּand they will find
umatzeuH4672 →455 times
מַ֥יִםwaters
mayimH4325 →581 times
רַבִּֽים׃many
rabimH7227 →454 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Kings 19:21So Elisha turned back from him, took his pair of oxen, and slaughtered them. With the oxen’s equipment, he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 24:22
Araunah said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever seems good and offer it up. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the…
- Philemon 1:13
I would have liked to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he could minister to me in my chains for the gospel.
- 2 Timothy 4:11
Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is useful to me in the ministry.
- Exodus 24:13
So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant and went up on the mountain of God.
- 2 Samuel 24:22
Through
2 Chronicles 32:30It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Spring of Gihon and channeled it down to the west side of the City of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 1:33
“Take my servants with you,” said the king. “Set my son Solomon on my own mule and take him down to Gihon.
- 1 Kings 1:33
Through
2 Kings 18:13In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.
it leads to
- Isaiah 36:1–22
In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.
- Isaiah 36:1–22
Through
2 Chronicles 32:1After all these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, intending to conquer them for himself.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 18:13–37
In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.
- 2 Kings 18:13–37
Through
2 Kings 18:9In 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.
it leads to
- Hosea 10:14
the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be demolished as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces along with…
- Hosea 10:14
Where this verse is studied
About 2 Chronicles
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.