2 Kings 19:14
in 2 Kings 19So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah.
KJV
And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.
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This verse in 2 Kings 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseFaith unguarded is armed by God. Hezekiah, through the power of faith, proved stronger with his puny force than Sennacherib, king of Babylon and rich Nineveh, with his thousands. Sennacherib had enlisted the forces of Assyria and the realm of the Medes. Laying waste with …
This site's exposition
spread it out before the LORD
Hezekiah carries the letter itself into the temple and lays it open before the Lord, a king answering a written threat with a physical hand-off. The scene has stood for centuries as the plain instruction to bring a trouble into God's presence rather than only speak of it there.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Hereby likewise he would affect himself in the prayer he came to the temple to make; and we have need of all possible helps to quicken us in that duty. In the prayer which Hezekiah prayed over this letter, 1.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Spread it before the Lord - The temple was considered to be God’s dwelling-place; and that whatever was there was peculiarly under his eye. Hezekiah spread the letter before the Lord, as he wished him to read the blasphemies spoken against himself.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Hezekiah received the letter . . . and went up into the house of the Lord--Hezekiah, after reading it, hastened into the temple, spread it in the childlike confidence of faith before the Lord, as containing taunts deeply affecting the divine honor, and implored deliverance from this proud defier of God and man.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hezekiah received the letter - The inscriptions show that scribes accompanied the Assyrian armies, with the materials of their craft, so that such a dispatch might be easily drawn up. As Hezekiah himself “read” it, we may presume that it was in the Hebrew tongue.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
He exiled and twisted. The king of Ashur exiled and twisted them. 6 Alternatively, this refers to Eretz Yisroel.—Radak
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקַּ֨ח | vaiyikach | and he took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| חִזְקִיָּ֧הוּ | chizkiyahu | Hezekiah | H2396 → | 127 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַסְּפָרִ֛ים | hasefarim | the letters | H5612 → | 186 times |
| מִיַּ֥ד | miyad | from [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| הַמַּלְאָכִ֖ים | hamalakhim | the messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| וַיִּקְרָאֵ֑ם | vaiyikraem | and he read them | H7121 → | 733 times |
| וַיַּ֙עַל֙ | vaiyaal | and he went up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיִּפְרְשֵׂ֥הוּ | vaiyifresehu | and he spread out it | H6566 → | |
| חִזְקִיָּ֖הוּ | chizkiyahu | Hezekiah | H2396 → | 127 times |
| לִפְנֵ֥י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ פ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וַיִּקַּ֨חand he took
vaiyikachH3947 →966 times
חִזְקִיָּ֧הוּHezekiah
chizkiyahuH2396 →127 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַסְּפָרִ֛יםthe letters
hasefarimH5612 →186 times
מִיַּ֥דfrom [the] hand of
miyadH3027 →1618 times
הַמַּלְאָכִ֖יםthe messengers
hamalakhimH4397 →213 times
וַיִּקְרָאֵ֑םand he read them
vaiyikraemH7121 →733 times
וַיַּ֙עַל֙and he went up
vaiyaalH5927 →890 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיִּפְרְשֵׂ֥הוּand he spread out it
vaiyifresehuH6566 →
חִזְקִיָּ֖הוּHezekiah
chizkiyahuH2396 →127 times
לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָֽה׃ פYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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
Ezra 9:5At the evening offering, I got up from my humiliation with my tunic and cloak torn, and I fell on my knees, spread out my hands to the LORD my God,
it leads to
- 1 Kings 8:38
then may whatever prayer or petition Your people Israel make—each knowing his own afflictions and spreading out his hands toward this temple—
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 8:54
Now when Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the LORD, he got up before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward…
- 1 Kings 8:22
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven,
- Exodus 9:29
Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may…
- Exodus 9:33
Then Moses departed from Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.
- 1 Kings 8:38
Through
Isaiah 37:14So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
it leads to
- Psalms 123:1–4
I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.
- Psalms 74:10
How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?
- Psalms 62:1–3
In God alone my soul finds rest; my salvation comes from Him.
- Psalms 123:1–4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
On this verse
On this chapter
About 2 Kings
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Paulinus of Nola, POEMS 26.166-95.