2 Kings 18:3
in 2 Kings 18And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done.
KJV
And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did.
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This verse in 2 Kings 18
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He did that which was right ... - This is said without qualification of only three kings of Judah, Asa 1Ki 15:11, Hezekiah, and Josiah 2Ki 22:2. See some details of Hezekiah’s acts at the commencement of his reign in 2 Chr. 29, etc. It is thought that his reformation was preceded, and perhaps caused, by the prophecy of Micah recorded in Jer 26:18; Mic 3:12.
This site's exposition
in the third year of Hoshea
on 2 Kings 18:1-3
Hezekiah's reign opens dated against Hoshea's rebellion, the last king Israel will ever have, so Judah's reformer and Israel's collapse are set side by side in one sentence. The formula that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did echoes across the book of Kings as the standard every king is measured against, and few earn it without qualification. David is named as the standard rather than Solomon, whose later years the text has already judged.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): He did that which was right, according to all that David his father did, with whom the covenant was made, and therefore he was entitled to the benefit of it.
quarantine:debris,scripture (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens; scripture-overlap:80%@v2-4
And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. Some of the kings of Judah, that were better than some others, are said to do that which was right, but not like David; or they did as he did, but not according to all that he did, as is here said of Hezekiah.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord - In chap. 29 of the second book of Chronicles, we have an account of what this pious king did to restore the worship of God. He caused the priests and Levites to cleanse the holy house, which had been shut up by his father Ahaz, and had been polluted with filth of various kinds; and this cleansing required no less than sixteen days to accomplish it. As the passover, according to the law, must be celebrated the fourteenth of the first month, and the Levites could not get the temple cleansed before the sixteenth day, he published the passover for the fourteenth of the second month, and sent through all Judah and Israel to collect all the men that feared God, that the passover might be celebrated in a proper manner. The concourse was great, and the feast was celebrated with great magnificence. When the people returned to their respective cities and villages, they began to throw down the idol altars, statues, images, and groves, and even to abolish the high places; the consequence was that a spirit of piety began to revive in the land, and a general reformation took place.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֥עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| הַיָּשָׁ֖ר | haiyashar | the right | H3477 → | 119 times |
| בְּעֵינֵ֣י | beeinei | in [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כְּכֹ֥ל | kekhol | according to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשָׂ֖ה | ʾasah | he had done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| דָּוִ֥ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אָבִֽיו׃ | ʾaviv | ancestor his | H1 → | 1212 times |
וַיַּ֥עַשׂand he did
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
הַיָּשָׁ֖רthe right
haiyasharH3477 →119 times
בְּעֵינֵ֣יin [the] eyes of
beeineiH5869 →887 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כְּכֹ֥לaccording to all
kekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁר־that
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
עָשָׂ֖הhe had done
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
דָּוִ֥דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
אָבִֽיו׃ancestor his
ʾavivH1 →1212 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
Exodus 15:26saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then…
it leads to
- Psalms 103:3
He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,
- Deuteronomy 7:15
And the LORD will remove from you all sickness. He will not lay upon you any of the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.
- Exodus 23:25
So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you.
- Psalms 41:3–4
The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness and restore him from his bed of sickness.
- Psalms 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- Psalms 103:3
Through
Job 33:27Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.
it leads to
- Romans 6:21
What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.
- Romans 6:21
Through
2 Kings 20:3“Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 13:14
Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my deeds of loving devotion for the house of my God and for its services.
- Nehemiah 13:22
Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this as well, O my God, and show me mercy according…
- Nehemiah 13:14
Where this verse is studied
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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
