2 Chronicles 32

After these things, which Hezekiah had done faithfully, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He set up camp against the walled cities and planned to capture them for himself.

1After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself.

NoteAssyria was the dominant military empire of the age, based on the Tigris in what is now northern Iraq, with its great capital at Nineveh. Sennacherib ruled it from 705 to 681 BC and invaded Judah in 701 BC. "After these things" points back to Hezekiah's reopening and cleansing of the temple in the previous three chapters.

2Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come, and that he meant to attack Jerusalem.

2And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,

3So he talked it over with his officials and his best soldiers about blocking up the water of the springs outside the city, and they helped him do it.

3He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him.

NoteJerusalem's water came from springs in the valley outside the walls. Concealing or blocking them left the city drawing water through covered channels while a besieging army had to haul it from a distance, the standard defensive move when a siege was expected.

4A large crowd of people gathered and blocked all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. They said, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?"

4So 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?

5Hezekiah also worked hard to make himself strong. He rebuilt every broken part of the wall and raised towers on it. He built another wall outside that one, repaired the Millo in the City of David, and made many weapons and shields.

5Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance.

NoteThe Millo (a Hebrew word meaning roughly "the filling") was a system of stone-built terraces packed with fill on the steep eastern slope of the oldest quarter of Jerusalem, holding up the ground the buildings stood on; it needed repeated repair. The City of David is that oldest quarter, the narrow ridge south of the temple, taken by David generations earlier.

6He put army commanders in charge of the people. He gathered them to himself in the open square by the city gate and spoke to encourage them. He said,

6And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying,

NoteThe open square just inside a city gate was the town's public space, where courts sat, deals were struck and business was done, and the one place a crowd could be assembled and addressed.

7"Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or the huge army with him, because there is more on our side than on his.

7Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:

8"All he has is human strength, but we have the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people took heart from what Hezekiah king of Judah said.

8With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

9After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his officers to Jerusalem, while he himself and all his forces were attacking the city of Lachish. He sent them to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem, with this message:

9After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,

NoteLachish was the largest fortified town in Judah after Jerusalem, about twenty-five miles south-west of it. Its capture mattered enough to Sennacherib that he had the assault carved in detail across a wall of his palace at Nineveh; that relief survives and is now in the British Museum.

10"This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in, that you stay in Jerusalem while it is under attack?

10Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?

11"Isn't Hezekiah fooling you and handing you over to die of hunger and thirst, when he says, 'The LORD our God will rescue us from the hand of the king of Assyria'?

11Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

12"Isn't this the same Hezekiah who took away the LORD's high places and altars, and told Judah and Jerusalem, 'You must worship in front of one altar only, and burn your offerings on it'?

12Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?

NoteHigh places were open-air worship sites, usually on a hill or rise, with an altar and often a standing stone or a wooden pole. They had been ordinary features of the countryside for centuries. Hezekiah had shut them down and required that sacrifice be offered only at the temple in Jerusalem. The Assyrian envoy is turning that reform into an argument: on his reckoning, a king who tears down his own god's shrines can hardly expect that god's protection.

13"Don't you know what I and my ancestors have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of those nations able in any way to save their lands from my hand?

13Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?

Note"My ancestors" means the Assyrian kings before him. His audience knew exactly what he was referring to: Assyria had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and its capital Samaria about twenty years earlier and deported its population.

14"Of all the gods of those nations that my ancestors completely destroyed, which one was able to save his people from my hand? So how could your God save you from my hand?

14Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?

15"So now, do not let Hezekiah trick you or fool you like this, and do not believe him. No god of any nation or kingdom has ever been able to save his people from my hand or from the hand of my ancestors. How much less will your God save you from my hand!"

15Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?

16Sennacherib's officers said still more against the LORD God and against his servant Hezekiah.

16And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against his servant Hezekiah.

17Sennacherib also wrote letters insulting the LORD, the God of Israel, and speaking against him. They said, "Just as the gods of the nations of other lands did not save their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not save his people from my hand."

17He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.

18Then the officers shouted loudly in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall. They wanted to frighten and upset them, so they could capture the city.

18Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.

NoteThey shouted in Hebrew, the everyday language of Judah, rather than Aramaic, the language of international diplomacy that trained officials used. The point was to reach the ordinary people standing on the wall directly, over the heads of their negotiators.

19They spoke about the God of Jerusalem the same way they spoke about the gods of the other peoples of the earth, which are only things made by human hands.

19And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.

20Because of this, King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed and cried out to heaven.

20And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.

NoteIsaiah son of Amoz is the prophet whose collected sayings make up the book of Isaiah. A prophet was a figure who spoke publicly in God's name, and just as often on royal policy and foreign alliances as on anything else.

21The LORD sent an angel, who killed every strong fighting man and every leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib went back to his own land in disgrace. When he went into the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him there with the sword.

21And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.

NoteThe Hebrew word translated "angel" means simply "messenger", one sent to carry out an errand. As for Sennacherib's death: he was in fact assassinated in 681 BC, some twenty years after this campaign, and Assyrian and Babylonian records also record that he was killed by one or more of his own sons. The account here sets his retreat and his death side by side without noting the gap.

22So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people living in Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria, and from everyone else. He guided them on every side.

22Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.

23Many people brought gifts to Jerusalem for the LORD, and valuable presents for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly respected by all the nations.

23And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.

24In those days Hezekiah became so sick that he was near death. He prayed to the LORD, who answered him and gave him a sign.

24In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign.

NoteThis illness is told at greater length in 2 Kings 20 and Isaiah 38, where the sign given is a shadow moving backwards down a stairway. It is the "wonder" the envoys from Babylon come asking about in verse 31.

25But Hezekiah did not respond the way he should have for the kindness shown to him, because he had become proud. So anger came upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

25But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

26Then Hezekiah was sorry for the pride in his heart and humbled himself, and so did the people living in Jerusalem. Because of this, the LORD's anger did not fall on them while Hezekiah was alive.

26Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

27Hezekiah had very great wealth and honor. He built storerooms for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and every kind of valuable object.

27And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;

28He also built storehouses for the harvest of grain, new wine, and olive oil, along with stalls for all kinds of livestock and pens for the flocks.

28Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.

NoteGrain, new wine and olive oil were the three staple crops of the land, and naming them together was a standard way of saying "the entire harvest." New wine is the freshly pressed juice of that year's grapes, still fermenting.

29He also built towns for himself, and he owned large flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, because God had given him a great deal of property.

29Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.

30It was this same Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the spring of Gihon and channeled the water straight down to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah did well in everything he did.

30This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

NoteThe spring of Gihon lay in the valley outside the city wall. Hezekiah had a tunnel cut some 1,750 feet through solid rock to bring its water inside the defenses to a pool at the far end. The tunnel still exists and can be walked; an inscription cut by the workmen describing the moment the two digging teams, tunnelling from opposite ends, broke through to each other was found in it in 1880.

31But when the messengers of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to ask about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, in order to know everything that was in his heart.

31Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

NoteBabylon at this date was a subject territory of Assyria in more or less permanent revolt. A delegation sent from there to a small western kingdom would have been sounding out allies against Assyria at least as much as enquiring after a king's health. The visit is described in 2 Kings 20 and Isaiah 39.

32The rest of the things Hezekiah did, and the good and faithful acts he carried out, are written down in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, and in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

32Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

NoteAncient histories routinely pointed readers to their sources like this. The "Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel" was a record that has not survived; it is not the books of Kings found in the Bible.

33Hezekiah died and joined his ancestors, and they buried him in the upper part of the tombs of David's descendants. All Judah and the people living in Jerusalem honored him at his death. His son Manasseh became king in his place.

33And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

Note"Died and joined his ancestors" is a fixed formula used of a king who dies peacefully and is buried in the family tomb. The tombs of David's descendants were arranged in tiers, and burial in the upper section was the place of greatest honor. Hezekiah died around 686 BC.