2 Kings 19:1

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

1 1And when King Hezekiah heard it, he 2tore his clothes, 3covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the LORD.

2 Kings 19:1 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 19:1

And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it
The report of Rabshakeh's speech, recorded in the preceding chapter,

that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth;
rent his clothes because of the blasphemy in the speech; and he put on sackcloth, in token of mourning, for the calamities he feared were coming on him and his people: and he went into the house of the Lord; the temple, to pray unto him. The message he sent to Isaiah, with his answer, and the threatening letter of the king of Assyria, Hezekiah's prayer upon it, and the encouraging answer he had from the Lord, with the account of the destruction of the Assyrian army, and the death of Sennacherib, are the same "verbatim" as in ( Isaiah 37:1 ) throughout; and therefore the reader is referred thither for the exposition of them; only would add what Rauwolff F20 observes, that still to this day (1575) there are two great holes to be seen, wherein they flung the dead bodies (of the Assyrian army), one whereof is close by the road towards Bethlehem, the other towards the right hand against old Bethel.


FOOTNOTES:

F20 Travels, par. 3. ch. 22. p. 317.

2 Kings 19:1 In-Context

1 And when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the LORD .
2 Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver.
4 'Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant that is left.' "
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

Cross References 3

  • 1. 2 Chronicles 32:20-22; Isaiah 37:1
  • 2. 2 Kings 18:37
  • 3. 1 Kings 21:27
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