2 Kings 18:13-18

Sennacherib Invades Judah

13 In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah. ¹

14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.” And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver ^[a] and thirty talents of gold. ^[b]

15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold with which he had plated the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD, and he gave it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

17 Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, ^[c] the Rabsaris, ^[d] and the Rabshakeh, ^[e] along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. ²

18 Then they called for the king. And Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to them.

2 Kings 18:13-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 18

This chapter begins with the good reign of Hezekiah king of Judah, the reformation he made in the kingdom, and the prosperity that attended him when Israel was carried captive, 2Ki 18:1-12 and gives an account of the siege of Jerusalem by the king of Assyria, and of the distress Hezekiah was in, and the hard measures he was obliged to submit unto, 2Ki 18:13-18 and of the reviling and blasphemous speech of Rabshakeh, one of the generals of the king of Assyria, urging the Jews to a revolt from their king, 2Ki 18:19-37.

Cross References

• 1. (2 Chronicles 32:1–8; Psalms 46:1–11)
• 2. (2 Chronicles 32:9–19; Isaiah 36:1–22)

Footnotes

• [a] 300 talents is approximately 11.3 tons or 10.3 metric tons of silver.
• [b] 30 talents is approximately 1.13 tons or 1.03 metric tons of gold.
• [c] Hebrew Tartan is the title of a field marshal, general, or commander in the Assyrian military.
• [d] Hebrew Rabsaris is the title of the chief eunuch in the Assyrian military.
• [e] Hebrew Rabshakeh is the title of a high-ranking Assyrian military officer; here and throughout chapters 18 and 19, as well as Isaiah 36 and 37.