Isaiah 39 Footnotes

39:1 This verse comes after the Assyrian threats against Jerusalem were resolved through God’s miraculous defeat of the Assyrian army in chaps. 36–37. The phrase “at that time” appears to place these events after 701 BC, but Merodach-baladan was king only from 721–710 and 704–703 BC, so a date after 701 is unlikely. Some suggest that Hezekiah’s sickness should be dated as early as 711 BC, while others maintain a date around 703 BC. All that is certain is that the events of chap. 39 occurred after those related in chap. 38, for the letter and gift came after the Babylonian king heard that Hezekiah had recovered from his sickness. The same order of events occurs in 2 Kings.

39:7 The defeat of Judah and exile in Babylon took place in 605, 597, and 586 BC, so how could Hezekiah’s son go into exile? Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son, was taken to Babylon (2Ch 33:11), but the term son can also refer to grandsons and subsequent descendants.