2 Kings 18:16

16 At that time Hezekiah stripped [the gold] off the doors and doorposts of the LORD's temple. ([Earlier] Hezekiah had them covered [with gold].) He gave the gold to the king of Assyria.

2 Kings 18:16 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 18:16

At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of
the temple of the Lord
The plates of gold with which they were covered; or scraped off the gold from them, as the Targum interprets it:

and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid:
or the posts, as the Targum, the lintel or side posts of the doors of the temple; which though covered in Solomon's time, the gold was worn off, or had been taken off by Ahaz, but was renewed by Hezekiah; and who, in this time of distress, thought he might take it off again, no doubt with a full purpose to replace it, when he should be able. This is one of the three things the Talmudic writers F19 disapprove of in Hezekiah:

and gave it to the king of Assyria;
to make up the thirty talents of gold he demanded.


FOOTNOTES:

F19 T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 10. 2.

2 Kings 18:16 In-Context

14 Then King Hezekiah of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have done wrong. Go away, and leave me alone. I'll pay whatever penalty you give me." So the king of Assyria demanded that King Hezekiah of Judah pay 22,500 pounds of silver and 2,250 pounds of gold.
15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver that could be found in the LORD's temple and in the royal palace treasury.
16 At that time Hezekiah stripped [the gold] off the doors and doorposts of the LORD's temple. ([Earlier] Hezekiah had them covered [with gold].) He gave the gold to the king of Assyria.
17 Then the king of Assyria sent his commander-in-chief, his quartermaster, and his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came there and stood at the channel for the Upper Pool on the road to the Laundryman's Field.
18 When they called for King Hezekiah, Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace and was the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah, who was the royal historian and the son of Asaph, went out to the field commander.
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