2 Kings 19:1

Isaiah Sends Encouragement to Hezekiah

1 It happened that when King Hezekiah heard, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went [to] the temple of Yahweh.

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 It happened that when King Hezekiah heard, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went [to] the temple of Yahweh.
2 He sent Eliakim who [was] over the palace, Shebna the secretary, the elders, and the priests, [all] clothed in sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'A day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace is this day, for the children {are about to be born}, but there is no strength to bear them.
4 Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear all of the words of [the] chief commander whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to insult [the] living God, and he will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remainder who are left.'"
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.