Kings II 18:5

5 And the king commanded Joab and Abessa and Ethi, saying, Spare for my sake the young man Abessalom. And all the people heard the king charging all the commanders concerning Abessalom.

Kings II 18:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 18:5

He trusted in the Lord God of Israel
To be his protector and defender, and had no dependence on idols as an arm of flesh; the Targum is, he trusted in the Word of the Lord God; not in Nehushtan, but in him the brasen serpent was a type of, even in the Word and Son of God, his alone Saviour and Redeemer:

so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah:
for though Josiah was like him in some things, yet not in all:

nor any that were before him;
from the times of the division of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; and Ben Gersom and Abarbinel think that David and Solomon are not to be excepted; David sinning in the case of Uriah, and Solomon falling into idolatry, crimes that Hezekiah was not guilty of.

Kings II 18:5 In-Context

3 And they said, Thou shalt not go out: for if we should indeed flee, they will not care for us; and if half of us should die, they will not mind us; for thou as ten thousand of us: and now well that thou shalt be to us an aid to help us in the city.

4 And the king said to them, Whatsoever shall seem good in your eyes I will do. And the king stood by the side of the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands.

5 And the king commanded Joab and Abessa and Ethi, saying, Spare for my sake the young man Abessalom. And all the people heard the king charging all the commanders concerning Abessalom.

6 And all the people went out into the wood against Israel; and the battle was in the wood of Ephraim.

7 And the people of Israel fell down there before the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter in that day, twenty thousand men.