2 Kings 18:1-8

Judah's King Hezekiah

1 In the third year of Israel's King Hoshea son of Elah, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.

2 He was 25 years old when he became king; he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi^[a] daughter of Zechariah.

3 He did what was right in the Lord's sight just as his ancestor David had done.^[b]

4 He removed the high places and shattered the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah [poles].^[c] He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made,^[d] for the Israelites burned incense to it up to that time. He called it Nehushtan.^[e]

5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord God of Israel;^[f] not one of the kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.^[g]

6 He held fast to the Lord and did not turn from following Him but kept the commandments the Lord had commanded Moses.

7 The Lord was with him, and wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.

2 Kings 18:1-8 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Abijah in 2 Ch 29:1
• [b]. 2 Ch 29:1-2
• [c]. 2 Kg 17:10; 2 Ch 31:1
• [d]. Nm 21:8-9
• [e]. A bronze thing
• [f]. 2 Kg 19:10
• [g]. 2 Kg 23:25; 1 Kg 3:12