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The Histories · Old Testament

2 Kings 20

2 Kings 20: Hezekiah's illness, the shadow turned back, and the envoys from Babylon

General context

Hezekiah is sick unto death, and Isaiah the son of Amoz tells him in the Lord's name to set his house in order because he will die. Hezekiah turns his face to the wall, asks the Lord to remember how he has walked in truth and with a perfect heart, and weeps. Before Isaiah has left the middle court the word of the Lord sends him back: the Lord has heard the prayer and seen the tears, will heal Hezekiah so that he goes up to the temple on the third day, will add fifteen years, and will deliver him and the city from Assyria for his own sake and David's. A lump of figs is laid on the boil and he recovers. Hezekiah asks for a sign and chooses the harder one, that the shadow return backward ten degrees; Isaiah cries to the Lord and it does so on the dial of Ahaz. Berodach-baladan king of Babylon, hearing of the sickness, sends letters and a present. Hezekiah shows the envoys everything in his treasuries and armoury; the narrator says there was nothing he did not show. Isaiah asks what the men said, where they came from and what they saw, and Hezekiah answers plainly. Isaiah delivers the Lord's word: all that is in the house will be carried to Babylon, and some of his sons will be eunuchs in the king of Babylon's palace. Hezekiah calls the word good, since there will be peace and truth in his days. The closing notice mentions his pool and conduit. He dies and Manasseh reigns.

Cited passages: 2 Kings 20:1, 2 Kings 20:2, 2 Kings 20:3, 2 Kings 20:4, 2 Kings 20:5, 2 Kings 20:6, 2 Kings 20:7, 2 Kings 20:8, 2 Kings 20:9, 2 Kings 20:10, 2 Kings 20:11, 2 Kings 20:12, 2 Kings 20:13, 2 Kings 20:14, 2 Kings 20:15, 2 Kings 20:17, 2 Kings 20:18, 2 Kings 20:19, 2 Kings 20:20, 2 Kings 20:21

2 Kings 20 (KJV)

1In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.

2Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying,

3I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

4And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

5Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.

6And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

7And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

8And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day?

9And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

10And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

11And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

12At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

13And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

14Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.

15And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.

16And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord.

17Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.

18And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

19Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?

20And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

21And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

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Historical context

The chapter opens with in those days, and the healing promise includes deliverance of the city from the king of Assyria, so the text places the illness while the Assyrian threat is still present; it does not give a year. The added fifteen years are stated, but the chapter does not say how old Hezekiah was at the time. The dial of Ahaz is named without description. The Babylonian king is called Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan; Isaiah 39 tells the same visit with the name Merodach-baladan. The narrator does not say why Hezekiah showed the envoys everything, and Isaiah's questions receive answers of fact rather than motive. The oracle names Babylon as the destination of the treasures and of some of Hezekiah's descendants, which the reader of Kings reaches in chapters 24 and 25. Hezekiah's closing sentence is quoted without narrator comment; the text does not say whether it expresses relief, acceptance or something else. The pool and conduit are mentioned only in the closing formula. Isaiah 38 adds a writing of Hezekiah after his recovery that Kings does not include. The chapter ends by naming Manasseh, whose reign the next chapter treats as the reversal of Hezekiah's.

Cited passages: 2 Kings 20:1, 2 Kings 20:6, 2 Kings 20:11, 2 Kings 20:12, Isaiah 39:1, 2 Kings 20:13, 2 Kings 20:15, 2 Kings 20:17, 2 Kings 20:18, 2 Kings 24:13, 2 Kings 20:19, Isaiah 38:9, 2 Kings 20:21

Literary context

Two episodes share the same cast, Hezekiah and Isaiah, and the same movement of word, question and sign, but run in opposite directions. In the first, a sentence of death is reversed by prayer and tears; Isaiah has not even left the middle court before the word changes. The sign is negotiated, and Hezekiah chooses the harder option, the shadow going backward. In the second, a friendly visit ends in a sentence of loss, and there is no prayer, no tears and no reversal. The narrator marks the turn with a triple statement of completeness, nothing he did not show, nothing not seen, nothing shall be left, so the totality of the display becomes the totality of the future removal. Isaiah's questions are plain and Hezekiah's answers plain, and the oracle follows without argument. The promise of fifteen years and the promise of peace and truth in my days bracket the chapter with time granted, while the oracle reaches past that time to Babylon. The book that praised Hezekiah for trust closes his story with him assenting to a judgment on his sons.

Cited passages: 2 Kings 20:1, 2 Kings 20:3, 2 Kings 20:4, 2 Kings 20:10, 2 Kings 20:13, 2 Kings 20:15, 2 Kings 20:17, 2 Kings 20:14, 2 Kings 20:16, 2 Kings 20:6, 2 Kings 20:19, 2 Kings 18:5

Key moments

  1. Set thine house in order (2 Kings 20:1). Isaiah tells the sick Hezekiah in the Lord's name that he will die.
  2. Face to the wall (2 Kings 20:3). Hezekiah asks the Lord to remember his walk and weeps sore.
  3. Fifteen years added (2 Kings 20:6). The Lord promises healing, fifteen more years and the city's deliverance from Assyria.
  4. The shadow goes back (2 Kings 20:11). At Isaiah's cry the shadow returns ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz.
  5. Everything shown to Babylon (2 Kings 20:13). Hezekiah shows the Babylonian envoys all his treasures and armoury.
  6. Carried into Babylon (2 Kings 20:17). Isaiah announces that all the treasures will be taken to Babylon.
  7. Peace and truth in my days (2 Kings 20:19). Hezekiah calls the word good, noting there will be peace in his own days.

For reflection

Hezekiah weeps and prays when his own death is announced, but when told his treasures and sons will go to Babylon he says the word is good, since there will be peace in his days. What does the chapter leave a reader to make of that difference?

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