That this prudent and pious king was not deficient in military qualities is shown by his successes against the Philistines, seemingly in the early part of his reign, be- fore the overthrow of Sennacherib (2 Kings xviii, 8), and by the efficient measures taken by him for the defence of Jerusalem against the AssjTians. Hezekiah also as- siduously cidtivated the arts of peace, and by wise man- agement of finance, and the attention which, after the example of David and Uzziah, he paid to agriculture
and the increase of flocks and herds, he became possess- ed, even in troubled times, of an ample exchequer and treasures of wealth (2 Chron. xxxii, 27-29; 2 Kings xx, 13; Isa. xxxix, 2). Himself a sacred poet, and proba- bly the author of other psalms besides that in Isa. xxxviii, he seems to have collected the psalms of David and Asaph for the Temple worship, and certainly em- ployed competent scribes to complete the collection of Solomon's Proverbs (Prov. xxv, 1). He appears also to have taken order for the preservation of genealogical records (Browne, Review ofLepsius on Eible Chronolo(jy, in Arnold's Theological Critic, i, 59 sq.).
By a rare and happy providence, this most pious of kings was confirmed in his faithfulness and seconded in his endeavors by the powerfid assistance of the noblest and most eloquent of prophets. The influence of Isaiah was, however, not gained without a struggle with the " scornfid" remnant of the former royal counselors (Isa. xxviii, 14), who in all probability recommended to the king such alliances and compromises as would be in uni- son rather with the dictates of political expediency than with that sole unhesitating trust in the arm of Jehovah which the prophets incidcated. The leading man of this cabinet was Shebna, who, from the omission of his father's name, and the expression in Isa. xxii, 16 (see Blunt, Undes. Coincidences), was probably a foreigner, perhaps a Syrian (Hitzig). At the instance of Isaiah, he seisms to have been subsequently degraded from the high post of prefect of the palace (which office was given to Eliakim, Isa. xxii, 21), to the inferior, though still honorable station of state secretary ("iSb, 2 Kings xviii, 18) ; the further pmiishment of exile with which Isaiah had threatened him (xxii, 18) being possibly forgiven on his amendment, of which we have some traces in Isa. xxxvii, sq. (Ewald, Gesch. iii, 617).
At the head of a repentant and united people, Heze- kiah ventured to assume the aggressive against the Philistines, and in a series of victories not only rewon the cities which his father had lost (2 Chron. xxviii, 18), but even dispossessed them of their own cities ex- cept Gaza (2 Kings xviii, 8) and Gath (Josephus, ^«;. ix, 13,3). It was perhaps to the purposes of this war that he applied the money which would otherwise haxe been used to pay the tribute exacted by Shalmaneser, according to the agreement of Ahaz with his predeces- sor, Tiglath-Pileser. When the king of AssjTia applied for this impost, Hezekiah refused it, and omitted to send even the usual presents (2 Kings xviii, 7), a line of conduct to which he does not appear to have been en- couraged by any exhortations of his prophetic guide.
Instant war was averted by the heroic and long-con- tinued resistance of the TjTrians under their king Elu- loeus (Josephus, vl ?ii'. ix, 14), against a siege, which was abandoned only in the fifth year (Grote, Greece, iii, 359, 4th edit.), when it was found to be impracticable. This must have been a critical and intensely anxious period for Jerusalem, and Hezekiah used every available means to strengthen his position, and render his capital im- pregnable (2 Kings XX, 20 ; 2 Chron. xxxii, 3-5, 30; Isa. xxii, 8-11; xxxiii, 18; and to these events Ewald also refers, Psa. xlviii, 13). But while all Judsea trembled with anticipation of AssjTian invasion, and while Sheb- na and others were relying " in the shadow of Egj'pt," Isaiah's brave heart did not fail, and he even denomiced the wTath of God against the proud and sinful merchant- city (Isa. xxiii), which now seemed to be the main bul- wark of Judwa against immediate attack.
At what time it was that Hezekiah "rebelled against the king of Assj^ia, and served him not," we do not learn from the direct historj- : in the brief summarj', 2 Kings xviii, 7, 8 (for such it clearly is), of the successes with which the Lord prospered him, that particular statement only introduces what is more fully detailed in the sequel (xviii, 13 ; xix, 37). That it precedes the notice of the overthrow of Samaria (ver. 9 sq.), does not warrant the inference that the assertion of independence
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belongs to the earliest years of Ilezekiah's reipn (see Wi- ner, Rddl- Worterb. i, 497, n. 2). Ewald, however, thinks otherwise : in the absence of direct evidence, making liistory, as his manner is, out of his own peremptory in- terpretation of certain passages of Isaiah (eh. i and xxii, 1-14), he informs us that Hezekiah, holding his kingdom alisolved by the death of Ahaz from the obligations con- tracted with Tiglath-Pileser, |)repared himself from the first to resist the demands of Assyria, and put Jerusalem in a state of defence. (It matters not to Ewald that the measures noted in 2 Kings xx, 20 ; 2 Chron. xxxii, 3-5, 30, are in the latter jiassage expressly assigned to the tim e of Sennacherilj's advance upon Jerusalem.) " From Shalmaneser's hosts at that time stationed in Phoenicia and elsewhere in the neighborhood of Judah, forces were detached which laid waste the land in all directions : an army sent against them from Jerusalem, seized with panic at the sight of the unwonted enemy, took to flight, and, Jerusalem now lying helplessly exposed, a peace was concluded in all haste upon the stipulation of a 3'early tribute, and the ignominious deliverance was celebrated with feastings in Jerusalem" (Gesch. des V. Israel, iii, 330 sq.) : all of which rests upon the supposition that Ew- ald's interpretation of Isa. i, 22 is the only possible one : it cannot be said to be on record as history.