2 Chronicles 32:20
Ver. 20. And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven. To God in heaven; of the prayer of Hezekiah on this account, see Isa 37:15, and the notes there; See Gill on "Isa 37:15" See Gill on "Isa 37:16" See Gill on "Isa 37:17" See Gill on "Isa 37:18" See Gill on "Isa 37:19" See Gill on "Isa 37:20"and though we read not of the prayer of Isaiah, no doubt he made one, as Hezekiah desired, and since he received a message from the Lord, which he sent to Hezekiah, Isa 37:4. 2 Chronicles 32:21Ver. 21. And the Lord sent an angel,.... The Targum is,"the Word of the Lord sent Gabriel;''Josephus {a} takes this angel, or messenger sent of God, to be the pestilence; and others suppose it to be a hot pestilential wind, common in the eastern countries, called "Samiel", or the poison wind, by which multitudes are sometimes destroyed at once; of which Thevenot and other travellers make mention, See Gill on "Job 27:21",See Gill on "Ps 91:6", but be it as it may, it was sent of God, was under his direction, and by his power and providence did the execution according to his prediction:which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria; the generals and officers of his army, with the common soldiers, to the number of 185,000, Isa 36:1, among these, no doubt, were the three generals sent with railing letters to Hezekiah, particularly Rabshakeh,See Gill on "Isa 37:36"so he returned with shame of face to his own land; Assyria, particularly to Nineveh, the metropolis of it, Isa 37:37and when he was come into the house of his god; the temple of his idol, whose name was Nisroch:they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword; his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer, Isa 37:38.{a} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 1. sect. 5. 2 Chronicles 32:22Ver. 22. Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria,.... As most clearly appeared; for no stroke was struck but by him:and from the hand of all other; the Arabic version adds,"who were round about them;''who by this defeat were deterred from attacking them:and guided them on every side: and guarded them all around, as a shepherd leads his flock, where they may be secure from all dangers. 2 Chronicles 32:23Ver. 23. And many brought gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem,.... Even out of neighbouring nations, things which they devoted to the service of God in the temple, being convinced that this wonderful deliverance was wrought by the Lord God of Israel, and by him only:and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah; being desirous of living in friendship with him, who appeared to be the favourite of the God of heaven:so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth; from the time of the destruction of the Assyrian army in such a wonderful manner, he was highly esteemed, and his name and fame spread abroad among all the neighbouring nations round about him. 2 Chronicles 32:24Ver. 24. In those days Hezekiah was sick,.... Of which sickness, and of his prayer, and of the sign given him, see Isa 38:1 and the notes there. 2 Chronicles 32:25Ver. 25. But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him,.... Both in the deliverance of him and his people from the king of Assyria, and the recovery of him from his sickness:for his heart was lifted up; with pride, because of the wonderful defeat of the Assyrian army in his favour, the miracle wrought at his recovery from illness, the riches and honour conferred upon him, the presents brought him from his neighbours, and especially the embassy of the king of Babylon to him:therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem; who, in imitation of him, fell into the same sin of pride, with many others; and therefore both he and they were threatened with some tokens of the divine displeasure. 2 Chronicles 32:26Ver. 26. Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,.... In what manner is not said; perhaps by putting on sackcloth, and by fasting and prayer, and making confession of sin, and declaring repentance for it:so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah; but in the days of his son's sons, Isa 39:7. 2 Chronicles 32:27Ver. 27. And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches,.... Increased by the spoil of the Assyrian camp, and the presents sent him after that by neighbouring nations, 2Ch 32:21and honour; both from his subjects, and the nations around him:and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels: which were houses both for rich and curious things, and for armour, he showed to the ambassadors of Babylon,See Gill on "Isa 39:2". 2 Chronicles 32:28Ver. 28. Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil,.... The produce of his fields, vineyards, and oliveyards, such as David had, with persons over them, see 1Ch 27:25and stands for all manner of beasts; as oxen, horses, camels, and asses, see 2Ch 9:25and cotes for flocks; folds for sheep. 2 Chronicles 32:29Ver. 29. Moreover, he provided him cities,.... Where he had the above storehouses and stalls, and convenient dwellings for those that looked after them, and were over his cattle, small and great, as follows; the Vulgate Latin version reads six cities in some copies {b}:and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; in which the riches of men, and even of kings, lay in those times:for God had given him substance very much; for all was owing to his disposing providence, let it come which way it might.{b} So the Edition of Sixtus V. Lovain, and MSS. in James's Contrariety of the Popish Bibles, p. 295. 2 Chronicles 32:30Ver. 30. This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper water course of Gihon,.... Which Procopius Gazeus says was the same with Siloam, and which it seems had two streams, and this was the upper one; Mr. Maundrell says {c}, the pool of Gihon"lies about two furlongs without Bethlehem gate westward; it is a stately pool, one hundred and six paces long, and sixty seven broad, and lined with wall and plaster, and was, when we were there, well stored with water:''and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David; through canals under the plain of the city of David; as the Targum, by a subterraneous passage; and Siloam, as Dr. Lightfoot {d} observes from Josephus, was behind the west wall, not far from the corner that pointed toward the southwest:and Hezekiah prospered in all his works; natural, civil, and religious, 2Ch 31:21.{c} Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 108. {d} Chorograph. in John, c. 5. sect. 2. 2 Chronicles 32:31Ver. 31. Howbeit, [in the business of] the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire the wonder that was [done] in the land,.... Not to see the two tables of stone which were in the ark, with the other two that were broken because of the sin of the calf, as the Targum; nor to ask about the destruction of the Assyrian army, and the manner of it, as Grotius; but to be informed of the miracle of the sun's going back ten degrees, when Hezekiah was recovered from his sickness; the Chaldeans being a people much given to astrology, and curious in their observations of that kind:God left him to try him; by showing him all his treasures:that he might know all that was in his heart; not that God might know, who knows all things, unless spoken of him after the manner of men; but rather that Hezekiah might know the pride lurking in his heart, and other sins which escaped his notice, Jer 17:9 or that it might be known by others; that the children of men might know it, as Kimchi; and take warning by it, and observe the frailty and infirmity of the best of men. 2 Chronicles 32:32Ver. 32. Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness,.... His acts of piety and liberality:behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz; in the prophecy of Isaiah, Isa 36:1, whose book is called the Vision of Isaiah, Isa 1:1and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel; in2Ki 18:1. 2 Chronicles 32:33Ver. 33. And Hezekiah slept with his fathers,.... Died, as they did:and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David; in the more honourable and principal of them; there are still to be seen, on the north of Jerusalem, some grottos, called the sepulchres of the kings, though it is certain none of the kings of Israel or Judah were buried there; unless it may be thought, as Mr. Maundrell {e} conjectures, that Hezekiah was here inferred, and that these are the sepulchres of the sons of David here mentioned; however, he observes, whoever was buried here, this is certain, that the place itself discovers so great an expense both of labour and treasure, that we may well suppose it to be the work of kings:and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death; by attending his funeral in great numbers, by burning spices for him, and by mourning for him many days:and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead; of whom a further account is given in the next chapter.{e} Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 76.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.