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2 Kings 18
New Living Translation

Hezekiah Rules in Judah

18 Hezekiah son of Ahaz began to rule over Judah in the third year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah,[a] the daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done. 4 He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it. The bronze serpent was called Nehushtan.[b]

5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time. 6 He remained faithful to the Lord in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the Lord had given Moses. 7 So the Lord was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did. He revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him tribute. 8 He also conquered the Philistines as far distant as Gaza and its territory, from their smallest outpost to their largest walled city.

9 During the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked the city of Samaria and began a siege against it. 10 Three years later, during the sixth year of King Hezekiah’s reign and the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel, Samaria fell. 11 At that time the king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and placed them in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 12 For they refused to listen to the Lord their God and obey him. Instead, they violated his covenant—all the laws that Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded them to obey.

Assyria Invades Judah

13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign,[c] King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them. 14 King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. I will pay whatever tribute money you demand if you will only withdraw.” The king of Assyria then demanded a settlement of more than eleven tons of silver and one ton of gold.[d] 15 To gather this amount, King Hezekiah used all the silver stored in the Temple of the Lord and in the palace treasury. 16 Hezekiah even stripped the gold from the doors of the Lord’s Temple and from the doorposts he had overlaid with gold, and he gave it all to the Assyrian king.

17 Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent his commander in chief, his field commander, and his chief of staff[e] from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.[f] 18 They summoned King Hezekiah, but the king sent these officials to meet with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian.

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

19 Then the Assyrian king’s chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah:

“This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident? 20 Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Who are you counting on, that you have rebelled against me? 21 On Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed that splinters beneath your weight and pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is completely unreliable!

22 “But perhaps you will say to me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God!’ But isn’t he the one who was insulted by Hezekiah? Didn’t Hezekiah tear down his shrines and altars and make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem worship only at the altar here in Jerusalem?

23 “I’ll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them! 24 With your tiny army, how can you think of challenging even the weakest contingent of my master’s troops, even with the help of Egypt’s chariots and charioteers? 25 What’s more, do you think we have invaded your land without the Lord’s direction? The Lord himself told us, ‘Attack this land and destroy it!’”

26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff, “Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don’t speak in Hebrew,[g] for the people on the wall will hear.”

27 But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied, “Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine.”

28 Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, “Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria! 29 This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you from my power. 30 Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will surely rescue us. This city will never fall into the hands of the Assyrian king!’

31 “Don’t listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me—open the gates and come out. Then each of you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well. 32 Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one—a land of grain and new wine, bread and vineyards, olive groves and honey. Choose life instead of death!

“Don’t listen to Hezekiah when he tries to mislead you by saying, ‘The Lord will rescue us!’ 33 Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria? 34 What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power? 35 What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? So what makes you think that the Lord can rescue Jerusalem from me?”

36 But the people were silent and did not utter a word because Hezekiah had commanded them, “Do not answer him.”

37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian, went back to Hezekiah. They tore their clothes in despair, and they went in to see the king and told him what the Assyrian chief of staff had said.

Footnotes

  1. 18:2 As in parallel text at 2 Chr 29:1; Hebrew reads Abi, a variant spelling of Abijah.
  2. 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew terms that mean “snake,” “bronze,” and “unclean thing.”
  3. 18:13 The fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign was 701 B.c.
  4. 18:14 Hebrew 300 talents [10 metric tons] of silver and 30 talents [1 metric ton] of gold.
  5. 18:17a Or the rabshakeh; also in 18:19, 26, 27, 28, 37.
  6. 18:17b Or bleached.
  7. 18:26 Hebrew in the dialect of Judah; also in 18:28.
Close NET

2 Kings 18
New English Translation

Hezekiah Becomes King of Judah

18 In the third year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea son of Elah, Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became king over Judah. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother[a] was Abi,[b] the daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done.[c] 4 He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole.[d] He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time[e] the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan.[f] 5 He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after.[g] 6 He was loyal to[h] the Lord and did not abandon him.[i] He obeyed the commandments that the Lord had given to[j] Moses. 7 The Lord was with him; he succeeded in all his endeavors.[k] He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him.[l] 8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah’s reign (it was the seventh year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea, son of Elah), King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched up[m] against Samaria and besieged it. 10 After three years he captured it (in the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign); in the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign over Israel, Samaria was captured. 11 The king of Assyria deported the people of Israel[n] to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes. 12 This happened because they did not obey[o] the Lord their God and broke his covenant with them. They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded.[p]

Sennacherib Invades Judah

13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 14 King Hezekiah of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria, who was at Lachish, “I have violated our treaty.[q] If you leave, I will do whatever you demand.”[r] So the king of Assyria demanded that King Hezekiah of Judah pay 300 talents[s] of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver in[t] the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace. 16 At that time King Hezekiah of Judah stripped the metal overlays from the doors of the Lord’s temple and from the posts that he had plated[u] and gave them to the king of Assyria.

17 The king of Assyria sent his commanding general, the chief eunuch, and the chief adviser[v] from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, along with a large army. They went up and arrived at Jerusalem. They went[w] and stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth.[x] 18 They summoned the king, so Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna, the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet them.

19 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence?[y] 20 Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk.[z] In whom are you trusting that you would dare to rebel against me? 21 Now look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If a man leans for support on it, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him. 22 Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem.’ 23 Now make a deal[aa] with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you 2,000 horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. 24 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen.[ab] 25 Furthermore it was by the command of the Lord that I marched up against this place to destroy it. The Lord told me, ‘March up[ac] against this land and destroy it.’”’”[ad]

26 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic,[ae] for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect[af] in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 27 But the chief adviser said to them, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you.[ag] His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you.”[ah]

28 The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect,[ai] “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria. 29 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you from my hand![aj] 30 Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord when he says, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 31 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me.[ak] Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you to a land just like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey. Then you will live and not die. Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, “The Lord will rescue us.” 33 Have any of the gods of the nations actually rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria?[al] 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?[am] Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria from my power?[an] 35 Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’”[ao] 36 The people were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”

37 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn[ap] and reported to him what the chief adviser had said.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:2 tn Heb “the name of his mother.”
  2. 2 Kings 18:2 tn The parallel passage in 2 Chr 29:1 has “Abijah.”
  3. 2 Kings 18:3 tn Heb “he did what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, according to all which David his father had done.”
  4. 2 Kings 18:4 tn The term is singular in the MT but plural in the LXX and other ancient versions. It is also possible to regard the singular as a collective singular, especially in the context of other plural items.sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
  5. 2 Kings 18:4 tn Heb “until those days.”
  6. 2 Kings 18:4 tn In Hebrew the name sounds like the phrase נְחַשׁ הַנְּחֹשֶׁת (nekhash hannekhoshet), “bronze serpent.”
  7. 2 Kings 18:5 tn Heb “and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, and those who were before him.”
  8. 2 Kings 18:6 tn Heb “he hugged.”
  9. 2 Kings 18:6 tn Heb “and did not turn aside from after him.”
  10. 2 Kings 18:6 tn Heb “had commanded.”
  11. 2 Kings 18:7 tn Heb “in all which he went out [to do], he was successful.”
  12. 2 Kings 18:7 tn Heb “and did not serve him.”
  13. 2 Kings 18:9 tn Heb “went up” (also in v. 13).
  14. 2 Kings 18:11 tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” as the object of the verb.
  15. 2 Kings 18:12 tn Heb “listen to the voice of.”
  16. 2 Kings 18:12 tn Heb “all that Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded, and they did not listen and they did not act.”
  17. 2 Kings 18:14 tn Or “I have done wrong.”
  18. 2 Kings 18:14 tn Heb “Return from upon me; what you place upon me, I will carry.”
  19. 2 Kings 18:14 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 22,500 pounds of silver and 2,250 pounds of gold.
  20. 2 Kings 18:15 tn Heb “that was found.”
  21. 2 Kings 18:16 tn Heb “At that time Hezekiah stripped the doors of the Lord’s temple, and the posts which Hezekiah king of Judah had plated.”
  22. 2 Kings 18:17 sn For a discussion of these titles see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 229-30.
  23. 2 Kings 18:17 tn Heb “and they went up and came.”
  24. 2 Kings 18:17 tn Heb “the field of the fuller.”
  25. 2 Kings 18:19 tn Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?”
  26. 2 Kings 18:20 tn Heb “you say only a word of lips, counsel and might for battle.” Sennacherib’s message appears to be in broken Hebrew at this point. The phrase “word of lips” refers to mere or empty talk in Prov 14:23.
  27. 2 Kings 18:23 tn Heb “exchange pledges.”
  28. 2 Kings 18:24 tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 23-24 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 21. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”
  29. 2 Kings 18:25 tn Heb “Go up.”
  30. 2 Kings 18:25 sn In v. 25 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 22. He claims that Hezekiah has offended the Lord and that the Lord has commissioned Assyria as his instrument of discipline and judgment.
  31. 2 Kings 18:26 sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the empire.
  32. 2 Kings 18:26 tn Or “Hebrew.”
  33. 2 Kings 18:27 tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.
  34. 2 Kings 18:27 tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”sn The chief adviser alludes to the horrible reality of siege warfare, when the starving people in the besieged city would resort to eating and drinking anything to stay alive.
  35. 2 Kings 18:28 tn The Hebrew text also has, “and he spoke and said.”
  36. 2 Kings 18:29 tc The MT has “his hand,” but this is due to graphic confusion of vav (ו) and yod (י). The translation reads “my hand,” along with many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate.
  37. 2 Kings 18:31 tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”
  38. 2 Kings 18:33 tn Heb “Have the gods of the nations really rescued, each his land, from the hand of the king of Assyria?” The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the main verb. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not!”
  39. 2 Kings 18:34 tn The parallel passage in Isa 36:19 omits “Hena and Ivvah.” The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”
  40. 2 Kings 18:34 tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 33, 35).
  41. 2 Kings 18:35 tn Heb “that the Lord might rescue Jerusalem from my hand?” The logic runs as follows: Since no god has ever been able to withstand the Assyrian onslaught, how can the people of Jerusalem possibly think the Lord will rescue them?
  42. 2 Kings 18:37 sn As a sign of grief and mourning.
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