CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
2 Kings 18
Chapter 18 of 25
Chapter Overview
What happens in 2 Kings 18
Hezekiah becomes one of Judah's greatest kings, removing idols and trusting God. But the mighty Assyrian Empire, which has already destroyed northern Israel, now turns its attention to Judah. The Assyrian commander delivers a terrifying speech outside Jerusalem's walls.
Scripture
2 Kings 18
Hezekiah's Faithfulness
Study note
Hezekiah became king at twenty-five and was the most faithful king Judah had seen. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones, and cut down the idol poles. He even destroyed the bronze serpent Moses had made because the Israelites had begun worshipping it. He trusted in the Lord more than any king before or after him. He held firmly to God, kept his commands, and God was with him. He rebelled against Assyria's control and defeated the Philistines.
1 Hezekiah son of Ahaz began ruling Judah in the third year of King Hoshea of Israel. Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2 He was twenty-five when he became king and ruled from Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abi, daughter of Zechariah. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
3 He did what pleased the Lord, just like his ancestor David had done. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
4 He tore down the hilltop shrines, smashed the sacred stones, and chopped down the idol poles. He also broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, because the Israelites had been treating it like a god and burning incense to it. People called it Nehushtan. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
5 Hezekiah put his complete trust in the Lord, the God of Israel. No king of Judah -- before or after him -- was his equal in this. He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
6 He held tightly to the Lord and never wavered in following him. He obeyed every command the Lord had given through Moses. For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
7 The Lord was with Hezekiah, and everything he attempted turned out well. He stood up to the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him. And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
8 He pushed the Philistines back to Gaza and its area. He took all their land, from small towers to large walled cities. He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
The Fall of Israel Recalled
Study note
During Hezekiah's reign, the Assyrians besieged and captured Samaria, ending the northern kingdom of Israel. The author reminds readers that this happened because Israel disobeyed God's covenant. This sets up the dramatic contrast with what will happen when Assyria threatens Judah under faithful King Hezekiah.
9 In Hezekiah's fourth year as king, the Assyrian king attacked Samaria. This was Hoshea's seventh year as Israel's king. Assyria trapped the city. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
10 Three years later, the Assyrians broke through. Samaria fell in Hezekiah's sixth year, which was Hoshea's ninth year as king of Israel. And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
11 The Assyrian king moved the Israelites to Assyria. He put them in Halah, along the Habor River in Gozan, and in Mede cities. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:
12 This happened because Israel had disobeyed the Lord their God. They broke his agreement and ignored everything Moses, the Lord's servant, had told them to do. Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.
Assyria Threatens Jerusalem
Study note
In Hezekiah's fourteenth year, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. Hezekiah tried to buy peace by stripping the gold and silver from the temple and palace and sending it to Sennacherib at the city of Lachish. Archaeological evidence confirms this campaign -- the Assyrian records boast of capturing 46 fortified cities of Judah.
13 In Hezekiah's fourteenth year, King Sennacherib of Assyria struck every walled city in Judah. He took them all. Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
14 Hezekiah sent a message to the Assyrian king at Lachish: 'I was wrong to rebel. Please pull back, and I will pay whatever you demand.' The king of Assyria required Hezekiah to pay about eleven tons of silver and one ton of gold. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
15 Hezekiah gave up all the silver from the Lord's temple and the royal treasuries. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.
16 He even stripped the gold covering from the temple doors and the doorframes he himself had covered. He gave all of it to the Assyrian king. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
The Rabshakeh's Speech
Study note
Despite receiving tribute, Sennacherib sent a large army to Jerusalem. His chief spokesman, the Rabshakeh, stood outside the city walls and delivered a devastating propaganda speech designed to demoralize Jerusalem's defenders. He mocked their trust in Egypt and in God, claiming that the Lord himself had sent Assyria to destroy Jerusalem. He spoke in Hebrew so the common people on the walls could understand and be terrified. Hezekiah's officials begged him to speak in Aramaic instead, but the Rabshakeh only spoke louder. The people remained silent, as the king had commanded. The officials went to Hezekiah with torn clothes, a sign of deep distress.
17 Even after payment, Assyria's king sent three top leaders from Lachish. They brought a mighty army to Jerusalem. They camped by the upper pool, on the road to the laundry field. And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.
18 They called for King Hezekiah. Three officials came out to meet them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah (the palace manager), Shebna (the royal secretary), and Joah son of Asaph (the record keeper). And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
19 The Assyrian leader spoke. "Tell Hezekiah this from Assyria's great king. 'What makes you so sure?'" And Rab-shakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
20 "'You talk about having military plans and strength for battle, but that is just hot air. Who are you relying on that you would dare rebel against me?'" Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
21 "'Are you counting on Egypt? Egypt is like leaning on a splintered walking stick -- it will stab right through your hand! That is exactly what Pharaoh is to anyone foolish enough to trust him.'" Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.
22 "'Maybe you will say, We are trusting in the Lord our God. But isn't this the same God whose hilltop shrines and altars Hezekiah took down? He told everyone in Judah and Jerusalem to worship only at the altar in Jerusalem.'" But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
23 "'Let me make you a deal on behalf of my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses -- if you can even find enough riders for them!'" Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
24 "'You cannot even defeat one of my master's lowest-ranking officers! Yet here you are, banking on Egypt to send you chariots and horsemen!'" How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
25 "'And do you truly think I came here without the Lord's approval? The Lord himself told me: Go attack this land and destroy it.'" Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
26 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah pleaded with the Assyrian commander, "Please speak to us in Aramaic -- we understand it. Do not speak Hebrew where the people sitting on the wall can hear." Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
27 The commander replied, "Do you think my master sent me to deliver this message only to you and your king? No -- I am also speaking to those people up on the wall who will soon be so desperate they will eat their own waste and drink their own urine." But Rab-shakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
28 Then the leader stood tall. He yelled in Hebrew so all on the wall could hear. "Listen to Assyria's great king!" Then Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:
29 "The king says: Do not let Hezekiah trick you. He does not have the power to save you." Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
30 "Do not let Hezekiah talk you into trusting the Lord by promising, 'The Lord will definitely save us. This city will never be surrendered to Assyria.'" Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
31 "Ignore Hezekiah! Here is what Assyria's king offers: Make a deal with me and come out peacefully. Then every one of you can enjoy your own grapes, your own figs, and water from your own well." Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:
32 "After that, I will take you to a land very much like yours -- with grain and wine, bread and vineyards, olive trees and honey. Choose to live instead of die! Stop listening to Hezekiah when he tells you the Lord will rescue you." Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.
33 "Name one god from any nation that saved his people from the Assyrian king." Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
34 "What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did they save Samaria from me?" Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
35 "Has any god of any country ever rescued his people from my power? So what makes you think the Lord can save Jerusalem?" Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?
36 The people stayed completely quiet. They did not answer at all, because the king had told them, "Do not say anything to him." But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
37 Eliakim the palace chief, Shebna the clerk, and Joah the recorder went to Hezekiah. They had torn their clothes in grief. They told him all the Assyrian leader said. Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.
Key Themes
Themes in 2 Kings 18
Trusting God in the face of overwhelming military powerThe courage of faith-filled reformPropaganda and psychological warfare against faithThe contrast between human power and divine protection
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
2 Kings 1-8 John 3:14-15
Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent because it had become an idol, yet Jesus referenced Moses lifting up the serpent as a type of His own crucifixion, showing that the symbol's true purpose was always to point forward to Christ lifted up for the healing of the nations.
Apply This Today
Living 2 Kings 18
Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent that Moses had made because people were worshipping it instead of God. Even good things from our spiritual past can become idols if we elevate them above God Himself. True faith means trusting the living God, not clinging to religious artifacts or traditions.
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