HEZEKIAH

A pious king of Judah, succeeded his father Ahaz about 726 B. C., and died about 698 B. C. His history is contained in 2Ki 18:12-21 2Ch 29:1-32:33. Compare Isa 36:1-38:22. His reign is memorable for his faithful efforts to restore the worship of Jehovah; for his pride and presumption towards the Assyrians; for the distractions of their invading host in answer to his prayer; for his sickness and humiliation, and the prolonging of his life fifteen years of peace. He was succeeded by the unworthy Manasseh.

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Hezekiah. Hezekiah
Whom Jehovah has strengthened. (1.) Son of Ahaz (2 Kings 18:1; 2 Chr. 29:1), whom he succeeded on the throne of the kingdom of Judah. He reigned twenty-nine years (B.C. 726-697). The history of this king is contained in 2 Kings 18:20, Isa. 36-39, and 2 Chr. 29-32. He is spoken of as a great and good king. In public life he followed the example of his great-granfather Uzziah. He set himself to abolish idolatry from his kingdom, and among other things which he did for this end, he destroyed the “brazen serpent,” which had been removed to Jerusalem, and had become an object of idolatrous worship (Num. 21:9). A great reformation was wrought in the kingdom of Judah in his day (2 Kings 18:4; 2 Chr. 29:3-36).

On the death of Sargon and the accession of his son Sennacherib to the throne of Assyria, Hezekiah refused to pay the tribute which his father had paid, and “rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not,” but entered into a league with Egypt (Isa. 30; 31; 36:6-9). This led to the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:13-16), who took forty cities, and besieged Jerusalem with mounds. Hezekiah yielded to the demands of the Assyrian king, and agreed to pay him three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold (18:14).

But Sennacherib dealt treacherously with Hezekiah (Isa. 33:1), and a second time within two years invaded his kingdom (2 Kings 18:17; 2 Chr. 32:9; Isa. 36). This invasion issued in the destruction of Sennacherib’s army. Hezekiah prayed to God, and “that night the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000 men.” Sennacherib fled with the shattered remnant of his forces to Nineveh, where, seventeen years after, he was assassinated by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer (2 Kings 19:37). (See SENNACHERIB.)

The narrative of Hezekiah’s sickness and miraculous recovery is found in 2 Kings 20:1, 2 Chr. 32:24, Isa. 38:1. Various ambassadors came to congratulate him on his recovery, and among them Merodach-baladan, the viceroy of Babylon (2 Chr. 32:23; 2 Kings 20:12). He closed his days in peace and prosperity, and was succeeded by his son Manasseh. He was buried in the “chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David” (2 Chr. 32:27-33). He had “after him none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him” (2 Kings 18:5). (See ISAIAH.)

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Hezekiah. strength of the Lord

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HEZEKIAH. 1. King of Judah 2Ki 16:20; 18:1,2; 1Ch 3:13; 2Ch 29:1; Mt 1:9
* Religious zeal of 2Ch 29; 30; 31
* Purges the nation of idolatry 2Ki 18:4; 2Ch 31:1; 33:3
* Restores the true forms of worship 2Ch 31:2-21
* His piety 2Ki 18:3,5,6; 2Ch 29:2; 31:20,21; 32:32; Jer 26:19
* Military operations of 2Ki 18:19; 1Ch 4:39-43; 2Ch 32; Isa 36; 37
* Sickness and restoration of 2Ki 20:1-11; 2Ch 32:24; Isa 38:1-8
* His psalm of thanksgiving Isa 38:9-22
* His lack of wisdom in showing his resources to commissioners of Babylon 2Ki 20:12-19; 2Ch 32:25,26,31; Isa 39
* Prospered by God 2Ki 18:7; 2Ch 32:27-30
* Conducts the Gihon Brook into Jerusalem 2Ki 18:17; 20:20; 2Ch 32:4,30; 33:14; Ne 2:13-15; 3:13,16; Isa 7:3; 22:9-11; 36:2
* Scribes of Pr 25:1
* Death and burial of 2Ki 20:21; 2Ch 32:33
* Prophecies concerning 2Ki 19:20-34; 20:5,6,16-18; Isa 38:5-8; 39:5-7; Jer 26:18,19

2. Son of Neariah 1Ch 3:23 3. One of the exiles Ezr 2:16; Ne 7:21
* Called Hizkijah Ne 10:17

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king of Judah, son of Ahaz (1) General References to 2Ki 16:20; 18:9; 19:3; 20:1,10,21 (2) Four Crises in his Life Crisis of Choice-- Chose to forsake the idols of his father, Ahaz 2Ch 28:24,25 and purged the Kingdom from idolatry 2Ki 18:4 Crisis of Invasion-- 2Ch 32:1-19 He prayed unto the Lord and was delivered 2Ch 32:20,21 Crisis of Sickness-- Obedience furnished him a foundation for prayer and healing Isa 38:1-5 Crisis of Prosperity-- He manifested pride and displayed his treasures to the ungodly Isa 39:1-8