Who is…
Hezekiah

Meaning: whom Jehovah has strengthened

Hezekiah was the son of King Ahaz (2 Kings 18:1; 2 Chronicles 29:1), whom he succeeded on the throne of the kingdom of Judah.

His life is recorded in 2 Kings 16:20; 18:1—20:21 and 2 Chronicles 28:27—32:33.

King Hezekiah reigned 29 years (726-697 B.C.). The history of this king is contained in 2 Kings 18:20, Isaiah 36-39, and 2 Chronicles 29-32.

He is spoken of as a great and good king.

In public life he followed the example of his great-grandfather Uzziah. He focused on abolishing 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 (Numbers 21:9).

A great reformation was produced in the Kingdom of Judah in his day (2 Kings 18:4; 2 Chronicles 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 (Isaiah 30; 31; 36:6-9).

This led to the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:13-16), who took 40 cities, and besieged Jerusalem with mounds.

Hezekiah yielded to the demands of the Assyrian king, and agreed to pay him 300 talents of silver and 30 of gold (2 Kings 18:14).

But Sennacherib dealt treacherously with Hezekiah (Isaiah 33:1), and a 2nd time within 2 years invaded his kingdom (2 Kings 18:17; 2 Chronicles 32:9; Isaiah 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.)

Illness

The narrative of Hezekiah’s sickness and miraculous recovery is found in 2 Kings 20:1; 2 Chronicles 32:24; Isaiah 38:1.

Various ambassadors came to congratulate him on his recovery, and among them Merodach-baladan, the governor of Babylon (2 Chronicles 32:23; 2 Kings 20:12).

He closed his days in peace and prosperity, and was succeeded by his son Manasseh.

Death

He was buried in the “chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David” (2 Chronicles 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).

Relatives

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Article Version: September 24, 2021