Bible Commentaries
2 Kings 20

Verses 1-21

2 Kings 20:1-11 Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery 2 Kings 20:1-11 records the story of King Hezekiah’s illness and recovery.

2 Kings 20:2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,

2 Kings 20:2 Comments - When Hezekiah turned and faced the wall, he had to turn his face away from the prophet Isaiah. Thus, it was an act of turning directly to God and not to man. He did not ask Isaiah to deliver him, nor did he run to man for a cure. Instead, he went directly to God.

2 Kings 20:5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.

2 Kings 20:5 “the Lord, the God of David thy Father” Comments - Note the name God used in 2 Kings 20:5. God is doing this for both God’s and David’s sake (2 Kings 20:6), so this name is very appropriate, recalling God’s covenant with and love for David.

2 Kings 20:6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

2 Kings 20:6 “I will add unto thy days fifteen years” - Comments - God promised to also lengthen the days of Solomon if he would serve the Lord (1 Kings 3:14).

1 Kings 3:14, “And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days .”

2 Kings 20:10-11 Comments - The Moving of the Sundial - Moving the shadow of the sundial back ten degrees and extending the day was symbolic of God extending Hezekiah’s life fifteen years.

2 Kings 20:12-19 Hezekiah Receives a Babylonian Delegate from King Berodachbaladan In 2 Kings 20:12-19 Hezekiah receives a visiting delegate sent by Berodachbaladan, king of Babylon. What may have been perceived as an innocent gesture by King Hezekiah in showing this delegate the royal treasures results in a divine prophecy of the loss of these treasures. Hezekiah showed them his most valuable possessions of which he took great pride. However, God knows the heart of man. He knows how vulnerable man is to pride, which leads to exaltation of oneself over God.

Israel’s divine blessings and prosperity were to serve as a testimony to other nations that the God of Israel is the true and living God. King Solomon hosted the Queen of Sheba, who also looked at the wealth of this nation; but at her visit to Israel King Solomon placed much emphasis upon the wisdom of God as she beheld the prosperity that resulted from such wisdom (1 Kings 10:1-13).

1 Kings 10:1-3, “And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.”

2 Kings 20:18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

2 Kings 20:18 Comments - It is very likely that Daniel and his three friends, who were taken to Babylon and possibly made eunuchs in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar, fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah spoken in 2 Kings 20:18 about the sons of King Hezekiah.

2 Kings 20:19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?

2 Kings 20:19 Comments - Hezekiah’s response to the prophecy of Isaiah reveals that the king has lost sight of the command from God to produce righteous offspring. When he spoke about his personal ease while destruction was over the horizon for his children and his people, Hezekiah was speaking about what benefited him rather than what benefited his nation. We can see that this king raised a son that exceeded all other kings in wickedness. God commanded Adam and Eve in the Garden to be fruitful and to multiply and to take dominion over the earth. God intended for them to bear godly offspring who would serve Him in righteousness. Therefore, the statement in 2 Kings 20:19 was not a statement of wisdom.

2 Kings 20:20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

2 Kings 20:20 Scripture Reference - For more of this story, note

Isaiah 22:11, “Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.”