In this chapter is an account of Hezekiah’s sickness, and of the means of his recovery, and of the sign given of it, 2 Kings 20:1 of the king of Babylon’s congratulatory letter to him upon it, when he showed to the messengers that brought it his treasures, in the pride and vanity of his heart, 2…

In these days was Hezekiah sick unto death,…. Of this sickness of Hezekiah, the message of the prophet Isaiah to him, and his prayer upon it, See Gill on “Isa. 38:1–3.”

In these days was Hezekiah sick unto death,…. Of this sickness of Hezekiah, the message of the prophet Isaiah to him, and his prayer upon it, See Gill on “Isa. 38:1–3.”

In these days was Hezekiah sick unto death,…. Of this sickness of Hezekiah, the message of the prophet Isaiah to him, and his prayer upon it, See Gill on “Isa. 38:1–3.”

And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court,…. Of the king’s palace, which is called the other court within the porch, 1 Kings 7:8 so it is according to the marginal reading, which we follow; but the textual reading is, “the middle city”; Jerusalem was divided into three…

Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people,…. The king of them, as the Targum: thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; See Gill on “Isa.

And I will add unto thy days fifteen years,….See Gill on “Isa. 38:5” and I will deliver thee, and this city, out of the hand of the king of Assyria; by which it appears that this sickness and recovery were before the destruction of the Assyrian army: and I will defend this city for mine own sake,…

And Isaiah said, take a lump of figs,…. Not moist figs, but a cake of dried figs, as the word used signifies, and so the less likely to have any effect in curing the boil: and they took, and laid it on the boil, and he recovered; made a plaster of it, and laid it on the ulcer, and it was healed.

And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah,…. Or “had said,” {w} before the plaster of figs was directed to, or, however, laid on, and as soon as he was told he should be healed: what shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day? not that he…

And Isaiah said, this sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken,…. Cure him of his disorder, so that he should be able to go to the temple on the third day: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? that is, the shadow of the sun on…

And Hezekiah answered, it is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees,…. That is, it was comparatively so, otherwise to go down ten degrees at once would be extraordinary and miraculous; but that was more agreeable to the nature and course of it to go forward, and so the miracle would be…

And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord,…. Or prayed, as the Targum; and was very earnest in prayer, that what Hezekiah had desired might be granted: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz; Ben Gersom understands it not of the sun itself,…

At that time Berodachbaladan,…. He is called Merodachbaladan, Isa. 39:1, so here in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; See Gill on “Isa. 39:1”; and by Metasthenes {z} his father is called Merodach, and he Ben Merodach, who reigned twenty one years, and his father fifty two; from hence to…

See Gill on 2 Kings 20:12

See Gill on 2 Kings 20:12

See Gill on 2 Kings 20:12

See Gill on 2 Kings 20:12

See Gill on 2 Kings 20:12

See Gill on 2 Kings 20:12

See Gill on 2 Kings 20:12

And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might,…. Which he exerted in his wars with his enemies, and in the reformation of religion, and abolition of idolatry: and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city; at the same time that he cut it off from the enemy…

And Hezekiah slept with his fathers,…. Died, as they did; no mention is here made of the place of his burial, but there is in 2 Chron. 32:33 where he is said to be buried in the principal part of the sepulchres of the sons of David, and to have honour done him at his death by the inhabitants of…