2 Kings, chapter 20
2 Kings 20 is the twentieth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records the events during the reign of Hezekiah and Manasseh, the kings of Judah.
Text.
This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 21 verses.
Textual witnesses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; formula_1B; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; formula_1A; 5th century).
Analysis.
A parallel pattern of sequence is observed in the final sections of 2 Kings between 2 Kings 11–20 and 2 Kings 21–25, as follows:
A. Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, kills royal seed ()
B. Joash reigns (2 Kings 11–12)
C. Quick sequence of kings of Israel and Judah (2 Kings 13–16)
D. Fall of Samaria (2 Kings 17)
E. Revival of Judah under Hezekiah (2 Kings 18–20)
A'. Manasseh, a king like Ahab, promotes idolatry and kills the innocence (2 Kings 21)
B'. Josiah reigns (2 Kings 22–23)
C'. Quick succession of kings of Judah (2 Kings 24)
D'. Fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25)
E'. Elevation of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 25:27–30)
Hezekiah’s illness and recovery (20:1–11).
This passage records the miraculous healing of Hezekiah from mortal illness as a corollary with the account of Jerusalem's deliverance, both by YHWH. The prophet Isaiah acted as the messenger of YHWH, first to announce the 'prophecy of woe' that Hezekiah would die (verse 1b; cf. 2 Kings 1:16), later to announce a positive prophecy: Hezekiah would recover (and receive the addition of fifteen years of life, verse 6a) and to order a 'fig paste' to be spread on the diseased part of his body, 'so that he may recover' (verse 7; cf. Isaiah 38:21). The king asked for a sign that he really would get healed (verse 8a), so YHWH had the shadow on the sundial (put up by
Hezekiah's father, Ahaz) to move back: a sign that 'Hezekiah's life-clock' had also been turned back (w. 9–11).
Narrative in the parallel passage in Isaiah 38 differs extensively in some parts:
The additional of fifteen years correlates Hezekiah's illness with Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem which occurred in the fourteenth year (2 Kings 18:13) of Hezekiah's reign making a total of twenty nine years (2 Kings 18:2).
"And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered."
Verse 7.
The rabbis, in their homiletical explanations, explain the action of taking a lump of figs and applying it to a boil as being a "miracle within a miracle," since the act of plaistering a boil with figs has the ordinary effect of aggravating a skin-condition, and, yet, Hezekiah was cured of his skin-condition.
Hezekiah shows his treasures; end of his reign (20:12–21).
This passage includes two episodes: one account of the Babylonian envoys dispatched by Merodach-Baladan following Hezekiah's illness (verses 12–13) and an account of Isaiah's confronting Hezekiah for showing his treasures to the envoys (verses 14–19). Historical records to date suggest that this event more likely took place before 701 BCE, when the anti-Assyrian coalition would form following the death of Sargon II in 705 BCE, and Hezekiah's effort to impress Babylon by showing off his treasures would indicated a 'preparation for alliance and revolt'. According to the narrative, Hezekiah's act caused the prophet Isaiah to be critical of the king, which conforms with the strong criticism of Hezekiah's alliance policy in Isaiah 30–31. The concluding regnal formula on Hezekiah (verses 20–21) contains a quote from the Annals of the Kings of Judah, which also mention the construction of Siloam tunnel to carry water from Gihon Spring under the city of David to the Pool of Siloam within city walls of Jerusalem (cf. 2 Chronicles 32:3–4; the remains of the fortifications have been excavated in modern times).
"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?"
"And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place."
Archaeology.
Hezekiah.
Extra-biblical sources specify Hezekiah by name, along with his reign and influence. "Historiographically, his reign is noteworthy for the convergence of a variety of biblical sources and diverse extrabiblical evidence often bearing on the same events. Significant data concerning Hezekiah appear in the Deuteronomistic History, the Chronicler, Isaiah, Assyrian annals and reliefs, Israelite epigraphy, and, increasingly, stratigraphy". Archaeologist Amihai Mazar calls the tensions between Assyria and Judah "one of the best-documented events of the Iron Age" and Hezekiah's story is one of the best to cross-reference with the rest of the Mid Eastern world's historical documents.
Several bullae bearing the name of Hezekiah have been found:
Other artifacts bearing the name "Hezekiah" include LMLK stored jars along the border with Assyria "demonstrate careful preparations to counter Sennacherib's likely route of invasion" and show "a notable degree of royal control of towns and cities which would facilitate Hezekiah's destruction of rural sacrificial sites and his centralization of worship in Jerusalem". Evidence suggests they were used throughout his 29-year reign and the Siloam inscription.
Manasseh.
Manasseh is mentioned in the Esarhaddon Prism (dates to 673–672 BCE), discovered by archaeologist Reginald Campbell Thompson during the 1927–28 excavation season at the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh. The 493 lines of cuneiform inscribed on the sides of the prism describe the history of King Esarhaddon's reign and an account of the reconstruction of the Assyrian palace in Babylon, which reads "Together 22 kings of Hatti [this land includes Israel], the seashore and the islands. All these I sent out and made them transport under terrible difficulties"; one of these 22 kings was King Manasseh of Judah ("Menasii šar [âlu]Iaudi").
A record by Esarhaddon's son and successor, Ashurbanipal, mentions "Manasseh, king of Judah" who contributed to the invasion force against Egypt.
References.
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