2 Kings 18

2 Kings 18 is the first of three chapters (18–20) devoted to the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah. Following 2 Kings 17, which records the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel, it recounts the capture of Samaria again, this time dated by the regnal years of Judah's king, and then turns to Assyria's threat against Jerusalem.

Outline

• Verses 1–8 Hezekiah becomes king at twenty-five and reigns twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. He removes the high places, breaks the sacred pillars, and cuts down the Asherah poles. Because the people have been burning incense to the bronze serpent that Moses made, he breaks it in pieces and calls it "Nehushtan." He refuses to serve Assyria and strikes the Philistines as far as Gaza.
• Verses 9–12 In Hezekiah's fourth year, Shalmaneser king of Assyria besieges Samaria, and the city falls three years later. The Israelites are carried away to Halah, to Habor by the river of Gozan, and to the cities of the Medes. The text attributes this to their breaking of the covenant.
• Verses 13–16 In Hezekiah's fourteenth year, Sennacherib captures the fortified cities of Judah. Hezekiah sends word to Lachish acknowledging his offense, and to raise three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold he hands over the silver of the temple and the palace, even stripping the gold from the temple doors and pillars.
• Verses 17–25 The Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh arrive with a great army and take their stand by the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller's field. The Rabshakeh calls Egypt "the staff of this bruised reed" (v. 21), points to Hezekiah's removal of the high places and altars, and claims that the LORD has sent him.
• Verses 26–35 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah ask him to speak in Aramaic. Instead, the Rabshakeh shouts in the language of Judah to the people on the wall, urging them to surrender. He declares that no nation's god has delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria.
• Verses 36–37 As the king commanded, the people make no reply, and the three officials tear their clothes and go to Hezekiah to report the Rabshakeh's words.

Key Verses

• 2 Kings 18:4 "[He] brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made … and he called it Nehushtan." This reveals the character of the reform: even an object made at God's command is destroyed once it becomes an object of worship.
• 2 Kings 18:5 "So that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him." This is the verdict of Kings on Hezekiah as a king who trusted in the LORD.
• 2 Kings 18:19 "What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?" The question of whom one trusts runs through this chapter and the next.

People and Places

• Hezekiah — King of Judah, son of Ahaz; his mother was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
• Hoshea — The last king of the northern kingdom of Israel, son of Elah; not to be confused with the prophet Hosea.
• Shalmaneser and Sennacherib — Kings of Assyria.
• The Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh — High officials sent by Sennacherib. These are generally regarded as titles of Assyrian offices rather than personal names.
• Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah — Officials of Hezekiah, serving respectively as the one over the household, scribe, and recorder.
• Samaria — The capital of the northern kingdom of Israel.
• Assyria — The dominant power of the Near East at the time.
• Lachish — A fortified city of Judah where Sennacherib was encamped.
• Jerusalem — The capital of Judah.
• Gaza — A city of Philistia.
• Egypt — The Rabshakeh mocks this nation and its king, Pharaoh, as an unreliable ally.

Points for Reflection

• Verses 13–37 are nearly identical to Isaiah 36, although the tribute account in verses 14–16 does not appear in Isaiah. The same events are also recorded in 2 Chronicles 32. The narrative continues in 2 Kings 19.
• The dates in verses 1 and 9–10 are difficult to reconcile with "the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah" in verse 13, and scholars have proposed various explanations, including a coregency. Assyrian records of Sennacherib are also known to mention this campaign and Hezekiah's tribute.
• In verses 22 and 25 the Rabshakeh invokes the name of the LORD. Many interpreters read this as propaganda that deliberately distorts Hezekiah's reform in order to unsettle the people.
• The assessment in verse 5 closely resembles that of Josiah in 2 Kings 23:25, and the two kings are sometimes read in comparison.
• The bronze serpent is invoked in John 3:14 in the saying that the Son of man must be lifted up. Hezekiah also appears in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1.

In the Korean Church

Hezekiah's reforms and his "trust in the LORD" are frequent sermon themes. The Nehushtan episode is often cited as an illustration warning against venerating traditions or objects as idols.