29:1 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. 3 His mother was Abijah, 4 the daughter of Zechariah.
30:1 Hezekiah sent messages throughout Israel and Judah; he even wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, summoning them to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem 10 and observe a Passover celebration for the Lord God of Israel.
31:2 Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and Levites to do their assigned tasks 16 – to offer burnt sacrifices and present offerings and to serve, give thanks, and offer praise in the gates of the Lord’s sanctuary. 17
32:9 Afterward King Sennacherib of Assyria, while attacking Lachish with all his military might, sent his messengers 20 to Jerusalem. The message was for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of 21 Judah who were in Jerusalem. It read:
32:24 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. 28 He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a sign confirming that he would be healed. 29
32:32 The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign, including his faithful deeds, are recorded in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, included in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 30 32:33 Hezekiah passed away 31 and was buried on the ascent of the tombs of the descendants of David. All the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem buried him with great honor. 32 His son Manasseh replaced him as king.
1 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
2 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
3 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
4 tn The parallel passage in 2 Kgs 18:2 has “Abi.”
5 tn Heb “with the words.”
6 tn Or “seer.”
7 tn Heb “filled your hand.”
8 tn Or “tokens of thanks.”
9 tn Heb “and all who were willing of heart.”
10 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
11 tn Heb “and Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites.” On the meaning of the idiom “speak to the heart of” here, see HALOT 210 s.v. II דבר 8.d.
12 tn Heb “who demonstrated skill [with] good skill for the
13 tn Heb “and they ate [during] the appointed time [for] seven days.” מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, “appointed time”) is probably an adverbial accusative of time referring to the festival. However, some understand it as metonymically referring to the food eaten during the festival. See BDB 417 s.v.
14 tn The Hebrew term צֹאן (ts’on, translated “sheep” twice in this verse) denotes smaller livestock in general; depending on context it can refer to sheep only or goats only, but their is nothing in the immediate context here to specify one or the other.
15 tn Heb “the assembly.” The pronoun “them” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.
16 tn Heb “and Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their divisions, each in accordance with his service for the priests and for the Levites.”
17 tn Heb “in the gates of the encampments of the
18 tn Heb “With him is an arm of flesh.”
19 tn Or “people.”
20 tn Heb “servants.”
21 tn Heb “all Judah.” The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” here by metonymy for the people of Judah.
22 tn Heb “hand.”
23 tn Heb “Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give you over to die by hunger and thirst, saying, ‘The
24 tn Heb “Did not he, Hezekiah, eliminate…?” This rhetorical question presupposes a positive reply (“yes, he did”) and so has been translated here as a positive statement.
25 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the
26 tn Heb “and from the hand of all.”
27 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and he led him from all around.” However, the present translation assumes an emendation to וַיָּנַח לָהֶם מִסָּבִיב (vayyanakh lahem missaviv, “and he gave rest to them from all around”). See 2 Chr 15:15 and 20:30.
28 tn Heb “was sick to the point of dying.”
29 tn Heb “and he spoke to him and a sign he gave to him.”
30 tn Heb “and the rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and his faithful acts, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet upon the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel.”
31 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
32 tn Heb “and honor they did to him in his death, all Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.”
33 tn The phrase כָל צְבָא הֲַשָּׁמַיִם (khol tsÿva’ hashamayim), traditionally translated “all the host of heaven,” refers to the heavenly lights, including stars and planets. In 1 Kgs 22:19 these heavenly bodies are pictured as members of the Lord’s royal court or assembly, but many other texts view them as the illegitimate objects of pagan and Israelite worship.
34 tn Or “served.”