2 Kings 20:12
New International Version
At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness.

New Living Translation
Soon after this, Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent Hezekiah his best wishes and a gift, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been very sick.

English Standard Version
At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Berean Standard Bible
At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness.

King James Bible
At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

New King James Version
At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

New American Standard Bible
At that time Berodach-baladan, a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

NASB 1995
At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

NASB 1977
At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Legacy Standard Bible
At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Amplified Bible
At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Christian Standard Bible
At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick.

American Standard Version
At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
At that time Merudak Baladan, son of Baladan, King of Babel, sent a letter and an offering to Hezekiah when he heard that Hezekiah was ill and he survived.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
At that time Marodach Baladan, son of Baladan king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Ezekias, because he had heard that Ezekias was sick.

Contemporary English Version
Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, was now king of Babylonia. And when he learned that Hezekiah had been sick, he sent messengers with letters and a gift for him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
At that time Berodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of the Babylonians, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had heard that Ezechias had been sick.

English Revised Version
At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
At that time Baladan's son, King Merodach Baladan of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah because he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Good News Translation
About that same time the king of Babylonia, Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, heard that King Hezekiah had been sick, so he sent him a letter and a present.

International Standard Version
Some time later, Berodach-baladan, the son of King Baladan of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he had heard that Hezekiah had been ill.

JPS Tanakh 1917
At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present unto Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Literal Standard Version
At that time Berodach-Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, has sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick;

Majority Standard Bible
At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness.

New American Bible
At that time, Berodach-baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah when he heard that he had been ill.

NET Bible
At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah was ill.

New Revised Standard Version
At that time King Merodach-baladan son of Baladan of Babylon sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

New Heart English Bible
At that time Marduk-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick, and had recovered.

Webster's Bible Translation
At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

World English Bible
At that time Berodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Young's Literal Translation
At that time hath Berodach-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Hezekiah Shows His Treasures
12At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness. 13And Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.…

Cross References
2 Chronicles 32:31
And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might know all that was in Hezekiah's heart.

Isaiah 39:1
At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah's illness and recovery.


Treasury of Scripture

At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

A.

Isaiah 39:1-8
At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered…

king.

2 Chronicles 32:31
Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

Babylon.

Genesis 10:10
And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Genesis 11:9
Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Isaiah 13:1,19
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see…

sent letters.

2 Samuel 8:10
Then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and smitten him: for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And Joram brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass:

2 Samuel 10:2
Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.

for he had heard.

Isaiah 39:1
At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.

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An Babylon Baladan Envoys Gift Heard Hezekiah Hezeki'ah Hezekiah's Ill Illness Letters Merodach-Baladan News Offering Present Sick Time
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2 Kings 20
1. Hezekiah, having received a message of death, by prayer has his life lengthened.
8. The sun goes ten degrees backward for a sign of that promise.
12. Berodach-baladan sending to visit Hezekiah has notice of his treasures.
14. Isaiah understanding thereof, foretells the Babylonian captivity.
20. Manasseh succeeds Hezekiah.














THE EMBASSY OP MERODACH-BALADAN

(2Kings 20:12-19).

(12) At that time Berodach-baladan.--As to the name, Berodach is a transcriber's error for Merodach (Jeremiah 1:2). Some MSS. of Kings, and the LXX., Syriac, and Arabic, as well as Isaiah 39:1, and the Talmud, spell the name with m, a letter easily confused with b in Hebrew. Above all, the cuneiform inscriptions present Marduk (or, Maruduk)-abla-iddina ("Me-rodaeh gave a son"). A king of this name occupied the throne of Chaldea at intervals, during the reigns of the four Assyrian sovereigns Tiglath Pileser, Shalma-neser, Sargon, and Sennacherib. He is called in the inscriptions "son of Yakin," an expression which, like "Jehu son of Omri," is territorial rather than genealogical. Bit- Yakin was the name of the tribal domain of the "sons of Yakin," just as Bit-Humria was that of the territory of which Jehu was king. He is further designated as king of "the land of the sea" (mat tihamtim), i.e., the country at the head of the Persian Gulf, and of "the land of Chaldea" (mat Kaldi). He did homage to Tiglath Pileser in 731 B.C. In the first year of Sargon, Merodach-baladan established himself as king of Babylon, and was eventually recognised as such by the Assyrian sovereign. He reigned about twelve years contemporaneously with Sargon, who in 710 and 709 B.C. defeated and captured him, and burnt his stronghold D-r-Yakin. On the death of Sargon, Merodach-baladan once more gained possession of the throne of Babylon; and perhaps it was at this time (so Schrader) that he sent his famous embassy to seek the alliance of Hezekiah and other western princes. After a brief reign of six months, he was defeated by Sennacherib, and driven back to his old refuge in the morasses of South Chaldea. Belibus was made Assyrian viceroy of Babylon. These events belong to the beginning of Sennacherib's reign. (He says, ina ris sarrutiya, "in the beginning of my sovereignty.") There was yet another outbreak before Merodach-bala-dan was finally disheartened; and later still Esarhaddon mentions that he slew Nabu-zir-napisti-sutesir, son of Mardak-abla-iddina, and made his brother Na'id-Maruduk king of "the land of the sea" in his stead.

Son of Baladan.--The name of Merodach-baladan's father is not mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions.

He had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.--The ostensible business of the embassy was to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery, and to inquire about the sign that had been vouchsafed him (sec 2Chronicles 32:31, and Note); but the Assyrian records make it pretty clear that the real object was to ascertain the extent of Hezekiah's resources, and to secure his alliance against the common enemy. . . .

Verses 12-19. - The embassy of Merodach-Baladan. Soon after his recovery, Hezekiah received an embassy from a new quarter. Hitherto Babylon and Judaea had been isolated from one another, and had perhaps scarcely known of each other's existence. Assyria had stood between them, and Babylonia had been for the most part an Assyrian dependency. But recently Babylonia had asserted herself. In B.C. 722, on the death of Shalmaneser, a native Chaldean named Meredach-Baladan had made himself king of the country, and maintained his independence against all the efforts of Sargon to reduce him. His position, however, was precarious, and it was probably in the hope of concluding an alliance with Hezekiah also an enemy of Sargon's (see the comment on ver. 6) - that he sent his embassy. He had two excuses for it. A neighboring king might well congratulate his brother monarch on his recovery; and a Chaldean prince might well inquire into an astronomical marvel (2 Chronicles 33:31). The date of the embassy appears to have been B.C. 712, the year following on Hezekiah's illness. Verse 12. - At that time Berodach-Baladan. Isaiah gives the name more correctly as "Merodach-Baladan" (Isaiah 39:1). The native form is Marduk-pal-iddin, i.e. "Mere-dacha son has given." This king makes his first appearance in an inscription of Tiglath-pileser's, where he is one of many chieftains among whom Babylonia is divided. Subsequently he is mentioned as revolting from Sargon in the latter's first year, B.C. 722 ('Records of the Past,' vol. 7. p. 29), and holding the throne of Babylon for twelve years (ibid., p. 41), when Sargon conquered him, deposed him, and took the kingdom (ibid., p. 48). This twelve-years' reign is acknowledged by Ptolemy in his Canon, but the name of the king is given as Mardoc-Empadus. On the death of Sargon, in B.C. 705, Merodach-Baladan again revolted, and reigned for six months, when he was driven out of the country by Sennacherib, B.C. 704. He continued, however, to give trouble even after this ('Records of the Past,' vol. 7. p. 63); and his sons and grandsons were pretenders to the Babylonian throne in the reigns of Esar-haddon and his successor, Asshur-bani-pal (see 'Ancient Monarchias,' vol. 2. pp. 469 and 490). The son of Baladan. In the Assyrian inscriptions Merodach-Baladan is always called "the son of Yakin" ('Records of the Past,' vol. 7. p. 40; vol. 9. p. 13, etc.). Yakin, however, may have been his grandfather, as Nimshi was the grandfather of Jehu, and Baladan (Bel-dash?) his father. King of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah. Thus opening diplomatic communication. It has been almost universally felt that the object of the embassy must have been to conclude, or at any rate to pave the way for, an alliance. So Josephus ('Ant. Jud.,' 10:2. § 2), Ewald, Von Gerlach, Thenius, Keil, Bahr, and others. Assyria menaced both countries, and the common danger produced naturally a mutual attraction. But it was prudent to disguise this motive. For he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. Assyria could not take umbrage at an embassy of congratulation, nor at one for scientific purposes (2 Chronicles 33:31). So these two objects were paraded.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
At that
הַהִ֡יא (ha·hî)
Article | Pronoun - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

time
בָּעֵ֣ת (bā·‘êṯ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 6256: Time, now, when

Merodach-baladan
בַּ֠לְאֲדָן (bal·’ă·ḏān)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1255: Berodach-baladan -- 'he has given a son', a Babylonian king

son
בֶּֽן־ (ben-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of Baladan
בַּלְאֲדָ֧ן (bal·’ă·ḏān)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1081: Baladan -- 'he has given a son', father of a Babylonian king

king
מֶֽלֶךְ־ (me·leḵ-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4428: A king

of Babylon
בָּבֶ֛ל (bā·ḇel)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 894: Babylon -- an eastern Mediterranean empire and its capital city

sent
שָׁלַ֡ח (šā·laḥ)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7971: To send away, for, out

letters
סְפָרִ֥ים (sə·p̄ā·rîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5612: A missive, document, writing, book

and a gift
וּמִנְחָ֖ה (ū·min·ḥāh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4503: A donation, tribute, a sacrificial offering

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

Hezekiah,
חִזְקִיָּ֑הוּ (ḥiz·qî·yā·hū)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 2396: Hezekiah -- 'Yah has strengthened', a king of Judah, also several other Israelites

for
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

he had heard
שָׁמַ֔ע (šā·ma‘)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

about
כִּ֥י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

Hezekiah’s
חִזְקִיָּֽהוּ׃ (ḥiz·qî·yā·hū)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 2396: Hezekiah -- 'Yah has strengthened', a king of Judah, also several other Israelites

illness.
חָלָ֖ה (ḥā·lāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2470: To be weak or sick


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OT History: 2 Kings 20:12 At that time Berodach Baladan the son (2Ki iiKi ii ki 2 kg 2kg)
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