2 Kings 20:18

And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) Thy sons . . . beget—i.e., thy descendants. Comp, the fulfilment (Daniel 1:3). Ewald refers to the captivity of Hezekiah’s own son Manasseh (2Chronicles 33:11).

Eunuchs.—Rather, courtiers, palace attendants (so Josephus). Cheyne, “chamberlains” (so Thenius: kämmerer).

Benson Commentary

2 Kings 20:18. And of thy sons, &c. — Thy grand-children, who are often called sons. They shall be eunuchs, &c. — They shall be servants to that heathen monarch, whereby both their bodies will be subject to slavery, and their souls exposed to the peril of idolatry, and all sorts of wickedness. This was a very sore judgment, and by it God would teach the world the great evil of sin; yea, even of those sins which are generally esteemed but small or venial.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

20:12-21 The king of Babylon was at this time independent of the king of Assyria, though shortly after subdued by him. Hezekiah showed his treasures and armour, and other proofs of his wealth and power. This was the effect of pride and ostentation, and departing from simple reliance on God. He also seems to have missed the opportunity of speaking to the Chaldeans, about Him who had wrought the miracles which excited their attention, and of pointing out to them the absurdity and evil of idolatry. What is more common than to show our friends our houses and possessions? But if we do this in the pride of ours hearts, to gain applause from men, not giving praise to God, it becomes sin in us, as it did in Hezekiah. We may expect vexation from every object with which we are unduly pleased. Isaiah, who had often been Hezekiah's comforter, is now is reprover. The blessed Spirit is both, Joh 16:7,8. Ministers must be both, as there is occasion. Hezekiah allowed the justice of the sentence, and God's goodness in the respite. Yet the prospect respecting his family and nation must have given him many painful feelings. Hezekiah was indeed humbled for the pride of his heart. And blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This prophecy had two fulfillments, each complementary to the other. Manasseh, Hezekiah's actual son, was "carried to Babylon" 2 Chronicles 33:11, but did not become a eunuch in the palace. Daniel and others, not his actual sons, but of the royal seed Daniel 1:3, and therefore Hezekiah's descendants, are thought by some to have literally fulfilled the latter part of the prophecy, being eunuchs in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13, 14. the silver, and the gold—He paid so much tribute to Sennacherib as exhausted his treasury (compare 2Ki 18:16). But, after the destruction of Sennacherib, presents were brought him from various quarters, out of respect to a king who, by his faith and prayer, saved his country; and besides, it is by no means improbable that from the corpses in the Assyrian camp, all the gold and silver he had paid might be recovered. The vain display, however, was offensive to his divine liege lord, who sent Isaiah to reprove him. The answer he gave the prophet (2Ki 22:14) shows how he was elated by the compliment of their visit; but it was wrong, as presenting a bait for the cupidity of these rapacious foreigners, who, at no distant period, would return and pillage his country, and transfer all the possessions he ostentatiously displayed to Babylon, as well as his posterity to be court attendants in that country—(see on [349]2Ch 32:31).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Which thou shalt beget, i.e. of thy grandchildren, who are oft called sons. They shall be servants to that heathen monarch, whereby both their bodies will be subject to slavery, and the lusts of their lords, and their souls exposed to the peril of idolatry, and all sorts of wickedness; which must needs be very grievous to so good a man as Hezekiah, and was indeed a very sore judgment; whereby God would teach the world the great evil of sin, yea, even of those sins which are generally esteemed but small and venial; for such were those sins of Hezekiah, noted upon 2 Kings 20:17.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

At that time Berodachbaladan,.... He is called Merodachbaladan, Isaiah 39:1, so here in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; See Gill on Isaiah 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 the end of 2 Kings 20:12 the same account is given in the same words as in Isaiah 39:1 throughout, except in 2 Kings 20:13, where it is, "hearkened unto them", and there, "glad of them"; heard the letter the ambassadors brought with pleasure; see the notes there. See Gill on Isaiah 39:1 and following.

(z) Ut supra. (De Judicio Temp. fol. 221. 2.)

Geneva Study Bible

And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18. thy sons … shall they take away] This came to pass in the case of Manasseh, Hezekiah’s own son (2 Chronicles 33:11), who was carried as a prisoner to Babylon. That was, however, but the beginning of the sorrows to which this prophecy of Isaiah looked forward.

in the palace of the king of Babylon] Examples of Jews chosen for menial duties in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon are found in Daniel 1:6.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget. Under "sons" are included by the Hebrew idiom all descendants, however remote (Pusey's 'Lectures on Daniel,' pp. 406-409). The princes carried off from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar were Hezekiah's descendants, either in the fourth or the fifth generation. Shall they take away. Among the descendants of Hezekiah taken to Baby]on by Nebuchadnezzar were Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:15), Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:7), Daniel (Daniel 1:3), and others. And they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon. Keil and Bahr translate סָרִיסִים in this place by "chamberlains" or "footmen;" but there is no reason why the word should not have its ordinary sense of "eunuchs" (see the Septuagint ἔσονται εὐνοῦχοι, and for the fulfillment, comp. Daniel 1:3-18). 2 Kings 20:18

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The words, "of thy sons, which shall proceed from thee, which thou shalt beget," do not necessarily refer to the actual sons, but only to lineal descendants. The Chethb יקּח, "will one take," is to be preferred to the יקּחוּ of Isaiah and the Keri, as being the more difficult reading. סריסים, chamberlains, courtiers, not necessarily eunuchs, as in 1 Samuel 8:15, etc. - For the fulfilment of this threat see Daniel 1:2.