Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. Then Isaiah son of AmozIsaiah, a major prophet in the Hebrew Bible, is identified here as the son of Amoz. The name "Isaiah" means "Yahweh is salvation," which is fitting given his role in delivering God's messages of hope and judgment. Isaiah's lineage, being the son of Amoz, is significant as it establishes his prophetic authority and connection to the royal court. Historically, Isaiah's ministry occurred during a tumultuous period in Judah's history, marked by Assyrian aggression. sent a message to Hezekiah
The act of sending a message underscores the role of prophets as intermediaries between God and His people. Hezekiah, the king of Judah, is known for his faithfulness to God, contrasting with many of his predecessors. This communication highlights the importance of divine guidance in leadership, especially during crises. Historically, Hezekiah's reign was marked by significant religious reforms and a reliance on God in the face of external threats. saying, 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says
This phrase introduces a divine oracle, emphasizing the authority and authenticity of the message. "LORD" (YHWH) is the covenant name of God, reminding the Israelites of His eternal faithfulness. "The God of Israel" reinforces God's special relationship with His chosen people. This introduction assures Hezekiah that the message is not merely human counsel but divine instruction. Because you have prayed to Me
Prayer is central to this narrative, highlighting Hezekiah's reliance on God rather than military might or political alliances. The Hebrew root for "prayed" (פלל, palal) implies intercession and supplication, reflecting Hezekiah's earnest plea for divine intervention. This phrase underscores the power and importance of prayer in the life of believers, serving as a model for seeking God's help in times of distress. concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria
Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, represents the formidable threat against Judah. Historically, Assyria was a dominant empire known for its military prowess and brutality. Sennacherib's campaign against Judah is well-documented both in the Bible and in Assyrian records, such as the Taylor Prism. This context highlights the dire situation facing Hezekiah and the miraculous nature of God's deliverance, reinforcing the theme of divine sovereignty over earthly powers. Persons / Places / Events 1. IsaiahA major prophet in the Old Testament, known for his prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah and the salvation of the Lord. In this context, he serves as a messenger of God to King Hezekiah. 2. HezekiahThe king of Judah, known for his faithfulness to God and his efforts to restore proper worship in the kingdom. He is facing a dire threat from the Assyrian empire. 3. SennacheribThe king of Assyria, who has invaded Judah and is threatening Jerusalem. He represents the formidable worldly powers that often challenge God's people. 4. The LORD, the God of IsraelThe covenant-keeping God who hears the prayers of His people and acts on their behalf. 5. PrayerThe act of communicating with God, which in this context, is a plea for deliverance from the Assyrian threat. Teaching Points The Power of PrayerHezekiah's situation teaches us the importance of turning to God in prayer during times of crisis. God hears and responds to the prayers of His people. God's SovereigntyThe passage reminds us of God's control over nations and kings. Despite Sennacherib's power, God is ultimately in control and can deliver His people. Faith in ActionHezekiah's faith is demonstrated through his prayer and reliance on God rather than military might. We are encouraged to trust God in our own battles. The Role of ProphetsIsaiah's role as a prophet highlights the importance of God's messengers in delivering His word and guidance. We should seek and heed godly counsel. God's FaithfulnessThe assurance that God hears Hezekiah's prayer is a testament to His faithfulness to His covenant people. We can trust in God's promises today. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Hezekiah's response to the Assyrian threat challenge us to respond to our own crises? 2. In what ways does this passage demonstrate the power and importance of prayer in the life of a believer? 3. How can we apply the example of Hezekiah's faith and reliance on God in our daily lives? 4. What role do prophets and godly counselors play in guiding us according to God's will today? 5. How does understanding God's sovereignty and faithfulness in this passage encourage us in our current circumstances? Connections to Other Scriptures 2 Chronicles 32This chapter provides a parallel account of Hezekiah's reign and the Assyrian threat, emphasizing Hezekiah's reliance on God. Isaiah 37This chapter mirrors the events of 2 Kings 19, offering additional insights into Isaiah's prophecy and God's deliverance. Psalm 34:15This verse highlights the truth that God hears the prayers of the righteous, reinforcing the message of 2 Kings 19:20. James 5:16This New Testament verse underscores the power of prayer, connecting to Hezekiah's earnest prayer for deliverance. People Adrammelech, Amoz, Assyrians, David, Eliakim, Esarhaddon, Haran, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Rabshakeh, Sennacherib, Sharezer, Shebna, TirhakahPlaces Ararat, Arpad, Assyria, Cush, Egypt, Gozan, Hamath, Haran, Hena, Ivvah, Jerusalem, Lachish, Lebanon, Libnah, Mount Zion, Nineveh, Rezeph, Sepharvaim, Telassar, Tigris-Euphrates Region, ZionTopics Amoz, Asshur, Assyria, Ears, Hast, Hezekiah, Hezeki'ah, Isaiah, Message, Prayed, Prayer, Saying, Says, Sennacherib, Sennach'erib, Thus, WhereasDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Kings 19:20 1351 covenant, with David 2 Kings 19:19-20 8614 prayer, answers 2 Kings 19:20-21 7270 Zion, as a place 2 Kings 19:20-23 5893 insults 2 Kings 19:20-28 8782 mockery 2 Kings 19:20-37 1429 prophecy, OT fulfilment
5800 blasphemy Library 'He Uttered his Voice, the Earth Melted'
'Then Isaiah the son of Amos sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. 22. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureThe Invasion of the Assyrians
(Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, Morning.) 2 Kings xix. 15-19. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the Lord, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their …
Charles Kingsley—Town and Country Sermons Whether Charity Requires that we Should Love Our Enemies?
Objection 1: It would seem that charity does not require us to love our enemies. For Augustine says (Enchiridion lxxiii) that "this great good," namely, the love of our enemies, is "not so universal in its application, as the object of our petition when we say: Forgive us our trespasses." Now no one is forgiven sin without he have charity, because, according to Prov. 10:12, "charity covereth all sins." Therefore charity does not require that we should love our enemies. Objection 2: Further, charity …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica The Sinner Arraigned and Convicted.
1. Conviction of guilt necessary.--2. A charge of rebellion against God advanced.--3. Where it is shown--that all men are born under God's law.--4. That no man hath perfectly kept it.--5. An appeal to the reader's conscience on this head, that he hath not.--6. That to have broken it, is an evil inexpressibly great.--7. Illustrated by a more particular view of the aggravations of this guilt, arising--from knowledge.--8. From divine favors received.--9. From convictions of conscience overborne.--10. …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul The Power of Assyria at Its Zenith; Esarhaddon and Assur-Bani-Pal
The Medes and Cimmerians: Lydia--The conquest of Egypt, of Arabia, and of Elam. As we have already seen, Sennacherib reigned for eight years after his triumph; eight years of tranquillity at home, and of peace with all his neighbours abroad. If we examine the contemporary monuments or the documents of a later period, and attempt to glean from them some details concerning the close of his career, we find that there is a complete absence of any record of national movement on the part of either Elam, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8 The Golden Eagle is Cut to Pieces. Herod's Barbarity when He was Ready to Die. He Attempts to Kill Himself. He Commands Antipater to be Slain.
1. Now Herod's distemper became more and more severe to him, and this because these his disorders fell upon him in his old age, and when he was in a melancholy condition; for he was already seventy years of age, and had been brought by the calamities that happened to him about his children, whereby he had no pleasure in life, even when he was in health; the grief also that Antipater was still alive aggravated his disease, whom he resolved to put to death now not at random, but as soon as he should …
Flavius Josephus—The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem A Discourse of the House and Forest of Lebanon
OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. That part of Palestine in which the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated, is the border country adjoining Syria, having Sidon for its seaport, and Land, nearly adjoining the city of Damascus, on the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; and during the border conflicts it served as a cover to the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with great reason, supposes that, to keep …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 It is Strange that These Delightful Promises Affect us Coldly...
It is strange that these delightful promises affect us coldly, or scarcely at all, so that the generality of men prefer to wander up and down, forsaking the fountain of living waters, and hewing out to themselves broken cisterns, rather than embrace the divine liberality voluntarily offered to them (Jer. 2:13). "The name of the Lord," says Solomon, "is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." (Pr. 18:10) Joel, after predicting the fearful disaster which was at hand, subjoins the …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith Scriptural Types.
1. The material world is full of analogies adapted to the illustration of spiritual things. No teacher ever drew from this inexhaustible storehouse such a rich variety of examples as our Saviour. His disciples are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and a city set on a hill. From the ravens which God feeds and the lilies which God clothes, he teaches the unreasonableness of worldly anxiety. The kingdom of heaven is like seed sown in different soils, like a field of wheat and tares …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Letter xxviii (Circa A. D. 1130) to the Abbots Assembled at Soissons
To the Abbots Assembled at Soissons [45] Bernard urges the abbots zealously to perform the duty for which they had met. He recommends to them a great desire of spiritual progress, and begs them not to be delayed in their work if lukewarm and lax persons should perhaps murmur. To the Reverend Abbots met in the name of the Lord in Chapter at Soissons, brother Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, the servant of their Holiness, health and prayer that they may see, establish, and observe the things which are …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux A Living Book
[Illustration: (drop cap T) Symbol of "Asshur", the principal Assyrian idol.] There is only one Book that never grows old. For thousands of years men have been writing books. Most books are forgotten soon after they are written; a few of the best and wisest are remembered for a time. But all at last grow old; new discoveries are made; new ideas arise; the old books are out of date; their usefulness is at an end. Students are the only people who still care to read them. The nations to which the …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making The First Commandment
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Why is the commandment in the second person singular, Thou? Why does not God say, You shall have no other gods? Because the commandment concerns every one, and God would have each one take it as spoken to him by name. Though we are forward to take privileges to ourselves, yet we are apt to shift off duties from ourselves to others; therefore the commandment is in the second person, Thou and Thou, that every one may know that it is spoken to him, …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments The Prophet Amos.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the prophet Amos, since on the main point--viz., the circumstances under which he appeared as a prophet--the introduction to the prophecies of Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.), …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 2 Kings 19:20 NIV2 Kings 19:20 NLT2 Kings 19:20 ESV2 Kings 19:20 NASB2 Kings 19:20 KJV
2 Kings 19:20 Commentaries
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