Antiguo Testamento

2 Kings — Capítulo 20

INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS This, and the preceding book, are properly but one book divided into two parts, because of the size of it, as the book of Samuel; it is a continuation of the history of the kings of Israel and Judah; and for a further account of it the reader is referred to the title of the preceding book. Next: 2 Kings Chapter 1

Versión

Texto — Reina-Valera 1960

1En aquellos días Ezequías cayó enfermo de muerte. Y vino a él el profeta Isaías hijo de Amoz, y le dijo: Jehová dice así: Ordena tu casa, porque morirás, y no vivirás.

2Entonces él volvió su rostro a la pared, y oró a Jehová y dijo:

3Te ruego, oh Jehová, te ruego que hagas memoria de que he andado delante de ti en verdad y con íntegro corazón, y que he hecho las cosas que te agradan. Y lloró Ezequías con gran lloro.

4Y antes que Isaías saliese hasta la mitad del patio, vino palabra de Jehová a Isaías, diciendo:

5Vuelve, y di a Ezequías, príncipe de mi pueblo: Así dice Jehová, el Dios de David tu padre: Yo he oído tu oración, y he visto tus lágrimas; he aquí que yo te sano; al tercer día subirás a la casa de Jehová.

6Y añadiré a tus días quince años, y te libraré a ti y a esta ciudad de mano del rey de Asiria; y ampararé esta ciudad por amor a mí mismo, y por amor a David mi siervo.

7Y dijo Isaías: Tomad masa de higos. Y tomándola, la pusieron sobre la llaga, y sanó.

8Y Ezequías había dicho a Isaías: ¿Qué señal tendré de que Jehová me sanará, y que subiré a la casa de Jehová al tercer día?

9Respondió Isaías: Esta señal tendrás de Jehová, de que hará Jehová esto que ha dicho: ¿Avanzará la sombra diez grados, o retrocederá diez grados?

10Y Ezequías respondió: Fácil cosa es que la sombra decline diez grados; pero no que la sombra vuelva atrás diez grados.

11Entonces el profeta Isaías clamó a Jehová; e hizo volver la sombra por los grados que había descendido en el reloj de Acaz, diez grados atrás.

12En aquel tiempo Merodac-baladán hijo de Baladán, rey de Babilonia, envió mensajeros con cartas y presentes a Ezequías, porque había oído que Ezequías había caído enfermo.

13Y Ezequías los oyó, y les mostró toda la casa de sus tesoros, plata, oro, y especias, y ungüentos preciosos, y la casa de sus armas, y todo lo que había en sus tesoros; ninguna cosa quedó que Ezequías no les mostrase, así en su casa como en todos sus dominios.

14Entonces el profeta Isaías vino al rey Ezequías, y le dijo: ¿Qué dijeron aquellos varones, y de dónde vinieron a ti? Y Ezequías le respondió: De lejanas tierras han venido, de Babilonia.

15Y él le volvió a decir: ¿Qué vieron en tu casa? Y Ezequías respondió: Vieron todo lo que había en mi casa; nada quedó en mis tesoros que no les mostrase.

16Entonces Isaías dijo a Ezequías: Oye palabra de Jehová:

17He aquí vienen días en que todo lo que está en tu casa, y todo lo que tus padres han atesorado hasta hoy, será llevado a Babilonia, sin quedar nada, dijo Jehová.

18Y de tus hijos que saldrán de ti, que habrás engendrado, tomarán, y serán eunucos en el palacio del rey de Babilonia.

19Entonces Ezequías dijo a Isaías: La palabra de Jehová que has hablado, es buena. Después dijo: Habrá al menos paz y seguridad en mis días.

20Los demás hechos de Ezequías, y todo su poderío, y cómo hizo el estanque y el conducto, y metió las aguas en la ciudad, ¿no está escrito en el libro de las crónicas de los reyes de Judá?

21Y durmió Ezequías con sus padres, y reinó en su lugar Manasés su hijo.

JOHN GILL BIBLE COMMENTARY

Versículo 1

I. In these days was Hezekiah sick unto death,.... Of this sickness of Hezekiah, the message of the …

In these days was Hezekiah sick unto death,.... Of this sickness of Hezekiah, the message of the prophet Isaiah to him, and his prayer upon it; see Gill on Isaiah 38:1; see Gill on Isaiah 38:2; see Gill on Isaiah 38:3.

Versículo 4

II. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court,.... Of the king's palace, w…

And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court,.... Of the king's palace, which is called the other court within the porch, 1 Kings 7:8 so it is according to the marginal reading, which we follow; but the textual reading is, "the middle city"; Jerusalem was divided into three parts, and this was the middle part Isaiah was entering into: but before he did, so it was: that the word of the Lord came to him, saying; as follows.

Versículo 5

III. Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people,.... The king of them, as the Targum:

Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people,.... The king of them, as the Targum: thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; See Gill on Isaiah 38:5. behold, I will heal thee; instantly, miraculously; and none but God could heal him, his disease being in its kind mortal, and he had been told from the Lord that he should die: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord: the temple, to give thanks for his recovery; and this he should do on the third day from thence; so soon should he be well, which would show the cure to be miraculous.

Versículo 6

IV. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years,.... See Gill on Isaiah 38:5.

And I will add unto thy days fifteen years,.... See Gill on Isaiah 38:5. and I will deliver thee, and this city, out of the hand of the king of Assyria; by which it appears that this sickness and recovery were before the destruction of the Assyrian army: and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake: for the sake of his honour and glory in the temple, and the service of it, that were in Jerusalem, and for the sake of his promise to David and his seed.

Versículo 7

V. And Isaiah said, take a lump of figs,.... Not moist figs, but a cake of dried figs, as the word u…

And Isaiah said, take a lump of figs,.... Not moist figs, but a cake of dried figs, as the word used signifies, and so the less likely to have any effect in curing the boil: and they took, and laid it on the boil, and he recovered; made a plaster of it, and laid it on the ulcer, and it was healed. Physicians observe (u), that as such like inflammations consist in a painful extension of the fibres by the hinderance of the circulation of the blood, through the extreme little arteries, which may be mitigated, or dissipated, or ripened, by such things as are emollient and loosening, so consequently by figs; and, in a time of pestilence, figs beaten together with butter and treacle have been applied to plague of boils with great success; yet these figs being only a cake of dry figs, and, the boil not only malignant, but deadly, and the cure so suddenly performed, show that this was done not in a natural, but in a supernatural way, though means were directed to be made use of. (u) Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 620. Vid. Levin. Lemnii Herb. Bibl. Explicat. c. 19. p. 60.

Versículo 8

VI. And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah,.... Or "had said", (w) before the plaster of figs was directed to,…

And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah,.... Or "had said", (w) before the plaster of figs was directed to, or, however, laid on, and as soon as he was told he should be healed: what shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day? not that he disbelieved the promise of God, or doubted of a cure, but this he requested for the confirmation of his faith; which good men sometimes asked, when they doubted not, as Gideon; and Ahaz, Hezekiah's father, was bid to ask a sign for the like purpose, and it was resented in him that he did not, see Judges 6:17. (w) "dixerat autem", V. L. Vatablus.

Versículo 9

VII. And Isaiah said, this sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he h…

And Isaiah said, this sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken,.... Cure him of his disorder, so that he should be able to go to the temple on the third day: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? that is, the shadow of the sun on a dial plate; it was left to his option to choose which he would, as the confirming sign of his recovery.

Versículo 10

VIII. And Hezekiah answered, it is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees,.... That is, it…

And Hezekiah answered, it is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees,.... That is, it was comparatively so, otherwise to go down ten degrees at once would be extraordinary and miraculous; but that was more agreeable to the nature and course of it to go forward, and so the miracle would be less apparent: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees; which was directly contrary to its natural order and course, whereby the miracle would appear more clear and manifest: these degrees are by some said (x) to be half hours, and not full ones, since it is observed the sun shines not twenty full hours on any dial, unless under the pole; the sun is supposed to have been now at the fifth full hour; the sun was brought back five whole hours, then came forward five, then came forward two degrees, or one hour, to the sixth hour; which made sixteen; then it was six hours to sunset; so that day was prolonged twenty two hours: the Chinese (y) relate, that, in the time of Kingcungus, the planet Mars, for sake of the king, went back three degrees. (x) Weemse's Christ. Synagog. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 6. p. 167. See his Exposition of the Judicial Laws, c. 25. p. 90. &c. (y) Martin. Sinic. Hist. l. 4. p. 138.

Versículo 11

IX. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord,.... Or prayed, as the Targum; and was very earnest in…

And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord,.... Or prayed, as the Targum; and was very earnest in prayer, that what Hezekiah had desired might be granted: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz; Ben Gersom understands it not of the sun itself, but of the shadow of it only; See Gill on Isaiah 38:8.

Versículo 12

X. At that time Berodachbaladan,.... He is called Merodachbaladan, Isaiah 39:1, so here in the Septu…

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.)

Versículo 20

XI. And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might,.... Which he exerted in his wars with hi…

And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might,.... Which he exerted in his wars with his enemies, and in the reformation of religion, and abolition of idolatry: and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city; at the same time that he cut it off from the enemy without, see 2 Chronicles 32:3, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? a book often referred to in this history, but since lost; many of his acts are recorded in the canonical book of Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 29:1.

Versículo 21

XII. And Hezekiah slept with his fathers,.... Died, as they did; no mention is here made of the place …

And Hezekiah slept with his fathers,.... Died, as they did; no mention is here made of the place of his burial, but there is in 2 Chronicles 32:33 where he is said to be buried in the principal part of the sepulchres of the sons of David, and to have honour done him at his death by the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, by the vast concourse of people attending his interment, and by burning spices for him, and making a public mourning on his account a certain stated time: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead; of whose wicked reign an account is given in the next chapter.

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2 Kings — Capítulo 20