Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 20:21

And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

21. Hezekiah slept with his fathers ] The Chronicler adds ‘and they buried him in the chiefest (R.V. the ascent) of the sepulchres of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death’. The change of rendering in the R.V. is necessary and shews us that it was not in the tombs of the kings that Hezekiah was buried, but in some place of an elevated character near thereto. From this time the kings of Judah are no longer laid in the tombs of the kings.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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

2Ch 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.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

21. Slept with his fathers According to 2Ch 32:33 he was “buried in the chiefest [rather, the ascent ] of the sepulchres of the sons of David.” Why he was not buried in the royal sepulchre does not appear; surely not because he was unworthy, for none equalled him in trusting Jehovah, (2Ki 18:5,) “and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death.” 2Ch 32:33. Perhaps he had chosen this spot for his grave; or perhaps, as Thenius supposes, there was no more room in the royal tomb.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

2Ki 20:21. And Hezekiah slept with his fathers See on 2Ch 32:30. In the innermost and chief room of the royal sepulchre of the house of David was the body of Hezekiah, placed in a niche, which was at the upper end of the room, and, very likely, cut at that time on purpose to do him the greater honour. The prophets who are supposed to have been living in his son’s and his reign, were Hosea, Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, some say Obadiah, and Isaiah, the greatest of them all.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

REFLECTIONS

READER! what a series of delightful instructions open to our view, in looking at Hezekiah on his supposed death-bed. The greatest favorites of heaven are exposed, in common with others, to the humiliation of the grave. But oh! how different their state! and who is it hath made it so, Even thee, thou blessed, blessed Jesus. It is thou which hast converted the chambers of the grave into chambers of peace and safety. By thy death thou hast overcome death. And by thy finished salvation thou hast delivered them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Hail! O thou glorious, great I AM, who art the resurrection and the life.

Reader! let you and I listen to the sweet, swan-like note of the dying Hezekiah. He laments that he shall see the Lord no more in the land of the living; that he shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. But Reader! you and I know that, when believers exchange by death the outward courts of God’s house for the inner temple of his glory, we shall see Jesus as he is; we shall awake up after his likeness, and be with him forever. We leave, indeed, the inhabitants of the world when we drop off this earthly tabernacle. But is this matter of regret, to exchange this world for the upper; earth for heaven; sinners for saints; and evil men for angels and the spirits of just men made perfect? Chiefly, thou precious Lord Jesus, independent of every other, and indeed to the exclusion of every other, thy presence alone is better than life itself. Thy person, thy salvation, thy glory, and the heaven of heavens, thou givest to the souls of thy people; what a happy exchange do they make that die in thee, O Lord Jesus? Oh! for faith in lively exercise, when thou shall give the signal for my departure; when that solemn, glorious hour shall come, and I hear thy precious voice; The master is come and calleth for thee. Oh! for faith to mount up with holy joy and rapture inconceivable, and like the patriarch of old, may the last and most precious word that shall hang upon my dying lips be Jesus, as I utter the same words as he did; Into thine hands I commend my spirit, for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of truth.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

2Ki 20:21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

Ver. 21. And Hezekiah slept, &c. ] He was most honourably buried, 2Ch 32:33 placed above all the house of David, as he exceeded them all in virtue.

And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead. ] A degenerate plant of so noble a vine. Heroum filii noxae. Sic Caligula fuit optimi viri Germanici filius; sic Antonini, Commodus ille bipedum nequissimus.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)