Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 20:13

And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and [all] the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.

13. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them ] In Isaiah we read he ‘was glad of them’, and there is no doubt that is the correct reading. The LXX. gives , he rejoiced, in this passage. The difference in the Hebrew words is very slight. Here we have , in Isaiah .

and shewed them all the house of his precious things ] On the margin both A.V. and R.V. give ‘spicery’ instead of ‘precious things’; and the word (with a very slight difference of form) is used in that sense in Gen 37:25; Gen 43:11. But here as the house seems to have contained the various things which follow after, silver and gold as well as spices, perhaps the more general rendering is to be preferred. The storehouse which at first had its name from the aromatic treasures bestowed there, came in time to be used, without change of name, for the keeping of other things that were valuable.

precious ointment ] R.V. oil. This is the more usual rendering. The stores would be of pure oil more likely than of manufactured ointment.

and all the house of his armour ] R.V. omits ‘all’, which is not in the Hebrew text here, though it is in Isaiah. Hence the Massoretes have put it as a various reading on the margin of this verse.

The house of armour was no doubt ‘the house of the forest of Lebanon’, which Solomon built as an armoury, see notes on 1Ki 7:2 ; 1Ki 10:17.

nothing that Hezekiah shewed them not ] He was clearly desirous to produce an impression of his wealth and consequent power. This proud spirit the Chronicler (2Ch 32:25) describes thus, ‘Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him: for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem’.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them – The Jewish king lent a favorable ear to the proposals of the ambassadors, and exhibited to them the resources which he possessed, in order to induce them to report well of him to their master.

All the house of his precious things – literally, the spice-house; the phrase had acquired the more generic sense of treasure-house from the fact that the gold, the silver, and the spices were all stored together.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 13. Hezekiah hearkened unto them] Instead of vaiyishma, he hearkened, vaiyismach, he rejoiced or was glad, is the reading of twelve of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS., the parallel place, Isa 39:2, the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Arabic, some copies of the Targum, and the Babylonian Talmud.

All the house of his precious things] Interpreters are not well agreed about the meaning of the original nechothoh, which we here translate precious things, and in the margin spicery or jewels. I suppose the last to be meant.

There was nothing in his house] He showed them through a spirit of folly and exultation, all his treasures, and no doubt those in the house of the Lord. And it is said, 2Ch 32:31, that in this business God left him to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart; and this trial proved that in his heart there was little else than pride and folly.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Hearkened unto them, i.e. granted their desires of a league and amity with them.

The silver and the gold, & c.; for though his country had lately been harassed by the Assyrians, yet he had reserved all his treasures and precious things which he and his fathers had gathered in Jerusalem. Besides, he had considerable spoils out of the Assyrian camp. Also he had many presents sent to him, 2Ch 32:23, which doubtless were things of considerable worth.

Nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not; which he did through vain ostentation and pride of heart, 2Ch 32:25,26, being lifted up by the great honour which God had done him, in working such glorious miracles for his sake, and by the great respects and presents rendered to him from divers princes and people, and now by this great Babylonian monarch. So hard a matter is it even for a good man to be high and humble.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

13, 14. the silver, and the goldHepaid so much tribute to Sennacherib as exhausted his treasury(compare 2Ki 18:16). But,after the destruction of Sennacherib, presents were brought him fromvarious quarters, out of respect to a king who, by his faith andprayer, saved his country; and besides, it is by no means improbablethat from the corpses in the Assyrian camp, all the gold and silverhe had paid might be recovered. The vain display, however, wasoffensive to his divine liege lord, who sent Isaiah to reprove him.The answer he gave the prophet (2Ki22:14) shows how he was elated by the compliment of their visit;but it was wrong, as presenting a bait for the cupidity of theserapacious foreigners, who, at no distant period, would return andpillage his country, and transfer all the possessions heostentatiously displayed to Babylon, as well as his posterity to becourt attendants in that country(see on 2Ch32:31).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

[See comments on 2Ki 20:12]

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(13) Hearkened unto.A scribes error for was glad of them (Isaiah, and many MSS. and the versions here).

The silver, and the gold.This, as well as the phrase in 2Ki. 20:17, that which thy fathers have laid up, appears to contradict 2Ki. 18:15-16. Schrader regards this as an indication that Hezekiahs illness and the embassy of Merodach-baladan belong to the time preceding Sennacheribs invasion. Thenius, however, supposes that Hezekiah simply gave all the money in his treasury to Sennacheribs envoys, and stripped off the gold plating of the Temple before them that they might suppose his resources exhausted, when, in fact, he had not touched his real treasures, which were concealed in subterranean chambers. Thenius also refers to the credible statement of the chronicler, that presents were made to Hezekiah from all quarters after the retreat of Sennacherib (2Ch. 32:23). Professor Robertson Smith agrees with Schrader in referring the embassy of Merodach-baladan to the years 704-703 B.C.

The precious ointment.The fine oil (Cheyne). Perfumed oil used for anointing.

All that was found in his treasures.See 2Ch. 32:27-28. Storehouses beyond the precincts of the palace, and beyond Jerusalem. (Comp. the phrase in all his dominion, which alludes to the resources of Hezekiah in the country, statistics of which he might show to the envoys.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

13. Hezekiah hearkened unto them Many manuscripts and versions here read, was glad of them, or rejoiced over them, ( ,) as in Isa 39:2; but this is no sufficient proof that our text is corrupt. is, indeed, seldom construed with , but examples are to be found in chapter 2Ki 22:13, and Gen 41:15. The king hearkened unto the proposal to form an alliance with Merodach-baladan; and to convince them that he was not so feeble and destitute of resources as the king of Assyria might pretend, he showed them his treasures.

House of his precious things Better, as the margin, house of spicery, or spice house. So the word is rendered at Gen 37:25. Spices were regarded as very precious things.

The spices Rather, the aromatics, or perfumes; all sorts of fragrant plants or spices which create a pleasant smell.

The precious ointment “Not fine olive-oil,” says Keil, “but, according to the rabbies and Movers, the valuable balsam oil which was obtained in the royal gardens; for olive oil, which was obtained in all Judea, was not stored in the treasure-chambers along with the gold, silver, and perfumes, but in special storehouses.” 1Ch 27:28.

House of his armour The armory, or arsenal.

In all his dominion He made known to them the whole extent of his resources, whether of wealth, luxuries, or power.

Those expositors who understand this embassy to have visited Hezekiah after the Assyrian invasion, and after Sennacherib had taken away all the silver of the temple and the palace, (2Ki 18:15,) are put to it to account for all those treasures of gold and silver and precious things yet in possession of the Jewish king. They argue that Sennacherib took only silver and gold, not spices or arms, and that Hezekiah preferred to strip the doors and pillars of the temple for gold and silver, rather than give up that which was concealed in his treasuries. They also suppose that the treasury of Jerusalem had been replenished by the gifts mentioned in 2Ch 32:23. But if, as we have assumed, (2Ki 20:12, note,) this embassy came before Hezekiah had given all his silver and gold to Sennacherib, this accumulation of treasure is the more easily accounted for.

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

2Ki 20:13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and [all] the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

Ver. 13. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them. ] Ad quos intentus, Ezechiah? He was taken and tickled with their company and courtship, gratifying them in that they came about, and proud of the honour they had done him. 2Ch 32:25 ; 2Ch 32:31 As there be white teeth in the blackest blackamoor, so there is a black bill in the whitest swan – a rotten kernel or two in the fairest pomegranate, &c.

And showed them the house of his precious things. ] Superbe simul et stulte. This was proudly and foolishly done; for now gold thirsty Babylon knew where to have her draught, where to fetch a fat and fit booty. By the imperial law a of the Romans, the exporting of wine, oil, and other delicious liquors was flatly forbidden, and this reason given, Ne Barbare gustu illecti promptius invaderent fines Romanorum, Lest the barbarians tasting thereof, should be the rather drawn thereby to invade the Roman empire, as the Gauls did when once they had tasted of the grapes that grew in Italy. b Of the Chinese it is reported that they suffer not any foreigner to come into the heart of their kingdom, but only to trade with them on the seacoasts. It was doubtless impoliticly done at best by Hezekiah, to show these strangers his wealth and treasure: yea, it was sinfully done of him – had his storehouse been as rich as the earth – to be lifted up with those heavy metals. c

The silver and the gold. ] Which he had partly by the spoil of Sennacherib’s camp, and partly by the many gifts brought by all nations unto him, as the world’s wonder for the sun’s going backward for his sake.

And the spices. ] Galen d writeth that in his time cinnamon was very rare and hard to be found, except in the storehouses of great princes.

a Leg. l.

b Plutarch, in Camillo.

c Boter., in Catalog. Imper.

d Lib. i. Antidot.

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