Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 20:3

I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done [that which is] good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

3. I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now ] R.V. Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee. The R.V. adopts the order of the words in Isaiah.

It was only at a moment of great elation and prosperity that Hezekiah forgat God. The testimony which he himself bears to his own character appears to be generally true. He must have lived as a God-fearing son under an idolatrous father. When he came to the throne, while he had the work of purifying God’s worship in hand, and the Philistines were not driven out of Judah, he did all things well. But after some prosperous years he had himself to own to Sennacherib ‘I have offended’. During the war with Assyria he set a noble example. When the pressure was removed he gave way for a short time to pride and a boastful spirit. Moreover his care for his son’s training, if we may judge by Manasseh’s life when he became king, can hardly have been so zealous as we might expect from a father whose youth had been passed amid the difficulties of an idolatrous court. Altogether Hezekiah is one of those characters which shine brightest in adversity.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Remember now – The old covenant promised temporal prosperity, including length of days, to the righteous. Hezekiah, conscious of his faithfulness and integrity 2Ki 18:3-6, ventures to expostulate (compare also 2Ki 21:1 note). According to the highest standard of morality revealed up to this time, there was nothing unseemly in the self vindication of the monarch, which has many parallels in the Psalms of David (Psa 7:3-10; Psa 18:19-26; Psa 26:1-8, etc.).

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 3. I beseech thee, O Lord] Hezekiah knew that, although the words of Isaiah were delivered to him in an absolute form, yet they were to be conditionally understood, else he could not have prayed to God to reverse a purpose which he knew to be irrevocable. Even this passage is a key to many prophecies and Divine declarations: see chap. 18 of Jeremiah.

Hezekiah pleads his uprightness and holy conduct in his own behalf. Was it impious to do so? No; but it certainly did not savour much either of humility or of a due sense of his own weakness. If he had a perfect heart, who made it such?-God. If he did good in God’s sights who enabled him to do so?-God. Could he therefore plead in his behalf dispositions and actions which he could neither have felt nor practiced but by the power of the grace of God? I trow not. But the times of this ignorance God winked at. The Gospel teaches us a different lesson.

Wept sore.] How clouded must his prospects of another world have been! But it is said that, as he saw the nation in danger from the Assyrian army, which was then invading it, and threatened to destroy the religion of the true God, he was greatly affected at the news of his death, as he wished to live to see the enemies of God overthrown. And therefore God promises that he will deliver the city out of the hands of the king of Assyria, at the same time that he promises him a respite of fifteen years, 2Kg 20:6. His lamentation on this occasion may be seen in Isaiah, Isa 38:9-22.

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

In truth, i.e. sincerely, with an honest mind, as the following words explain it. I have in some measure (human frailty excepted) kept the condition which thou didst require, 1Ki 8:25, and therefore do humbly beg of thee that the promise made to David and to his posterity upon that condition may not fail in my person, for as yet thou hast not given me a son. See Poole “2Ki 20:1“. I am not conscious to myself of any gross exorbitances in the course of my life, for which thou usest to shorten mens days, and cut off my life in thy displeasure, which by this sharp message thou threatenest to do.

Hezekiah wept sore; partly for that horror of death which is and was common to men, especially in the times of the Old Testament, when the grace of God in Christ was not so fully manifested as now it is; and principally for the distracted and miserable condition in which the church and state were then likely to be left, through the uncertainty of the succession to the crown, and the great proneness of the people to backslide to their false worship and evil practices; which he easily perceived, and which he knew would bring far worse calamities upon them if he were removed, as afterwards it came to pass.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

3. remember now how I have walkedbefore thee, c.The course of Hezekiah’s thoughts was evidentlydirected to the promise made to David and his successors on thethrone (1Ki 8:25). He had keptthe conditions as faithfully as human infirmity admitted and as hehad been all along free from any of those great crimes by which,through the judgment of God, human life was often suddenly cut short,his great grief might arise partly from the love of life, partly fromthe obscurity of the Mosaic dispensation, where life and immortalityhad not been fully brought to light, and partly from his plans forthe reformation of his kingdom being frustrated by his death. Hepleaded the fulfilment of the promise.

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

Ver. 3 [See comments on 2Ki 20:1]

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(3) Remember now how I have walked . . .Hezekiah deprecates an untimely deaththe punishment of the wicked (Pro. 10:27)on account of his zeal for Jehovah and against the idols. As Thenius remarks, there is nothing surprising in his apparent self-praise if we remember such passages as Psa. 18:20; Psa. 7:8; Neh. 13:14. Josephus sets down the poignancy of his sorrow to childlessness, and makes him pray to be spared until he get a son; but this is merely an instance of that midrashitic enlargement of the narrative which we find elsewhere in that historian.

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

3. I have walked before thee in truth He appeals to his piety and zeal for Jehovah, as evinced by his destruction of idolatry and trust in God, which were matters of record. Compare 2Ki 18:3-7. This language of the king is not to be regarded as self-praise. “Hezekiah stood in the economy of the Old Testament, that is, in the economy of legal righteousness; the entire revelation of the Old Testament is concentrated in the Law of Moses, as that of the New Testament is concentrated in the Gospel; so that to walk according to this law is not to be morally pure and free from sin, but to serve Jehovah as the only God, to fear him, to trust him, and to love him with all the heart. Hezekiah could say all this without pharisaical self-praise, just as well as Paul could say, without self-righteousness, ‘I have fought a good fight; I have kept the faith.’ ” Bahr.

Wept sore Wept greatly, or violently. Josephus says, he was afflicted because he had no heir to succeed him in the kingdom. Such a fact may have increased his grief, for it appears from 2Ki 20:6, compared with 2Ki 21:1, that his son and successor, Manasseh, was born three years after this; but his chief agony seems to have been that he was about to be cut off in the midst of life, and such a calamity was looked upon as a stroke of Divine anger, and evidence of great wickedness. See Job 15:32; Job 22:16; Psa 55:23; Pro 10:27; Ecc 7:17. It is easy to see, then, why Hezekiah appeals so earnestly to his righteous acts. It is not in self-praise, but in self-vindication.

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

2Ki 20:3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done [that which is] good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

Ver. 3. I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now. ] Obsecro Domine, memento quaeso. Words full of incitation. The first word Ana – affectum significat et impetum – is very affectionate and forcible.

How I have walked before thee. ] Indesinenter ambulavi, I have constantly walked before thee, and not by fits, or for a few turns. One interpreter noteth that the word here used signifieth, I have made myself to walk; implying his own dulness, sluggishness, averseness to that duty.

In truth, and with a perfect heart, ] i.e., In sincerity and integrity. Uprightness hath boldness; Subeo bona (per gratiam Dei) conscientia tribunal Christi, said dying Oeeolampadius, I go before Christ’s tribunal with a good conscience. This is my comfort, said Mr Deering, that I have faithfully served my Lord God, and with an upright conscience. I am neither ashamed to live, nor afraid to die, said another saint. Let him fear death who is passing from this death to the second death. a

And have done that which is good. ] For matter, manner, and motive. I have known, said a worthy doctor, b now with God, some godly men, whose comfort upon their deathbeds hath been, not from the inward acts of their mind – which apart considered, might be subject to misapprehensions, – but from the course of obedience in their lives issuing from there.

And Hezekiah wept sore. ] Heb., With a great weeping. See on 2Ki 20:2 . Now if the message of death made this good man weep sore, and the approach of it was mar mar, bitter bitterness, Isa 38:17 what marvel if such a one as Saul swoon quite away at it, and fall to the earth in his full length, as in 1Sa 28:20 ? Death is dreadful in his best looks, as is the lion, though his teeth and claws be beaten out; or as the hawk to the partridge; or as a serpent’s skin, though but stuffed with straw. To the wicked, death is a trap door to hell: they may say of it, as once Elisha did, 2Ki 6:32 Behold, the murderer is at hand; and is not the sound of his master’s feet – the devil – behind him? hence their loath to depart, &c. But why should a saint be fond of life, or afraid of death, since to him it is but as his father’s horse, to carry him to his father’s house, or as Joseph’s chariot rattling with its wheels, to carry old Jacob to his son Joseph, so him to Christ?

a Mori timeat qui ad secundam mortem de hac morte transibit. – Cyprian.

b Church’s Carriage, by Dr Preston.

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

walked = walked to and fro: i.e. habitually walked.

a perfect = whole, or undivided.

wept sore. Hebrew “wept with a great weeping” = wept bitterly. Figure of speech Polyptoton. App-6. See note on Gen 26:28.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

remember: Gen 8:1, Neh 5:19, Neh 13:14, Neh 13:22, Neh 13:31, Psa 25:7, Psa 89:47, Psa 89:50, Psa 119:49, Isa 63:11

I have walked: 2Ki 18:3-6, Gen 5:22, Gen 5:24, Gen 17:1, 1Ki 2:4, 1Ki 3:6, Job 1:1, Job 1:8, Luk 1:6

in truth: 2Ch 31:20, 2Ch 31:21, Psa 32:2, Psa 145:18, Jer 4:2, Joh 1:47, 2Co 1:12, 1Jo 3:21, 1Jo 3:22

a perfect heart: 1Ki 8:61, 1Ki 11:4, 1Ki 15:14, 2Ch 16:9

wept sore: Heb. wept with a great weeping, 2Sa 12:21, 2Sa 12:22, Psa 6:6, Psa 102:9, Isa 38:14, Heb 5:7

Reciprocal: Gen 20:5 – in the integrity Gen 24:40 – before Gen 45:2 – wept aloud Jos 24:14 – serve 1Sa 1:10 – wept sore 1Ki 8:23 – walk before 1Ki 15:3 – and his heart 1Ch 12:38 – with a perfect heart 1Ch 28:9 – serve him Job 4:6 – thy fear Job 23:10 – he knoweth Psa 26:1 – for Psa 26:3 – and Psa 51:6 – Behold Psa 119:1 – undefiled Psa 119:159 – Consider Jer 12:3 – knowest Joh 21:15 – thou knowest Act 20:37 – wept 3Jo 1:4 – walk

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

2Ki 20:3. Remember how I have walked before thee in truth Sincerely, with an honest mind. I am not conscious to myself of any exorbitances, for which thou art wont to shorten mens days. And Hezekiah wept sore Under the law, long life and uninterrupted health were promised as the rewards of obedience, and premature death was denounced as a punishment; see Exo 20:12; Deu 5:33; and Deu 30:16. When we reflect on this, we need not be surprised at the sorrow which this good king expressed at his approaching dissolution. He looked upon it as a punishment, and consequently as a mark of the divine displeasure. Other reasons too might strongly operate upon a good mind. The suddenness of this terrible and unexpected denunciation; the unsettled state both of his public and domestic affairs; and the natural dread of death inherent in the human mind, which might in this case possibly be augmented from a sense of his own defects, and from a thorough persuasion that God was displeased at him, by cutting him off in such a manner, in the very flower of his age, and when his kingdom and family particularly required his best assistance. However, be the reasons what they might, it behooves us certainly to judge with great candour of a prince, whose character is so good as that of Hezekiah: and, perhaps, blessed as we are, with a clearer knowledge of a future state than Hezekiah enjoyed, there are but few who can look upon death, awful as it is even to the best, without some degree of very serious concern. Dodd.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

20:3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a {b} perfect heart, and have done [that which is] good in thy sight. And Hezekiah {c} wept sore.

(b) Meaning, without all hypocrisy.

(c) Not so much for his own death, as for fear that idolatry would be restored which he had destroyed, and so God’s Name be dishonoured.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes