Hezekiah

Identity

Hezekiah is the thirteenth king of Judah, son of Ahaz, of the line of David. He 'trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him' (2 Kings 18:5). During his reign the prophet Isaiah counselled him; the Assyrian Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem in 701 BC; and by prayer and prophetic word the LORD delivered the city.

Name and titles

'Hezekiah' — Chizqiyyahu in Hebrew — means 'The LORD strengthens.' Scripture calls him 'a doer of what was right in the sight of the LORD' (2 Kings 18:3) and, at the end of his life, a man who forgot the source of his strength (2 Chronicles 32:25-26).

Historical period

• c. 715 BC — Becomes king of Judah at age 25 (2 Kings 18:1-3).
• c. 715 BC — Removes the high places; breaks the brasen serpent Moses made (2 Kings 18:4).
• c. 713 BC — Falls sick and is told he will die; prays and receives fifteen more years (2 Kings 20; Isaiah 38).
• 701 BC — Sennacherib of Assyria invades Judah; besieges Jerusalem; the Rabshakeh delivers the mocking speech.
• 701 BC — Hezekiah spreads Sennacherib's letter before the LORD in the temple; Isaiah delivers the LORD's answer; the angel of the LORD smites 185,000 Assyrians in the night (2 Kings 19; Isaiah 37).
• c. 700 BC — Receives the Babylonian envoys and shows them all his treasures; Isaiah rebukes him (2 Kings 20:12-19).
• c. 686 BC — Dies after 29 years of reign.

Scripture appearances

• 2 Kings 18-20 (KJV) The main narrative.
• 2 Chronicles 29-32 (KJV) Parallel account, with detail on Hezekiah's temple reforms.
• Isaiah 36-39 (KJV) Parallel prophetic account.
• 2 Kings 18:5 (KJV) 'He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.'
• 2 Kings 19:19 (KJV) Hezekiah's prayer: 'Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.'
• Isaiah 37:36 (KJV) 'Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand…'
• Isaiah 38:5 (KJV) '…I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.'
• Matthew 1:9-10 (KJV) Named in the genealogy of Christ (as 'Ezekias').

Connected Places

• Jerusalem — his capital.
• The Siloam Tunnel — Hezekiah's engineering marvel to secure water for Jerusalem before the siege (2 Chronicles 32:30).

Connected People

• Isaiah — his counsellor and prophet.
• David — his ancestor.
• Sennacherib — the Assyrian king he defied.
• Christ Jesus — his descendant after the flesh (Matthew 1:9).

Salvation history role

• The king whose prayer delivered Jerusalem when there was no political solution.
• The model of the ruler who spreads the enemy's threats before the LORD in the temple.
• A warning: after his great deliverance he made a self-satisfied show of his treasures to Babylonian envoys and was told his descendants would go to Babylon.

Christian tradition

• Read at Christian retreats on prayer under political pressure.
• The Hezekiah/Isaiah pair (king + prophet) is the biblical model of the state that listens to prophetic counsel.
• Hezekiah's psalm of thanksgiving after his healing (Isaiah 38:10-20) is one of the great biblical prayers of restored life.

Household reflection

Hezekiah teaches the household to bring the concrete letter of an enemy — a bad diagnosis, a hard bill, a wicked government — and spread it out before the LORD in prayer. God still answers.

But also: after every great deliverance, the household must guard its heart. Hezekiah's slip came in comfort, not in crisis.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read 2 Kings 18-20 or Isaiah 36-39 as a household unit.
• Pray (Chapel) — In every household crisis, spread the trouble before the LORD as Hezekiah spread the letter.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — Discuss with older children how prayer and action worked together in Hezekiah.
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God' (Luther, 1529).
• Learn (Workshop) — Study the Siloam Tunnel inscription — one of the oldest Hebrew inscriptions ever found.

Further reading

2 Kings 18-20, 2 Chronicles 29-32, Isaiah 36-39 in the KJV.

Sennacherib's Prism (Assyrian record of the campaign).

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Isaiah
• David
• Jerusalem
• Christ Jesus
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.