2 Kings 20 | Commentary

(This is an ongoing project. I'll update it regularly.)

Written by Tyler S. Fulcher | Old Testament

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About the Project

This is an ongoing project of mine. As I work through the biblical text, I will place my notes and research here. You will not find a polished commentary on this page. Instead, you'll see my thoughts as I work through them.

Technical Notes: I use this section to discuss interesting details taking place in the Hebrew. It will be very academic in nature. While there is a lot of interesting information buried there, it is not for the faint of heart.

Comments: This section contains my thoughts about the verse as a whole. I'll try to synthesize the data I've compiled in the technical notes.

Section Comments: While chapters and verses are useful tools for finding specific stories and passages in the Bible, they often fail to capture a whole unit. Whenever it makes sense, I will offer some thoughts on a specific stretch of Scripture.

About the author

Tyler S. Fulcher writes about the Bible, Theology, and Church History. He is a biblical scholar based in Springfield, MO. Click here to contact.

2 Kings 2:1

בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֔ם חָלָ֥ה חִזְקִיָּ֖הוּ לָמ֑וּת וַיָּבֹ֣א אֵ֠לָיו יְשַׁעְיָ֨הוּ בֶן־אָמ֜וֹץ הַנָּבִ֗יא וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֵלָ֜יו כֹּֽה־אָמַ֤ר

יְהוָה֙ צַ֣ו לְבֵיתֶ֔ךָ כִּ֛י מֵ֥ת אַתָּ֖ה וְלֹ֥א תִֽחְיֶֽה׃

My Translation: In those days, Hezekiah became sick to the point of death. Then Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “Thus says the YHWH, Order your house because you will die. You will not recover.

Technical Notes (click on the phrase for more information):

The bet preposition (בַּ) is a temporal marker identifying the time in which the following story takes place (vv. 1-11). By placing the story of Hezekiah's sickness "in those days," the narrator reveals that the events he is recounting did not take place after the preceding story but at some undefined time during it. So, Hezekiah's sickness and recovery took place before God intervened to defeat the Assyrians (2 Kgs 19:35-37).

his phrase follows standard word order for biblical Hebrew (verb, subject). Rather than employ an object, the phrase uses the Qal Infinitive Construct (לָמ֑וּת) as an adjunct (i.e., ”a word or word group that qualifies or completes the meaning of another word or other words and is not itself a main structural element in its sentence” [Merriam-Webster]). In this phrase, the adjunct (לָמ֑וּת) identifies the result of Hezekiah’s sickness: death (BHRG §20.1.4.1).
The subject, Hezekiah, is the main character of the ensuing story.

The Qal third person masculine singular is a vav consecutive verb (וַיָּבֹ֣א). As a vav consecutive, the verb signals that Isaiah’s entrance to Hezekiah’s presence takes place after Hezekiah’s sickness.
Nothing is known about Isaiah’s father, but the prophet is almost always introduced this way in the Book of Kings. Isaiah plays a pivotal role in the years leading up to and right after the Assyrian conquest of Israel. He functions as a royal advisor to Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.

The Qal third person masculine singular vav consecutive (וַיֹּ֨אמֶר) is sequential. The prophet speaks to Hezekiah only after he enters the king’s presence.

As the beginning of the divine oracle, this Piel imperative (2ms) breaks the verbal sequence. With verbs of saying (i.e., “command” [צַ֣ו]), the lamed preposition can indicate the indirect object. In this phrase, it signifies Hezekiah’s household (i.e., his family and the people under his charge).
“House” (בַּיִת) has a wide semantic range. In this phrase, it refers to people and not just a physical location.

The clause introduced by the conjunction (כִּ֛י) explains why Hezekiah should arrange his affairs (BHRG §40.29.2.2.b). The participle (מֵ֥ת) functions like a verb. It precedes the subject (אַתָּ֖ה) because it follows the conjunction (כִּ֛י). The context requires one to translate this participle into the future tense (”will die”). Given the appearance of the phrase in a divine oracle, the participle indicates that Hezekiah’s death is imminent and certain (BHRG §20.3.3.3). The final phrase (וְלֹ֥א תִֽחְיֶֽה) is redundant. By alluding "to the result of the content of the preceding clause”, the phrase emphasizes the certainty of Hezekiah’s death (BHRG §40.21.2.4).

Comments:

It’s easy to think the story of Hezekiah’s illness occurs after the events recorded in 2 Kgs 19, but 20:6 suggests this story occurred during or before the Assyrian seige of Jerusalem. “In those days” is just a generic marker that places Hezekiah’s illness in the general timeframe of the Assyrian attack.

As we see throughout this verse, the narrator makes the stakes abundantly clear. Hezekiah’s illness is a matter of life and death--or perhaps just death.

Isaiah instructs Hezekiah to ensure he has a succession plan for the throne. David failed to do this (or forgot he had?), and chaos ensued (see 1 Kgs 1).

Again, this verse makes Hezekiah’s fate abundantly clear: he’s going to die. As if Hezekiah or the reader is unsure, Isaiah clarifies: Hezekiah will not recover from this illness. In the first verse, we are told three times that Hezekiah’s illness is terminal. The stakes are set as high as possible. What will happen? However, the narrator never explains why Hezekiah will die. While not explicit, the other instances of the phrase all deal with some type of judgment (1 Sam 2:31-34; 1 Kgs 14:10; 2 Kgs 1:2-4).

2 Kings 2:2

וַיַּסֵּ֥ב אֶת־פָּנָ֖יו אֶל־הַקִּ֑יר וַיִּ֨תְפַּלֵּ֔ל אֶל־יְהוָ֖ה לֵאמֹֽר׃

My Translation: So he turned his face to the wall and he prayed to the Lord, saying,

Technical Notes (click on the phrase for more information):

This is a vav consecutive Hiphil Imperfect 3ms verb. When you study the word's usage throughout the Old Testament, you find that it often refers to a physical movement involving some kind of change (e.g., physical, emotional, etc.) (Garcia-López, 130). In this verse, the term describes the shift in Hezekiah's physical and spiritual posture. Hezekiah's message has humbled the king.
The subject of the verb is unspecified in the Hebrew text. The larger context makes it clear that Hezekiah is the subject. Some ancient manuscripts actually contain Hezekiah's name here.

Turning one's face directs attention to a specific location. This phrase appears several times in the Old Testament. In 1 Kings 8:14, Solomon turns his face to bless the people (see also 2 Chronicles 6:3). In 1 Kings 21:4, Ahab turns his face to sulk over Naboth's rejection. Hezekiah's reaction seems most similar to Ahab's sulking.

This vav consecutive Hithpael 3ms (פלל) verb continues the narrative sequence.

The preposition אֶל (to) identifies the addressee of Hezekiah's prayer. With verbs of speaking, the preposition identifies the person to whom the content of the speech is directed (BHRG §39.3.2).
The final verb form (לֵאמֹֽר) is a Qal Infinitive Construct. Modern English versions of the Bible frequently leave the word untranslated. Instead, it functions as a signifier of a quotation.

Comments:

Hezekiah receives the oracle of death from Isaiah, but does not reply to the prophet. Instead, Hezekiah directs his attention to YHWH.

We know Hezekiah is located in the palace when Hezekiah confronts him, because Isaiah is forced to turn back before he leaves the courtyard. Additionally, Isaiah informs Hezekiah that the king must go to the temple in three days (v. 5). Thus, when Hezekiah turns his face towards the wall, this reference is not to the temple.

However, Hezekiah's posture and prayer imitate the type of humility Solomon describes in his dedicatory prayer for the temple (1 Kings 8). Solomon asks God to respond positively to anyone who prays towards the temple. So, while Hezekiah likely prayed facing the wall of his own palace, it is also likely, from a narrative perspective, that the wall toward which he turned also faced the temple.

Bibliography

F. Garcia-López, “סבב,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, trans. Douglas W. Stott (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999) 130.
(BHRG) Christo H. J. van der Merwe, Jacobus A. Naudé, and Jan H. Kroeze, A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar, Second Edition. (London; Oxford; New York; New Delhi; Sydney: Bloomsbury; Bloomsbury T&T Clark: An Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2017), 333.