Part of the genealogy of Christ Ruler Mentioned in the Bible by name

Hezekiah, Jehizkiah

Then Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent messengers to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong (sinned). Turn away from me, and I will bear whatever you impose on me." And the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah, king of Judah, 300 talents [25 tons] of silver and 30 talents [1 ton] of gold. [The Assyrian texts recount how Hezekiah was also forced to send his daughters, concubines, male and female musicians, ivory, and other valuable objects.]

And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was in the house of the Lord (Yahweh) and in the treasury of the king's house.

At that time, Hezekiah scraped off the gold from the doors of the sanctuary of the Lord (Yahweh) and from the doorposts that [he himself] Hezekiah, king of Judah, had [had] overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. [Hezekiah also repaired the wall and replenished the water supplies and prepared for a siege, see 2 Chron. 32:1–5, 30.]

And the king of Assyria sent the commander (Hebr. tartan), the commander-in-chief (Hebr. rav-saris), and the court marshal (Hebr. rav-shaqeh) from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they came up, they came and stood by the cistern at the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Field of the Foolishman [place where textiles were washed and dried],

And the commander (Hebr. ravshake) said to them:
"Now tell [your king] Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria [Sennacherib]: On what security do you rely?

But you may say to me, 'We trust in the Lord our God (Yahweh Elohim).' Is it not he whose high places [sacrificial sites, often on high ground, see Isa. 36:7; 2 Chron. 30:14; 31:1] and altars [your king] Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar'?
[The Assyrian commander mistakenly assumes that the other places of sacrifice were places where the Lord (Yahweh) was worshipped and that limiting sacrifices to Jerusalem alone would offend him. These high places and altars were not the way the God of Israel was to be worshipped, see Deut. 12.]

Thus says the king [the ruler of the world at that time]:
Do not let [your king] Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you.

Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord (Yahweh) and say that the Lord (Yahweh) will surely save us, this city will not be given into the hand of the Assyrian king.

Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: Make peace with me and come out to me, and each of you shall eat of his own vine and each of his own fig tree, and each of you shall drink the water of his own well,

until I come and take you away to a land like your own, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, so that you may live and not die. Be careful that Hezekiah does not persuade you, saying, 'The Lord (Yahweh) will deliver us.

Then [the three men]
Eljakim, son of Hilkiah (Hebr. Chilqijaho), who was in charge of the palace (literally: 'was over the house') [in Jerusalem],
and the scribe Shebna
and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder,
to Hezekiah with their clothes torn [as an outward sign of mourning] and told him the words of the commander (Hebr. ravshakes).

And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord (Yahweh).

And they said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and blasphemy, for the children are ready to be born (the pregnancy is full-term), but there is no strength to give birth.

But when Sennacherib heard that King Tirhakah of Cush [Nubia; present-day Ethiopia/Sudan] had gone out to fight against him, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah with this message:

"Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying, 'Do not let your God (Elohim), in whom you trust, deceive you, saying, "Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

And Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers' hand and read it. And Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord (Yahweh) and spread it out before the Lord (Yahweh).

And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord (Yahweh) and said, "Lord (Yahweh), God (Elohim) of Israel, who sits on the cherubim, you are God (Elohim), you alone to the kings of the lands, you have made the heavens and the earth.

Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent word to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the Lord (Yahweh), the God (Elohim) of Israel: As you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard you.

In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death. And Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him and said, "Thus says the Lord (Yahweh): Set your house in order, for you will die and not live."

"Now, Lord (Yahweh), remember, I pray you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a whole heart, and have done that which is good in your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

"Return and tell Hezekiah, the prince of my people: Thus says the Lord (Yahweh), the God (Elohim) of your father David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord (Yahweh).

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What shall be the sign that the Lord (Yahweh) will heal me and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord (Yahweh) on the third day?"

And Hezekiah answered, "It is an easy thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps; let the shadow go back ten steps."

At that time, Berodach-Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

And Hezekiah listened to them and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and gold, the spices and the precious oil, the armory, and everything that was in his treasure house. There was nothing in his house that was his possession that Hezekiah did not show them.

And Isaiah the prophet came to Hezekiah and said to him, "What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?" And Hezekiah said, "They came from a distant land, from Babylon."

And he said, "What have they seen in your house?"
And Hezekiah answered, "They have seen everything in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."

And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the Lord (Yahweh).

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the Lord (Yahweh) that you have spoken is good." And he said, "Is it not so that peace (shalom) and truth shall prevail in my days?"

What else is written about the deeds of Hezekiah and his strength, and how he made the dam and the canal (Hezekiah's tunnel) and brought water into the city, is written in the chronicles of the kings of Judah.

And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and his son Manasseh (Hebr. Menasheh) reigned in his place.

And he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down [2 Kings 12:3], and he erected an altar to Baal and made an Asherah [a pole for idol worship, see 2 Kings 13:6] as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he worshiped all the hosts of heaven (demonic powers) and served them.

his son Ahaz,
his son Hezekiah,
his son Manasseh,

Ahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in Jerusalem within the city, for they did not place him in the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah succeeded him as king.
[On the border between the mountainous region of Judah and the Negev in the south lies the strategically important Arad. New analyses in 2020 of the organic material found on two pillars in the temple during the first excavation in the 1960s have revealed traces of frankincense and cannabis. Mixed with the cannabis was dung, which was used to raise the temperature so that the cannabis smoke could produce smoke with hallucinogenic properties. The temple dates back to 750 BC. The temple was later destroyed, but not burned. This is consistent with Hezekiah's reforms, which began in 715 BC, see 2 Kings 18:4.]

Then they went to King Hezekiah and said, "We have purified the entire house of the Lord (Yahweh) and the altar of burnt offering with its accessories and the table of showbread with its accessories.

Early in the morning, King Hezekiah gathered the princes of the city and went up to the house of the Lord (Yahweh).

Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. As the sacrifice was being carried forward, the song of the Lord began to sound, accompanied by the trumpets, led by the instruments of David, king of Israel.

And King Hezekiah and the princes commanded the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and the seer Asaph, and they sang praises with joy, bowing down and worshipping.

Then Hezekiah spoke and said, "You have now been consecrated to the Lord (Yahweh). Therefore, come and bring sacrifices and fellowship offerings to the house of the Lord (Yahweh)." So the assembly brought sacrifices and fellowship offerings, and everyone who was moved in his heart to offer a burnt offering did so.

And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, for it had happened suddenly.

Hezekiah sent messengers to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the house of the Lord (Yahweh) in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel.

There was a large part of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, who had not purified themselves but ate the Passover lamb in a manner other than that prescribed. But Hezekiah had prayed for them and said, "May the Lord (Yahweh), the good one, forgive everyone

And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

Hezekiah spoke kindly to all the Levites who had a good understanding of the service of the Lord (Yahweh). And they ate of the feast offerings during the seven days, while they offered peace offerings (communion offerings) and gave thanks to the Lord (Yahweh), the God of their fathers (Elohim).

Hezekiah, king of Judah, had given the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep as a sacrifice, and the princes had given 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep as a sacrifice. And a large number of priests consecrated themselves.

Hezekiah gave orders concerning the divisions of the priests and Levites, according to their divisions, so that both priests and Levites had their appointed duties, whether it was to offer burnt offerings or fellowship offerings, or to perform the service and give thanks and praise at the gates of the Lord's dwelling place.

When Hezekiah and his princes came to see the piles, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel.

And Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the piles.

Hezekiah then commanded that storerooms be prepared in the house of the Lord (Yahweh), and they were prepared.

Jehiel, Asaiah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Josabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were officials under Konaniah and his brother Shimei, as appointed by King Hezekiah and Azariah, the prince of the house of God.

When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was coming to attack Jerusalem,

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, who was encamped with his army before Lachish, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah, king of Judah, and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying

Is it not Hezekiah who is deceiving you, so that you will die of hunger and thirst? He says, 'The Lord (Yahweh), our God (Elohim), will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria.

Is it not Hezekiah who has removed his high places and altars and told Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before one altar and burn incense on it'?

No, do not let Hezekiah deceive and mislead you, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God (Eloha) be able to deliver you from my hand!"

Sennacherib's servants spoke even more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah.

Meanwhile, King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven.

And the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of the Assyrian king Sennacherib and from the hand of all others, and he protected them on all sides.

Many brought gifts to the Lord in Jerusalem and precious gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah, and after this, Hezekiah's reputation grew among all the nations.

At that time, Hezekiah became mortally ill. He prayed to the Lord (Yahweh), and the Lord answered him and gave him a sign.

But Hezekiah did not repay the good that he had received, but his heart became proud, and therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem.

But when Hezekiah humbled himself in the pride of his heart, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

It was also Hezekiah who blocked the upper source of the Gihon Spring and led the water down, west of David's city [in a tunnel that emptied into the Pool of Siloam]. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he undertook.

The rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his power, and how he found favor in the sight of God, are they not written in the book of the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel?

Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the place where one goes up to the tombs of the house of David. All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. His son Manasseh became king after him.

He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles, and he worshiped and served all the host of heaven.

The king of Assyria sent his commander [Hebr. ravshake – "great cupbearer," probably a title for the leader of the campaign, see also 2 Kings 18:17] from Lachish to Jerusalem [2 Chron. 32:9], to King Hezekiah with a large army. And he stood by the canal of the upper pool on the highway at the Sheep Folds [place where textiles were washed and dried].
[This is exactly the same place where Isaiah met Ahaz, see Isa. 7:3. Probably in the vicinity of the present-day Northern Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. While the Assyrian king Sennacherib was besieging Lachish, he sent his commander (chief cupbearer) to Jerusalem to pressure Hezekiah to surrender without a fight. He was probably chosen for the task because he spoke fluent Hebrew, see verses 11–13. The siege of Lachish is well documented in a series of reliefs on the walls of Sennacherib's banquet hall in Nineveh.]

And the commander (Hebr. ravshake) said to them:
"Now tell [your king] Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria [Sennacherib]: On what confidence do you rely?

But you may say to me, 'We trust in the Lord our God (Yahweh Elohim).' Is it not he whose high places [sacrificial sites, often on high ground, see 2 Kings 18:4; 2 Chron. 30:14; 31:1] and altars [your king] Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar'?
[The Assyrian commander mistakenly assumes that the other high places were places where the Lord (Yahweh) was worshipped and that limiting sacrifices to Jerusalem alone would offend him. These high places and altars were not the way the God of Israel was to be worshipped, see Deut. 12.]

Thus says the king [the ruler of the world at that time]:
Do not let [your king] Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you.

Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord (Yahweh) and say that the Lord (Yahweh) will surely save us, for this city will not be given into the hand of the Assyrian king.

Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: Make peace with me and come out to me, and each of you shall eat of his own vine and each of his own fig tree, and each of you shall drink the water of his own cistern,

Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, 'The Lord (Yahweh) will deliver us.'
Has the god of any other country delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

Then [the three men]
Eljakim, son of Hilkiah (Hebr. Chilqijaho), who was in charge of the palace (literally: 'was over the house') [in Jerusalem],
and the scribe Shebna
and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder,
to Hezekiah with their clothes torn [as an outward sign of mourning] and told him the words of the commander (Hebr. ravshakes).

And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord (Yahweh) [the temple in Jerusalem]. [Unlike Ahaz, who refused to ask the Lord for a sign, see Isa. 7:12.]

And they said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah: This is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, for the child is ready to be born, but there is no strength to bring it forth.

And he heard it said of King Tirhakah of Cush [present-day Ethiopia/Sudan]: "He has come out to fight against you." And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying:

"This is what you shall say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: Do not let your God, whom you trust, deceive you by saying, 'Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Hezekiah received the letter from the messenger's hand and read it, and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord (Yahweh) and spread it out before the Lord (Yahweh).

And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord (Yahweh) and said:

Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent word to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the Lord (Yahweh), the God (Elohim) of Israel, because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria,

At this time [around 700 BC], Hezekiah became terminally ill. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came to him and said, "Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you will die and not recover."
[Hezekiah had no son to inherit the throne, so he needed to look after his house and appoint a successor. The political situation was also very unstable because the Assyrian army was threatening to invade the country.]

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall [away from his servants, in seclusion] and prayed to the Lord (Yahweh).

He said, "Remember, Lord (Yahweh), how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a devoted heart, doing what is good in your sight." Hezekiah began to weep bitterly.

"Go and tell Hezekiah, 'This is what the Lord (Yahweh), the God (Elohim) of your father David, says:
I have heard your prayer,
I have seen your tears.
Behold, I will add 15 years to your life;

The writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah (Hebr. michtav, see Ps. 16:1) when he had been sick and was healed of his sickness:

Hezekiah asked, "What is the sign that I may go up to the house of the Lord (Yahweh)?"

At that time, Merodach-Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and had recovered.

And Hezekiah was glad and showed them his treasure house, the silver and gold, the spices and the precious oil, and his entire armory and everything among his treasures; there was nothing in his house or in his possessions that Hezekiah did not show them.

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, "What did these men say? And where did they come to you from?" And Hezekiah said, "They came to me from a distant land, from Babylon."

Then he said, "What did they see in your house?" And Hezekiah answered, "They saw everything in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the Lord of hosts (Yahweh Tzevaot ):

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the Lord (Yahweh) that you have spoken is good." He added, "For there will be peace (shalom, peace and prosperity) and truth in my days (during my lifetime)."

Did Hezekiah, king of Judah, and all Judah kill him? Did he not fear the Lord (Yahweh) and plead before the Lord (Yahweh), and the Lord (Yahweh) changed his mind about the evil he had spoken against them? And we can bring great evil upon our own souls."

Uzziah begot Jotham,
Jotham begot Ahaz,
Ahaz begot Hezekiah,

Hezekiah begot Manasseh,
Manasseh begot Amon,
Amon begot Josiah,