2 Chronicles 32 Study Notes

32:1 Hezekiah’s faith in God was put to the test when King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. Before attacking Jerusalem, Sennacherib intended to demolish all the cities of Judah and make off with whatever plunder he could seize. This invasion was in 701 BC. See also Is 36-37.

32:2-5 Sennacherib’s strategy gave Hezekiah a chance to prepare for the impending siege of the capital city. In addition to rebuilding and strengthening the city wall, he made sure the Assyrians would not have access to the region’s water supply. He closed off all external access to the water of the springs . . . outside the city and built a tunnel that permitted his own people to get to the water (v. 30). The 1,777-foot-long tunnel brought water from the Gihon spring to the Pool of Siloam (Jn 9:7). Working from each end, two teams tunneled through solid rock toward each other until they met. In AD 1880 the 6-line Siloam Inscription was discovered in the tunnel. It tells of the meeting of the two teams.

32:6-8 Hezekiah organized his army thoroughly. Then he called the people together and reminded them that Assyria was no match for the strength of the Lord. The first sign of God’s supernatural intervention was seen almost immediately in that the people relied on the words of King Hezekiah.

32:9-12 Sennacherib’s propaganda minister came to Jerusalem and addressed the people from outside the city walls. This spokesman brought up a clever argument based on his own perceptions. Many people of the ancient Near East believed that each city and each nation had its own gods and that these gods had the responsibility to protect their own people. Any military confrontation was construed as a battle between gods, and the winner was thought to have the stronger gods. The Assyrian speaker knew that Hezekiah had destroyed sites outside the temple devoted to worship of Hezekiah’s God. He taunted the people and asked how they could expect help from a God whose worship sites had just been eliminated by the king who was now asking them to trust in that God. It seemed to the Assyrian that Hezekiah had acted against his own deity and his own country. But of course what Hezekiah had actually done was to remove the illegitimate worship sites and restore centralized worship at the temple in Jerusalem as God had ordained it.

32:13-15 The Assyrian spokesman continued his argument that the Assyrians were stronger than any of the gods of the lands they had so far encountered. It was statistically unlikely that Judah’s God would deliver them.

32:16-19 Additional representatives of Assyria joined in to ridicule the notion that the people of Jerusalem could expect help from God. They spoke of God as Hezekiah’s God, trying to drive a wedge between the people, the king, and the Lord. Some of the Assyrians were even able to speak directly in Hebrew to the people, more effectively conveying their propaganda about the superiority of the Assyrian gods.

32:20-22 The parallel passages of this event (2Kg 18; Is 36-37) provide a lengthier description of the verbal exchanges as well as more detailed information about the events surrounding this siege. For the Chronicler, the crucial thing was that Hezekiah, who received encouragement from the prophet Isaiah, trusted in God and received a miraculous reward. An Assyrian army of 185,000 gathered around Jerusalem, but the Lord went to work on behalf of his anointed. In one night the entire army was annihilated, and Sennacherib was forced to withdraw and return to his homeland where he was eventually assassinated by his own sons.

32:23 Hezekiah’s victory at the hand of the Lord did not go unnoticed. Many people came to the temple to bring offerings. Among them were people from other nations who also brought valuable gifts for the king. This brought international respect to Hezekiah, Jerusalem, Judah, and the Lord.

32:24 Again, 2 Chronicles provides a shorter version of this event than the reports in 2 Kings and Isaiah. Hezekiah became sick to the point of death, but God heard his plea and gave him fifteen more years of life. The Lord provided confirmation of this promise by the miraculous sign of having a shadow cast by the sun move in a counterclockwise direction (2Kg 20:1-11).

32:25-26 The pride for which Hezekiah was rebuked occurred when he received visitors from Babylon and showed them all his treasures (v. 31; 2Kg 20:12-19). The king did not react defensively when he was corrected on this point (cp. 2Ch 25:16), but humbled himself before God and became obedient.

32:27-31 As the Chronicler summarizes Hezekiah’s reign, we are reminded of the time of Solomon. Hezekiah was able to acquire abundant riches, he carried out building projects (specifically the reworking of Jerusalem’s water supply), he received ambassadors who had heard about his success, and the country flourished.

32:32-33 Hezekiah received a good evaluation by the Chronicler, and he was mourned by all Judah. He was buried with honor among the former kings of Judah. The Visions of the Prophet Isaiah probably refers to a lost history written by the prophet (cp. 26:22).