Chapter XXXII
Ver. l-2k Sennacherib Invades Judah. 1. After these tilings, and the establishment thereof—t. e., the restoration of the temple-worship. The precise date is given, 2 Kings 18. 1.3. Determined to recover the independence of his country, Hezekiah had determined to refuse to pay the tribute which his father had bound himself to pay to Assyria. Sennacherib . . . entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities—The
Hezekiali's Riches and Works. 2 CHRONICLES XXXIII. Manasseh Carried Captive to Babylon,
erals, the chief of whom was Tartan (Isaiah 20. 1), with a portion of his army for tlie reduction of Judah also. In a successful attack upon Jerusalem, tliey took multitudes of captives, and got a great prize, including the king himself, among the prisoners, took Manasseh among the thorns—This may mean, as is commonly supposed, that he had hid himself among a thicket of briers and brambles, and we know that the Hebrews sometimes took refuge from their enemies in thickets (1 Samuel 13. 6). But, instead of the Hebrew, Bacochim, "among the thorns," some versions read Bechai/im, "among tlie living," and so the passage would be " took him alive." bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon —Tlie Hebrew word rendered fetters denotes properly two chains of brass. The humiliating state in whicli Manasseh appeared before the Assyrian monarch may be judgea of by a picture on a tablet in the Khorsabad palace, representing prisoners led bound into the king's presence. "The captives represented appear to be inliabitants of Palestine. Behind the prisoners stand four persons with inscriptions on the lower part of their tunics; the first two are bearded, and seem to be accusers; tiie remaining two are nearly defaced ; but behind the last appears the eunucli, whose office it seems to be to usher into the presence of the king those who are permitted to appear before him. He is followed by another person of the same race as tlio-t «')der punishment; liis hands are manacled, and on his aLklito are strong rings fastened together by a lieavy bar." [Nineveh and its Palaces.] No name is given, and, therefore, no conclusion can be drawn that the figure represents Manasseh ; but the people appear to be Hebrews, and this pictorial scene will enable us to imagine the manner in which tlie royal captive from Judali was received in the courtof Babylon. Esar-haddon had established his residence there, for though from tlie many revolts that followed the death of his fatlier, he succeeded at first only to the throne of Assyria, yet liaviiig some time previous to liis conquest of Judaii, recovered possession of Babylon, this enterprising king had united under liis sway the two empires of Babylon and Chaldea, and transferred the seat of his government to Babylon. 13, 13. when he was in aflllction, lie besouglit the I>ord his God—In tlie solitude of exile or imprisonment, Manasseh
21-23. An Angel Destroys the Assyrians. 81. nn angel . . . cut off all the mighty men—(see ou 2 Kings
19. 3.5-37).
24-26. Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery. 34. In those days Hezekiah was sick to tlie deatlk—(see ou 2 Kings 20. 1-11).
27-33. His Riches and Works, he had exceeding much riches and honour—(cf. 2 Kings 20. 13 ; Isaiah 39.
2). A great portion of his personal wealtli, like tliat of David and Uzziali, consisted in immense possessions of agricultural and pastoral produce. Besides, lie had accumulated large treasures in gold, silver, and precious things, wiiicli he had taken as spoils from tlie Pliilistines, and wliioh he liad received as presents from neighbouring
states, amongst which he was held in great honour as a king under the special protection of Heaven. Much of his great wealth he expended in improving his capital, erecting forts, and promoting the internal benefit of iiis kingdom. 30. stopped the . . . water-course of Gilion, and brouglit it ... to the west side of tlie city, ttc.
(cf. 2 Kings 20. 20). Particular notice is here taken of the aqueduct, as amongst the greatest of Hezekiah's works. "In exploring the subterranean channel conveying the water from Virgin's Fount to Siloam, I discovered a sim-
ilar channel entering from the north, a few yards from
its commencement; and on tracing it up near the Mugrabin gate, wliere it became so choked with rul>bisli tliat it could be traversed no farther, I there found it turn to the west in the direction of the south end of the cleft, or sad-
dle, of Zion, and if this channel was not constructed for the purpose of conveying tlie waters of Hezekiah's aqueduct, I am unable to suggest any purpose to wliicli itcould have been applied. Perhaps the reason why it was not brought down on the Zion side, was tliat Zion was already well watered in its lower portion by the Great Pool, 'tlie lower pool of Gihon.' And accordingly Williams (Holy City) renders tliis passage, ' He stopped the upper outflow of the waters of Gilion, and led tliem down westward to the city.'" [Barclay's City of the Great King.] The construction of this aqueduct required not only masonic but engineering skill; for the passage was bored througli a continuous mass of rock. Hezeltiali's pool or reservoir made to receive the water witliin tlie north-west part of
tlie city still remains. It Is an oblong quadrangular tank, 240 feet in length, from 144 to loO In breadth, but, from recent excavations, appears to liave extended soniewliat fartlier towards the north. 31. in tlic business of tl»c ambassadors who sent ... to iiKjuire of tite wonder that was done in the land, &c.—Tliey brouglit a present
liad leisure for reflection. Tlie calamities forced upon iiim a review of his past life, und»r a conviction tliat the miseries of liis dethronement and captive condition were owing to liis awful and unprecedented apostasy (y. 7) from the God of his fathers. He linnil)led himself, repented, and prayed for an opportunity of bringing forth the fruits of repentance. His prayer was heard; for his coiiiineror notonly released him, but, after two years' exile, restored iiim, with honour and the full exercise of royal power, to a tributary and dependent kingdom. Some political motive, doubtless, prompted the Assyrian king to restore Manasseh, and that was most probalily to have the kingdom of Judah as a barrier between Ilgypt and his Assyrian dominions. . But God overruled this measure for liigher purposes. Manasseh now showed hinist'lf, by the liitliience of sanctified alUlctioii, a lU'W and better man ; lor lie made ii complete reversal of his former policy, by not only destroying all the Idolatrous statues and altars he had formerly erected In Jerusalem, but displaying the most ardent zeal In restoring and encoiiraging the worKhlgiof (iod. 14. he built a wall without tlieeily . . . on the west side of Glhon . . . even to the entering In nt tite llsli-gate—"Tlu^ well-ascertained position of llio
(v. 23) (see on 2 Kings 20. 12, 13), and a letter of congratulation on his recovery, in wliich particular inquiries wore made about the miracle of the sun's retrocession — a natural phenomenon tliat could not fail to excite great interest and curiosity at Babylon, where astronomy was so mucli studied. At the same time, there is reason to believe that they proposed a defensive league against the Assyrians. God left him, to try him, &c.—Hezekiali's oflfence was not so mucli in the display of his military Btores and treasures, as in not giving to God' tlie glory both of tlie miracle and of his recovery, and thus leading those heathen ambassadors to know Him.