2 Kings 18

Hezekiah becomes Judah’s king

In the third year of King Hoshea’s (Elah’s son) reign over Israel, King Hezekiah (Ahaz’s son) started to reign over Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he took the throne, and he reigned for twenty-nine years from Jerusalem. His mom was Abi (Zechariah’s daughter). He did what was right in the Existing One’s eyes just like his forefather David had done. He removed the shrines and knocked down the pillars and Asherah. He shattered the bronze serpent that Moses had made since the Israelites were making offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). He trusted in Israel’s God the Existing One so much that it was unmatched by all of Judah’s kings before him and after him. He held on to the Existing One tightly. He didn’t depart from following him, but kept the instructions the Existing One had given Moses. The Existing One was with him, prospering wherever he went. He rebelled against Assyria’s king and wouldn’t serve him. He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtowers to fortified cities.

Assyria conquers Israel, Israelites deported

In the fourth year of King Hezekiah’s reign (which was the seventh year of King Hoshea’s reign over Israel), Assyria’s King Shalmaneser attacked Samaria, and after three years of conflict he captured it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign (which was the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign over Israel) Samaria was captured. Assyria took the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, along the Habor River near Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. This took place because instead of obeying their God the Existing One’s voice, they stepped on his promise and everything that the Existing One’s servant, Moses commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

Assyria threatens to conquer Judah

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Assyria’s King Sennacherib attacked Judah’s fortified cities and captured all of them. Judah’s King Hezekiah messaged Assyria’s king at Lachish, saying,

“I haven’t done anything to you. Please withdraw your troops from me. I’ll do whatever you want.”

Assyria’s king requested over 11 tons of silver and 2,250 pounds of gold from Hezekiah, so Hezekiah gave him all the silver they had in the Existing One’s temple and king’s vault. He even stripped the gold from the doors on the Existing One’s temple and from the doorposts that had been overlaid. Then Assyria sent the Tartan (military commander in chief), the Rab-saris (chief of officers), and the Rabshakeh (chief of princes) and a large army from Lachish to Jerusalem. When they got there, they stood at the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer’s Field. When they called for the king, the people who came out to see them were the household overseer Eliakim (Hilkiah’s son), Shebnah (the secretary), and Asaph (the recorder).

Assyra mocks Judah, mocks God

The Rabshakeh told them to tell Hezekiah,

“Assyria’s mighty king wants to know what you place your trust in. Do you think that mere words are strategic and powerful enough for war? Who is it that you are trusting in now that you have rebelled against me? It seems like you’re trusting in Egypt, that broken twig of a staff, which will prick anyone’s hand who tries to lean on it. That’s what Egypt’s Pharaoh is to anyone who trusts in him. But if you say that you trust in the Existing One your God, isn’t he the one whose shrines and altars were removed? Didn’t Hezekiah tell Judah and Jerusalem to worship exclusively at the altar in Jerusalem? Come on, make a bet with my boss the king of Assyria: I’ll give you two thousand horses if you are able to fulfill your end and find enough riders for them. What makes you think you can insult even the lowest of my boss’s subordinates when you trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? On top of that, where is the Existing One now that I’ve come here to destroy this place?”

Then Eliakim (Hilkiah’s son), and Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh,

“Please speak to us, your subordinates, in Aramaic since that’s what we understand. Don’t speak in Judah’s language within earshot of the people who are on the wall.”

But the Rabshakeh replied,

“Do you think my boss sent me here to deliver this message to you and your boss, but not the people sitting on the wall over there? They’re just as doomed as you are to eat their own crap and drink their own piss!”

Then the Rabshakeh stood up and shouted as loud as he could in Judah’s language:

“Listen up! The mighty king of Assyria says:

‘Don’t let Hezekiah trick you, because he’s not gonna be able to save you from my hand. Don’t let Hezekiah convince you to trust in the Existing One when he tells you that the Existing One will save you and that this city won’t be handed over to Assyria.’

Don’t listen to Hezekiah, because Assyria’s king says:

‘Come to me peacefully. Then each one of you will have your own vine to eat from and your own cistern to drink from. I’ll come and take you away to a land like your own, a land full of grain, wine, bread, vineyards, olive trees, and honey so that you can live instead of die. And don’t listen to Hezekiah when he tries to mislead you by saying, that The Existing One will deliver you. Has any god ever been able to save his nation from the hand of Assyria’s king? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Were they able to save Samaria from me? Who else’s god could save their land from my conquest? What makes you think the Existing One should save Jerusalem from me?’”

But the people were silent and didn’t answer him one word, for the king ordered everyone not to reply to him. Then Eliakim (Hilkiah’s son) who oversaw the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah (Asaph’s son) the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him what the Rabshakeh had said.