Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 18
Hezekiah was the king of Judah for 29 years. In the middle of that period of time, several important events happened, all in the same year. These events are the subject of the rest of chapters 18, 19 and 20. A similar account of the same events, with some extra information, is in Isaiah chapters 36 to 39. There is also an account of these events in 2 Chronicles chapter 32. The events were: the attack by Assyria’s army, Hezekiah’s illness, and the visit by Babylon’s officials.
Assyria’s army had destroyed northern and central Israel after its king had refused to pay taxes to Assyria. Hezekiah, too, had refused to pay taxes to Assyria. However, another 8 years passed before Assyria tried to destroy Judah.
In both of these wars, Assyria’s army seemed to follow the same plan. It did not attack the capital city until it had defeated all the other cities. Israel’s and Judah’s cities all had strong walls that surrounded the city for its defence. However, Assyria’s army did not even need to fight for most of those cities. Instead, its commander came first with a strong group of soldiers to warn the people. If the inhabitants handed over the city to Assyria’s army, they would not need to fight. However, if they did not, Assyria’s army would surround their city. That army would not allow anyone to enter or to leave the city until its inhabitants starved.
It seems that the inhabitants of most of the cities simply accepted defeat. However, the inhabitants of Lachish (2 Chronicles 32:9) and Libnah (19:8) were bolder, and they chose to fight. They were close to the border with Philistia and they had often fought against enemy armies. The effect of their actions was to delay the approach of Assyria’s army to Jerusalem.
Next part: The king of Assyria takes advantage of Hezekiah's weakness (2 Kings 18:14-16)
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