Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 2 Kings
Chapter 20: I Have Heard Thy Prayer, I Have Seen Thy Tears
Sick unto death, Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and prays, and God adds fifteen years to his life, turning back the very shadow of the sun as a sign. Yet the good king's later years hold a warning: when Babylon's envoys come flattering, Hezekiah proudly displays all his treasures, and Isaiah foretells that all of it, and his sons, will one day be carried to Babylon.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 2 Kings chapter 20. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Hezekiah's Sickness and Healing (2 Kings 20:1-11)
Told he will die, Hezekiah prays, and God grants fifteen more years with the sign of the returning shadow.
I Have Heard Thy Prayer, I Have Seen Thy Tears
"In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day? And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz."
Word Study
"I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears," the tender attentiveness of God. Hezekiah is told plainly, "thou shalt die, and not live." His response is the response of faith: "he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD... and Hezekiah wept sore." He took his desperate need straight to God. His appeal to how he had "walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart" is not self-righteous boasting but the plea of a sincere covenant relationship (his heart was whole toward God, though not sinless). And God's answer is swift and moving: before Isaiah had even left the middle court, God sent him back with the word, "I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee." What tenderness, God not only hears our words but sees our tears; "thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle" (Psalm 56:8). God grants fifteen more years and, remarkably, changes what He had just declared, showing that prayer truly moves the heart of God within His sovereign purposes. He even gives a staggering sign: at Hezekiah's request the shadow on "the dial of Ahaz" goes back ten degrees, the God who made the sun bends its very shadow backward to confirm His word. Note too the means: Isaiah applies "a lump of figs" to the boil. God, who could heal by a word, uses an ordinary remedy alongside the miracle, teaching that His healing and our means are not opposed; He often works through ordinary things. The whole scene displays a God who hears prayer, sees tears, answers tenderly, and commands even the sun to seal His promise.
Explanation
Hezekiah fell mortally ill, and Isaiah told him from God to prepare to die. Hezekiah turned to the wall, prayed earnestly, and wept, appealing to his faithful walk before God. Before Isaiah had even left the palace, God sent him back with a new word: He had heard the prayer and seen the tears, and would heal Hezekiah, adding fifteen years to his life and promising again to defend Jerusalem from Assyria. Isaiah prescribed a poultice of figs for the boil, and Hezekiah recovered. When Hezekiah asked for a sign, God offered to move the shadow on the sundial forward or back; Hezekiah asked for the harder sign, that it go backward ten degrees, and God did it, turning back the shadow to confirm His promise.
Gospel Focus
"I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears." Here is the tender heart of God toward His praying people. He is not distant or indifferent; He hears our words and sees our tears, and He is moved. "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart" (Psalm 34:18); "he will regard the prayer of the destitute" (Psalm 102:17). When you are sick unto death, turn your face to the wall and pray; God hears, and no tear falls unnoticed. The healing of Hezekiah teaches that prayer moves the hand of God, and yet always within His wisdom, for the fifteen years given would prove a mixed blessing (in them Manasseh was born, and Hezekiah's pride emerged). We may ask boldly, and leave the outcome to His wisdom. And what a God, who turns back the very shadow of the sun to seal His word! The Creator bends His creation to confirm His promise; if He commands the sun, He can surely keep His word to you. Above all, the "third day" on which Hezekiah would go up to the house of the LORD whispers of a greater healing and rising, for on the third day the true Son of David rose from death, conquering the grave for all who trust Him. The God who heard Hezekiah's tears has, in Christ, dealt with death itself; bring your every need to the God who hears and sees.
The Babylonian Envoys (2 Kings 20:12-19)
Flattered by Babylon's envoys, Hezekiah shows them all his treasures, and Isaiah foretells exile.
All That Is in Thine House Shall Be Carried Into Babylon
"At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD. Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?"
Word Study
"there was nothing... that Hezekiah shewed them not," the exposure of a proud heart. When Babylon's king sent envoys, ostensibly to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery (and, no doubt, to sound out an ally against Assyria), Hezekiah "shewed them all the house of his precious things... there was nothing... that Hezekiah shewed them not." Second Chronicles gives the diagnosis: "his heart was lifted up" (2 Chronicles 32:25), and in the matter of the envoys "God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart" (2 Chronicles 32:31). The great and humble king who had spread Sennacherib's letter before the LORD now spreads his own treasures before Babylon, glorying in his wealth rather than in his God, seeking the admiration of a pagan power. It was a lapse of pride and misplaced trust, showing off to the very nation that would one day carry it all away. Isaiah's response is a solemn prophecy: "all that is in thine house... shall be carried into Babylon; nothing shall be left," and Hezekiah's own descendants would be eunuchs in Babylon's palace, the first clear announcement of the Babylonian exile, still over a century away. Most troubling is Hezekiah's reply: "Good is the word of the LORD... Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?" He submits to God's word, which is good, but there is a note of complacency, relief that judgment will not fall in his lifetime, with little concern for the generations after. Even a good man's pride has consequences that reach beyond himself, and a heart content that trouble comes only "after me" is not the heart of true love. The chapter warns that prosperity and success are as dangerous to the soul as adversity, and pride can undo in an hour what humility built over years.
Explanation
The king of Babylon sent envoys with letters and a gift, congratulating Hezekiah on his recovery. Flattered, Hezekiah showed them everything, all his silver, gold, spices, precious oil, armory, and treasures, holding nothing back. Isaiah came and asked what the men had seen; on hearing that Hezekiah had displayed everything to the Babylonians, he pronounced God's word: the day would come when all these treasures, and Hezekiah's own descendants, would be carried off to Babylon. Hezekiah accepted the word as good, but added, with a hint of complacency, that at least there would be peace in his own days. His prideful display had opened the door, in prophecy, to the future Babylonian exile.
Gospel Focus
Hezekiah's stumble is a sober lesson that prosperity can be more dangerous to the soul than adversity. The king who humbly spread Sennacherib's threatening letter before the LORD now proudly spreads his own treasures before Babylon; the man who trusted God in the crisis glories in his wealth in the calm. "His heart was lifted up," and Scripture says God "left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart." Success is a testing as real as trouble, and often we pass the test of adversity only to fail the test of ease. "Lest when thou hast eaten and art full... then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God" (Deuteronomy 8:12-14). We must guard our hearts most carefully in the day of blessing. And beware the seed of Hezekiah's complacency: content that judgment would not fall "in my days," with little care for those who came after. True love and faithfulness look beyond ourselves to the generations to follow; the godly lay up a heritage for their children, not merely peace for themselves. Yet even here, note the grace: judgment was delayed, and God's patience gave Judah more than a century of space. Do not let prosperity lift up your heart; hold your blessings humbly, glory in God and not in your treasures, and live for the good of those who will come after you.
The Death of Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:20-21)
Hezekiah's works are noted, and he sleeps with his fathers.
He Made a Pool, and a Conduit
"And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead."
Word Study
"how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city." The account of Hezekiah, one of Judah's greatest kings, closes with a note of his practical works, chiefly the famous water conduit (Hezekiah's Tunnel, cut through solid rock to bring the waters of the Gihon spring inside the walls of Jerusalem, prepared for the Assyrian siege). It remains one of the great engineering feats of the ancient world, a monument to a king who combined faith with prudent action; he trusted God and also dug the tunnel. Faith and diligent work are not opposed. Yet the closing line casts a long shadow: "Manasseh his son reigned in his stead." Manasseh, born (it seems) during those added fifteen years, would become the most wicked king in Judah's history, undoing much of his father's reform and filling Jerusalem with idolatry and blood (chapter 21). Here is a poignant thread: the fifteen years Hezekiah so earnestly prayed for gave the nation its worst king. This is not to say the prayer was wrong, but it is a humbling reminder that we do not always know what we ask, and that God's "no" or "not yet" may be as merciful as His "yes." We see in part; God sees the whole. Hezekiah "slept with his fathers," a great and mostly faithful king whose legacy was both a godly reformation and, through his own added years, a wicked son, and only God's overarching providence would carry the covenant safely on through even Manasseh to Christ. The best of men leave a mixed legacy; only the true Son of David leaves an unbroken good.
Explanation
The reign of Hezekiah closes with mention of his notable achievements, especially his construction of a pool and tunnel to bring water into Jerusalem (the celebrated Siloam tunnel). He died and was succeeded by his son Manasseh, who would prove Judah's most wicked king. The bare succession note carries a sobering irony, for Manasseh was likely born during the extra fifteen years Hezekiah had prayed for, a reminder that the answers we seek do not always bring the outcomes we expect. So ended the life of one of Judah's greatest and most faithful kings.
Gospel Focus
Hezekiah's tunnel shows a man who joined faith with diligent action, trusting God and also making wise preparation, a good pattern for us: "commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established" (Proverbs 16:3). But the closing note, "Manasseh his son reigned in his stead," carries a deep and humbling lesson. The fifteen years Hezekiah so fervently begged for gave Judah its most wicked king, born in those very years. This does not condemn his prayer, but it reminds us that we do not always know what is best to ask, and that God's wisdom far exceeds ours. "We know not what we should pray for as we ought" (Romans 8:26); therefore we must always pray, as our Lord taught, "not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). What we plead for as a blessing may carry consequences we cannot foresee; better to trust the Father's wisdom than to insist on our own way. And the mixed legacy of even a great king, a godly reign followed by a wicked son, points us beyond every human ruler to the one King whose legacy is wholly good and whose reign never fails. Trust God with your prayers and your children alike; He alone sees the end from the beginning, and His covenant purpose in Christ carries on through every generation, even the darkest.
Chapter in Review
Second Kings 20 shows both the tender mercy of God and the peril of prosperity in the life of good King Hezekiah. Sick unto death, he turns his face to the wall and prays, and God, who heard his prayer and saw his tears, adds fifteen years to his life and turns back the very shadow of the sun as a sign. But the added years bring a test Hezekiah fails: flattered by Babylon's envoys, his heart lifted up, he displays all his treasures, and Isaiah foretells that all of it, and his descendants, will one day be carried to Babylon. Hezekiah submits to the word, though with a shade of complacency that it will not fall in his days. His reign closes with the note of his great water tunnel, and the ominous succession of his son Manasseh, born in the added years, who would be Judah's worst king. The chapter teaches that God hears prayer and sees tears, that prosperity tests the heart as truly as adversity, and that we must trust God's wisdom even in what we ask.
Key Takeaways
- God hears prayer and sees tears. "I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears"; no cry of His people goes unnoticed.
- God can seal His word by turning back the sun. The Creator bends His creation to confirm His promise; He will keep His word to you.
- Prosperity tests the heart as truly as adversity. Hezekiah trusted God in crisis but grew proud in ease; guard your heart in the day of blessing.
- Look beyond your own days. Beware the complacency content with "peace in my days"; live for the generations to come.
- We do not always know what to ask. The fifteen years gave Judah its worst king; trust God's wisdom, and pray "thy will be done."
Questions for Reflection
- Do you take your desperate needs, and your tears, to the God who hears and sees?
- Are you as watchful over your heart in prosperity as in trouble?
- Where might pride be tempting you to glory in your "treasures" rather than in God?
- Do your concerns reach beyond your own days to the good of those who come after you?
- Can you trust God's wisdom enough to pray "not my will, but thine, be done"?
References
- Scripture: 2 Kings 20:1-21, King James Version.
- Cross-references: Deuteronomy 8:11-14; 2 Chronicles 32:24-31; Isaiah 38-39; Psalm 34:18; 56:8; 102:17; Proverbs 16:3; Romans 8:26; Luke 22:42.
- Hebrew word meanings: standard lexical sources (Strong's, BDB) for the terms of Hezekiah's prayer and sign; historical background of the dial of Ahaz, Berodach-baladan of Babylon, and Hezekiah's tunnel.