hezekiah

2 definitions found

hezekiah - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Hezekiah
      n 1: (Old Testament) king of Judah who abolished idolatry
           (715-687 BC) [syn: Hezekiah, Ezekias]

hezekiah - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary :

  Hezekiah
  whom Jehovah has strengthened. (1.) Son of Ahaz (2 Kings 18:1; 2
  Chr. 29:1), whom he succeeded on the throne of the kingdom of
  Judah. He reigned twenty-nine years (B.C. 726-697). The history
  of this king is contained in 2 Kings 18:20, Isa. 36-39, and 2
  Chr. 29-32. He is spoken of as a great and good king. In public
  life he followed the example of his great-granfather Uzziah. He
  set himself to abolish idolatry from his kingdom, and among
  other things which he did for this end, he destroyed the "brazen
  serpent," which had been removed to Jerusalem, and had become an
  object of idolatrous worship (Num. 21:9). A great reformation
  was wrought in the kingdom of Judah in his day (2 Kings 18:4; 2
  Chr. 29:3-36).
  
    On the death of Sargon and the accession of his son
  Sennacherib to the throne of Assyria, Hezekiah refused to pay
  the tribute which his father had paid, and "rebelled against the
  king of Assyria, and served him not," but entered into a league
  with Egypt (Isa. 30; 31; 36:6-9). This led to the invasion of
  Judah by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:13-16), who took forty cities,
  and besieged Jerusalem with mounds. Hezekiah yielded to the
  demands of the Assyrian king, and agreed to pay him three
  hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold (18:14).
  
    But Sennacherib dealt treacherously with Hezekiah (Isa. 33:1),
  and a second time within two years invaded his kingdom (2 Kings
  18:17; 2 Chr. 32:9; Isa. 36). This invasion issued in the
  destruction of Sennacherib's army. Hezekiah prayed to God, and
  "that night the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the
  camp of the Assyrians 185,000 men." Sennacherib fled with the
  shattered remnant of his forces to Nineveh, where, seventeen
  years after, he was assassinated by his sons Adrammelech and
  Sharezer (2 Kings 19:37). (See SENNACHERIB.)
  
    The narrative of Hezekiah's sickness and miraculous recovery
  is found in 2 Kings 20:1, 2 Chr. 32:24, Isa. 38:1. Various
  ambassadors came to congratulate him on his recovery, and among
  them Merodach-baladan, the viceroy of Babylon (2 Chr. 32:23; 2
  Kings 20:12). He closed his days in peace and prosperity, and
  was succeeded by his son Manasseh. He was buried in the
  "chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David" (2 Chr.
  32:27-33). He had "after him none like him among all the kings
  of Judah, nor any that were before him" (2 Kings 18:5). (See ISAIAH.)