2 Kings 18:15, commentary and pictures

Hezekiah gave Sennacherib all the silver found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house as tribute to purchase peace and secure a treaty. To meet the demand of thirty talents of gold and three hundred talents of silver he also stripped the gold from the temple doors and pillars, an amount compatible with Sennacherib's claim of eight hundred talents because the accounts reckon silver talents of differing value. The payment was made during the invasion of Judah in 701 B.C. while Sennacherib was besieging Lachish, and it did not pacify the invaders but was treated as weakness, so that he then demanded the surrender of Jerusalem. The giving depleted and robbed the temple Hezekiah had purified and restored, and the account is confirmed by contemporary Assyrian records, especially Sennacherib's cylinder and palace inscriptions describing the campaign, the siege of Lachish, and the tribute carried to Nineveh. The verse belongs to the story showing that Jerusalem's deliverance came through God's miraculous power and not human strength, giving the pattern of spreading threatening troubles before the Lord in prayer, while Hezekiah's mistake in exalting man turned reminders of salvation into human pride and brought captivity upon his own seed.

Tribute Payment and Setting

Hezekiah gave Sennacherib as tribute all the silver found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house. The silver came from the Lord's temple and the royal treasury and royal treasuries, surrendered to the Assyrian king during his invasion of Judah. The Assyrian record agrees that he took silver from Hezekiah and brought it to Nineveh and imposed tribute besides, confirming the biblical account of the invasion.

He was compelled to hand over the temple's wealth to purchase peace and to secure a treaty with the Assyrians. To meet the demand he also stripped gold from the temple doors and pillars and gave it to the Assyrian king. The imposed tribute was thirty talents of gold and three hundred talents of silver, taken from Jerusalem's temple and royal treasuries in the Assyrian campaign against Judah. The biblical silver amount is compatible with Sennacherib's claim to have received eight hundred talents, because the accounts use different kinds of silver talent whose values differed.

The payment was made during Sennacherib's invasion of Judah in 701 B.C., while he was besieging Lachish. It did not pacify the invaders but was treated as a sign of weakness. Sennacherib was not satisfied by it but then demanded Jerusalem's surrender.

The giving depleted the temple's wealth and robbed the temple of its treasures. This was done even though Hezekiah had purified the temple and restored its worship, and after he had repaired losses caused by earlier kings. The verse falls within the history of Judah after the ten tribes had been swept away. It stands in the closing record of Kings running from the breaking up of Samaria in the seventeenth chapter to the Babylonian captivity of Judah, covering eight chapters and the reigns of Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah.

Confirmation, Deliverance and Warning

The invasion surrounding the payment is confirmed by contemporary records outside the Bible, above all by Sennacherib's cylinder. The Assyrian inscriptions give a supplementary account resembling the biblical record, likewise telling that he exacted tribute from Hezekiah and carried silver to Nineveh. That outside account describes the campaign against the western cities and imposes additional tribute upon Hezekiah, and palace records depict the siege of Lachish and the receipt of spoils.

The payment belongs to the story of Hezekiah facing a powerful enemy army, which shows that God is a friend to His people when they are in trouble and delivers those who trust Him. Despite danger and the people's fear, Hezekiah trusted in the God of Israel and was victorious. Jerusalem's eventual deliverance came through God's miraculous power, not human strength.

Hezekiah's spreading of the threatening letter before the Lord and his prayer in 2 Kings 19:15-19 gives the pattern for spreading letters and troubles before God in prayer. The story teaches children faith and self-denial and how to trust God now so they will not be overwhelmed in the coming time of trouble.

Hezekiah stands with Josiah as one of the two good kings in the closing record of Kings, devoted men of God notwithstanding their mistakes. His mistake exalted man, and the reminders of salvation were wrongly turned into grounds for human pride. That pride aroused the cupidity of Babylon and brought captivity upon his own seed.

The history contrasts Sennacherib, who lifted his hand against God's plans and precepts and set himself against the Rock of the word, with Hezekiah, who held the light he had as ruling in his soul. Sennacherib is dead while the Rock stands, whereas Hezekiah was made mighty in God as a witness to the power and efficacy of the Book. Jerusalem's status as the city of the Great King did not prevent evil from coming, and Jerusalem would be destroyed and Israel taken captive.