And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
And Hezekiah's reign in Judah ended, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place. The verse closes the account of his reign after his sickness and prayer and healing, and after his miraculous recovery with lengthened life. Hezekiah was a good king with remarkable experiences, while Manasseh who succeeded him was wicked, one of the most wicked kings the nation ever had.
It stands within the history of 2 Kings 7-23 covering nearly 300 years. In Israel that history runs from Joram through Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, Zachariah and Shallum ending Jehu's dynasty, then Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah and Hoshea when Shalmaneser of Assyria invaded and Sargon completed the conquest and the tribes were carried away into captivity and scattered. In Judah it runs through Ahaziah, Athaliah, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah or Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah and Jehoahaz, in the time of Elisha's about sixty years' ministry ending with his death under Jehoash in 796 B.C. and of the prophets Hosea, Jonah and Amos, and in Judah of Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Nahum. It falls within the history of Judah's remaining kingdom after the ten tribes had been swept away, and this history continues through the Babylonian Captivity. It illustrates Judah's spotted record in which the kingdom always prospered under righteous faithful rulers, yet after such prosperity rulers turned from God to the grossest idolatry bringing calamity upon themselves and their people.
Manasseh was born after Hezekiah's mistake involving the Babylonian visitors, indeed three years after his recovery. Hezekiah made the mistake of showing those Babylonian visitors his wealth instead of telling them about God's grace, missing the opportunity to share that message. This brought Babylon's attention to Judah, so that his descendants would later carry that message in captivity. The lengthening of his life was not used altogether as it should have been. Yet God showed mercy to Manasseh despite his wickedness.
The verse describes Hezekiah's death as sleeping with his fathers, presenting death as sleep, a quiet unconscious rest in the grave without thought or awareness rather than wakefulness. Sleep is the most common Bible term for the condition of man in death, meaning complete lack of consciousness and knowledge, like profound slumber in which a person thinks nothing, remembers nothing, feels no pain, trouble, or anxiety, and knows nothing of what happens on earth. Hezekiah died and entered that unconscious sleep of death, with no distinct immortal soul or deathless spirit surviving him. The dead rest quietly in this sleep and shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep till the heavens be no more, when all are raised and judged together.
And Hezekiah's reign in Judah ended, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place. The verse closes the account of his reign after his sickness and prayer and healing, and after his miraculous recovery with lengthened life. Hezekiah was a good king with remarkable experiences, while Manasseh who succeeded him was wicked, one of the most wicked kings the nation ever had.
It stands within the history of 2 Kings 7-23 covering nearly 300 years. In Israel that history runs from Joram through Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, Zachariah and Shallum ending Jehu's dynasty, then Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah and Hoshea when Shalmaneser of Assyria invaded and Sargon completed the conquest and the tribes were carried away into captivity and scattered. In Judah it runs through Ahaziah, Athaliah, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah or Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah and Jehoahaz, in the time of Elisha's about sixty years' ministry ending with his death under Jehoash in 796 B.C. and of the prophets Hosea, Jonah and Amos, and in Judah of Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Nahum. It falls within the history of Judah's remaining kingdom after the ten tribes had been swept away, and this history continues through the Babylonian Captivity. It illustrates Judah's spotted record in which the kingdom always prospered under righteous faithful rulers, yet after such prosperity rulers turned from God to the grossest idolatry bringing calamity upon themselves and their people.
Manasseh was born after Hezekiah's mistake involving the Babylonian visitors, indeed three years after his recovery. Hezekiah made the mistake of showing those Babylonian visitors his wealth instead of telling them about God's grace, missing the opportunity to share that message. This brought Babylon's attention to Judah, so that his descendants would later carry that message in captivity. The lengthening of his life was not used altogether as it should have been. Yet God showed mercy to Manasseh despite his wickedness.
The verse describes Hezekiah's death as sleeping with his fathers, presenting death as sleep, a quiet unconscious rest in the grave without thought or awareness rather than wakefulness. Sleep is the most common Bible term for the condition of man in death, meaning complete lack of consciousness and knowledge, like profound slumber in which a person thinks nothing, remembers nothing, feels no pain, trouble, or anxiety, and knows nothing of what happens on earth. Hezekiah died and entered that unconscious sleep of death, with no distinct immortal soul or deathless spirit surviving him. The dead rest quietly in this sleep and shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep till the heavens be no more, when all are raised and judged together.