2 Kings 18:16

2Ki 18:16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off [the gold from] the doors of the temple of the LORD, and [from] the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Ver. 16. At that time did Hezekiah cut off.] If Ahaz, that church robber, had done this, it would better have become him. Hezekiah for doing it lost his cost. {2Ki 18:16}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(16) Cut off the gold from the doors.—Literally, trimmed, or stripped the doors (the word used in 2Ki_16:17 of the similar proceeding of Ahaz). The leaves of the doors of the sanctuary were overlaid with gold (1Ki_6:18; 1Ki_6:32; 1Ki_6:35). Hard necessity drove Hezekiah to strip off this gold, as well as that with which he had himself plated “the pillars” or rather the framework of the doors (literally, the supporters; others think that the door-posts only are meant by this term).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. cut off the gold from the doors of the temple] Plainly shewing that there was a great scarcity of gold at this time. Hezekiah was the last man to have stripped the temple doors if there had been any other way of raising what was demanded. He had been rejoiced at the purification and adornment of the temple, and must have been very hard driven ere he consented to undo the work which he had so lately done. Josephus adds to the history (Ant. x. 1. 1) a link which may explain the events which follow in the next section. He says that Sennacherib had promised the ambassadors of Hezekiah to depart on the payment of the impost, but that when he had received the money he paid no regard to what he had promised, but sent his officers to attack Jerusalem. In this way the Biblical record of verse 17 may be joined on to the statements in verse 16. The Chronicler takes no notice of the payment of tribute to Sennacherib, and gives only an account of the siege of Jerusalem and its non-success. And this he does with much more brevity than the compiler of Kings or the parallel record in Isaiah.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ahaz had already exhausted the treasuries 2Ki 16:8; Hezekiah was therefore compelled to undo his own work.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

On them. All must go to meet the exigencies of the state. (Grotius, Jur. ii. 5.) --- The doors of temples and palaces were frequently adorned with the most precious metals, as Homer describes the palace of Alcinous; (Odyssey; Haydock) and Tavernier (vii. 12.) speaks of some mosques in Persia, the doors of which are covered with plates of silver. See Josephus, Jewish Wars vi. 6.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid; so repairing the injury which his father had done to them, and putting them into the same condition in which Solomon left them, 1Ki 6:32.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. Cut off the gold from the doors — In the first year of his reign Hezekiah had repaired the doors of the temple, (2Ch_29:3,) but it is not said that he overlaid them with gold, which word our translators have here supplied without sufficient authority. He doubtless used various kinds of metal, gold among the rest; and this cutting it off again to give to the king of Assyria shows how difficult it was for him to raise the required amount.

It is interesting to find the above confirmed in the Assyrian annals by the following inscription of Sennacherib, discovered among the ruins of Nineveh: “Because Hezekiah, king of Judah, would not submit to my yoke, I came up against him, and by force of arms and by the might of my power, I took forty-six of his strong-fenced cities; and of the smaller towns which were scattered about I took and plundered a countless number. And from these places I captured and carried off as spoil two hundred thousand one hundred and fifty people, old and young, male and female, together with horses and mares, asses and camels, oxen and sheep, a countless multitude. And Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his capital city, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the city to hem him in, and raising banks of earth against the gates so as to prevent escape. Then upon this Hezekiah there fell the fear of the power of my arms, and he sent out to me the chiefs and the elders of Jerusalem with thirty talents of gold and eight hundred talents of silver, and divers treasures, a rich and immense booty. All these things were brought to me at Nineveh, the seat of my government, Hezekiah having sent them by way of tribute, and as a token of his submission to my power.” — RAWLINSON’S Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii, p. 161. The discrepancies, whether apparent or real, between the inscription and the biblical narrative are of little moment compared with the unquestionable confirmation hereby given to the historical veracity of the sacred writers. It will be noticed that the inscription tells with pompous gusto of the Assyrian successes and the spoil that was taken, but makes no record of the disasters which befell the army of Sennacherib. This was in perfect keeping with what we know of the pride and arrogance of all the Assyrian kings.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah King of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the King of Assyria. In the time of his great wealth and prosperity, Hezekiah, while engaged in restoring the temple, (2Ch_29:17-19) had adorned the pillars and doors of the sanctuary with a metal covering, which was probably gold, like Solomon"s. (1Ki_6:20-22, 1Ki_6:28, 1Ki_6:30, 1Ki_6:32) To make up the "thirty talents of gold" he was now obliged to undo his own work, and strip the doors and pillars bare. Sennacherib tells us that, besides the two large sums of gold and silver, Hezekiah sent him at this time "woven cloth, scarlet," embroidered; precious stones of large size; couches of ivory; movable thrones of ivory; skins of buffaloes; horns of buffaloes; and two kinds of woods" ("Records of the Past," vol. 1. p. 39, lines 34-37). It was customary to accompany the fixed tribute with the more precious products of each country.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

the king of Assyria mobilized his great army, sending Tartan and Rabsaris and the chief commander

Sennacherib sent a group of men from his army to Jerusalem to meet with King Hezekiah, including officials named Tartan and Rabsaris.

Tartan ... Rabsaris

Some Bibles translate these as proper names. Other versions of the Bible translate them as titles. AT: "the Tartan ... the Rabsaris" or "the leader of the soldier ... a court official" (See: How to Translate Names)

Lachish

This is the name of a city. (See: How to Translate Names)

the conduit of the upper pool

the channel where the water stored in the "upper pool" flows into the city of Jerusalem

stood by it

"and waited there for King Hezekiah to meet with them"

Eliakim ... Hilkiah ... Shebna ... Joah ... Asaph

These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

temple

Yahweh

column

Assyria

Jerusalem

call

Eliakim

Hilkiah

household

scribe

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Removed. The doors, which were gold [plated].

And the thresholds. [Targum] Yonoson rendered the סקופיא, [i.e.,] the thresholds.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.