2 Kings 20:18

2Ki 20:18 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.

Ver. 18. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee.] A heavy judgment on so good a man, on so light an offence, as some would think. But these spiritual lusts, as pride, carnal confidence, self-flattery, presumption, &c., in the saints, are great provocations, as lying more up in the heart of the country. Let us be wise by others’ woes; setting a memorandum on God’s punishments, and marking his spits with our stars.

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.

2Ki 20:18. And of thy sons, &c. — Thy grand-children, who are often called sons. They shall be eunuchs, &c. — They shall be servants to that heathen monarch, whereby both their bodies will be subject to slavery, and their souls exposed to the peril of idolatry, and all sorts of wickedness. This was a very sore judgment, and by it God would teach the world the great evil of sin; yea, even of those sins which are generally esteemed but small or venial.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20:18 Some of your very own sons will be taken: Hezekiah’s son Manasseh was taken as a prisoner to Babylon (2 Chr 33:11-13). This prophecy found ultimate fulfillment in Hezekiah’s descendants during the Babylonian deportations of 605 BC (see 2 Kgs 24:1 and corresponding study note; Dan 1:1-7), 597 BC (2 Kgs 24:10-12; 2 Chr 36:10), and 586 BC (2 Kgs 25:5-7; 2 Chr 36:20; Jer 39:1-7; 52:4-15).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. They shall be eunuchs] Perhaps this means no more than that they should become household servants to the kings of Babylon. See the fulfillment, 2Kg 24:13-15, and Da 1:1-3.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(18) Thy sons . . . beget—i.e., thy descendants. Comp, the fulfilment (Dan_1:3). Ewald refers to the captivity of Hezekiah’s own son Manasseh (2Ch_33:11).

Eunuchs.—Rather, courtiers, palace attendants (so Josephus). Cheyne, “chamberlains” (so Thenius: kämmerer).

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

18. thy sons … shall they take away] This came to pass in the case of Manasseh, Hezekiah’s own son (2Ch_33:11), who was carried as a prisoner to Babylon. That was, however, but the beginning of the sorrows to which this prophecy of Isaiah looked forward.

in the palace of the king of Babylon] Examples of Jews chosen for menial duties in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon are found in Dan_1:6.

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.

This prophecy had two fulfillments, each complementary to the other. Manasseh, Hezekiah’s actual son, was “carried to Babylon” 2Ch 33:11, but did not become a eunuch in the palace. Daniel and others, not his actual sons, but of the royal seed Dan 1:3, and therefore Hezekiah’s descendants, are thought by some to have literally fulfilled the latter part of the prophecy, being eunuchs in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar.

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

Eunuchs; servants, Daniel i. 3. We only read of Manasses, who was taken to Babylon. (Calmet) --- But he might have many brothers, who might be reduced to a menial condition; (Salien) as the text seems to refer to the immediate sons of Ezechias. (Haydock) --- It may, however, be explained of his descendants. (Menochius) (Chap. xxiv. 12.)

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 thou shalt beget, i.e. of thy grandchildren, who are oft called sons. They shall be servants to that heathen monarch, whereby both their bodies will be subject to slavery, and the lusts of their lords, and their souls exposed to the peril of idolatry, and all sorts of wickedness; which must needs be very grievous to so good a man as Hezekiah, and was indeed a very sore judgment; whereby God would teach the world the great evil of sin, yea, even of those sins which are generally esteemed but small and venial; for such were those sins of Hezekiah, noted upon 2Ki 20:17.

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

18. Thy sons — Thy descendants. For the fulfilment of this prophecy, see 2Ki_24:11-16; 2Ki_25:1-21.

They shall be eunuchs — They shall serve the king of Babylon in all those offices in which eunuchs were accustomed to serve. The word need not be pressed in its most literal sense to signify that all the Jewish captives who thus served would be castrated, for many would serve, like Daniel and his companions, (Dan_1:3-7,) who were not eunuchs in the stricter sense.

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

And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget. Under "sons" are included by the Hebrew idiom all descendants, however remote (Pusey"s "Lectures on Daniel," pp. 406-409). The princes carried off from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar were Hezekiah"s descendants, either in the fourth or the fifth generation. Shall they take away. Among the descendants of Hezekiah taken to Babyon by Nebuchadnezzar were Jehoiachin (2Ki_24:15) Zedekiah, (2Ki_25:7) Daniel, (Dan_1:3) and others. And they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon. Keil and Bahr translate in this place by "chamberlains" or "footmen;" but there is no reason why the word should not have its ordinary sense of "eunuchs". (see the Septuagint esontai eujnoucoi, and for the fulfillment, comp. Dan_1:3-18)

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

Thy sons - Of thy grand-children. Eunuchs - They shall be servants to that heathen monarch, whereby both their bodies will be subject to slavery, and their souls exposed to the peril of idolatry, and all sorts of wickedness.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

they shall

Fulfilled. Dan 1:3.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And some of your sons. Chananyoh, Mishoeil, and Azaryoh.

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.