2 Kings 20:4

2Ki 20:4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

Ver. 4. Before Isaiah was gone out into the middle court.] So the Chetib. Or, Into the middle of the city; so the Cheri, or margin, hath it. It is probable that the king’s court was like a city. The Turk’s seraglio or palace is in circuit more than two miles. Before Isaiah was gone out into the court within the porch, {1Ki 7:8} he was sent again with this countermand. Oh, the power of prayer!

“ Flectitur iratus voce rogante Deus. ”

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 20:4-5. Afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court — Namely, of the king’s palace. This is mentioned to show God’s great readiness to hear the prayers of his children. Thus saith the God of thy father David —

I am mindful of my promise made to David and his house, and will make it good in thy person. I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears — Prayer addressed to God with fervency and affection, is in a special manner pleasing to him; and when offered in faith, and for things which he, in his word, hath encouraged or authorized us to ask, shall be heard and answered. I will heal thee — Diseases are God’s servants; as they go where he sends them, so they come when he remands them, Mat 8:8-9. On the third day thou shalt go up to the house of the Lord — To give him solemn praise for his mercy. That he was able to go up so soon as the third day, showed the cure to be miraculous.

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

afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court--of the royal castle.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. Into the middle court] הצר hatstser, the court. This is the reading of the Masoretic Keri: העיר haair, "of the city," is the reading of the text, and of most MSS.; but the versions follow the Keri.

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

(4) Into the middle court.—This is the reading of some Heb. MSS., and of all the versions. The Hebrew text (city; see margin) is wrong. Before Isaiah had left the precincts of the palace, he was bidden to return. (Keil says that here, as in 2Ki_10:25, the word rendered “city” denotes “castle,” i.e., the royal residence.)

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

4. into the middle court] R.V. middle part of the city. The variation is due to a difference of reading, the R.V. translating, as is nearly always the case, the Kethib. The LXX. and most of the versions render the Keri, which the A.V. follows. The Kethib has הציר, the Keri substitutes חצר, which latter is the word for the ‘court’ of the palace in the description of Solomon’s buildings (1Ki_7:8). But the city of Jerusalem was built on two hills, the western of which was more than a hundred feet higher than the eastern. The expression in the text would apply exactly to the portion lying between these two, and there seems to be no reason for accepting the Keri. It probably has sprung from a desire to represent God as hearing prayer so readily that a favourable answer was given before the prophet was beyond the precincts of the palace.

A description of the city will be found in Josephus, B. J. v. 4, 1, seqq. where the three parts of Jerusalem are noticed, the upper city (ἡ ἄνω πόλις) being Zion, the lower (ἡ κάτω πόλις) Akra. Isaiah had, according to the Kethib, gone into the portion between these two.

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.

Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people,.... The king of them, as the Targum:

thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; See Gill on Isa 38:5.

behold, I will heal thee; instantly, miraculously; and none but God could heal him, his disease being in its kind mortal, and he had been told from the Lord that he should die:

on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord: the temple, to give thanks for his recovery; and this he should do on the third day from thence; so soon should he be well, which would show the cure to be miraculous.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The middle court - i. e., of the royal palace. This is preferable to the marginal reading.

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

Court. Hebrew her, "city:" but in the margin, (Calmet) etsor. Septuagint Greek aule, "hall," or court, is retained, and followed by the Chaldean. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "the middle court." (Haydock)

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).

Into the middle court, to wit, of the king’s palace; of which See Poole "1Ki 7:8". Or, into the middle city, as it is in the Hebrew. For some observe that there were three cities, or three parts of this city; one called the city of David in Zion; another called Jebus, or Salem; and a third, which was betwixt these two parts, and united them all into one city, called Jerusalem. This is noted to show God’s great readiness to hear the sincere and fervent prayers of his children.

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

4. The middle court — So the Keri and the ancient versions; but the Kethib seems to be the more ancient reading, the middle of the city, that is, the central part of Jerusalem. So this word of the Lord came to him soon after he had left the king’s presence.

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

And it same to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court. The narrative in Isa_38:4 does not contain this touch,which is very graphic, and indicative of the eye-witness. "The middle court" is probably the second or intermediate court of the royal palace. Isaiah had not gone further than this, when he was arrested in his course by a Divine communication. That the word of the Lord came to him, saying. How the word of the Lord came to the prophets is an inscrutable mystery. Sometimes, no doubt, it came in vision, which to a certain extent we can understand. But how, when the prophet was secularly engaged, as in this instance, walking across a court, he knew that the thought which occurred to him was a Divine message, it is almost impossible to conceive. Still, we cannot doubt that if God determines to communicate his will to man, he must be able, with the message, to impart an absolute certainty of its source, an assured conviction that it is his word, which precludes all question, hesitation, or dubiety. Isaiah, in the middle of his walk, finds his steps arrested, anew injunction laid upon him, with a necessity of immediately obeying it.

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

Court - Of the king's palace. This is noted to shew God's great readiness to hear the prayers of his children.

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

the word of Yahweh came

"Word" represents the message Yahweh revealed to Isaiah. This is a common way of speaking, an idiom. AT: "Yahweh spoke his word" (See: Metonymy and Idiom)

I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears

The second part reinforces the first part to make one message by using parallelism. AT: "I have heard your prayers and seen your tears" (See: Parallelism)

on the third day

"two days from now" The day Isaiah said this was the first day, so "the third day" would be the same as "two days from now."

translationWords

court

word of God

turn

people of God

God

David

cure

house of God

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

Had not gone out of the … courtyard, etc. The Holy One, Blessed Is He, hurried to notify him about his cure before the rumor would spread in the city that he has been sentenced to death, as stated in [Talmud] Yerushalmi.

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.