2 Kings 20:5

2Ki 20:5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.

Ver. 5. The captain of my people,] Antecessor. See on 1Sa 9:16.

The God of David.] To whom I promised a continued succession on the throne of Judah; and will therefore lengthen thy life, and give thee a son.

To the house of the Lord.] Hezekiah’s both duty and disposition, as a right son of David, whose song was, "I shall yet praise him in his holy temple, who is the health of my countenance, and my God."

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.

20:5 Hezekiah’s commitment to the Lord compared favorably with that of his ancestor David (18:3). Just as God had heard David’s prayers (Pss 6:8-9; 28:6-7; 31:22; 40:1-2), he would answer Hezekiah’s plea.

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

Because of his unfained repentance and prayer, God turned away his wrath.

To give thanks for thy deliverance.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Thus saith . . . the God of David thy father--An immediate answer was given to his prayer, containing an assurance that the Lord was mindful of His promise to David and would accomplish it in Hezekiah's experience, both by the prolongation of his life, and his deliverance from the Assyrians.

on the third day--The perfect recovery from a dangerous sickness, within so short a time, shows the miraculous character of the cure (see his thanksgiving song, Isa 38:9). The disease cannot be ascertained; but the text gives no hint that the plague was raging then in Jerusalem; and although Arab physicians apply a cataplasm of figs to plague-boils, they also do so in other cases, as figs are considered useful in ripening and soothing inflammatory ulcers.

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

(5) The captain of my people.—Or, ruler (nâgîd); a designation of honour (1Ki_1:35; 1Sa_10:1). This is wanting in Isaiah 38, as well as the end of the verse “I will heal thee,” &c. That narrative looks like an abbreviated transcript of the present, or of a common original.

On the third day.—Comp. Hos_6:2. Here, however, there is no ground for understanding the expression other than literally. The precise nature of Hezekiah’s malady cannot be ascertained.

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

5. tell [R.V. say to] Hezekiah the captain [R.V. prince] of my people] The first of these changes is in conformity with Isaiah. The latter clause ‘the captain &c.’ is not in the parallel place in Isaiah, where, in this portion of the narrative, the whole record is much briefer.

The name ‘prince’ (Heb. nagid) is that which was applied by Jehovah Himself to the first elected king of Israel (1Sa_9:16), Saul.

behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord] These words are not found in Isaiah. But there is given there the thanksgiving of Hezekiah which expresses the feelings with which the king would go up to the temple to acknowledge the goodness which had spared his life. It is called ‘the writing of Hezekiah when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness’ (Isa_38:9), and is a sort of psalm of thanksgiving.

Though the promise of God ‘thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord’ is omitted in Isaiah we yet see from the concluding words of Isaiah 38. that the thought of it was in the writer’s mind, for he tells us ‘Hezekiah had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?’

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.

And I will add unto thy days fifteen years,.... See Gill on Isa 38:5.

and I will deliver thee, and this city, out of the hand of the king of Assyria; by which it appears that this sickness and recovery were before the destruction of the Assyrian army:

and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake: for the sake of his honour and glory in the temple, and the service of it, that were in Jerusalem, and for the sake of his promise to David and his seed.

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

The captain of my people - This phrase (which does not occur elsewhere in Kings) is remarkable, and speaks for the authenticity of this full report of the actual words of the prophet’s message (abbreviated in Isa 38:1, etc.). The title, “Captain נגיד nāgı̂yd of God’s people,” commonly used of David, is applied to Hezekiah, as David’s true follower 2Ki 18:3.

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

Day, dating from the time when Isaias spoke. (Tostat) --- This shewed that the cure was miraculous, and not effected by natural remedies only. (Tirinus)

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).

The God of David thy father; I am mindful of my promise made to David and his house, and will make it good in thy person.

On the third day; which shows that the cure was miraculous.

Thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord, to give me solemn praise for this mercy; which proves the perfection of the cure.

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

5. I will heal thee — This change from the former announcement, that he should not live, (2Ki_20:1,) shows that that announcement was not irrevocable but conditional.

On the third day thou shalt go up — This would be to the king a pledge and token of Divine interposition, and place beyond doubt the miraculous character of his cure.

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

Turn again or, turn back thy steps, and enter once more into the bedchamber of the kingand tell Hezekiah the captain of my people. An unusual title for the Jewish monarch, but one applied in 1Sa_9:16 and 10:1 to Saul, and in 1Sa_13:14 2Sa_5:2 to David. The proper meaning of dygin; is "leader who goes in front." Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father Hezekiah obtains mercy, both as David"s son and as David"s imitator (see 2Ki_18:3) I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears. (comp. Exo_2:24 Exo_3:7; Psa_56:8) There is not a cry, not a groan, not a tear, not a sigh of his faithful ones, to which the heart of God is not open, which does not touch him, move him, draw forth his sympathy. If he does not always grant our prayers, it is because we "ask amiss without faith, or without fervor, or things not good for us. Hezekiah"s earnest, faithful, and not unwise prayer was, as such prayers always are, effectual. Behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord; i.e. thou shalt be so completely recovered as to be able to quit thy palace and pay thy vows in the courts of the Lord"s house. God knows that to do this will be Hezekiah"s first wish, as soon as his sickness is past. (comp. Isa_38:20)

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

God of, &c. - I am mindful of my promise made to David and his house, and will make it good in thy person. Shalt go - To give me solemn praise for this mercy.

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