2 Kings 20:6

2Ki 20:6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

Ver. 6. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years.] Thus God’s grant to Hezekiah’s prayer was not more speedy than bountiful. We are wont to reckon seven years for the life of a man, and now, behold, more than two lives hath God added to the age of Hezekiah. This also he did for him, notwithstanding those flaws in his prayer, those distrustful I said’s, {Isa 38:10-11, &c.} and albeit he foresaw that Hezekiah would "not render again according to the benefit done unto him." {2Ch 32:25}

And I will deliver thee and this city.] Thus God is better to his people than their prayers; he doth for them "exceeding abundantly above all that they ask or think." {Eph 3:20} Piscator here hence concludeth that Hezekiah began to be sick presently after the promise made of sending away the Assyrian out of the land. {2Ki 19:32}

And for my servant David’s sake,] i.e., For my promise’s sake made to David. See on 2Ki 20:5.

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.

The king of Assyria in 714 and 713 B.C. was Sargon (B.C. 721-705). If then the Biblical and Assyrian chronologies which agree exactly in the year of the taking of Samaria (721 B.C.), are to be depended on, the king of Assyria here must have been Sargon. It may be conjectured that he had taken offence at something in the conduct of Hezekiah, and have threatened Jerusalem about this time (compare Isa 20:6). There is, however, no evidence of actual hostilities between Judaea and Assyria in Sargon’s reign.

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

2Ki 20:6. I will add to thy days fifteen years — Beyond what thou dost now expect, and beyond the time thou wouldst live if I left thee to the force of thy disease. We have not an instance of any other who was told beforehand just how long he should live. God has wisely kept us at uncertainties, that we may be always ready.

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

20:6 When God added more years to Hezekiah’s life, he also promised to defend Jerusalem. When Hezekiah reacted to Sennacherib’s later invasion (19:14-19) by seeking counsel from Isaiah (19:2), he was following an established precedent. • for my own honor and for . . . David: God reminded Hezekiah of this promise during Sennacherib’s invasion (19:34).

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

Verse 6. I will add unto thy days fifteen years] This is the first and only man who was ever informed of the term of his life. And was this a privilege! Surely no. If Hezekiah was attached to life, as he appears to have been, how must his mind be affected to mark the sinking years! He knew he was to die at the end of fifteen years; and how must he feel at the end of every year, when he saw that so much was cut off from life? He must necessarily feel a thousand deaths in fearing one. I believe there would be nothing wanting to complete the misery of men, except the place of torment, were they informed of the precise time in which their lives must terminate. God, in his abundant mercy, has hidden this from their eyes.

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

(6) I will add unto thy days fifteen years.—In the Jewish reckoning fourteen years and a fraction of a year would count as fifteen years. With this very definite prediction comp. Isa_7:8; Isa_23:15; Jer_25:11-12.

And I will deliver thee . . .—So that the Assyrians had not yet retired from the West. For the rest of the verse see 2Ki_19:34.

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

6. fifteen years] See above on verse 1.

I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria] Some stress has been laid on these words as though they necessarily implied that Jerusalem was still besieged. The preposition rendered ‘out of’ is literally ‘from’, and if that be borne in mind there is no reason why the words should not refer to the continued protection which Hezekiah and his city enjoyed afterwards when Sennacherib had been driven away.

for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake] These words, which occur before in 2Ki_19:34, are not found in Isaiah 38.

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 Isaiah said, take a lump of figs,.... Not moist figs, but a cake of dried figs, as the word used signifies, and so the less likely to have any effect in curing the boil:

and they took, and laid it on the boil, and he recovered; made a plaster of it, and laid it on the ulcer, and it was healed. Physicians observe (u), that as such like inflammations consist in a painful extension of the fibres by the hinderance of the circulation of the blood, through the extreme little arteries, which may be mitigated, or dissipated, or ripened, by such things as are emollient and loosening, so consequently by figs; and, in a time of pestilence, figs beaten together with butter and treacle have been applied to plague of boils with great success; yet these figs being only a cake of dry figs, and, the boil not only malignant, but deadly, and the cure so suddenly performed, show that this was done not in a natural, but in a supernatural way, though means were directed to be made use of.

(u) Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 620. Vid. Levin. Lemnii Herb. Bibl. Explicat. c. 19. p. 60.

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

Assyrians. It is commonly supposed that this alludes to Sennacherib. But it might refer to his son, who was sending an army, Isaias xx. 1. We ought not to alter the scriptural order of the transactions, without cogent reasons.

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).

Fifteen years beyond what thou dost expect, and beyond what thou wouldst do if I should leave thee to the force of thy disease.

Out of the hand of the king of Assyria; this is added, either, first, Because he might otherwise fear the Assyrian’s return to this city, from which he was so shamefully repulsed. Or, secondly, Because this sickness happened before that great slaughter, 2Ki 19:35; of which See Poole "2Ki 20:1".

For mine own sake; to vindicate my glory against that insolent blasphemer.

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

6. I will add unto thy days fifteen years — A remarkable announcement, and of doubtful worth to Hezekiah. These additional years would not yet make him an old man, and most of them would be too apt to be spent in carnal security. And they produced an heir whose life and reign were a calamity to the kingdom.

Out of the hand of the king of Assyria — This clearly indicates that these events occurred at the time of the Assyrian invasion. See note on 2Ki_20:12.

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

And I win add unto thy days fifteen years. God "does exceeding abundantly more than we either ask or think". (Eph_3:20) Hezekiah had asked for nothing more than immediate escape from death. God grants him fifteen additional years of life, i.e. more than doubles the length of his reign. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the King of Assyria. If Hezekiah"s illness took place in B.C. 713, and Jerusalem was then in danger of being attacked by theAssyrians, the king who threatened the attack must have been Sargon. Sargon made an expedition into Palestine in B.C. 720, another in B.C. 713, and a third in B.C. 711. In none of them does he seem to have invaded Judaea; but in the third he counts the Jews among his enemies ("Eponym Canon," p. 130, line 32). Hezekiah, who had revolted from him, (2Ki_18:7) may well have felt alarm both in B.C. 713 and 711. And I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David"s sake (2Ki_19:34) The promise given in B.C. 713 in respect of Sargon was repeated in B.C. 699(?) with respect to Sennacherib in almost the same words.

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

Fifteen years - We have not an instance of any other, who was told before-hand just how long, he should live. God has wisely kept us at uncertainties, that we may be always ready.

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

General Information:

The message from Yahweh to King Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah continues.

fifteen years

15 years (See: Numbers)

from the hand of the king of Assyria

"Hand" is metonymy for power, authority and control. AT: "from the control of the king of Assyria" (See: Metonymy)

lump of figs

"paste made of boiled figs"

They did so and put it on his boil

"Hezekiah's servants did this and put the paste on Hezekiah's sore"

translationWords

power

king

Assyria

servant

fig

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

And I will save you from the hand of the king of Ashur. We learn that he became ill before Sancheiriv's downfall.

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.