---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  2 Chronicles 32"
description: "CHAPTER 32   :-. SENNACHERIB
INVADES JUDAH. 1. After these things, and the
establishment thereof—that is, the restoration of the
temple-worship. The preci"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles/32"
---

CHAPTER 32

. SENNACHERIB
INVADES JUDAH.

**1. After these things, and the
establishment thereof**—that is, the restoration of the
temple-worship. The precise date is given, . Determined to recover the independence of his country,
Hezekiah had decided to refuse to pay the tribute which his father
had bound himself to pay to Assyria.
**Sennacherib . . . entered
into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities**—The whole
land was ravaged; the strong fortresses of Ashdod () and Lachish had fallen; the siege of Libnah had commenced,
when the king of Judah, doubting his ability to resist, sent to
acknowledge his fault, and offer terms of submission by paying the
tribute. The commencement of this Assyrian war was disastrous to
Hezekiah ([2 Kings 18:13](../../../kjv/2-kings/18/13)). But the
misfortunes of the early period of the war are here passed over, as
the historian hastens to relate the remarkable deliverance which God
wrought for His kingdom of Judah.

**2-8. when Hezekiah saw that
Sennacherib . . . was purposed to fight against Jerusalem**—An
account of the means taken to fortify Jerusalem against the
threatened siege is given only in this passage. The polluting or
filling up of wells, and the altering of the course of rivers, is an
old practice that still obtains in the wars of the East. Hezekiah's
plan was to cover the fountain heads, so that they might not be
discovered by the enemy, and to carry the water by subterranean
channels or pipes into the city—a plan which, while it would secure
a constant supply to the inhabitants, would distress the besiegers,
as the country all around Jerusalem was very destitute of water.

**4. So there was gathered much people
. . . who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through
the midst of the land**—"Where these various fountains were,
we have now no positive means of ascertaining; though En-rogel, and
the spring now called the Virgin's Fount, may well be numbered among
them. JOSEPHUS mentions
the existence of various fountains without the city, but does not
mention any of them in this connection but Siloam. 'The brook,'
however, is located with sufficient precision to enable us to trace
it very definitely. We are told that it 'ran through the midst of the
land.' Now a stream running through either the Kedron or Hinnom
Valley, could, in no proper sense, be said to run *through the
midst of the land,* but one flowing through the true Gihon valley,
and separating Akra and Zion from Bezetha, Moriah, and Ophel, as a
stream once, doubtless, did, could, with peculiar propriety, be said
to run through the midst of the land on which the [Holy] City was
built. And that this is the correct meaning of the phrase is not only
apparent from the force of circumstances, but is positively so
declared in the Septuagint, where, moreover, it is called a 'river,'
which, at least, implies a much larger stream than the Kedron, and
comports well with the marginal reading, where it is said to overflow
through the midst of the land. Previous to the interference of man,
there was, no doubt, a very copious stream that gushed forth in the
upper portion of that shallow, basin-like concavity north of Damascus
Gate, which is unquestionably the upper extremity of the Gihon
valley, and pursuing its meandering course through this valley,
entered the Tyropoeligon at its great southern curve, down which it
flowed into the valley of the Kedron" [BARCLAY,
*City of the Great King*].

**5, 6. he strengthened himself**—He
made a careful inspection of the city defenses for the purpose of
repairing breaches in the wall here, renewing the masonry there,
raising projecting machines to the towers, and especially fortifying
the lower portion of Zion, that is, Millo, "(in) the original
city of David." "In" is a supplement of our
translators, and the text reads better without it, for it was not the
whole city that was repaired, but only the lower portion of Zion, or
the original "city of David."

**6. he . . . gathered them together .
. . in the street**—that is, the large open space at the gate of
Eastern cities. Having equipped his soldiers with a full suit of
military accoutrements, he addressed them in an animated strain,
dwelling on the motives they had to inspire courage and confidence of
success, especially on their consciousness of the favor and helping
power of God.

**2-8. when Hezekiah saw that
Sennacherib . . . was purposed to fight against Jerusalem**—An
account of the means taken to fortify Jerusalem against the
threatened siege is given only in this passage. The polluting or
filling up of wells, and the altering of the course of rivers, is an
old practice that still obtains in the wars of the East. Hezekiah's
plan was to cover the fountain heads, so that they might not be
discovered by the enemy, and to carry the water by subterranean
channels or pipes into the city—a plan which, while it would secure
a constant supply to the inhabitants, would distress the besiegers,
as the country all around Jerusalem was very destitute of water.

**9-20.** (See on ; also ).

**18. they cried with a loud voice . .
. unto the people of Jerusalem . . . on the wall**—It appears
that the wall on the west side of the city reached as far to the side
of the uppermost pool of Gihon at that time as it does now, if not
farther; and the wall was so close to that pool that those sent to
negotiate with the Assyrian general answered him in their own tongue
(see on ).
. AN ANGEL
DESTROYS THE ASSYRIANS.

**9-20.** (See on ; also ).

**21. an angel . . . cut off all the
mighty men**—(See on ).
. HEZEKIAH'S
SICKNESS AND RECOVERY.

**24. In those days Hezekiah was sick
to the death**—(See on ).
. HIS RICHES
AND WORKS.

**27-29. he had exceeding much riches
and honour**—(compare [2 Kings 20:13](../../../kjv/2-kings/20/13);
[Isaiah 39:2](../../../kjv/isaiah/39/2)). A great portion of his
personal wealth, like that of David and Uzziah, consisted in immense
possessions of agricultural and pastoral produce. Besides, he had
accumulated large treasures in gold, silver, and precious things,
which he had taken as spoils from the Philistines, and which he had
received as presents from neighboring states, among which he was held
in great honor as a king under the special protection of Heaven. Much
of his great wealth he expended in improving his capital, erecting
forts, and promoting the internal benefit of his kingdom.

**30. stopped the . . . watercourse of
Gihon, and brought it . . . to the west side of the city,**
c.—(Compare [2 Kings 20:20](../../../kjv/2-kings/20/20)).
Particular notice is here taken of the aqueduct, as among the
greatest of Hezekiah's works. "In exploring the subterranean
channel conveying the water from Virgin's Fount to Siloam, I
discovered a similar channel entering from the north, a few yards
from its commencement and on tracing it up near the Mugrabin gate,
where it became so choked with rubbish that it could be traversed no
farther, I there found it turn to the *west* in the direction of
the south end of the cleft, or saddle, of Zion, and if this channel
was not constructed for the purpose of conveying the waters of
Hezekiah's aqueduct, I am unable to suggest any purpose to which it
could have been applied. Perhaps the reason why it was not brought
down on the Zion side, was that Zion was already well-watered in its
lower portion by the Great Pool, 'the lower pool of Gihon.' And
accordingly WILLIAMS [*Holy
City*] renders this passage, 'He stopped the upper outflow of the
waters of Gihon, and led them down westward to the city'"
[BARCLAY, *City of the
Great King*]. The construction of this aqueduct required not only
masonic but engineering skill; for the passage was bored through a
continuous mass of rock. Hezekiah's pool or reservoir made to receive
the water within the northwest part of the city still remains. It is
an oblong quadrangular tank, two hundred forty feet in length, from
one hundred forty-four to one hundred fifty in breadth, but, from
recent excavations, appears to have extended somewhat farther towards
the north.

**31. in the business of the
ambassadors who sent . . . to inquire of the wonder that was done in
the land,** c.—They brought a present ( see on ),
and a letter of congratulation on his recovery, in which particular
enquiries were made about the miracle of the sun's retrocession—a
natural phenomenon that could not fail to excite great interest and
curiosity at Babylon, where astronomy was so much studied. At the
same time, there is reason to believe that they proposed a defensive
league against the Assyrians.
**God left him, to try him,**
&c.—Hezekiah's offense was not so much in the display of his
military stores and treasures, as in not giving to God the glory both
of the miracle and of his recovery, and thus leading those heathen
ambassadors to know Him.

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