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2 Kings 18 · a question people ask

Was Hezekiah wrong to pay Sennacherib with the silver of the LORD's house?

In the text

The chapter tells it without a verdict. Hezekiah "rebelled against the king of Assyria, and didn’t serve him" (18:7). When Sennacherib "came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them" (18:13), Hezekiah sent to him, "I have offended you. Withdraw from me. That which you put on me, I will bear" (18:14) (tap offended). He gave "all the silver that was found in the LORD’s house and in the treasures of the king’s house" (18:15), and "cut off the gold from the doors of the LORD’s temple, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid" (18:16). Then "The king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great army to Jerusalem" (18:17). 2 Kings doesn't say whether the payment was right or wrong, or why the army came after it was paid. It has told of kings of Judah sending the treasures before: Jehoash, to Hazael king of Syria (12:18), and Ahaz, who "sent it for a present to the king of Assyria" (16:8).

The verses

“The LORD was with him. Wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria, and didn’t serve him.”
2 Kings 18:7 · World English Bible
“Jehoash king of Judah took all the holy things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own holy things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the LORD’s house, and of the king’s house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria; and he went away from Jerusalem.”
2 Kings 12:18 · World English Bible
“Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the LORD’s house, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.”
2 Kings 16:8 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Kings 18

2 Kings 18: What confidence is this?

2 Kings 18 turns on one word: the book says Hezekiah "trusted in the LORD" (18:5), and Rabshakeh throws the same Hebrew verb back seven times. The king who broke the bronze serpent Moses had made (18:4) paid Assyria with the silver of the LORD's house (18:15), and his people met the mockery with silence, because he had said, "Don’t answer him" (18:36).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions