181 Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea , the son of Elah king of Israel , that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king . 2 He was twenty-five e years old when he became king , and he reigned twenty-nine e years in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah . 3 He did right in the sight of the Lord , according to all that his father David had done . 4 He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah . He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made , for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan . 5 He trusted in the Lord , the God of Israel ; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah , nor among those who were before him. 6 For he clung to the Lord ; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments , which the Lord had commanded Moses . 7 And the Lord was with him; wherever e he went he prospered . And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory , from watchtower to fortified city .
9 Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah , which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel , Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged e it. 10 At the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah , which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel , Samaria was captured . 11 Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria , and put them in Halah and on the Habor , the river of Gozan , and in the cities of the Medes , 12 because e they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God , but transgressed His covenant , even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded ; they would neither listen nor do it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 18:1-12
Commentary on 2 Kings 18:1-8
(Read 2 Kings 18:1-8)
Hezekiah was a true son of David. Some others did that which was right, but not like David. Let us not suppose that when times and men are bad, they must needs grow worse and worse; that does not follow: after many bad kings, God raised one up like David himself. The brazen serpent had been carefully preserved, as a memorial of God's goodness to their fathers in the wilderness; but it was idle and wicked to burn incense to it. All helps to devotion, not warranted by the word of God, interrupt the exercise of faith; they always lead to superstition and other dangerous evils. Human nature perverts every thing of this kind. True faith needs not such aids; the word of God, daily thought upon and prayed over, is all the outward help we need.
Commentary on 2 Kings 18:9-16
(Read 2 Kings 18:9-16)
The descent Sennacherib made upon Judah, was a great calamity to that kingdom, by which God would try the faith of Hezekiah, and chastise the people. The secret dislike, the hypocrisy, and lukewarmness of numbers, require correction; such trials purify the faith and hope of the upright, and bring them to simple dependence on God.