2 Chronicles 32:31

Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Howbeit	וְכֵ֞ן ve.Khen	H3651	properly · conjunction + adverb
ambassadors	בִּמְלִיצֵ֣י bim.li.Tzei	H3887	properly · preposition + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural construct
princes	שָׂרֵ֣י sa.Rei	H8269	a head person (of any rank or class) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Babylon	בָּבֶ֗ל ba.Vel	H894	Babel (i.e. Babylon) · proper noun, a place name
sent	הַֽמְשַׁלְּחִ֤ים ham.sha.le.Chim	H7971	to send away · definite article + verb, piel active participle, masculine plural absolute
enquire	לִדְרֹ֗שׁ lid.Rosh	H1875	properly · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
wonder	הַמּוֹפֵת֙ ha.mo.Fet	H4159	a miracle · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
land	בָאָ֔רֶץ va.'A.retz	H776	the earth (at large · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
God	הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים ha.'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
left	עֲזָב֖וֹ a.za.Vo	H5800	to loosen · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
try	לְנַ֨סּוֹת֔וֹ le.Na.so.To	H5254	to test · preposition + verb, piel infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
know	לָדַ֖עַת la.Da.'at	H3045	to know (properly · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
heart	בִּלְבָבֽוֹ bil.va.Vo	H3824	the heart (as the most interior organ) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee,…
Proverbs 17:3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.
John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothin…
Genesis 22:1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 Chronicles 32:24 In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign.
Deuteronomy 8:16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee g…
Zechariah 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall…
Job 1:11-12 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Chronicles 32:24–end

Here we conclude the story of Hezekiah with an account of three things concerning him: - I. His sickness and his recovery from it, Ch2 32:24. The account of his sickness is but briefly mentioned here; we had a large narrative of it, 2 Kings 20. His disease seemed likely to be mortal. In the extremity of it he prayed. God answered him, and gave him a sign that he should recover, the going back of the sun ten degrees. II. His sin and his repentance for it, which were also more largely related, Kg2 20:12, etc. Yet several things are here observed concerning his sin which we had not there. 1. The occasion of it was the king of Babylon's sending an honourable embassy to him to congratulate him o…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Chronicles 32:31

in the business of the ambassadors who sent . . . to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, &c.--They brought a present (Ch2 32:23; see on Kg2 20:12-13), 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 m…

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Adam Clarke on 2 Chronicles 32:31

Of the ambassadors - See Kg2 20:13 (note), and the observations at the end of that chapter.

John Gill on 2 Chronicles 32:31

Howbeit, in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire the wonder that was done in the land,.... Not to see the two tables of stone which were in the ark, with the other two that were broken because of the sin of the calf, as the Targum; nor to ask about the destruction of the Assyrian army, and the manner of it, as Grotius; but to be informed of the miracle of the sun's going back ten degrees, when Hezekiah was recovered from his sickness; the Chaldeans being a people much given to astrology, and curious in their observations of that kind: God left him to try him; by showing him all his treasures: that he might know all that was in his heart; n…

The Church Fathers

But the Chaldaeans and the Medes and Persians, having a somewhat wider knowledge, were instructed by the building of the Tower, and the deluge, and by what happened in the case of Hezekiah and Jonah, and by the Captivity, and by Daniel and the Three Children, and also partly by the writings themselves. In like manner also the Egyptians were instructed by the affairs of Joseph and of Moses, and by the people of Israel, and these nations were thus better prepared for a ready acceptance of Christianity.
— Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 12

But when his prayer was heard, and 185,000 men of the Assyrian army had been destroyed in one night by the angel, and when a victory so great and so marvellous had been wrought for him by God, he held more firmly than ever the estimate of himself which he had formerly entertained, claiming that he was beyond all doubt the Christ who had been predicted. Wherefore, as he was again uplifted in mind by this conception of himself, he did not go after his victory into the temple, as was his duty, to render thanks and give glory to God, but he was uplifted with pride, as it is recorded in the second Book of Chronicles (xxxii, 26): That he humbled himself for the pride of his heart, and, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart
— Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 8

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Ambassador — In the Old Testament the Hebrew word tsir, meaning “one who goes on an errand,” is rendered thus (Josh. 9:4; Prov. 13:17; Isa. 18:2; Jer. 49:14; Obad. 1:1). This is also the rendering of melits,…
Hezekiah — Whom Jehovah has strengthened. (1.) Son of Ahaz (2 Kings 18:1; 2 Chr. 29:1), whom he succeeded on the throne of the kingdom of Judah. He reigned twenty-nine years (B.C. 726-697). The history of this…
Merodachbaladan — (worshipper of Baal) is mentioned as king of Babylon in the days of Hezekiah both in the second hook of Kings, ch. (2 Kings 20:12) and in Isaiah. ch. (Isaiah 39:1) In the former place he is called…
Temptation — (1.) Trial; a being put to the test. Thus God “tempted [Gen. 22: 1; R.V., ‘did prove’] Abraham;” and afflictions are said to tempt, i.e., to try, men (James 1:2, 12; comp. Deut. 8:2), putting their…
Ambassadors · Berodach to Hezekiah — Berodach to Hezekiah
Hezekiah · of Babylon — of Babylon
Interpreter · Of languages — Of languages
Temptation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Chronicles 32:31

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Chronicles 32:24–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Chronicles 32:31

Adam Clarke on 2 Chronicles 32:31

John Gill on 2 Chronicles 32:31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

2 Chronicles 32:31

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Chronicles 32:24–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Chronicles 32:31

Adam Clarke on 2 Chronicles 32:31

John Gill on 2 Chronicles 32:31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Chronicles 32:31

Rashi on 2 Chronicles 32:31