Isaiah 39:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 39:1
At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
time · preposition with the article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
Merodach-baladan
מְרֹדַ֣ךְme.ro.Dakh
H4757
Merodak-Baladan · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּֽןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Baladan
בַּלְאֲדָ֧ןbal.'a.Dan
H1081
Baladan · proper noun, a man's name
king
מֶֽלֶךְMe.lekh-
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular construct
Babylon
בָּבֶ֛לba.Vel
H894
Babel (i.e. Babylon) · proper noun, a place name
sent
שָׁלַ֡חsha.Lach
H7971
to send away · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
letters
סְפָרִ֥יםse.fa.Rim
H5612
properly · noun, common masculine plural absolute
present
וּמִנְחָ֖הu.min.Chah
H4503
a donation · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Hezekiah
חִזְקִיָּ֑הוּchiz.ki.Ya.hu
H2396
Chizkijah · proper noun, a man's name
heard
וַיִּשְׁמַ֕עvai.yish.Ma'
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sick
חָלָ֖הcha.Lah
H2470
properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
recovered
וַֽיֶּחֱזָֽקVai.ye.che.Zak
H2388
to fasten upon · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 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
2 Kings 20:12-19 At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah…
2 Samuel 10:2 Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by…
2 Chronicles 32:23 And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nati…
2 Samuel 8:10 Then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and smitten him: for…
Isaiah 13:19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
Isaiah 39:1-8 At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had bee…
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,…
Isaiah 13:1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 39:1-4
Hence we may learn these lessons: - 1. That humanity and common civility teach us to rejoice with our friends and neighbours when they rejoice, and to congratulate them on their deliverances, and particularly their recoveries from sickness. The king of Babylon, having heard that Hezekiah had been sick, and had recovered, sent to compliment him upon the occasion. If Christians be unneighbourly, heathens will shame them. 2. It becomes us to give honour to those whom our God puts honour upon. The sun was the Babylonians' god; and when they understood that it was with a respect to Hezekiah that the sun, to their great surprise, went back ten degrees, on such a day, they thought themselves oblige…
At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon,.... The same is called Berodach, 2 Kings 20:12 which, according to Hillerus (z), is the same with Barmerodach, the son of Merodach; though it is generally took to be a slip of the scribe's there, or a change of letter, as is common in names; he was either afterwards made a god of, or he had his name from an idol of the Babylonians so called, Jeremiah 50:1, which signifies "a pure lord." Jerom observes it, as the opinion of the Jews, that he was the father of Nebuchadnezzar, which is not probable. Kimchi takes him to be the same with Esarhaddon, the son of Sennacherib; but he was king of Assyria, not of Babylon; it is most lik…
At that time. Some think that this was the first king of the Chaldee nation; for his father, Baladin, had held the government over the Babylonians without the title of king. This Merodach, therefore, after having reigned twelve years, subdued the Assyrians, and made them tributaries to the Chaldeans; for it is a mistake to suppose that the war was begun by Nebuchadnezzar. It is indeed possible that he completed the subjugation of them; but it is probable that already they were half subdued, so that nothing else remained than to establish the royal power gained by the victory of his predecessor.
Sent letters and a present to Hezekiah Although the Prophet simply relates that messengers were s…
The Church Fathers
In the parable of the rich man, he flattered himself about the increase of his fields. But God said to him, "Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" It was the same way when King Hezekiah heard from Isaiah the sad doom of his kingdom after he had gloried before the envoys of Babylon in his treasures and the deposits of his precious things.
You juxtaposed [events] so that you might not grieve us and that you might save them. Those who had seized our silver brought gold. Those who had wounded our bodies brought myrrh. Those who had burned our sanctuary offered frankincense to your divinity.The myrrh [of the Magi] intercedes for their swords with which they killed us. Their gold intercedes for our treasures, for they plundered the treasuries of the house of Hezekiah. Their frankincense appeases your divinity, for they had angered your Father.… The Babylonians, too, came up [and] afflicted the children in Judah. By you the children have found peace, for by you the vicious have become worshipers. Those who despised old men honor a Child who is older than all. Babylon, too, sent offerings to Hezekiah; the envoys who saw his treasures were amazed. What did you show to the Magi? You showed a wonder, for they rendered you homage although you were poor. However great was the ivory palace of the kings of our people, greater and more beautiful is the little cave in which I bore you.
Now, when the Babylonians heard about Hezekiah's healing from the sickness, they sent ambassadors to him, and not without reason. Indeed, on the day when the sun went backward, one extra hour was added to the duration of the day, which did not elude the Babylonians, who were skilled in their observation of the stars. And as they venerated the sun as divine, they perceived that it was turned back by a superior power. Therefore they were eager to investigate the cause of the phenomenon. Thus driven by curiosity, they learned that the God of the Hebrew people was great and that he was the Creator of the world. When Hezekiah was healed, through which also the miracle of the sun took place, they perceived what happened and strongly desired the friendship of Hezekiah as a man loved by God. That is the story of the Jewish teacher.However, I grasped that all of the following events happened the same year: the attack of the Assyrians against the Jewish people, the defeat of the Assyrians by the angel of God, Sennacherib's escape, the revolt of his subjects and the death of the son who succeeded him, which is not mentioned in this text. It is likely that the rumor about all those events reached the Babylonian king, who showed friendship toward Hezekiah and sent him gifts, an ambassador and letters.
Dictionary and topics
Baladan — He has given a son, the father of the Babylonian king (2 Kings 20:12; Isa. 39:1) Merodach-baladan (q.v.).
Berodach-baladan — The king of Babylon who sent a friendly deputation to Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:12). In Isa. 39:1 he is called Merodach-baladan (q.v.).
Merodach-baladan — Merodach has given a son, (Isa. 39:1), “the hereditary chief of the Chaldeans, a small tribe at that time settled in the marshes at the mouth of the Euphrates, but in consequence of his conquest of…
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…
Ambassadors · Other references to — Other references to
Isaiah · kings of — kings of
Letters · King of Babylon to Hezekiah — King of Babylon to Hezekiah
Merodach-Baladan · Sends congratulatory letters and a present to Hezekiah — Sends congratulatory letters and a present to Hezekiah
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).
From this point onwards the text of the book of Kings (Kg2 20:12-19, cf., Ch2 32:24-31) runs parallel to the text before us. Babylonian ambassadors have an interview with the convalescent king of Judah. "At that time Merodach Bal'adan (K. Berodach Bal'adan), son of Bal'adan king of Babel, sent writings and a present to Hizkiyahu, and heard (K. for he had heard) that he (K. Hizkiyahu) had been sick, and was restored again." The two texts here share the original text between them. Instead of the unnatural ויּשׁמע (which would link the cause on to the effect, as in Sa2 14:5), we should read שׁמע כּי, whereas ויּחזק in our text appears to be the genuine word out of which חזקיהו in the other text…
Hezekiah was exemplary in godliness, prayer, and care for the people of Jerusalem. But he failed the Lord by parading his financial and military strength before the envoys from Babylon.
39:1 Merodach-baladan, the king of Babylon (722–710 and 704–703 BC), planned to rebel against Assyria and sought help from Hezekiah. His envoys visited after Hezekiah had been very sick and had recovered but before Sennacherib’s final attack in 701 BC.
Rashi on Isaiah 39:1
when he heard that he had been ill and had recovered He was accustomed to eating after the first three hours of the day had elapsed and he would sleep until the ninth hour. Since the sphere of the sun had gone backwards because of Hezekiah, he awoke from his sleep after nine hours and found that it was morning. He sought to kill all his servants. He said, “You let me sleep a day and a night until morning!” They said to him, “It was the sphere of the sun that went backwards.” He said to them, “Who brought it back?” They said to him, “The God of Hezekiah, etc.” As is stated in Tanhuma (Ki Thissa 5) and in Pesikta (d’ Rav Kahana p. 14a).