2 Chronicles 32 Bribe?

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
2 Chronicles 32:1 After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself. 2 When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to wage war against Jerusalem, 3 he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him. 4 They gathered a large group of people who blocked all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings[a] of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said. 5 Then he worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the terraces[b] of the City of David. He also made large numbers of weapons and shields.
6 He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words: 7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him.8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.

At first I thought this was going to be about how smart Hezekiah was to cut off the water, making Jerusalem less attractive to conquest. With no water, the city would be useless. Looks like it's deeper than that and according to the enduringworld.com commentary... we need the rest of the puzzle for this to be a good story.

Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah: This was part of his larger campaign in the region, included the conquest of the northern tribes organized as the Kingdom of Judah.​
We might say that the Chronicler is not telling us the complete story here. He does not include what we learn from 2 Kings 18:13-16, that Hezekiah unwisely and unsuccessfully tried to satisfy Sennacherib with gold and treasures from the temple. It didn’t work, and after conquering most all the fortified cities of Judah, the king of Assyria prepared to set a siege against Jerusalem.​
“He clearly expects the reader to be familiar with 2 Kings 18-20, but, whereas the Chronicler normally adapts sections of earlier Scripture, here everything has been amplified and summarized in order to concentrate on the theme of Yahweh’s supremacy.” (Selman)​
To stop the water from the springs outside the city: This was done in preparation for the coming siege, and possibly in connection with the tunnel that Hezekiah directed to be cut to keep the water supply secure within the city (2 Chronicles 32:30).​
Jerusalem’s water supply was vulnerable to any attack, since it was totally dependent on two springs, Gihon in the Kidron valley and En-Rogel two miles to the south.” (Selman)​
“No doubt the Assyrian army suffered much through this, as a Christian army did eighteen hundred years after this. When the crusaders came, in A.D. 1099, to besiege Jerusalem, the people of the city stopped up the wells, so that the Christian army was reduced to the greatest necessities and distress.” (Clarke)
He strengthened himself, built up all the wall that was broken, raised it up to the towers: This and the other preparations reflect how serious the threat was and how diligent Hezekiah was to defend Jerusalem and Judah.
“Part of a wall which could well be Hezekiah’s has been uncovered on the western hill. At seven metres thick, it is the thickest Iron Age wall known in Palestine, and was presumably designed to withstand powerful Assyrian battering rams.” (Selman)​
Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed: Hezekiah understood that the defense of Israel did not depend only on walls and towers and shields and water supplies; it also depended on the strength, courage, and determination of their soldiers.
i. For there are more with us than with him: “We have more power than they have. (These words he quotes from the prophet Elisha, 2 Kings 6:16.) This was soon proved to be true by the slaughter made by the angel of the Lord in the Assyrian camp.” (Clarke)​
ii. But with us is the LORD our God: “The import of ‘Immanuel,’ by which name Christ now began to be known amongst them.” (Trapp)​
When I first opened this chapter and started to read.... I reminded myself.... Hezekiah had just thrown the most magnificently successful Passover celebration in decades. The people were all fired up with the love for God. They opted, volunteered, hung around for, or stayed awake for a second week, a second sermon, a double dose of "who's your God?" testimony in Jerusalem. Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem were filled up.... overflowing with God.

Here comes the King of Assyria. Now... first of all... when I was reading about the pay off, or attempted pay off, back in 2 Kings... I was just as angry at Hezekiah as I could be.... and the commentator kind of cleared this matter up for me when he accused 2 Chronicles 32 of not disclosing everything. It seems to me, both Kings and Chronicles may have left out a perfectly good reason for Hezekiah to try to pay off Sennacherib king of Assyria, It says that the wall Hezekiah had to repair was 7 Meters thick. One meter is a little over a yard. So this wall was over 7 yards.... that's 21' thick. That would take some time to repair. The people have been partying. they need time.... they have to plug up the hole and stop the water.... and it's not as easy as putting a thumb in a dyke. The water is from springs that flow into the city. If those two streams are diverted or plugged.... there would be no where to get water for the men or the animals.

I think Hezekiah was rebuilding the wall and stopping up the streams while he was holding up the attack with negotiations. I'm also pretty sure that the reason he took the bribes from the Temple rather than his own palace... the palace was probably already stripped.... but... alas we don't have the whole story. The one thing we do know.... after a two week party for the Lord God of Abraham and Jacob [who God renamed Israel] in Jerusalem... the people are fed, nourished, rested, and ready to take on the world. God's army on earth is ready. Now... all Hezekiah has to do is keep them chomping at the bit to stand up for God.

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