2 Kings 20:19 MEANING

(19) Good is the word of the Lord . . .--Pious acquiescence in the will of God. (Comp. Eli's: "It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good." Comp, also a similar expression in 1 Kings 2:38.)

Is it not good, if peace . . .--This rendering appears to be right. Severe as is the prophetic word of judgment, it contains an element of mercy, in that Hezekiah himself is spared. The words are introduced by and he said, to indicate that they were spoken after a pause.

Peace and truth.--Rather, peace and permanence (or, security, stability; Jeremiah 33:6). Ewald, Thenius, and Bahr render: "Yea, only may there be peace, &c, in my days." (Comp. the prayer of the church: "Give peace in our time, O Lord.")

Verse 19. - Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. Hezekiah accepts the rebuke, thereby acknowledging himself to have been in the wrong, and submits without remonstrance to his punishment. "Good is the word of the Lord" - who "in his wrath has thought upon mercy." The king feels that God might, in justice, have visited him, in his own person, with some immediate affliction or calamity. It is a relief to hear that the blow will not fall during his lifetime. There may be a tinge of selfishness in his acquiescence, but it is not very pronounced, and does not call for any severe animadversion. The Old Testament saints were not faultless, and are not set before us as perfect patterns. There is one only "Ensample" given us whose steps we are to follow in all things. And he said - apparently after a pause, per-Imps turning to his courtiers, whose looks may have expressed astonishment at the words which he had just spoken - Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days? i.e. Am I not right to acquiesce in the sentence and pronounce it "good," if it promises me "peace and truth," or "tranquility and steadfastness"? Ought I not to accept with thankfulness the immediate boon, instead of troubling myself about a remote future? The sentiment is not far removed from that of the well-known lines -

"I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me."

20:12-21 The king of Babylon was at this time independent of the king of Assyria, though shortly after subdued by him. Hezekiah showed his treasures and armour, and other proofs of his wealth and power. This was the effect of pride and ostentation, and departing from simple reliance on God. He also seems to have missed the opportunity of speaking to the Chaldeans, about Him who had wrought the miracles which excited their attention, and of pointing out to them the absurdity and evil of idolatry. What is more common than to show our friends our houses and possessions? But if we do this in the pride of ours hearts, to gain applause from men, not giving praise to God, it becomes sin in us, as it did in Hezekiah. We may expect vexation from every object with which we are unduly pleased. Isaiah, who had often been Hezekiah's comforter, is now is reprover. The blessed Spirit is both, Joh 16:7,8. Ministers must be both, as there is occasion. Hezekiah allowed the justice of the sentence, and God's goodness in the respite. Yet the prospect respecting his family and nation must have given him many painful feelings. Hezekiah was indeed humbled for the pride of his heart. And blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.At that time Berodachbaladan,.... He is called Merodachbaladan, Isaiah 39:1, so here in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; See Gill on Isaiah 39:1; and by Metasthenes (z) his father is called Merodach, and he Ben Merodach, who reigned twenty one years, and his father fifty two; from hence to the end of 2 Kings 20:12 the same account is given in the same words as in Isaiah 39:1 throughout, except in 2 Kings 20:13, where it is, "hearkened unto them", and there, "glad of them"; heard the letter the ambassadors brought with pleasure; see the notes there. See Gill on Isaiah 39:1 and following.

(z) Ut supra. (De Judicio Temp. fol. 221. 2.)