Глава 39

“At that time Merodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent the writings... and the gifts of Hezekiah: when he heard that he was sick, he ate unto death and rose up” (Is. 39:1). Baladan, the son of Baladan, sent ambassadors to Hezekiah, firstly, to express to him his joy at his recovery, because he grieved over his illness; and secondly, he wanted to find out the reason for the return of the sun, for he worshiped the sun four times a day, and when he worshiped in the morning, at the sixth and ninth hour, and waited for the evening to worship again, he suddenly saw that the sun was still in the sky, as if at midday. And so I wanted to find out what was the reason for this. When he heard from the Jews who were with him, who knew about what had happened in Judea, that this sign from the Lord was given to Hezekiah in confirmation of what the prophet Isaiah had told him, then Baladan sent gifts to Hezekiah with a letter and congratulations, in order to learn from him in detail about the miracle with the sun. This Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, is not the king who gave freedom to Jeconiah, because one hundred and thirteen years passed from the embassy to Hezekiah to the captivity of Jehoiachin. Asardan, the king of Assyria, the son of Sennachin, did not live long; soon the Babylonians took possession of his kingdom, and Evilmerodach, who freed Jehoiachin, was the king of Babylon. “And Hezekiah rejoiced over them... and showed them the house of his treasures... and the house of spices and rich ointment, and all his utensils” (Is. 39:2). From this it is clear that Hezekiah was very pleased with the embassy, ​​but instead of convincing them of the truth of the event for which they were sent, Hezekiah began to show them his wealth and the treasuries of the royal house. Therefore, Isaiah, the son of Amos, who was sent to Hezekiah, stopped him and said: “Because you showed the Babylonians what was in the treasuries, “everyone in your house ... will go to Babylon” (Is. 39:6). “Your sons will be taken there, and there will be eunuchs in the house of the king of Babylon” (Is. 39:7). Since Hezekiah, out of pride, showed the Babylonian ambassadors one thing instead of the other, and did not tell what should have been revealed, then from Isaiah he heard not the same words: “I will defend this city” (Is. 37:35), but words of threat and strict judgment: “everyone who is in your house... will go to Babylon... and your sons, taken into captivity, will be prisoners in the house of the king of Babylon.” “And Hezekiah said to Isaiah: The word of the Lord is good, even the word” (Is. 39:8). Hezekiah was not very saddened by Isaiah's words. Why? Because, as he understood, this determination was not to be fulfilled during his lifetime. Or maybe it was from joy when he heard God’s promise that he would have sons, and did not think that his descendants would be slaves to the Babylonians. That’s why he said: “The word of the Lord is good, the hedgehog of the word.” You might be interested in: