Hezekiah

The king who tore down the high places and prayed in the temple

Also written: Ezekias (Greek form, Matthew 1:9)

Place in the genealogy

Matthew · name 25 · Abraham forward to JesusFrom David to the exile: the monarchyMatthew 1:9

Where Scripture records this person

2 Kings 18:1-8He removed the high places and trusted in the LORD God of Israel.
2 Kings 19:14-19He spreads Sennacherib's letter before the LORD and prays.
2 Kings 20:1-11His sickness, his prayer, and fifteen added years.
2 Chronicles 29-31The cleansing of the temple and the great Passover.
Isaiah 36-39The same events, told by the prophet who stood beside him.

Who this person is in Scripture

Hezekiah inherits a kingdom under Assyrian pressure and a that had been shut. He reopens and cleanses it, keeps a the like of which had not been kept for generations, and when Assyria demands surrender he takes the letter into the house of the LORD and prays over it.

Scripture also records his failures: the treasure shown to Babylon's envoys, and his answer to Isaiah's warning, that there would be peace in his own days. His son Manasseh undid much of the reform.

Family, as Scripture gives it

Father: Ahaz
Children: Manasseh

What this teaches

His prayer in 2 Kings 19 asks God to act for his own name's sake, not only for Judah's survival.

Read in the Bible

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