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| Hezekiah | |
|---|---|
 King Hezekiah on a painting by unknown artist in the choir of St. Mary's Church, Åhus, 17th century | |
| King of Judah | |
| Reign | Uncertain, reign ended c. 687 BCE[a] |
| Predecessor | Ahaz |
| Successor | Manasseh |
| Born | c. 739/41 BCE probably Jerusalem |
| Died | c. 687 BCE (aged 51–54) probably Jerusalem |
| Burial | Jerusalem |
| Spouse | Hephzibah |
| Issue | |
| House | House of David |
| Father | Ahaz |
| Mother | Abijah (also called Abi) |
Hezekiah (/ˌhɛzɪˈkaɪ.ə/; Biblical Hebrew: חִזְקִיָּהוּ, romanized: Ḥizqiyyāhu), or Ezekias[c] (born c. 741 BCE, sole ruler c. 716/15–687/86), was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Judah according to the Hebrew Bible.[2]
In the Biblical narrative, Hezekiah witnessed the destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel by the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Sargon II in c. 722 BCE. He was king of Judah during the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib in 701 BCE.[3]
The historical accuracy of King Hezekiah’s reign is a topic of academic discussion, with scholars debating the reforms and Assyrian events based on textual, archaeological, and external evidence.[4] He is considered a very righteous king in both the Second Book of Kings and the Second Book of Chronicles.[5][d] He is also one of the more prominent kings of Judah mentioned in the Bible and is one of the kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.[6] "No king of Judah, among either his predecessors or his successors, could [...] be compared to him", according to 2 Kings 18:5.[7] Isaiah and Micah prophesied during his reign.[2]
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- ^ Khan, Geoffrey (2020). The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Volume 1. Open Book Publishers. ISBN 978-1783746767.
- ^ a b Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "Glossary", pp. 367–432
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica (2009), Hezekiah, Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 12 November 2009.
- ^ Grabbe, Lester L. (2017). Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It? (2nd ed.). Bloomsbury. pp. 238–244.
The account of Hezekiah's reign begins with a religious and cultic reform (2 Kgs 18.3-6). This reform had been widely accepted in scholarship (e.g., Albertz 1994: I, 180–6), but it is now also widely questioned (e.g., Na'aman 1995a). The problem is that it looks very much like the reform later ascribed to Josiah. Did Josiah try to revive what failed under Hezekiah, or did the biblical writer borrow from Josiah's story to improve Hezekiah's piety by literary invention?
- ^ 2 Kings 18:3; 2 Chronicles 29:2
- ^ Matthew 1:10
- ^ Jewish Encyclopaedia, Hezekiah, accessed 15 April 2012