Sunday Sermonette: A bit of Biblical scholarship

We're getting close to the end of the Book of Kings and the Deuteronomic history. At this point I have to say something about how and why this was created and by whom, because verses 12 through 19 require explanation. Scholars believe that the Deuteronomic history as we have it today was largely completed during the reign of King Josiah, and that it was intended to be complete at that time. It probably ended with Verse 25 of Chapter 23, with the greatness of King Josiah. (Remember that the division into chapters was made in medieval times.) Most of it is a compilation of earlier sources, presumably with some editing. We know that there were various versions of the earlier tales, from the Dead Sea scrolls an also Chronicles, which recapitulates some of this history but which contradicts it in various details. However, the depiction of the reign of Josiah, and perhaps at least some of these more recent events, is presumably wholly original.

The structure of the history is highly repetitive -- I've called  it Groundhog Day. There's a ruler who is faithful to Yahweh and observes his law (although the specifications of the Torah do get relaxed at times.) He is rewarded with prosperity and success in battle. But Yahweh is always in competition with Baal and other Gods, and the next ruler either worships Baal or at least tolerates worship of Baal and the goddess Asherah. He is punished  with defeat in battle and maybe worse, as in the case of Ahab, all of whose male descendants are murdered. That's the worst thing that could happen because this culture is obsessed with preservation of the patriarchal lineage. (Just wait for Chronicles.) Anyway, in Chapter 23 you will see the denouement, or what was intended to be the denouement, but after Josiah's death something unfortunate happened that required that the book be amended, with what are now 2 1/2 additional chapters and the interpolation found here. 

This chapter also includes a bizarre miracle, with the sun going backwards to signal to Hezekiah that he will be cured. It's more than a little strange, however, since he has already been cured.

20 In those days Hezeki′ah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order; for you shall die, you shall not recover.’” ² Then Hezeki′ah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³ “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in thy sight.” And Hezeki′ah wept bitterly. ⁴ And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: ⁵ “Turn back, and say to Hezeki′ah the prince of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. ⁶ And I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” ⁷ And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”

⁸ And Hezeki′ah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” ⁹ And Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” ¹⁰ And Hezeki′ah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps; rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” ¹¹ And Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord; and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which the sun^[a] had declined on the dial of Ahaz.

Envoys from Babylon

¹² At that time Mero′dach-bal′adan the son of Bal′adan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezeki′ah; for he heard that Hezeki′ah had been sick. ¹³ And Hezeki′ah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses; there was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezeki′ah did not show them. ¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezeki′ah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And whence did they come to you?” And Hezeki′ah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” ¹⁵ He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezeki′ah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezeki′ah, “Hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁷ Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. ¹⁸ And some of your own sons, who are born to you, shall be taken away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” ¹⁹ Then said Hezeki′ah to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

Death of Hezekiah

²⁰ The rest of the deeds of Hezeki′ah, and all his might, and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²¹ And Hezeki′ah slept with his fathers; and Manas′seh his son reigned in his stead.

Footnotes

1. 2 Kings 20:11 Syr See Is 38.8 and Tg: Heb lacks the sun