Hezekiah in History and Tradition

The Judean monarch Hezekiah remains one of the most significant figures in biblical studies. For all of his greatness, however, there is little about him that may be stated with certainty. This study provides a detailed reexamination of this enterprising ruler. It commences with data outside the biblical text from Assyrian records and ancient Near Eastern archaeology which may be brought to bear in reconstructing the historical Hezekiah, and subsequently proceeds to augment this picture based on his portrayal in the books of Kings, First Isaiah, and Chronicles. Its focus is on those issues that either remain contentious in biblical scholarship, or else have been resolved into a general consensus that needs to be called into question.

Robb Young received his Master's degree in The Bible and Its World from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2004), and his Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Yale University (2011).

Acknowledgements	p. ix
Abbreviations	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Hezekiah Via Extra-Biblical Material
Regnal Years and Lineage	p. 9
The Regnal Years of Hezekiah	p. 9
Overview	p. 9
The Date of the Fall of Samaria	p. 12
The Date of the Fall of Jerusalem	p. 18
Regnal Years of the Latter Kings of Judah	p. 21
The Lineage of Hezekiah	p. 24
Relationship to Ahaz	p. 24
Relationship to Ataliah	p. 28
Conclusion	p. 32
The Kingdom of Judah	p. 35
Assyrian Relations	p. 35
The Urbanization of Jerusalem	p. 42
The Siloam Tunnel	p. 48
The LMLK Seals	p. 50
Conclusion	p. 58
Sennacherib's Third Campaign	p. 61
Archaeological Evidence	p. 62
The Number of Assyrian Campaigns	p. 66
Taharqo	p. 73
Historical Reconstruction	p. 77
Conclusion	p. 86
Hezekiah in the Book of Kings and First Isaiah
The Religious Reform	p. 91
Archaeological Evidence	p. 93
Arad	p. 93
Beer-sheba	p. 95
Lachish	p. 97
Biblical Evidence	p. 101
The Report in 2 Kgs 18:4	p. 101
The Report in 2 Kgs 18:22	p. 104
The Social Setting of the Reform	p. 109
Conclusion	p. 120
The Relationship between 2 Kgs 18:13-20:19 and Isa 36-39	p. 123
Relative Priority of the Texts	p. 123
Annalistic Account A (2 Kgs 1813-16)	p. 123
Prophetic Account B (2 Kgs 1817-19:37/Usa 36-37)	p. 126
Hezekiah and Isaiah (2 Kgs 20/Isa 38-39)	p. 133
Editing of the Texts	p. 136
Source Division	p. 136
Literary Analysis	p. 142
The Secondary Nature of "The Fourteenth Year"	p. 146
Conclusion	p. 150
The Messianic Oracles in First Isaiah	p. 151
Isa 8:23-9:6	p. 152
Overview	p. 152
Literary Extent and Structure	p. 152
Tense/Aspect Analysis	p. 156
Translation	p. 158
Function of Isa 9:5-6	p. 159
Literary and Historical Context	p. 161
Isa N:1-9	p. 164
Overview	p. 164
Literary Extent	p. 165
The Significance of the "Shoot"	p. 170
Literary and Historical Context	p. 177
Isa 7 and the Sign of Immanuel	p. 181
Overview	p. 181
The Identity of Immanuel	p. 182
Conclusion	p. 190
Hezekiah in Chronicles
The Historical Reliability of 2 Chr 29-30	p. 195
The Rededication of the Temple (2 Chr 29)	p. 197
Authorship	p. 197
Material	p. 202
The Passover (2 Chr 30)	p. 209
Summary Statement	p. 209
Other Historical Objections	p. 213
Correspondence to Josiah's Passover and Deuteronomy	p. 215
Source Material	p. 222
The Second Month	p. 227
Conclusion	p. 231
The Historical Reliability of 2 Chr 31-32	p. 235
The Reform and the Portions (2 Chr 31)	p. 235
The Reform	p. 235
Distribution of the Portions	p. 238
Historical Analysis of the Portions	p. 244
The Invasion of Sennacherib (2 Chr 32)	p. 249
Hezekiah's Defensive Measures (vv 3-6)	p. 249
Hezekiah's Achievements (vv 27-30)	p. 253
Conclusion	p. 254
Hezekiah as a Second David/Solomon	p. 257
The Dynastic Promises to David and Solomon	p. 259
Conditional and Unconditional Material	p. 259
The Depiction of Solomon	p. 263
The Pro-Solomonic Source of Chronicles	p. 267
The Hezekian Provenance of the Source Material	p. 276
Conclusion	p. 282
Summary and Future Directions	p. 285
	p. 295
	p. 299
Bibliography	p. 301
Author Index	p. 335
Scripture Index	p. 343
Subject Index	p. 360
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