Isaiah 39:1 WEB

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Isaiah 39:1

At that time: i.e. shortly after the two miracles of the shadow and Hezekiah's recovery from his sickness. Compare 2 Chronicles 32:31 . letters and a present. These were more potent than Sennacherib's hosts; just as Ahab's daughter and feast were than his men of war with Jehoshaphat. See 2 Chronicles 18:1-3 . Compare with 2 Chronicles 17:1-3 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Isaiah 39:1

Here we have the conclusion of the historical section, relating Hezekiah's vanity in the display of his wealth to Merodach-Baladan's ambassadors, the Lord's rebuke through Isaiah, and the predictive prophecy that Babylon would be the power that would capture Jerusalem, loot the city, and deport the royal family to Babylon. The short chapter ends with the submissive resignation of Hezekiah to the fate of his beloved city and the personal rejoicing that he would not live to see the disastrous... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Isaiah 39:1

Isaiah 39:1. Merodach-baladan— Merodach was the name of an idol worshipped by the Babylonians, and Bel another; add these two idols, with the addition of אדן Adan or Adon, which signifies Lord, gave name to this king. Baladan is generally supposed to be the same person who is called Belesis or Belesus, and Nabonassarus; from whom the famous computation of time, called AEra Nabonassari, took its name. He is called, 2 Kings 20:12, Berodach-Baladan. One reason for his sending this embassy, as... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 39:1

1. Merodach-baladan—For a hundred fifty years before the overthrow of Nineveh by Cyaxares the Mede, a succession of rulers, mostly viceroys of Assyria, ruled Babylon, from the time of Nabonassar, 747 B.C. That date is called "the Era of Nabonassar." Pul or Phallukha was then expelled, and a new dynasty set up at Nineveh, under Tiglath-pileser. Semiramis, Pul's wife, then retired to Babylon, with Nabonassar, her son, whose advent to the throne of Babylon, after the overthrow of the old line at... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 39:1

The phrase "At that time" (cf. Isaiah 38:1) anticipates a specially significant event and ties it to what preceded in chapter 38. As this verse explains, the events that follow happened after Hezekiah had recovered from his illness (Isaiah 38:5). This was most likely during the year 701 B.C. before Sennacherib’s invasion of Jerusalem (chs. 36-37; cf. Isaiah 38:6; 2 Kings 18:16).Merodach-baladan (Cuneiform "Marduk-apal-iddina," lit. the god Marduk has given a son) raised Babylon to a position... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 39:1-8

Alliance with Babylon DenouncedConclusion of the historical appendix. The chapter belongs to the period when Merodach-Baladan of Babylon was making efforts to bring the various peoples of W. Asia into alliance against the common enemy, the king of Assyria (at this time Sargon, Isaiah 20:1). The arrangement of such alliance with Hezekiah was, doubtless, the object of the embassy, and this explains Hezekiah’s gladness and exhibition of his resources (Isaiah 39:2). Congratulation to the king of... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:1

XXXIX.(1) Merodach-baladan.—The name is conspicuous in the Assyrian inscriptions of Sargon (Records of the Past, ix. 13), as having rebelled against him and set up an independent monarchy. He is described in them as son of Yakin, but this is, probably, a dynastic appellative, just as Jehu is described in the Assyrian records (Records of the Past, v. 41) as “the son of Khumri” (i.e., Omri). The mission had two ostensible objects: (1) congratulation on Hezekiah’s recovery; (2) to inquire and... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Isaiah 39:1-8

2CHAPTER XXVIHAD ISAIAH A GOSPEL FOR THE INDIVIDUAL?THE two narratives, in which Isaiah’s career culminates-that of the Deliverance of Jerusalem {Isaiah 36:1-22; Isaiah 37:1-38} and that of the Recovery of Hezekiah {Isaiah 38:1-22; Isaiah 39:1-8}-cannot fail, coming together as they do, to suggest to thoughtful readers a striking contrast between Isaiah’s treatment of the community and his treatment of the individual, between his treatment of the Church and his treatment of single members. For... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Isaiah 39:1-8

CHAPTER 39 Hezekiah’s Self-Exaltation 1. The ambassadors of Merodach-baladan (Isaiah 39:1 ) 2. Hezekiah’s boasting (Isaiah 39:2 ) 3. Isaiah’s inquiry (Isaiah 39:3-4 ) 4. The Babylonian captivity announced (Isaiah 39:5-7 ) 5. Hezekiah’s submission and comfort (Isaiah 39:8 ) The prediction of Isaiah of the Babylonian captivity, fulfilled through King Nebuchadnezzar about 100 years after these words were spoken, is startling. The reader will bear in mind that the Assyrian was not yet... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Isaiah 39:1

39:1 At that time {a} Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent {b} letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and had recovered.(a) This was the first king of Babylon, who overcame the Assyrians in the tenth year of his reign. read more