Hezekiah

Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king at twenty-five and reigned twenty-nine years (2 Kings 18:1–2). He removed the high places and destroyed the bronze serpent that Moses had made, and Kings says that no king of Judah trusted the Lord as he did (2 Kings 18:3–6). Chronicles describes his reopening of the temple and a Passover to which he invited the northern tribes (2 Chronicles 29:3) (2 Chronicles 30:1–5). He rebelled against Assyria and brought water into Jerusalem by a conduit (2 Kings 18:7) (2 Kings 20:20). When Sennacherib invaded he paid tribute but kept the city (2 Kings 18:13–16) (2 Kings 19:35–36); Sennacherib’s annals name him and list the tribute (Sennacherib, Annals (Taylor Prism) iii 18–49). For the difficulty of dating his reign see Hezekiah Withstands Sennacherib.

Kings also tells of his illness and recovery, and of the envoys from Babylon to whom he showed his treasures, after which Isaiah foretold that all of it would be carried to Babylon (2 Kings 20:1–19). A collection of proverbs is credited to his scribes (Proverbs 25:1), and he stands in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:9–10).