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Hezekiah shows envoys from a distant land all his treasures, echoing the Queen of Sheba viewing Solomon’s wealth in 1 Kings. The display that won Solomon fame and a blessing instead draws Isaiah’s warning that it will all be carried to Babylon.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Kings 10:4
Hebrew Bible
3 Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king. 4 When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon’s extensive wisdom, the palace he had built, 5 the food in his banquet hall, his servants and attendants, their robes, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he presented in the Lord’s temple, she was amazed. 6 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight was true! 7 I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn’t hear even half the story! Your wisdom and wealth surpass what was reported to me.
Isaiah 39:2
Hebrew Bible
1 At that time Merodach Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been ill and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah welcomed them and showed them his storehouse with its silver, gold, spices, and high-quality olive oil, as well as his whole armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom. 3 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.”
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Notes and References
“... Hezekiah, therefore, welcomed the Babylonian messengers, especially since they were purportedly visiting him on his sick bed, and he opened (פתח) his palace in Jerusalem to them, with all its treasures and weaponry. This incident is similar to the tale of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba who also came to Jerusalem from a distant land (i.e. from southern Arabia). Solomon, too, displaced before her the enormous treasures assembled at his place (1 Kings 10:1ff.). King Hezekiah was sharply rebuked by the Prophet Isaiah for his deeds (Isaiah 39:1ff.). But Hezekiah justifies himself thus: “From a distant land they came to me from Babylon” (2 Kings 20:14 = Isaiah 39:3), i.e. because Babylon is so remote, there is no danger for Judah. ...”
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