2Ch 32:2-5 | KD | STEP | Preparations of Hezekiah for the strengthening and defending of Jerusalem . - We find an account of this neither in 2 Kings 18 nor in Isa 36; ; but the fact is confirmed both by , and by the remark 2Ki 20:20 (cf. of our chapter). When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib advanced, and his face was to war against Jerusalem, i.e., that he purposed to capture Jerusalem, he consulted with his princes and his valiant men to cover the waters of the springs which were outside the city; and they helped him, brought much people together, and covered all the springs, and the brook which ran through the midst of the land. סתם does not denote to obstruct, but only to hide by covering and conducting the water into subterranean channels. The brook which flowed through the midst of the land is the Gihon, which was formed by the waters flowing from the springs, and was dried up by these springs being covered and the water diverted. For further information, see on 2Ch 32:30. The object of this measure is stated in the words which follow: Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water? i.e., why should we provide them with much water, when they advance against the city and besiege it? The plural, kings of Assyria, is rhetorical, as in 2Ch 28:16.

‏ 2 Chronicles 32:2-5

2Ch 32:2-8 Preparations of Hezekiah for the strengthening and defending of Jerusalem. - We find an account of this neither in 2 Kings 18 nor in Isa 36; ; but the fact is confirmed both by Isa 22:8-11, and by the remark 2Ki 20:20 (cf. 2Ch 32:30 of our chapter). 2Ch 32:2-4

When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib advanced, and his face was to war against Jerusalem, i.e., that he purposed to capture Jerusalem, he consulted with his princes and his valiant men to cover the waters of the springs which were outside the city; and they helped him, brought much people together, and covered all the springs, and the brook which ran through the midst of the land. סתם does not denote to obstruct, but only to hide by covering and conducting the water into subterranean channels. The brook which flowed through the midst of the land is the Gihon, which was formed by the waters flowing from the springs, and was dried up by these springs being covered and the water diverted. For further information, see on 2Ch 32:30. The object of this measure is stated in the words which follow: Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water? i.e., why should we provide them with much water, when they advance against the city and besiege it? The plural, kings of Assyria, is rhetorical, as in 2Ch 28:16.