What was Nehushtan?
It was the name given to the bronze serpent Moses made in the wilderness, when the Lord used it to heal those bitten by snakes. Over time the people offered incense to it, and Hezekiah destroyed it to prevent idolatry.
2 Kings · chapter 18 of 25
2 Kings 18: Summary, Key Verses and Study Questions
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What happens in 2 Kings 18?
2 Kings 18 presents Hezekiah, king of Judah, who removes the high places, breaks Moses' bronze serpent and trusts the Lord as no other king of Judah did. When Sennacherib of Assyria invades, Hezekiah pays him heavy tribute, but the Assyrian king sends his field commander to Jerusalem to demand surrender, mock trust in God and appeal to the people. The people stay silent.
After the fall of Samaria in chapter 17, 2 Kings 18 shows Judah facing the same Assyrian threat under a very different king from Ahaz. Hezekiah carries out reforms, and the narrator presents him as a king comparable to David in his faith. The chapter is the beginning of one of the most important tests in Judah's history, which continues in chapters 19 and 20.
2 Kings 18 summary
Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, becomes king of Judah at twenty-five and reigns twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. He does what is right in the sight of the Lord, as David did. He removes the high places, breaks the pillars, cuts down the Asherah and crushes the bronze serpent Moses had made, to which the people burned incense and which they called Nehushtan. He trusts in the Lord, and there was none like him among the kings of Judah. He rebels against the king of Assyria and strikes the Philistines as far as Gaza.
The narrator recalls the fall of Samaria, because the people had not obeyed the voice of the Lord. In Hezekiah's fourteenth year, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, goes up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captures them. Hezekiah sends word to him at Lachish, admits his wrong and pays what is imposed: three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold. He gives the silver of the temple and the palace and strips the gold from the temple doors.
Still, the king of Assyria sends a great army against Jerusalem with his field commander, the Rabshakeh, who stops by the conduit of the upper pool. The officials Eliakim, Shebna and Joah go out to meet him. The commander asks what Hezekiah is trusting in, says Egypt is a broken reed and claims he has come up by the Lord's command. The officials ask him to speak in Aramaic so the people will not hear, but he shouts in Hebrew to those on the wall: they should not be deceived by Hezekiah, they should surrender and live in peace, until he takes them to a land like their own. He compares the Lord to the gods of other nations who could not deliver them. The people stay silent, because the king had commanded it. The officials return to Hezekiah with their clothes torn.
Chapter outline
- vv. 1-8: Hezekiah reigns, reforms, breaks the bronze serpent and trusts the Lord.
- vv. 9-12: A reminder of the fall of Samaria.
- vv. 13-16: Sennacherib invades Judah and Hezekiah pays tribute with the temple treasures.
- vv. 17-25: The Assyrian commander arrives at Jerusalem and questions Hezekiah's trust.
- vv. 26-37: The commander speaks to the people in Hebrew, promises peace and mocks the Lord; the people are silent.
Key verses in 2 Kings 18
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
2 Kings 18:4
Hezekiah removes the high places and destroys the bronze serpent Moses had made, because the people worshiped it. Even an object God once used in the past becomes an idol when it takes his place.
2 Kings 18:5
Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, and among the kings of Judah there was none like him. Trust in God, not military strength, is the key the narrator highlights in his reign.
2 Kings 18:19
The Assyrian commander asks what Hezekiah is trusting in. The question is rhetorical, yet it reveals the heart of the test: the whole Assyrian challenge aims to break the people's trust in the Lord.
2 Kings 18:36
The people stay silent and do not answer, because the king had commanded it. There are moments when the wisest response to mockery and pressure is to be quiet and wait on the Lord.
Main themes
- Hezekiah's reform
- Trusting the Lord against the world's power
- Destroying what becomes an idol
- Propaganda and psychological pressure
- Fear and faith in crisis
People and places
- Hezekiah
- Sennacherib
- The Rabshakeh
- Eliakim
- Shebna
- Joah
- Jerusalem
- Lachish
2 Kings 18 study questions and answers
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
1. How old was Hezekiah when he began to reign?
Answer: Twenty-five years old. — 2 Kings 18:2
2. What did Hezekiah destroy because the people burned incense to it?
Answer: The bronze serpent Moses had made, called Nehushtan. — 2 Kings 18:4
3. How much silver and gold did Sennacherib demand from Hezekiah?
Answer: Three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold. — 2 Kings 18:14
4. Who went out to speak with the Assyrian commander?
Answer: Eliakim, Shebna and Joah. — 2 Kings 18:18
5. What did the officials ask the commander to do?
Answer: To speak in Aramaic and not in Hebrew, so the people on the wall would not understand. — 2 Kings 18:26
6. How did the people respond to the commander?
Answer: With silence, because the king had commanded it. — 2 Kings 18:36
Application for today
Hezekiah broke the bronze serpent, an object God had used, because it had become an idol. This invites us to examine whether any method, tradition or religious memory has taken the place of God himself. In a small group you can ask which good custom is in danger of becoming an end in itself.
The scene of the Assyrian commander shows how pressure tries to undermine trust with arguments that seem reasonable. When we feel threatened, it helps to remember who has been faithful and not be dragged along by fear or by voices that mock faith. The people's silence teaches us that we do not always have to answer every accusation.
2 Kings 18 ends with Hezekiah's officials returning with torn clothes, and with Jerusalem surrounded by a powerful army. In chapter 19 the king will go to the temple, pray and receive a word from Isaiah.
Frequently asked questions about 2 Kings 18
Why did Hezekiah pay tribute if he trusted the Lord?
The text neither justifies nor condemns it explicitly. Hezekiah admits he has done wrong and pays to avoid destruction, even with the temple treasures. Soon after, the account shows that the true answer was not money but turning to the Lord.
What did the Assyrian commander want his speech to accomplish?
He wanted Jerusalem to surrender without a fight. He tried to weaken the people's trust in the king, in Egypt and in the Lord himself, and he promised a peaceful life. His speech is an example of manipulation through fear, flattery and false promises.