Text: 2 Chronicles 32:31
OT Text Referred to: 2 Kings 20:12
Subject: Hezekiah's illness and receiving Babylonian representatives
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: In 2 Kings 20:12, Merodach-baladan's envoys arrive ostensibly because Hezekiah "had been sick," and Hezekiah proudly displays all his treasuries. The Chronicler's interpretation in 2 Chronicles 32:31 adds unique theological depth: "God left him to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart" (לְנַסּוֹתוֹ לָדַעַת כָּל־בִּלְבָבוֹ). Where Kings presents Hezekiah's display as foolish policy provoking Isaiah's prophecy of Babylonian exile, Chronicles reveals the divine purpose behind the event — it was a test of character that Hezekiah failed, exposing the pride that even the best Davidic kings could not escape.