Text: Isaiah 38:1-20
OT Text Referred to: 2 Chronicles 32:24-26
Subject: Hezekiah's illness, prayer, and pride
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Isaiah 38:1-20 and 2 Chronicles 32:24-26 are parallel accounts of Hezekiah's mortal illness (חָלָה, chalah) and divine healing, with each text emphasizing different aspects. Isaiah provides the full narrative — the death sentence, Hezekiah's prayer, the fifteen-year extension, the sign of the shadow, and Hezekiah's psalm of thanksgiving (38:9-20). The Chronicler's compressed account (32:24-26) adds a critical theological detail absent from Isaiah: Hezekiah's heart became proud after his recovery, bringing divine wrath, which was only averted when "Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart" (וַיִּכָּנַע חִזְקִיָּהוּ). This interpretive supplement reveals the Chronicler's distinctive concern with the test-of-the-heart motif and explains why the illness narrative matters theologically — not merely as a miracle, but as a test of faithfulness that Hezekiah initially failed.