Hezekiah (Hebrew origin: Salvation)
(2 Kings 16:20). 8th century b.c.e.
Hezekiah, the twelfth king of Judah after the partition of the United Monarchy, was one of the greatest Judean kings. At the age of twenty-five, he succeeded his father, Ahaz. He reigned for twenty-nine years and died at the age of fifty-four. Judah was a shrunken state and a vassal to Assyria during Hezekiah's reign. Hezekiah's first act as king was to reopen the gates of the Temple and to have them repaired. He asked the priests and the Levites to purify the Temple; after they had done so, the king assembled the leaders of the people and brought animals to the Temple to have them sacrificed by the priests. He reformed the cult in the Temple, reorganized the priests and the Levites, and eradicated idolatry throughout the country. In 722 b.c.e., Assyria conquered the kingdom of Israel and deported most of its inhabitants. During the siege of Jerusalem, Hezekiah received powerful backing from the great prophet-statesman Isaiah. A plague on the Assyrian camp wiped out the invaders, and Jerusalem was thus saved, but the result of the war was that Judah reverted to its vassal status and continued to pay tribute. Hezekiah died loved and honored by his people and was succeeded by his son Manasseh.
Read more biographies from Who's Who in the Jewish Bible.
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