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75-623: The Holy Translators are: The translation of the Bible was finished by the Holy Translators in 425. The first words written in Armenian were the opening line of the Book of Proverbs : Ճանաչել զիմաստութիւն եւ զխրատ, իմանալ զբանս հանճարոյ : Čanačʿel zimastutʿiwn ew zxrat, imanal zbans hančaroy. «To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding.» The first Armenian translation of

150-409: A bulla that bears an inscription in ancient Hebrew script that translates as: "Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz king of Judah." This is the first seal impression of an Israelite or Judean king to come to light in a scientific archaeological excavation. While another, unprovenanced bulla of King Hezekiah was known, this was the first time a seal impression of Hezekiah had been discovered in situ in

225-557: A capitulation to end the siege. However, inscriptions have been discovered describing Sennacherib's defeat of the Ethiopian forces. These say: "As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to my yoke, I laid siege to 46 of his strong cities ... and conquered (them). ... Himself I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage." He does not claim to have captured the city. This

300-494: A large influx of Israelites fleeing from the Assyrian destruction of the northern state . It is "[t]he only reasonable way to explain this unprecedented demographic development" (154). This, according to Finkelstein, set the stage for motivations to compile and reconcile Hebrew history into a text at that time (157). Mazar questions this explanation, since, she argues, it is "no more than an educated guess" (167). The Siloam Tunnel

375-405: A pattern of life which lasted for more than a millennium. The phrase conventionally used for the title is taken from chapter 1:1, mishley shelomoh , Proverbs of Solomon (the phrase is repeated at 10:1 and 25:1), and is likely more concerned with labeling the material than ascribing authorship. The book is an anthology made up of six discrete units. The Proverbs of Solomon section, chapters 1–9,

450-436: A ramp and Judahites pierced through on mounted stakes. "The reliefs on these slabs" discovered in the Assyrian palace at Nineveh "originally formed a single, continuous work, measuring 8 feet ... tall by 80 feet ... long, which wrapped around the room" (559). Visitors "would have been impressed not only by the magnitude of the artwork itself but also by the magnificent strength of the Assyrian war machine." Sennacherib's Prism

525-425: A royal Judean fortress, was deliberately and carefully dismantled, "with the altars and massebot" concealed "beneath a Str. 8 plaster floor". This stratum correlates with the late 8th century; Dever concludes that "the deliberate dismantling of the temple and its replacement by another structure in the days of Hezekiah is an archeological fact. I see no reason for skepticism here." Under Rehoboam , Lachish became

600-537: A second-millennium BCE Egyptian work, the Instruction of Amenemope , and may have reached the Hebrew author(s) through an Aramaic translation. Chapter 24:23 begins a new section and source with the declaration, "these too are from the wise". The next section at chapter 25:1 has a superscription to the effect that the following proverbs were transcribed "by the men of Hezekiah", indicating at face value that they were collected in

675-500: Is a translation of the Hebrew word mashal , but "mashal" has a wider range of meanings than the short, catchy saying implied by the English word. Thus, roughly half the book is made up of "sayings" of this type, while the other half consists of longer poetic units of various types. These include "instructions" formulated as advice from a teacher or parent addressed to a student or child, dramatic personifications of both Wisdom and Folly, and

750-661: Is considered a very righteous king in both the Second Book of Kings and the Second Book of Chronicles . He is also one of the more prominent kings of Judah mentioned in the Bible and is one of the kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew . "No king of Judah, among either his predecessors or his successors, could [...] be compared to him", according to 2 Kings 18:5 . Isaiah and Micah prophesied during his reign. The name Hezekiah means "Yahweh strengthens" in Hebrew. Alternately it may be translated as "Yahweh

825-404: Is consistent with the Bible account of Hezekiah's revolt against Assyria in the sense that neither account seems to indicate that Sennacherib ever entered or formally captured the city. Sennacherib in this inscription claims that Hezekiah paid for tribute 800 talents of silver, in contrast with the Bible's 300, however this could be due to boastful exaggeration which was not uncommon amongst kings of

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900-554: Is dated by Albright as 715–687 BCE, and by Thiele as 716–687 BCE (the last ten years being a co-regency with his son Manasseh). According to the Bible, Hezekiah purified and repaired the Temple , purged its idols, and reformed the priesthood . In an effort to abolish idolatry from his kingdom, he destroyed the high places (or bamot ) and the "bronze serpent" (or Nehushtan ), recorded as being made by Moses , which had become objects of idolatrous worship. In place of this, he centralized

975-408: Is divided into sections: the initial invitation to acquire wisdom, another section focused mainly on contrasting the wise and the fool, and the third being moral discourses on various topics. Chapters 25–29 discuss justice, the wicked, and the rich and poor; chapter 30 introduces the " sayings of Agur " on creation and divine power. The superscriptions divide the collections as follows: "Proverb"

1050-452: Is merely silly or playful (though see the words of Agur for a "fool" who has wisdom and could be seen as playful). For the most part, Proverbs offers a simplistic view of life with few grey areas: a life lived according to the rules brings reward, and life in violation of them is certain to bring disaster. In contrast, Job and Ecclesiastes appear to be direct contradictions of the simplicities of Proverbs, each in its own way all but dismissing

1125-512: Is my strength". The main biblical accounts of Hezekiah's reign are found in 2 Kings, Isaiah, and 2 Chronicles. Proverbs 25:1 commences a collection of Solomon 's proverbs which were "copied by the officials of King Hezekiah of Judah". His reign is also referred to in the books of the prophets Jeremiah , Hosea , Micah , and Isaiah . The books of Hosea and Micah record that their prophecies were made during Hezekiah's reign. The book of Isaiah records when Hezekiah sought Isaiah's help when Judah

1200-417: Is not known elsewhere. Assyriologists posit the murder was motivated because Esarhaddon was chosen as heir to the throne instead of Arda-Mulissu, the next eldest son. Assyrian and Hebrew biblical history corroborate that Esarhaddon ultimately succeeded the throne. Other Assyriologists assert that Sennacherib was murdered in revenge for his destruction of Babylon, a city sacred to all Mesopotamians, including

1275-522: Is noteworthy for the convergence of a variety of biblical sources and diverse extrabiblical evidence often bearing on the same events. Significant data concerning Hezekiah appear in the Deuteronomistic History, the Chronicler, Isaiah, Assyrian annals and reliefs, Israelite epigraphy, and, increasingly, stratigraphy". Archaeologist Amihai Mazar calls the tensions between Assyria and Judah "one of

1350-461: Is quite close to the Biblical account. Of Sennacherib's death, 2 Kings records: "It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him [Sennacherib] with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place." According to Assyrian records, Sennacherib was assassinated in 681 BCE, twenty years after

1425-454: Is told, for example, both to "not answer a fool according to his folly," according to 26:4, and to "answer a fool according to his folly", as 26:5 advises. More pervasively, the recurring theme of the initial unit (chapters 1–9) is that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but the following units are much less theological, presenting wisdom as a transmissible human craft, until with 30:1–14,

1500-438: The "words of Agur," we return once more to the idea that God alone possesses wisdom. "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10 – the phrase implies submission to God's will). Wisdom is praised for her role in creation ("God by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding, he established the heavens" – Proverbs 3:19). God acquired her before all else, and through her, he gave order to chaos ("When [God] established

1575-498: The "words of the wise" sayings, which are longer than the Solomonic "sayings" but shorter and more diverse than the "instructions." The first section ( chapters 1–9 ) comprises an initial invitation to young men to take up the course of wisdom, ten "instructions", and five poems on personified Woman Wisdom. Verses 1:1-7 constitute an introduction to the whole of this section. Proverbs 10:1–22:16, with 375 sayings, consists of two parts,

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1650-503: The 26th regnal year. Hezekiah was the son of king Ahaz and Abijah (also called Abi), daughter of the high priest Zechariah. Hezekiah married Hephzibah and died from natural causes at the age of 54 around 687 BCE and was succeeded by his son Manasseh . According to the biblical narrative, Hezekiah assumed the throne of Judah at the age of 25 and reigned for 29 years. Some writers have proposed that Hezekiah served as coregent with his father Ahaz for about 14 years. His sole reign

1725-473: The 701 BCE invasion of Judah. A Neo-Babylonian letter corroborates with the biblical account, a sentiment from Sennacherib's sons to assassinate him, an event Assyriologists have reconstructed as historical. The son Arda-Mulissu , who is mentioned in the letter as killing anyone who would reveal his conspiracy, murdered his father in c. 681 BCE, and was most likely the Adrammelech in 2 Kings , though Sharezer

1800-492: The Assyrians. Later in his life, Hezekiah was ill with a boil or an inflammation. Isaiah told him that the Lord said he should put his house in order because he would die. But Hezekiah prayed, and Isaiah returned saying that the Lord had heard his prayer and he would recover. Hezekiah asked for a sign, and Isaiah asked him whether the shadow should go forward ten degrees or go back ten degrees. Hezekiah said it should go back, and

1875-547: The Bible state that Sennacherib's army besieged Jerusalem . According to the biblical record, Sennacherib sent threatening letters warning Hezekiah that he had not desisted from his determination to take the Judean capital. Although they besieged Jerusalem, the biblical accounts state that the Assyrians did not so much as "shoot an arrow there, ... nor cast up a siege rampart against it", and that God sent out an angel who, in one night, struck down "a hundred and eighty-five thousand in

1950-687: The Bible, among the world's oldest, has survived and is still used in the liturgy of the Armenian Church. The Armenian Church remembers Holy Translators on the Feast of the Holy Translators in October. Churches of Holy Translators are established in Armenia and different diaspora communities (USA, Iran etc.). According to Dennis Papazian, "the Holy Translators are highly revered in the Armenian church. Many of

2025-504: The Book of Proverbs Hezekiah Hezekiah ( / ˌ h ɛ z ɪ ˈ k aɪ . ə / ; Biblical Hebrew : חִזְקִיָּהוּ ‎ , romanized:  Ḥizqiyyāhu ), or Ezekias (born c.  741 BCE , sole ruler c.  716/15–687/86 ), was the son of Ahaz and the thirteenth king of Judah according to the Hebrew Bible . In the Biblical narrative, Hezekiah witnessed

2100-522: The Colossians calls Jesus "...image of the invisible God, first-born of all creation...", while the Gospel of John identifies him with the creative word ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"). In the 4th century, when Christianity was caught up in heresies and still developing the creeds which would define its beliefs, Proverbs 8:22 was used both to support and refute

2175-472: The Lord!"), wisdom appeals to human reason and observation. The pre-Exilic (i.e. pre-586 BC) Old Testament allowed no equals to YHWH in heaven, despite the continued existence of an assembly of subordinate servant-deities . The post-Exilic writers of the Wisdom tradition developed the idea that Wisdom existed before creation and was used by God to create the universe: "Present from the beginning, Wisdom assumes

2250-520: The account states, "Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz ." The narrative of his sickness and miraculous recovery is found in 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles and Isaiah. Various ambassadors came to congratulate him on his recovery, among them from Merodach-baladan , son of the king of Babylon , "for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick". Hezekiah, his vanity flattered by

2325-619: The assumptions of the "wise". Noteworthy also is the fact that the "mighty acts of God" ( the Exodus , the giving of the Torah at Sinai, the Covenant between God and Israel, etc.) which make up Israel's history are completely or almost completely absent from Proverbs and the other Wisdom books: in contrast to the other books of the Hebrew Bible, which appeal to divine revelation for their authority ("Thus says

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2400-896: The best-documented events of the Iron Age" (172). Hezekiah's story is one of the best to cross-reference with the rest of the Mid Eastern world's historical documents. A lintel inscription , found over the doorway of a tomb, has been ascribed to his secretary, Shebnah. Storage jars with the so-called " LMLK seal " may "demonstrate careful preparations to counter Sennacherib's likely route of invasion" and show "a notable degree of royal control of towns and cities which would facilitate Hezekiah's destruction of rural sacrificial sites and his centralization of worship in Jerusalem". Evidence suggests they were used throughout his 29-year reign. There are some bullae from sealed documents that may have belonged to Hezekiah himself. In 2015, Eilat Mazar discovered

2475-471: The biblical record and shows that Sennacherib made no claim that he captured Jerusalem. However, Sennacherib presents the matter of Hezekiah's paying tribute as having come after the Assyrian threat of a siege against Jerusalem, whereas the Bible states it was paid before. Herodotus mentions the Assyrian army of Sennacherib being overrun by mice when attacking Egypt. Josephus gives a quote of Berossus that

2550-433: The biblical view posits that a defeat was caused by "possibly an outbreak of the bubonic plague". Another that this is a composite text which makes use of a 'legendary motif' analogous to that of the Exodus story. The Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484 BCE – c. 425 BCE) wrote of the invasion and acknowledges many Assyrian deaths, which he claims were the result of a plague of mice. The Jewish historian Josephus followed

2625-409: The camp of the Assyrians," sending Sennacherib back "with shame of face to his own land". Sennacherib's inscriptions make no mention of the disaster suffered by his forces. But, as Professor Jack Finegan comments: "In view of the general note of boasting which pervades the inscriptions of the Assyrian kings, ... it is hardly to be expected that Sennacherib would record such a defeat." The version of

2700-507: The celebration of the Passover. The messengers were scorned, although a few men of the tribes of Asher , Manasseh and Zebulun "were humble enough to come" to the city. According to the biblical account, the Passover was celebrated with great solemnity and such rejoicing as had not been seen in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon . The celebration took place during the second month, Iyar , because not enough priests had consecrated themselves in

2775-630: The city from a spring outside its walls. He made at least two major preparations that would help Jerusalem to resist conquest: the construction of the Siloam Tunnel , and construction of the Broad Wall . Sennacherib was intent on making war against Jerusalem. Therefore, Hezekiah consulted with his officers about stopping the flow of the springs outside the city. Otherwise, they thought, the King of Assyria would come and find water in abundance. The narratives of

2850-671: The claims of the Arians . The Arians, assuming that Christ could be equated with the "Wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24), argued that the Son, like Wisdom, was "created", and therefore subordinate to the Creator; their opponents, who argued that the relevant Hebrew word should be translated as "begot", won the debate, and the Nicene Creed declared that the Son was "begotten, not made", meaning that God and Christ were consubstantial . Online translations of

2925-450: The common ground shared by international wisdom. The wisdom literature of Israel may have been developed in the family, the royal court, and houses of learning and instruction; nevertheless, the overwhelming impression is of instruction within the family in small villages. Along with the other examples of the biblical wisdom tradition – Job and Ecclesiastes and some other writings – Proverbs raises questions of values, moral behavior,

3000-472: The course of actual excavations. Archaeological findings like the Hezekiah seal led scholars to surmise that the ancient Judahite kingdom had a highly developed administrative system. In 2018 Mazar published a report discussing the discovery of a bulla which she says may have to have belonged to Isaiah. She believes the fragment to have been part of a seal whose complete text might have read "Belonging to Isaiah

3075-516: The destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel by the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Sargon II in c.  722 BCE . He was king of Judah during the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib in 701 BCE. Hezekiah enacted sweeping religious reforms, including a strict mandate for the sole worship of Yahweh and a prohibition on venerating other deities within the First Temple . He

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3150-448: The doors of the Temple in Jerusalem to produce the promised amount, but, even after the payment was made, Sennacherib renewed his assault on Jerusalem. Sennacherib surrounded the city and sent his Rabshakeh to the walls as a messenger. The Rabshakeh addressed the soldiers manning the city wall, asking them to distrust Yahweh and Hezekiah, claiming that Hezekiah's righteous reforms (destroying

3225-518: The fall of Samaria happened in Hezekiah's 6th year of reign, implying that he would have become king in ca. 727 BCE. Nadav Na'aman argues that several late 8th century BCE seal impressions from the Kaufman collection, which mention some places later detroyed during Sennacherib's invasion and thus predate this event, corroborate this date as the inscriptions in the seal impressions include dates that go up to

3300-425: The first month. Biblical writer H. P. Mathys suggests that Hezekiah, being unable to restore the union of Judah and Israel by political means, used the invitation to the northern tribes as a final religious "attempt to restore the unity of the cult". He notes that this account "is often considered to contain historically reliable elements, especially since negative aspects are also reported on", although he questions

3375-450: The first part (10–14) contrasting the wise man and the fool (or the righteous and the wicked), the second (15–22:16) addressing wise and foolish speech. Verse 22:17 opens ‘the words of the wise’, until verse 24:22, with short moral discourses on various subjects. An additional section of sayings which "also belong to the wise" follows in verses 24:23-34. Chapters 25–29, attributed to the editorial activity of "the men of Hezekiah ", contrast

3450-414: The full extent to which it may be considered historically reliable. After the death of Assyrian king Sargon II in 705 BCE, Sargon's son Sennacherib became king of Assyria. In 703 BCE, Sennacherib began a series of major campaigns to quash opposition to Assyrian rule, starting with cities in the eastern part of the realm. In 701 BCE, Sennacherib turned toward cities in the west. Hezekiah then had to face

3525-510: The heavens… when he drew a circle on the face of the Deeps … when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him" – Proverbs 8:27–31). Since humans have life and prosperity by conforming to the order of creation, seeking wisdom is the essence and goal of the religious life. Wisdom, or the wise person, is compared and contrasted with foolishness or the fool, meaning one who is lacking in wisdom and uninterested in instruction, not one who

3600-451: The human condition, although there is no discussion of ontology , epistemology , metaphysics , and the other abstract issues raised by the Greeks. The rabbinic college almost excluded the Book of Proverbs from the Bible in the late first century. They did this because of its contradictions (the result of the book's origins as not just an anthology but an anthology of anthologies). The reader

3675-400: The idols and high places ) were a sign that the people should not trust their god to be favorably disposed. 2 Kings records that Hezekiah went to the Temple and there he prayed to God. Knowing that Jerusalem would eventually be subject to siege, Hezekiah had been preparing for some time by fortifying the walls of the capital, building towers, and constructing a tunnel to bring fresh water to

3750-406: The invasion of Judah. According to the Bible, Hezekiah did not rely on Egypt for support, but relied on God and prayed to Him for deliverance of his capital city Jerusalem. The Assyrians recorded that Sennacherib lifted his siege of Jerusalem after Hezekiah paid Sennacherib tribute. The Bible records that Hezekiah paid him three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold as tribute, even sending

3825-466: The just and the wicked and broach the topic of rich and poor. Chapter 30:1-4, the "sayings of Agur", introduces creation, divine power, and human ignorance. Chapter 31, "the sayings of King Lemuel — an inspired utterance his mother taught him", describes a virtuous woman, a wife of noble character. It is impossible to offer precise dates for the sayings in Proverbs, a "collection of collections" relating to

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3900-412: The life of her son Hezekiah, whom her godless husband, Ahaz, had designed as an offering to Moloch . By anointing him with the blood of the salamander , she enabled him to pass through the fire of Moloch unscathed (Sanh. 63b). Hezekiah is considered as the model of those who put their trust in the Lord. Only during his sickness did he waver in his hitherto unshaken trust and require a sign, for which he

3975-582: The matter that Sennacherib presents, as found inscribed on what is known as the Sennacherib Prism preserved in the University of Chicago Oriental Institute , in part says: "As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to my yoke ... Hezekiah himself ... did send me, later, to Nineveh, my lordly city, together with 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, ..." This version inflates the number of silver talents sent from 300 to 800. In other regards, it confirms

4050-413: The meaning of human life, and right conduct, and its theological foundation is that "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." Wisdom is personified and praised for her role in creation; God acquired her before all else and gave order to chaos through her. As humans have life and prosperity by conforming to the order of creation, seeking wisdom is the essence and goal of life. The book of Proverbs

4125-433: The meaning of human life, and righteous conduct. The three retain an ongoing relevance for both religious and secular readers, Job and Ecclesiastes through the boldness of their dissent from received tradition, Proverbs in its worldliness and satiric shrewdness. Wisdom is as close as biblical literature comes to Greek philosophy, of which it was a contemporary; it shares with the Greeks an inquiry into values and reflections on

4200-399: The night, the angel of YHWH (Hebrew: יהוה) brought death to 185,000 Assyrians troops, forcing the army to abandon the siege, yet it also records a tribute paid to Sennacherib of 300 silver talents following the siege. There is no account of the supernatural event in the prism. Sennacherib's account records his levying of a tribute from Hezekiah, a payment of 800 silver talents, which suggests

4275-430: The period. The annals record a list of booty sent from Jerusalem to Nineveh. In the inscription, Sennacherib claims that Hezekiah accepted servitude, and some theorize that Hezekiah remained on his throne as a vassal ruler. The campaign is recorded with differences in the Assyrian records and in the biblical Books of Kings ; there is agreement that the Assyrian have a propensity for exaggeration. One theory that takes

4350-404: The prophet." Several other biblical archaeologists, including George Washington University's Christopher Rollston have pointed to the bulla being incomplete, and the present inscription not enough to necessarily refer to the biblical figure. According to the work of archaeologists and philologists, the reign of Hezekiah saw a notable increase in the power of the Judean state. At this time Judah

4425-408: The reign of Hezekiah in the late 8th century BCE. Chapters 30 and 31 (the "words of Agur," the "words of Lemuel," and the description of the ideal woman) are a set of appendices, quite different in style and emphasis from the previous chapters. The "wisdom" genre was widespread throughout the ancient Near East , and reading Proverbs alongside the examples recovered from Egypt and Mesopotamia reveals

4500-450: The role of master builder while God establishes the heavens, restricts the chaotic waters, and shapes the mountains and fields." Borrowing ideas from Greek philosophers who held that reason bound the universe together, the Wisdom tradition taught that God's Wisdom, Word and Spirit were the ground of cosmic unity. Christianity in turn adopted these ideas and applied them to Jesus: the Epistle to

4575-464: The second-most important city of the kingdom of Judah . During the revolt of king Hezekiah against Assyria , it was captured by Sennacherib despite determined resistance (see Siege of Lachish ). As the Lachish relief attests, Sennacherib began his siege of the city of Lachish in 701 BCE. The Lachish Relief graphically depicts the battle, and the defeat of the city, including Assyrian archers marching up

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4650-573: The title took on different forms: in the Greek Septuagint (LXX), it became Παροιμίαι ( Paroimiai , "Proverbs"); in the Latin Vulgate , the title was Proverbia —from which the English name is derived. Proverbs is not merely an anthology but a "collection of collections" relating to a pattern of life that lasted for more than a millennium. It is an example of Biblical wisdom literature and raises questions about values, moral behavior,

4725-416: The tunnel, met each other" (564). It is "[o]ne of the most important ancient Hebrew inscriptions ever discovered." Finkelstein and Mazar cite this tunnel as an example of Jerusalem's impressive state-level power at the time. Archaeologists like William G. Dever have pointed at archaeological evidence for the iconoclasm during the period of Hezekiah's reign. The central cult room of the temple at Arad ,

4800-563: The visit, showed the Babylonian embassy all the wealth, arms and stores of Jerusalem, revealing too much information to Baladan , king of Babylon, or perhaps boasting about his wealth. He was then confronted by Isaiah, who foretold that a future generation of the people of Judah would be taken as captives to Babylon . Hezekiah was reassured that his own lifetime would see peace and security. According to Isaiah, Hezekiah lived another 15 years after praying to God. His son and successor, Manasseh,

4875-557: The works translated have since been lost in their Greek or Syriac original, but have been preserved in the Armenian." Book of Proverbs The Book of Proverbs ( Hebrew : מִשְלֵי , Mišlê ; Greek : Παροιμίαι ; Latin : Liber Proverbiorum , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim ) of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament traditionally ascribed to King Solomon and his students. When translated into Greek and Latin,

4950-523: The worship of God at the Temple in Jerusalem. Hezekiah also defeated the Philistines , "as far as Gaza and its territory", and resumed the Passover pilgrimage and the tradition of inviting the scattered tribes of Israel to take part in a Passover festival. 2 Chronicles 30, but not the parallel account in 2 Kings, records that Hezekiah sent messengers to Ephraim and Manasseh inviting them to Jerusalem for

5025-428: The writings of Herodotus. These historians record Sennacherib's failure to take Jerusalem as "uncontested". The Talmud (Bava Batra 15a) credits Hezekiah with overseeing the compilation of the biblical books of Isaiah, Proverbs, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. According to Jewish tradition, the victory over the Assyrians and Hezekiah's return to health happened at the same time, the first night of Passover. Abi saved

5100-424: Was a virtual city-state where the majority of the state's population was concentrated," in comparison to the rest of Judah's cities (167). Archaeologist Israel Finkelstein says, "The key phenomenon—which cannot be explained solely against the background of economic prosperity—was the sudden growth of the population of Jerusalem in particular, and of Judah in general" (153). He says the cause of this growth must be

5175-654: Was blamed by Isaiah (Lam. R. i.). The Hebrew name "Ḥizḳiyyah" is considered by the Talmudists to be a surname, meaning either "strengthened by Yhwh" or "he who made a firm alliance between the Israelites and Yhwh"; his eight other names are enumerated in Isa. ix. 5 (Sanh. 94a). He is called the restorer of the study of the Law in the schools, and is said to have planted a sword at the door of the bet ha-midrash , declaring that he who would not study

5250-640: Was born during this time: he was 12 years of age when he succeeded Hezekiah. According to the Talmud , the disease came about because of a dispute between him and Isaiah over who should pay whom a visit and over Hezekiah's refusal to marry and have children, although in the end he married Isaiah's daughter. Some Talmudists also considered that it might have come about as a way for Hezekiah to purge his sins or due to his arrogance in assuming his righteousness. Extra-biblical sources specify Hezekiah by name, along with his reign and influence. "Historiographically, his reign

5325-584: Was chiseled through 533 meters (1,750 feet) of solid rock in order to provide Jerusalem underground access to the waters of the Gihon Spring or Siloam Pool , which lay outside the city. The Siloam Inscription from the Siloam Tunnel is now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum . It "commemorates the dramatic moment when the two original teams of tunnelers, digging with picks from opposite ends of

5400-519: Was found buried in the foundations of the Nineveh palace. It was written in cuneiform , the Mesopotamian form of writing of the day. The prism records the conquest of 46 strong towns and "uncountable smaller places," along with the siege of Jerusalem where Sennacherib says he just "shut him up ... like a bird in a cage," subsequently enforcing a larger tribute upon him. The Hebrew Bible states that during

5475-463: Was probably the last to be composed, in the Persian or Hellenistic periods. This section has parallels to prior cuneiform writings. The second, chapters 10–22:16, carries the superscription "the proverbs of Solomon", which may have encouraged its inclusion in the Hebrew canon. The third unit, 22:17–24:22, is headed "bend your ear and hear the words of the wise". A large part of this section is a recasting of

5550-516: Was the strongest nation on the Assyrian–Egyptian frontier. There were increases in literacy and in the production of literary works. The massive construction of the Broad Wall was made during his reign, the city was enlarged to accommodate a large influx, and population increased in Jerusalem up to 25,000, "five times the population under Solomon." Archaeologist Amihai Mazar explains, "Jerusalem

5625-479: Was under siege by Sennacherib of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Based on Edwin R. Thiele 's dating, Hezekiah was born in c. 741 BCE and died in c. 687 BCE at age 54. Thiele and William F. Albright calculated his regnal years arriving at figures very close to each other, c. 715/16 and 686/87 BCE . However, Robb Andrew Young dates his reign to 725–696 BCE and Gershon Galil to 726–697/6. The Bible states that

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