Hezekiah
Hezekiah (/ˌhɛzɪˈkaɪ.ə/; Biblical Hebrew: חִזְקִיָּהוּ, romanized: Ḥīzqīyyāhū), or Ezekias (born c. 741 BCE, sole ruler c. 716/15–687/86), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Judah according to the Hebrew Bible.
| Hezekiah | |
|---|---|
King Hezekiah from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum, 1553 | |
| King of Judah | |
| Reign | Uncertain, reign ended c. 687 BCE |
| Predecessor | Ahaz |
| Successor | Manasseh |
| Born | c. 739/41 BCE probably Jerusalem |
| Died | c. 687 BCE (aged 51–54) probably Jerusalem |
| Burial | Jerusalem |
| Spouse | Hephzibah |
| Issue |
|
| House | House of David |
| Father | Ahaz |
| Mother | Abijah (also called Abi) |
In the Biblical narrative, Hezekiah witnessed the destruction of the northern Kingdom of Israel by the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Sargon in c. 722 BCE and 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 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.