Keri, as being the more difficult reading. סריסים, chamberlains, courtiers, not necessarily eunuchs, as in 1Sa 8:15, etc. - For the fulfilment of this threat see Dan 1:2.
Verse 19
The first part of Hezekiah’s reply, “Good is the word of Jehovah, which thou hast spoken,” is an expression of submission to the will of the Lord, like Eli’s answer in 1Sa 3:18 (cf. 1Ki 2:38, 1Ki 2:42);[1] the second part, which the repetition of ויּאמר shows to have been spoken after a pause, and which was not addressed directly to Isaiah, “Is it not so (i.e., is it not purely goodness), if there are to be peace and truth in my days (during my life)?” is a candid acknowledgment of the grace and truth of the Lord.[2] הלוא is used, as is frequently the case, in the sense of a lively affirmation. Instead of אם הלוא we have in Isaiah כּי, “for there will be peace and truth,” by which this clause is attached more clearly to the first declaration as a reason for it: the word of the Lord is good, for the Lord proves His goodness and truth in the fact, that He will not inflict the merited punishment in my lifetime. “Peace and truth” are connected as in Jer 33:6. אמת does not mean continuance (Ges.), security (Knobel), but fides, faithfulness-not human faithfulness, however, which preserves peace, and observes a tacit treaty (Hitzig), but the faithfulness of God, which preserves the promised grace to the humble.
Verses 20-21
Close of Hezekiah’s reign. - On the basin (בּרכח) and the aqueduct constructed by him, see at 2Ki 18:17.
- ↑ “He calls that good in which it is right to acquiesce, as having proceeded from Him who does nothing but what is not only most just, but tempered with the greatest goodness, even when He inflicts punishment.” - Clericus.
- ↑ “He praises the moderation of the divine decree, because when God, in accordance with His justice, might have brought this calamity upon him in his own person, for His mercy’s sake He was willing to spare him and to put off the evil to a future day.” - Vitringa.
