When Pride Comes Before the Fall

What’s Isaiah 39 about?

King Hezekiah receives envoys from Babylon and foolishly shows them all his treasures and military secrets. Isaiah confronts him with a devastating prophecy: everything Hezekiah just showed off will be carried away to Babylon, including his own descendants. It’s a masterclass in how pride and poor judgment can sabotage God’s blessings.

The Full Context

Picture this: Hezekiah has just experienced the most dramatic divine rescue in Israel’s history. The Assyrian army—200,000 strong—has been wiped out overnight by an angel. The king himself was miraculously healed from a terminal illness and given fifteen extra years of life. You’d think after all that supernatural intervention, he’d be walking in humble gratitude, right?

Instead, when Babylonian envoys come knocking—ostensibly to congratulate him on his recovery—Hezekiah throws open the palace doors and gives them the grand tour. Every treasure room, every armory, every strategic secret gets displayed like he’s running a museum. It’s the ancient equivalent of posting your vacation photos with geolocation tags while your house sits empty.

This chapter serves as the tragic bridge between God’s miraculous deliverance in Isaiah 38 and the exile prophecies that dominate the rest of the book. Literarily, it’s the moment when the story pivots from rescue to consequence. The same Babylon that seemed like a potential ally becomes the instrument of judgment. Hezekiah’s moment of weakness sets the stage for the greatest catastrophe in Judah’s history—and ironically, the very context that will require an even greater deliverance through the Suffering Servant.

What the Ancient Words Tell Us

The Hebrew word for “showed” in verse 2 is ra’ah, which means more than just “to see.” It’s the same word used when God “showed” Moses the promised land from Mount Nebo. This isn’t casual sightseeing—Hezekiah is giving these Babylonians a comprehensive intelligence briefing.

Grammar Geeks

The phrase “there was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them” uses the Hebrew construction lo’…kol, which is emphatic totality. It’s like saying “absolutely everything without exception.” The repetition drives home just how complete Hezekiah’s indiscretion was.

When Isaiah asks Hezekiah, “What did they see in your house?” the prophet already knows the answer. The Hebrew construction here suggests Isaiah isn’t gathering information—he’s forcing Hezekiah to confront the magnitude of what he’s just done. It’s the ancient equivalent of “Do you realize what you’ve just done?”

What Would the Original Audience Have Heard?

To Hezekiah’s contemporaries, this story would have been a gut punch. Here’s their greatest king since David, the one who cleansed the temple and saw God’s miraculous intervention, making the same mistake that got Israel into trouble time and again: trusting in human alliances instead of divine protection.

Did You Know?

Archaeological evidence from this period shows that Babylon was still a relatively minor power compared to Assyria. These “envoys” were likely intelligence gatherers, assessing Judah’s wealth and defenses for future reference. Hezekiah essentially gave them a complete strategic assessment.

The original audience would have immediately recognized the pattern. Every time Israel tried to play the political game—making alliances with Egypt, Assyria, or now Babylon—it backfired spectacularly. They’d seen this movie before, and they knew how it ended.

But there’s something deeper here too. The Hebrew audience would have caught the irony that Hezekiah, whose name means “Yahweh strengthens,” was looking for strength in all the wrong places. After experiencing God’s power firsthand, he’s still drawn to the glittering promises of human empire.

Wrestling with the Text

Here’s what puzzles me about this passage: Why would Hezekiah, fresh off the most dramatic divine intervention in his nation’s history, immediately turn around and make such a catastrophic error in judgment?

One possibility is that success had gone to his head. The miraculous healing, the additional fifteen years of life, the supernatural military victory—maybe all of that divine favor made him feel untouchable. Perhaps he thought he could handle any situation, even delicate international diplomacy.

“Sometimes the greatest danger comes not from our failures, but from our victories.”

But there’s another angle worth considering. The text mentions these envoys came because they “heard that he had been sick and had recovered.” What if Hezekiah’s pride wasn’t just about showing off his wealth, but about proving he was fully restored? Maybe he was overcompensating, trying to demonstrate that his illness hadn’t weakened him or his kingdom.

How This Changes Everything

Isaiah’s response is swift and devastating. “The time will surely come,” he declares, when everything Hezekiah showed off will be “carried off to Babylon.” Not just the treasures, but his own descendants will serve in the Babylonian palace.

Wait, That’s Strange…

Hezekiah’s response to this prophecy is oddly detached: “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good.” Then he adds, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.” Some scholars see this as repentant acceptance, but it sounds more like relief that the consequences won’t hit during his reign. Not exactly the response you’d expect from a godly king.

This prophecy fundamentally reshapes how we read the rest of Isaiah. From this point forward, the book assumes the exile as historical reality. The comfort passages in chapters 40-66 aren’t written to prevent captivity—they’re written to sustain hope during and after it.

The chapter also introduces us to Babylon not as a distant threat, but as the specific agent of God’s judgment. Every subsequent reference to Babylon in Isaiah carries the weight of this moment when Hezekiah essentially handed them the keys to the kingdom.

Key Takeaway

The same pride that makes us want to showcase our blessings can become the very thing that costs us everything. True security comes not from impressing others with what God has given us, but from walking humbly in dependence on the Giver himself.

Further Reading

Internal Links:

• Isaiah 38:1 – Hezekiah’s illness and healing
• Isaiah 37:36 – The angel destroys the Assyrian army
• 2 Kings 20:12 – Parallel account of Babylonian envoys

External Scholarly Resources:

• The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1–39 (New International Commentary on the Old Testament)
• Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries)
• The Isaiah Targum: Introduction, Translation, Apparatus and Notes

Tags

Isaiah 39:1, Isaiah 39:2, Isaiah 39:6, 2 Kings 20:12, Pride, Judgment, Babylon, Exile, Divine Sovereignty, Political Alliance, Hezekiah, Consequences