HEZ'EKI'AH filch. Ehit-kiyah, Yahweh is my strength). King of .itulah, son of Alutz.
His reign may be approximately fixed is ex tending from B.C. 720 to 691. Ile ascended the throne at 1111 ea rly age—probably less than twenty—and appears to lime 41'1'11 early in Iliteneed by the di-eonr-es of the prophet Isaiah, through whom he Was n14111'4'11 '11 II-1111W from the cult at Jerusalem certain practiei s. such as the worship of the 1)1'11/P11 'Teat, 1 11. ling: Neiii. 3, II. but little authentic in formation a hfalt The 111014 Ilt ,sent Was all 111V?sn't' of by hgss.I, king of e.7111 o.c. itlt the help of the cuneiform annals of Semuteherib we can obtain a tolerably clear idea of this campaign. tellielt seas undertaken to offset the elforts 0f Ilabyliatiita and lialtleatt chieftains like (et. II. King: xx. 12-191 to m?l:e alliances with nations to the west whom Assyria claimed as vassals. Ilezekiali and other rulers, such as the chiefs of the Philistine:. of Edoni and INIoab_ had actually promised Alero (tacit-13;11:1.1ml aid in making Babylon independent of .\--yria. Senn:whet-lb, after overthrowing 3ferollaielt Italailan. priweeds 10 wrs1 t II wreak VI'llp.:11111' 011 111.1.(4:1?11 :111(1 11'S ttllie,. Ife site-• reeds in quelling the uprising, and remove: those who had shown themselves faithless to him. Sennacherib advances within a few miles of dent salem, but V.N.ftet hug a heavy tribute. with capturing the Judean capital (11. Kings xviii, 13; xix. 36). This deliverance is
said to be due to the 'angel of the 'Lord,' who 'smiles' the .kssyrian camp ( II. Kings xix, 35), The traditional interpretation of the passage makes it refer to a pestilence. The more probable reason for the
was the receipt of news from 'Mint' I
Paibylonian province which obliged Sennaeherili to return to his land, content with having one,. more made his authori is in the west. It is hardly likely that after this Ilezekiali ventured on any cam paigns, so that the aceount (11. Kings XVIII. tit of a sueeessful conflict with the Philistines is probably to be placed at the beginning of his reign. From certain not lees (e.g. Provarbs \Xs%) it. would appear that in his days considerable literary activity prevailed, though it is highly improbable that the King himself wrote any thing. The song in Isaiah X X '
H. H. The initials denoting the authorship of Helen Illint, a/c Vi,ke. See IIELEN I'. II.