Merodach-Baladan:
Merodach has given a son, (Isa 39:1), "the hereditary chief of the Chaldeans, a small tribe at that time settled in the marshes at the mouth of the Euphrates, but in consequence of his conquest of Babylon afterwards, they became the dominant caste in Babylonia itself." One bearing this name sent ambassadors to Hezekiah (B.C. 721). He is also called Berodach-baladan (2Ki 20:12; 2Ch 20:31). (See HEZEKIAH.)
Merodach-Baladan:
bitter contrition, without judgment
Merodach-Baladan:
me-ro'-dak-bal'-a-dan, mer'-o-dak-b. (mero'dhakh bal'adhan; Marodach Baladan): The son of Baladan, is mentioned in Isa 39:1, as a king of Babylon who sent an embassy to Hezekiah, king of Judah, apparently shortly after the latter's illness, in order to congratulate him on his recovery of health, and to make with him an offensive and defensive alliance. This Merodach-baladan was a king of the Chaldeans of the house of Yakin, and was the most dangerous and inveterate foe of Sargon and his son Sennacherib, kings of Assyria, with whom he long and bitterly contested the possession of Babylon and the surrounding provinces. Merodach-Baladan seems to have seized Babylon immediately after the death of Shalmaneser in 721 BC; and it was not till the 12th year of his reign that Sargon succeeded in ousting him. From that time down to the 8th campaign of Sennacherib, Sargon and his son pursued with relentless animosity Merodach-Baladan and his family until at last his son Nabushumishkun was captured and the whole family of Merodach-Baladan was apparently destroyed. According to the monuments, therefore, it was from a worldly point of view good politics for Hezekiah and his western allies to come to an understanding with Merodach-Baladan and the Arameans, Elamites, and others, who were confederated with him. From a strategical point of view, the weakness of the allied powers consisted in the fact that the Arabian desert lay between the eastern and western members of the confederacy, so that the Assyrian kings were able to attack their enemies when they pleased and to defeat them in detail.
Written by R. Dick Wilson
Merodach-Baladan: Names Of
Called Berodach-Baladan, King of Persia
Merodach-Baladan: Sends Congratulatory Letters and a Present
To Hezekiah,
2Ki 20:12; Isa 39:1.
Hezekiah:
whom Jehovah has strengthened. (1.) Son of Ahaz (2Ki 18:1; 2Ch 29:1), whom he succeeded on the throne of the kingdom of Judah. He reigned twenty-nine years (B.C. 726-697). The history of this king is contained in 2Ki 18:20, Isa. 36-39, and 2 Chr. 29-32. He is spoken of as a great and good king. In public life he followed the example of his great-granfather Uzziah. He set himself to abolish idolatry from his kingdom, and among other things which he did for this end, he destroyed the "brazen serpent," which had been removed to Jerusalem, and had become an object of idolatrous worship (Num 21:9). A great reformation was wrought in the kingdom of Judah in his day (2Ki 18:4; 2Ch 29:3-36).
On the death of Sargon and the accession of his son Sennacherib to the throne of Assyria, Hezekiah refused to pay the tribute which his father had paid, and "rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not," but entered into a league with Egypt (Isa 30; 31; 36:6-9). This led to the invasion of Judah by Sennacherib (2Ki 18:13-16), who took forty cities, and besieged Jerusalem with mounds. Hezekiah yielded to the demands of the Assyrian king, and agreed to pay him three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold (18:14).
But Sennacherib dealt treacherously with Hezekiah (Isa 33:1), and a second time within two years invaded his kingdom (2Ki 18:17; 2Ch 32:9; Isa 36). This invasion issued in the destruction of Sennacherib's army. Hezekiah prayed to God, and "that night the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000 men." Sennacherib fled with the shattered remnant of his forces to Nineveh, where, seventeen years after, he was assassinated by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer (2Ki 19:37). (See SENNACHERIB.)
The narrative of Hezekiah's sickness and miraculous recovery is found in 2Ki 20:1, 2Ch 32:24, Isa 38:1. Various ambassadors came to congratulate him on his recovery, and among them Merodach-baladan, the viceroy of Babylon (2Ch 32:23; 2Ki 20:12). He closed his days in peace and prosperity, and was succeeded by his son Manasseh. He was buried in the "chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David" (2Ch 32:27-33). He had "after him none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him" (2Ki 18:5). (See ISAIAH.)
He is a cross pendant.
He is engraved with a unique Number.
He will mail it out from Jerusalem.
He will be sent to your Side.
Emmanuel
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