‘They will take away some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will father; and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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‘They will take away some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will father; and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
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And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
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And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be officers in the palace of the king of Babylon.'
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to 2 Kings 20:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Chronicles 33:11 Therefore Yahweh brought on them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
- 2 Kings 24:12 and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers; and the king of Babylon captured him in the eighth year of his reign.
- Daniel 1:3 The king spoke to Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in some of the children of Israel, even of the royal offspring and of the nobles;
- 2 Kings 25:6 Then they captured the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they passed judgment on him.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Ki 20:18 And of thy sons that shall issue…
2Ki 20:18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
Ver. 18. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee.] A heavy judgment on so good a man, on so light an offence, as some would think. But these spiritual lusts, as pride, carnal confidence, self-flattery, presumption, &c., in the saints, are great provocations, as lying more up in the heart of the country. Let us be wise by others’ woes; setting a memorandum on God’s punishments, and marking his spits with our stars.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Which thou shalt beget, i.e. of thy grandchildren, who…
Which thou shalt beget, i.e. of thy grandchildren, who are oft called sons. They shall be servants to that heathen monarch, whereby both their bodies will be subject to slavery, and the lusts of their lords, and their souls exposed to the peril of idolatry, and all sorts of wickedness; which must needs be very grievous to so good a man as Hezekiah, and was indeed a very sore judgment; whereby God would teach the world the great evil of sin, yea, even of those sins which are generally esteemed but small and venial; for such were those sins of Hezekiah, noted upon 2Ki 20:17.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Thy sons - Of thy grand-children. Eunuchs - They…
Thy sons - Of thy grand-children. Eunuchs - They shall be servants to that heathen monarch, whereby both their bodies will be subject to slavery, and their souls exposed to the peril of idolatry, and all sorts of wickedness.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. They shall be eunuchs] Perhaps this means…
Verse 18. They shall be eunuchs] Perhaps this means no more than that they should become household servants to the kings of Babylon. See the fulfillment, 2Kg 24:13-15, and Da 1:1-3.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 2Ki 20:18. And of thy sons, &c. — Thy…
2Ki 20:18. And of thy sons, &c. — Thy grand-children, who are often called sons. They shall be eunuchs, &c. — They shall be servants to that heathen monarch, whereby both their bodies will be subject to slavery, and their souls exposed to the peril of idolatry, and all sorts of wickedness. This was a very sore judgment, and by it God would teach the world the great evil of sin; yea, even of those sins which are generally esteemed but small or venial.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain This prophecy had two fulfillments, each complementary to the…
This prophecy had two fulfillments, each complementary to the other. Manasseh, Hezekiah’s actual son, was “carried to Babylon” 2Ch 33:11, but did not become a eunuch in the palace. Daniel and others, not his actual sons, but of the royal seed Dan 1:3, and therefore Hezekiah’s descendants, are thought by some to have literally fulfilled the latter part of the prophecy, being eunuchs in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Eunuchs; servants, Daniel i. 3. We only read of…
Eunuchs; servants, Daniel i. 3. We only read of Manasses, who was taken to Babylon. (Calmet) --- But he might have many brothers, who might be reduced to a menial condition; (Salien) as the text seems to refer to the immediate sons of Ezechias. (Haydock) --- It may, however, be explained of his descendants. (Menochius) (Chap. xxiv. 12.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 18. Thy sons — Thy descendants. For the fulfilment…
18. Thy sons — Thy descendants. For the fulfilment of this prophecy, see 2Ki_24:11-16; 2Ki_25:1-21.
They shall be eunuchs — They shall serve the king of Babylon in all those offices in which eunuchs were accustomed to serve. The word need not be pressed in its most literal sense to signify that all the Jewish captives who thus served would be castrated, for many would serve, like Daniel and his companions, (Dan_1:3-7,) who were not eunuchs in the stricter sense.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 18. thy sons … shall they take away] This…
18. thy sons … shall they take away] This came to pass in the case of Manasseh, Hezekiah’s own son (2Ch_33:11), who was carried as a prisoner to Babylon. That was, however, but the beginning of the sorrows to which this prophecy of Isaiah looked forward.
in the palace of the king of Babylon] Examples of Jews chosen for menial duties in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon are found in Dan_1:6.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (18) Thy sons . . . beget—i.e., thy descendants.…
(18) Thy sons . . . beget—i.e., thy descendants. Comp, the fulfilment (Dan_1:3). Ewald refers to the captivity of Hezekiah’s own son Manasseh (2Ch_33:11).
Eunuchs.—Rather, courtiers, palace attendants (so Josephus). Cheyne, “chamberlains” (so Thenius: kämmerer).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And of thy sons that shall issue from thee,…
And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget. Under "sons" are included by the Hebrew idiom all descendants, however remote (Pusey"s "Lectures on Daniel," pp. 406-409). The princes carried off from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar were Hezekiah"s descendants, either in the fourth or the fifth generation. Shall they take away. Among the descendants of Hezekiah taken to Babyon by Nebuchadnezzar were Jehoiachin (2Ki_24:15) Zedekiah, (2Ki_25:7) Daniel, (Dan_1:3) and others. And they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon. Keil and Bahr translate in this place by "chamberlains" or "footmen;" but there is no reason why the word should not have its ordinary sense of "eunuchs". (see the Septuagint esontai eujnoucoi, and for the fulfillment, comp. Dan_1:3-18)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain they shall
they shall
Fulfilled. Dan 1:3.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 20:18 Some of your very own sons will be…
20:18 Some of your very own sons will be taken: Hezekiah’s son Manasseh was taken as a prisoner to Babylon (2 Chr 33:11-13). This prophecy found ultimate fulfillment in Hezekiah’s descendants during the Babylonian deportations of 605 BC (see 2 Kgs 24:1 and corresponding study note; Dan 1:1-7), 597 BC (2 Kgs 24:10-12; 2 Chr 36:10), and 586 BC (2 Kgs 25:5-7; 2 Chr 36:20; Jer 39:1-7; 52:4-15).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.