2 Kings 20:12 (DRB)

Passage

At that time Berodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of the Babylonians, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had heard that Ezechias had been sick.

Nearby Context

2 Kings 20:10 And Ezechias said: It is an easy matter for the shadow to go forward ten lines: and I do not desire that this be done, but let it return back ten degrees.

2 Kings 20:11 And Isaias, the prophet, called upon the Lord, and he brought the shadow ten degrees backwards by the lines, by which it had already gone down on the dial of Achaz.

2 Kings 20:12 At that time Berodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of the Babylonians, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had heard that Ezechias had been sick.

2 Kings 20:13 And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he shewed them the house of his aromatical spices, and the gold, and the silver, and divers precious odours, and ointments, and the house of his vessels, and all that he had in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominions, that Ezechias shewed them not.

2 Kings 20:14 And Isaias, the prophet, came to king Ezechias, and said to him: What said these men? or from whence came they to thee? And Ezechias said to him: From a far country, they came to me out of Babylon.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "time", "berodach", "baladan", "king", "babylonians", "sent", and "letters". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "time" and "berodach", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And Isaias the prophet called upon the..." into verse 13's "And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming and...", so "time" and "berodach" belong inside that flow. In 2 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "time" and "berodach" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.