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Hezekiah's Reign: Old Testament Narrative in Three Dimensions
A Synoptic Study of II Kings 18-20, Isaiah 36-39, and II Chronicles 29-32
A Paper Read at the ETS Annual Meeting (November 2005)
Copyright © 2005, by Ellis R. Brotzman
Professor of Old Testament
Tyndale Theological Seminary
The Netherlands
Introduction
The synoptic study of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke is a well-known and
fruitful area of New Testament studies. The Old Testament has no equivalent area of study at
the level of OT books, but there is the case of three parallel narratives of the reign of
Hezekiah. A historical account of this important Judean king is found in II Kings 18-20,
Isaiah 36-39, and II Chronicles 29-32. Most commentaries focus their energies on the account
of whatever OT book is being commented on, but they give only passing attention to the
parallel accounts. Walter Brueggemann, for example, states that "[c]hapters 18-20 of 2 Kings