Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Kings 18

In the third year - If Hoshea ascended the throne toward the close of the 12th year of Ahaz (2 Kings 17:1), and if Ahaz reigned not much more than 15 years (2 Kings 16:2), the first year of Hezekiah might synchronize in part with Hoshea’s third year.

Hezekiah - The name given by our translators follows the Greek form, Ἐζεκίας Ezekias, rather than the Hebrew, which is Hizkiah. Its meaning is “strength of Yahweh.”

He was twenty-five years old. This statement, combined with that of 2 Kings 16:2, would make it necessary that his father Ahaz married at the age of ten and had a child born to him when he was eleven years old. This is not impossible, but its improbability is so great that most commentators suggest a corruption in some of the numbers.

The Zachariah mentioned here was perhaps one of the “faithful witnesses” of Isaiah 8:2.

He did that which was right ... - This is said without qualification of only three kings of Judah: Asa (1 Kings 15:11), Hezekiah, and Josiah (2 Kings 22:2). See some details of Hezekiah’s acts at the beginning of his reign in 2 Chronicles 29 and following. It is thought that his reformation was preceded, and perhaps caused, by the prophecy of Micah recorded in Jeremiah 26:18 and Micah 3:12.

He removed the high places - This religious reformation was carried out in a violent and tumultuous manner. Although forbidden in the Law (Deuteronomy 12:2–4, 11-14), the “high places” had in practice received the sanction of Samuel (1 Samuel 7:10; 1 Samuel 9:12–14), David (2 Samuel 15:32), Solomon (1 Kings 3:4), and others, and had long been the favorite resorts for most of the people (see 1 Kings 3:2 note). They were the rural centers for the worship of Yahweh, serving the role of the later synagogues, and until now had been tolerated—or rather, regarded as legitimate—even by the best kings. Hezekiah’s desecration of these time-honored sanctuaries must have been a rude shock to many people, and indications of the popular discontent can be traced in the appeal of Rabshakeh (2 Kings 18:22) and in the strength of the reaction under Manasseh (2 Kings 21:2–9; 2 Chronicles 33:3–17).

The bronze serpent - Its history from the time it was set up until Hezekiah’s reformation is a blank. The present passage favors the supposition that it had been brought by Solomon from Gibeon and placed in the temple, as it implies a long-continued worship of the serpent by the Israelites generally, and not merely a recent worship by the people of Judah.

And he called it Nehushtan - Rather, “And it was called Nehushtan.” The people called it not “the serpent” (נחשׁ nāchāsh), but “the brass” or “the brass thing” (נחשׁתן n^echûshtān). They probably did not like to call it “the serpent” because of the dark associations attached to that reptile (Genesis 3:1–15; Isaiah 27:1; Psalms 91:13; etc.).

After him was none like him - The same is said of Josiah (marginal reference). The phrase was probably proverbial and was not taken to mean more than what we mean when we say that such a king was one of singular piety.