Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 32:31

"Howbeit in [the business of] the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart." — 2 Chronicles 32:31 (ASV)

However. —Literally, And thus; that is, when things were so prosperous for him. In the midst of Hezekiah’s prosperity, God left him for a moment to himself, to put him to the test.

The princes of Babylon. —This is the same vague plural which we have already noticed in 2 Chronicles 28:16, 2 Chronicles 30:6, and 2 Chronicles 32:4 (see above). The king who “sent letters and a present” to Hezekiah, with congratulations on his recovery from sickness and overtures of alliance against the common enemy, Assyria, was Merodach-baladan (Maruduk-abla-iddina, “Merodach gave a son”). (See the account in 2 Kings 20:12 and following; Isaiah 39:1 and following).

Who sent to him to inquire about the wonder (Hebrew, the sign, as in 2 Chronicles 32:24).—This is not mentioned in the parallel passage of Kings and Isaiah. But such an inquiry is quite in harmony with what we know of the Babylonians from their own monuments. Babylon was the home of the arts of divination and augury, from observation of all kinds of signs and portents in every department of nature. Moreover, the sign given to Hezekiah would have a special interest for the astrologers and astronomers of the Babylonian temple-towers.

God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart. —“To try,” the same word as “to tempt” (Isaiah 7:12; Psalms 95:9; and often).

That he might know —that is, in order to bring out and make manifest the latent possibilities of Hezekiah’s character. The Searcher of hearts knew the outcome beforehand. We can, however, only understand His dealings with humanity through human analogies. For instance, a chemist subjects an imperfectly known substance to various conditions to ascertain its nature and properties. This remark is peculiar to the Chronicler.