Bible Strands
2 Kings 18:3
And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator evaluates King Hezekiah immediately after recording his age, reign length, and maternal lineage in 2 Kings 18:2. This verse functions as a theological verdict on his reign before the text details his specific temple and idol reforms in 2 Kings 18:4.
The words — הַיָּשָׁר (ha-yashar) means "the right" or "uprightness," combined with בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה (be-einei Yahweh), literally "in the eyes of Yahweh." The clause כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה דָוִד (ke-khol asher asah David) translates to "according to all that David had done."
The thread — The phrasing "do what is right in the sight/eyes of the LORD" appears in Deuteronomy 6:18 and Exodus 15:26 as a covenant obedience standard. The narrator later echoes this evaluation language in 2 Kings 20:3 when recalling Hezekiah’s faithful walk before God.
Why it lands — The text establishes a direct metric for leadership by measuring Hezekiah’s conduct against David’s precedent. It requires the reader to accept that righteous action is defined by alignment with Yahweh’s assessment rather than political or popular approval.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 20:3 “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
- Exodus 15:26 saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
- Deuteronomy 6:18 Do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, so that it may be well with you and that you may enter and possess the good land that the LORD your God swore to give your fathers,
- 1 Kings 3:14 So if you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commandments, just as your father David did, I will prolong your days.”
- 1 Kings 11:4 For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.
- 1 Kings 11:38 If you listen to all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight in order to keep My statutes and commandments as My servant David did, then I will be with you. I will build you a lasting dynasty just as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.
- 1 Kings 15:5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
- 1 Kings 15:11 And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done.
- 2 Kings 22:2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
- 2 Chronicles 29:2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.