8 From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.
8 He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
8 And he drove back the Philistines, whether in sentry outposts or fortress cities, all the way to Gaza and its borders.
8 He subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
8 He also conquered the Philistines as far distant as Gaza and its territory, from their smallest outpost to their largest walled city.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 18:8
Commentary on 2 Kings 18:1-8
(Read 2 Kings 18:1-8)
Hezekiah was a true son of David. Some others did that which was right, but not like David. Let us not suppose that when times and men are bad, they must needs grow worse and worse; that does not follow: after many bad kings, God raised one up like David himself. The brazen serpent had been carefully preserved, as a memorial of God's goodness to their fathers in the wilderness; but it was idle and wicked to burn incense to it. All helps to devotion, not warranted by the word of God, interrupt the exercise of faith; they always lead to superstition and other dangerous evils. Human nature perverts every thing of this kind. True faith needs not such aids; the word of God, daily thought upon and prayed over, is all the outward help we need.