Hephzibah. I would’ve sorely lost that round if you’d given me this name in a spelling bee. It’s not one that probably rings any familiarity for most of us. But little do we know that this name not only belongs to a person in the Bible, a queen.
But it also has a special meaning in the name itself, a name of blessing for God over Israel.
As always, we can learn a great deal from people mentioned in the Bible—even minor characters in the grand story. Today, we will learn about the wife of Hezekiah, the mother of Manasseh, and what her name means for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.
Who Was Hephzibah in the Bible?
As always, we start learning about someone in the Bible by reading the Bible—history textbooks and commentaries are great aides, but we’ve got to start by going back to the original text.
In this case, going back to the original text proves challenging because we only get two verses containing the name Hephzibah. Still, looking at how these two verses fit with other biblical information tells us quite a lot.
Let’s conquer these two verses in order of appearance.
2 Kings 21:1 tells us that when King Hezekiah of Judah (the southern kingdom) dies, his son Manasseh takes the throne at 12.
We know that Manessah couldn’t have ruled immediately. Traditionally, if the successor to Israel’s throne was too young, a Queen Mother would rule as regent until the boy had reached the age where he could make more lucid decisions. The history of Israel (the northern kingdom) details how Queen Athaliah took over the throne after her husband Jehoram died and her son Ahaziah was too young to rule. We can assume that Hephzibah made decisions in Manessah’s stead for a few years.
Manasseh eventually takes total rule and does a very poor job during his reign. He learns nothing from his father’s legacy. Manasseh drives his kingdom into moral depravity.
The Bible doesn’t tell us much about her personality from these two verses. Even extra-biblical texts, such as Josephus’ histories, only list her by name.
We can hope she lived up to her hopeful name (which brings us to the second verse mentioning her).
What Does the Name Hephzibah Mean?
We see the second mention of Hephzibah in Isaiah 62:4.
In this chapter, God speaks to his nation. He tells them that although they will go into captivity and be at several nations’ mercy, he will not forsake them forever.
They will not go by the name “Desolate” for long. Instead, they will go by the name Hephzibah. The name means, “My delight is in her.”
In other words, God would bless the land once again. We see God making good on his promise. After 70 years of captivity, the northern kingdom’s exiles (now known as the Jews, children of Judah) returned to Jerusalem. They rebuilt the temple and its walls.
The city no longer becomes desolate.
So what does this have to do with Hephzibah, the Queen Mother and wife to Hezekiah?
We have to keep in mind the timeline of the kingdom of Judah.
As mentioned earlier, there were Israelite kingdoms by the time Hephzibah became queen: Judah and Israel. King Saul had been the first king of the united kingdom of Israel, followed by David, then David’s son, Solomon. After the reign of Solomon, the kingdom split into two: Israel in the north (later Samaria) and Judah in the south.
The northern kingdom of Israel is completely evil. Not a single good king rules in that land. Because of this, they fall first. The Assyrians invade, carry them into captivity, scatter them, and eventually intermarry with them. The process ends with the Israelites refusing to let this kingdom’s descendants back into the land, and they become another people group, the Samaritans, by Jesus’ time.
The southern kingdom had a few good kings, such as Hezekiah. But many of them continued to lead their people into sin. Eventually, they fall to Babylon and experience a captivity of 70 years.
By the time we reach the reign of King Hezekiah, Judah’s days are numbered (and even become more numbered by the time of one of the last kings, Josiah). Enough kings have driven the kingdom into darkness, and they can feel their imminent judgment.
Hephzibah’s name would’ve given Israel hope for many reasons.
Manasseh did not follow in his father’s footsteps. He got Israel to sin even more. If they were familiar with the warnings many prophets had given, then they probably knew that Manasseh had started to seal their fate. Soon, they would experience great desolation at an enemy’s hands.
But Hephzibah’s name reminded them that the Lord would remember them. Eventually, the Lord would bring them back to Jerusalem, and they would rebuild. He would again delight himself in the city walls.
What Can We Learn from Hephzibah in the Bible?
Sadly, we don’t know many details from her life. Perhaps, as Queen Mother, she ruled in the ways of righteousness. Perhaps she wanted to continue the reforms of her husband, Hezekiah, and bring Jerusalem back into a time of revival.
Unfortunately, Manasseh got older. And so when he stepped into full power, he steered Israel away from God.
Still, we can learn a lot from Hephzibah and her name.
First, parents are not always at fault for wayward children.
Yes, what parents do can have major psychological effects on their offspring. I’ve witnessed many people walk away from their faith solely due to what their parents had done to them.
With that said, I think we often like to blame the parents when children stray from God, particularly often blaming the mothers.
However, we can’t necessarily blame Hephzibah for her son’s moral depravity. In Jerusalem’s palace, many servants and enslaved people would’ve been in charge of raising a child. Especially with her duties as Queen Mother, she probably didn’t have much time to influence Manasseh.
We often blame parents when children go wayward. In truth, parents can lead a child where they should go, and the children still become prodigals.
We don’t know enough about Hephzibah to say she intentionally corrupted Manasseh. Perhaps she’d done quite the opposite.
At one point, a child’s faith becomes their own, and they decide whether to pursue the path of righteousness or fall away.
Second, God drops hints of hope in uncertain times.
Israel had finally gotten its act together. It had returned to God, under the guidance of King Hezekiah, and things were looking up.
Then Manasseh undid all the work his father had set up. We can imagine the righteous living in the kingdom felt great anguish. They knew judgment would be doled out for these very actions.
And yet, they had Hephzibah’s name. A reminder from the prophet Isaiah that God would eventually turn the world right.
In the same way, we can experience many similar thoughts today, can’t we?
We witness the world becoming darker and darker, and all can seem hopeless. Yet, when we turn our Bibles to the last chapter, we know God will look upon us with delight again. He will bring us to a place where we experience no more grief or anguish.
God’s promise of Hephzibah spans generations and testaments. Even though people continue to walk away from him, he will remember those who continue to trust in him.
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/Khosrork
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
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