Hezekiah was the 13th King of Judah and by all accounts one of Judah’s better kings. He is better known as the king who changed God’s mind after, the prophet Isaiah delivered a message that Hezekiah, who was probably 39 years old at the time, would die from the boil that was plaguing him.

After receiving the news Hezekiah turned to prayer and this literally changed God’s mind, who told Isaiah to return and pronounce healing to the sick King (2 Kings 20:1-5).

There have been several archaeological discoveries confirming Hezekiah’s reign.

The most recent took place in 2007, when archaeologists discovered a fragment of a larger limestone plaque that was possibly installed on a building that contained Hezekiah’s name and a possible reference to one of his achievements.

The 5.3 inches (ca. 13 cm) by 3.7 inches (ca. 9 cm) piece found by Archaeologist Eli Shukron and University of Haifa professor Gershon Galil in the old city of Jerusalem contained two lines.

They believed it was part of a larger plaque because there was a dot separating the two lines, a common practice on monuments.

The style of writing is also similar to that of another inscription found in Hezekiah’s tunnel built by the King prior to the Assyrian King Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem in 701 BC bringing water from the Gihon spring into Jerusalem.

The inscription marked the point where two tunnels, one being dug from outside the city and the second being constructed from the inside, met. A difficult task that even today has many wondering how they accomplished this.

This supply of water undoubtedly helped this fight off the Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem.

The construction of the 1,750-foot-long tunnel is mentioned in  (2 Chronicles 32; 2 Kings 18–20)

³⁰ It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and channeled the water down to the west side of the City of David. He succeeded in everything he undertook. (2 Chronicles 32:30 NIV)

Some have speculated that the wording on the fragment may be actually describing a pool (literally ‘Hezekiah’s pool’), which was created after construction workers were able to get the water from the springs flowing into the city.

This may have been the initial name of what today is referred to as the Pool of Siloam, filled by the waters from the Gihon springs, and located at the opening to Hezekiah’s tunnel inside the city.

Discovered only a few years ago, it is the pool where Jesus healed the blind man (John 9:1-22):

¹¹ He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” (John 9:11 NIV)

Maybe it was just a coincidence that God used the waters from the Pool Siloam to heal a blind man, which was constructed by a king who had experienced God’s healing as well.

READ: Hezekiah’s Monumental Inscription?