Tyre and Jerusalem had hitherto formed the extreme outwork of the Syrian states; they were the only remaining barrier which separated the empires of Egypt and Assyria, and it was to the interest of the Pharaoh to purchase their alliance and increase their strength by every means in his power.  Negotiations must have been going on for some time between the three powers, but up to the time of the death of Sargon and the return of Merodach-baladan to Babylon their results had been unimportant, and it was possible that the disasters which had befallen the Kalda would tend to cool the ardour of the allies.  An unforeseen circumstance opportunely rekindled their zeal, and determined them to try their fortune.

[Illustration:  023.jpg map of the campaign of sennacherib in Judea]

The inhabitants of Ekron, dissatisfied with Padi, the chief whom the Assyrians had set over them, seized his person and sent him in chains to Hezekiah.*

     * The name of the city, written Amgarruna, is really
     Akkaron-Ekron.

To accept the present was equivalent to open rebellion, and a declaration of war against the power of the suzerain.  Isaiah, as usual, wished Judah to rely on Jahveh alone, and preached against alliance with the Babylonians, for he foresaw that success would merely result in substituting the Kalda for the Ninevite monarch, and in aggravating the condition of Judah.  “All that is in thine house,” he said to Hezekiah, “and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.  And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon.”  Hezekiah did not pay much heed to the prediction, for, he reflected, “peace and truth shall be in my days,” and the future troubled him little.* When the overthrow of Merodach-baladan had taken place, the prophet still more earnestly urged the people not to incur the vengeance of Assyria without other help than that of Tyre or Ethiopia, and Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, spoke in the same strain; but Shebna, the prefect of the palace, declaimed against this advice, and the latter’s counsel prevailed with his master.**

     * 2 Kings xx. 16-19.

     ** This follows from the terms in which the prophet compares
     the two men (Isa. xxii. 15-25).

Hezekiah agreed to accept the sovereignty over Ekron which its inhabitants offered to him, but a remnant of prudence kept him from putting Padi to death, and he contented himself with casting him into prison.  Isaiah, though temporarily out of favour with the king, ceased not to proclaim aloud in all quarters the will of the Almighty.  “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of Me; and that cover with a covering (form alliances), but not of My spirit, that they may add sin to sin: