And when Ezechias saw that Sennacherib was come, and that the whole force of the war was turning against Jerusalem,

And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was minded to fight against Jerusalem,

And Hezekiah seeth that Sennacherib hath come, and his face is to the battle against Jerusalem,

And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come for the purpose of fighting against Jerusalem,

When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come, and that he intended to fight against Jerusalem,

And when Hezekiah had seen this, specifically that Sennacherib had arrived, and that the entire force of the war was turning against Jerusalem,

When Hezekiah saw - This was in the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah; and at first the Jewish king bought him off at the great price of three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold; and even emptied his own treasures, and spoiled the house of the Lord, to gratify the oppressive avarice of the Assyrian king. See the whole account, 2-Kings 18:13, etc.

And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come,.... Into the land of Judah, which he perceived and understood by reports brought to him: and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem; to besiege it and take it, if possible; this he saw was his design, by taking the fenced cities in his way, and coming forward with his forces.

when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib . . . was purposed to fight against Jerusalem--An account of the means taken to fortify Jerusalem against the threatened siege is given only in this passage. The polluting or filling up of wells, and the altering of the course of rivers, is an old practice that still obtains in the wars of the East. Hezekiah's plan was to cover the fountain heads, so that they might not be discovered by the enemy, and to carry the water by subterranean channels or pipes into the city--a plan which, while it would secure a constant supply to the inhabitants, would distress the besiegers, as the country all around Jerusalem was very destitute of water.