2nd Chronicles Chapter 32 verse 31 Holy Bible
Howbeit in `the business of' the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
read chapter 32 in ASV
However, in the business of the representatives sent by the rulers of Babylon to get news of the wonder which had taken place in the land, God gave up guiding him, testing him to see what was in his heart.
read chapter 32 in BBE
However in [the matter of] the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all [that was] in his heart.
read chapter 32 in DARBY
Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
read chapter 32 in KJV
But, in the business of the embassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
read chapter 32 in WBT
However in [the business of] the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
read chapter 32 in WEB
and so with the ambassadors of the heads of Babylon, those sending unto him to inquire of the wonder that hath been in the land, God hath left him to try him, to know all in his heart,
read chapter 32 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 31. - Howbeit; literally, and thus. The italic type dispensed with, the verse may be rendered, And thus with or among the ambassadors of the princes... God left him to, etc. The princes. This plural may be the pluralis excellentiae, and designate the king himself, who doubtless issued the official command to the messengers to visit Hezekiah with gifts, etc., but not necessarily so. The word may betray the inquiries and curiosity of the princes of Babylon, under the king, the expression of which led to the embassy, so to call it.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(31) Howbeit.--Literally, And thus; that is, and when things were thus prosperous with him. In the midst of Hezekiah's prosperity, God left him for a moment to himself, by way of putting him to the proof.The princes of Babylon.--The same vague plural which we have already noticed in 2Chronicles 28:16; 2Chronicles 30:6, and 2Chronicles 32:4, supra. The king who "sent letters and a present "to Hezekiah, with congratulations on his recovery from Sickness, and overtures of alliance against the common enemy, Assyria, was Merodach-baladan (Maruduk-abla-iddina, "Merodach gave a son"). (See the account in 2Kings 20:12, seq.; Isaiah 39)Who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder (Hebrew, the sign, as in 2Chronicles 32:24).--This is not mentioned in the parallel passage of Kings and Isaiah. But such an inquiry is quite in harmony with what we know of the Babylonians from their own monuments. Babylon was the home of the arts of divination and augury, from observation of all kinds of signs and portents in every department of nature. Moreover, the sign given to Hezekiah would have a special interest for the astrologers and astronomers of the Babylonian temple-towers. . . .
