At that time refers to the time of Hezekiah’s recovery. However, we do not know specifically how much time elapsed between his recovery and the arrival of the delegation from Babylonia.

Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon: It is important to make it clear that Merodach-baladan was king of Babylon at that time, and not Baladan his father. Good News Translation expresses this clearly. Merodach-baladan ruled Babylonia 722-710 B.C. and again for a short time during 704-703 B.C. The Hebrew noun rendered Babylon is used to refer to the capital city Babylon and to the country Babylonia (see the comments on 13.19). Unlike English, in some modern languages there is no distinction in form between the name of the city and the name of the country. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version correctly say “Babylonia” here.

Sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah: Revised Standard Version says that Merodach-baladan sent envoys to Hezekiah. However, the Hebrew text states only that he sent letters and a present. Obviously, someone would have to carry these items, so envoys is a reasonable addition. The Akkadian word shapiru can mean “envoy” and since this is close in spelling to the Hebrew word for letters (separim), some scholars prefer to read “envoys” instead of letters. Revised English Bible reflects this by saying “sent envoys with a gift to Hezekiah.” However, since the Hebrew text clearly includes letters, translators should not omit it. Instead of the plural word letters, Good News Translation and Bible en français courant use the singular. Since it is plural in Hebrew, it should be rendered as plural.

For he heard that he had been sick and had recovered: For renders the common Hebrew conjunction, not the particle ki that occurs in the parallel text of 2 Kgs 20.12. It functions as a logical connector here since it introduces the reason why Merodach-baladan sent envoys with letters and a gift to Hezekiah. It is unlikely that he sent them simply for a friendly visit. 2 Chr 32.31 indicates that they also came to hear more about the sun’s shadow moving back ten steps. Nevertheless, they most likely came to encourage Hezekiah to join a rebellion against Assyria (see the introductory comments on this section [39.1-8]). The two occurrences of the pronoun he in this clause refer to different persons; the first one refers to Merodach-baladan and the second one to Hezekiah. It may be necessary in some translations to identify by name at least one of these people. Good News Translation places this clause earlier in the verse for naturalness in English, which other languages may find helpful (see also the examples below).

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• King Merodach-baladan of Babylonia, son of Baladan, heard that Hezekiah had been sick and had recovered, so he sent him letters and a gift.

• When the king of Babylonia, Merodach-baladan, son of Baladan, heard that Hezekiah had recovered from his illness, he sent him letters and a gift.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .