1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying,
3 I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.
6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
8 And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day?
9 And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.
12 At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.
15 And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord.
17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
18 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.
19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?
20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
<html><b>In those days.</b> [This occurred] three days before Sancheiriv's downfall.1<i class=“footnote”>Alternatively, the entire episode is stated in chronological order, and it occurred after Sancheiriv's downfall. The assurance Chizkiyohu requested that he will be saved from Ashur mentioned here refers to future attacks. Although Ashur had been soundly defeated, Sancheiriv's successors might soon try again to attack.—Ralbag</i> <b>Chizkiyohu became … ill.</b> On the third day, when he went up to the Beis [Hamikdosh] of A, was the day of Sancheiriv's downfall, and it was on the Pesach holiday.2<i class=“footnote”>To commemorate this event, reference to Sancheiriv's downfall is mentioned in the Hagaddah on both Seder nights. On the first Seder night it is mentioned in ובכן ויהי בחצי הלילה, and on the second Seder night it is mentioned in ובכן ואמרתם זבח פסח.</i> <b>For you are going to die.</b> On this world. <b>And you will not live.</b> In the World to Come because you have not married as is [explained] in [Maseches] Berachos.3<i class=“footnote”>10a. Chizkiyohu refused to marry and have children because it was revealed to him that he would have a very wicked son, and a period of extreme corruption would follow.</i></html>
<html><b>Had not gone out of the … courtyard, etc.</b> The Holy One, Blessed Is He, hurried to notify him about his cure before the rumor would spread in the city that he has been sentenced to death, as stated in [Talmud] Yerushalmi.4<i class=“footnote”>Maseches Sanhedrin 10:2.</i> 5<i class=“footnote”>The כתיב [=it is written] is העיר, the city. The Gemara in Maseches Eiruvin 26a explains that the inner court behind the king's palace was the size of an average city.—Radak</i></html>
<html><b>And I will save you from the hand of the king of Ashur.</b> We learn that he became ill before Sancheiriv's downfall.6<i class=“footnote”>See note 1 above.</i></html>
<html><b>A cake of pressed figs.</b> When they are fresh, they are called תאנים [=figs], and when they are pressed into a round cake, they are called דבלה. <b>And placed it on the boil, and it was healed.</b> This was a miracle within a miracle, for even healthy flesh, when you place a cake of pressed figs upon it, decays, yet the Holy One, Blessed Is He, [instructs to] put something that is injurious upon something that is vulnerable, and it becomes healed.</html>
<html><b>Should the shade advance ten steps or should it go back ten steps?</b> This is an abbreviated verse. The shade had already advanced the steps that are made [to measure] the hours of the day, like, <i>oriloje</i>, in O. F., the clocks that people make to determine the hour of the day. [He asked,] “Do you wish it to stay in the place where it is, for as long as it takes it to walk in ten hours, or should it go back up ten steps so that it will appear as though it is morning?”7<i class=“footnote”>Alternatively, Yeshayohu asked, “Do you wish it to advance or to go back?—Radak</i></html>
<html><b>And Chizkiyohu said, ”It is easier for the shade to advance ten steps.”</b> It is easy [for the shade] to remain in its place, and stay for ten steps, it is not something that is so conspicuous. Not so, rather let the shade go back, and the event will be a wonder, for they saw that the day was turning toward evening, and it returns to become morning [again].</html>
<html><b>That it had gone down on the steps of Achaz.</b> The day that Achaz died, the day was shortened,8<i class=“footnote”>Alternatively, it is called the steps of Achaz because he had built this sundial.—Radak</i> and the shade hurried to advance ten steps, so that he would not be eulogized,9<i class=“footnote”>I.e., there would not be enough time to eulogize him. See Maseches Sanhedrin 96a and Rashi there.</i> and those ten hours returned now for Chizkiyohu.10<i class=“footnote”>From the day it was created, God prepared the sun for this miracle. Concerning the creation of the sun and other heavenly bodies, in Bereishis 1:14 states, “they will be for signs,” i.e., God used them as signs for Yehoshua and Tzidkiyohu.—Chizkuni</i></html>
<html><b>For he heard that Chizkiyohu was ill.</b> And until that day no person who had ever been ill, had become well. Now, how did he hear? He was accustomed to eat after three hours [had elapsed] in the day, and he would sleep until the ninth [hour of the day]. Because the cycle of the sun had gone backwards on account of Chizkiyohu, he awoke after nine hours [of the day] and found that it was morning, and he wanted to kill his servants. He said, ”You let me sleep a day and a night!” They replied, “The sun's cycle went backwards.” He asked them, “Who brought it back?” They said to him, “The God of Chizkiyohu,”11<i class=“footnote”>He then sent messengers to inquire about this great event and eventually heard about Chizkiyohu's miraculous cure. See Maseches Sanhedrin 96a.</i> as is [stated] in Pesikta.</html>
<html><b>His treasure house.</b> The storehouse of his spices,12<i class=“footnote”>נכאת is a term used to describe choice possessions. Accordingly, the Gemara presents different opinions. Some say נכאת is “his treasure house,” others say, “his most powerful weapons,” i.e., his armory. Yet others say that he had his wife [=בית נכתה] wait on them and pour their drinks. See Maseches Sanhedrin 104a and Rashi there</i> as in, “spices [=נכאת], balm, and lotus.”13<i class=“footnote”>Bereishis 37:25..</i> <b>The fine oil.</b> Some interpret this as the anointment oil, and others interpret it as balsam oil, which is found in Eretz Yisroel, as it is said, ”Yehudah and [Eretz] Yisroel, they were your merchants, with wheat of מנית and פנג,”14<i class=“footnote”>Yechezkeil 27:17.</i> and I saw in the book of Yosephun, that פנג is balsam, and it grows in Yericho, and because of its aroma [=ריח], it is called Yericho [=יריחו]. <b>There was nothing.</b> [He even showed them] the Ark, the Luchos, and the Torah Scroll. there was nothing: Even the Ark, the Tablets, and the Scroll of the Law.</html>
<html><b>”They came from a distant land.”</b> This is one of the three [men] whom the Holy One, Blessed Is He, tested and found them to be a pot of muddy water: [The three are,] Kayin, Chizkiyohu and Bilam. Kayin [said], “I don't know, am I my brother's keeper?”15<i class=“footnote”>Bereishis 4:9.</i> He should have said, ”Master of the Universe are all hidden things not revealed to You?” as it is [stated] in [Midrash] Tanchuma. Bilam, when the Omnipresent said to him, ”Who are these men with you?”16<i class=“footnote”>Bamidbar 22:9.</i> he should have said, “Adonoy God, You know!” as it is stated concerning Yechezkeil,17<i class=“footnote”>Yechezkeil 37:3.</i> but he replied arrogantly, ”Balak son of Tzippor, king of Moav, sent them to me,”18<i class=“footnote”>Bamidbar 22:10.</i> [i.e.,] many people seek me. Chizkiyohu should have replied to Yeshayohu, ”You are the prophet of the Omnipresent, yet you are asking me?” [Instead,] Chizkiyohu began to become haughty, and said, ”They came to me from a distant land.”19<i class=“footnote”>Yeshayohu 39:3.</i> Therefore, he was punished, and also [he was punished] because he rejoiced over them,20<i class=“footnote”>God's wrath was mainly because Chizkiyohu distracted his visitors from God's glory by seeking to impress them with his own wealth. See II Divrei Hayomim 32:25.</i> and served them at his table.</html>
<html><b>Nothing will remain.</b> You shall be paid measure for measure, [as stated above,] “There was nothing.”21<i class=“footnote”>Verse 15 above.</i></html>
<html><b>And some of your sons.</b> Chananyoh, Mishoeil, and Azaryoh.22<i class=“footnote”>Some say that they were eunuchs, because it was the custom to castrate those who served in the palace. Targum maintains that סריסים means ‘officers.’ It is merely a figurative expression used here to symbolize that paganism's impotence was acknowledged in their time. Chananyoh, Mishoeil and Azaryoh would risk their lives by defying the order to worship idols and be miraculously saved. See Maseches Sanhedrin 93b.</i></html>
<html><b>”The word of Adonoy … is good.”</b> Because in my days there will be peace.23<i class=“footnote”>God's punishment would not be meted out until after his death.</i></html>
<html><b>And how he made the pool, etc.</b> In Divrei Hayomim.24<i class=“footnote”>See II Divrei Hayomim 32:3-4 and 30. When Sancheiriv began his march on Yerusholayim, Chizkiyohu closed off all the springs and streams outside Yerusholayim as a defensive strategy.</i></html>