Comentario sobre II Reyes 20:23

In those days. [This occurred] three days before Sancheiriv's downfall.¹Alternatively, 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

In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death: I should think that this was after the preceding story. And don't be surprised when it says, "I will deliver you out of the hand of the King of Assyria," (2 Kings 20:6) because it is possible that Esarhaddon threatening Jerusalem.

Chizkiyohu became … ill. 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.²To 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.

For you are going to die. On this world.

And you will not live. In the World to Come because you have not married as is [explained] in [Maseches] Berachos.³10a. 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.

Had not gone out of the … courtyard, etc. 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.⁴Maseches Sanhedrin 10:2. ⁵The 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

And I will save you from the hand of the king of Ashur. We learn that he became ill before Sancheiriv's downfall.⁶See note 1 above.

A cake of pressed figs. When they are fresh, they are called תאנים [=figs], and when they are pressed into a round cake, they are called דבלה.

And placed it on the boil, and it was healed. 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.

And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, "a What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me?": It is fitting for you to know that this was not a diminishing of faith for Hezekiah, that he requested a sign for this. This was when Isaiah had already made known to him that God's decree was that he should die. But now that He had agreed to add 15 years to his lifespan, perhaps there was a stipulation. This means

Should the shade advance ten steps or should it go back ten steps? This is an abbreviated verse. The shade had already advanced the steps that are made [to measure] the hours of the day, like, oriloje, 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?”⁷Alternatively, Yeshayohu asked, “Do you wish it to advance or to go back?—Radak

And Chizkiyohu said, ”It is easier for the shade to advance ten steps.” 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].

That it had gone down on the steps of Achaz. The day that Achaz died, the day was shortened,⁸Alternatively, it is called the steps of Achaz because he had built this sundial.—Radak and the shade hurried to advance ten steps, so that he would not be eulogized,⁹I.e., there would not be enough time to eulogize him. See Maseches Sanhedrin 96a and Rashi there. and those ten hours returned now for Chizkiyohu.¹⁰From 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

For he heard that Chizkiyohu was ill. 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,”¹¹He then sent messengers to inquire about this great event and eventually heard about Chizkiyohu's miraculous cure. See Maseches Sanhedrin 96a. as is [stated] in Pesikta.

His treasure house. The storehouse of his spices,¹²נכאת 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 as in, “spices [=נכאת], balm, and lotus.”¹³Bereishis 37:25..

The fine oil. 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,”¹⁴Yechezkeil 27:17. 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].

There was nothing. [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.

”They came from a distant land.” 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?”¹⁵Bereishis 4:9. 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?”¹⁶Bamidbar 22:9. he should have said, “Adonoy God, You know!” as it is stated concerning Yechezkeil,¹⁷Yechezkeil 37:3. but he replied arrogantly, ”Balak son of Tzippor, king of Moav, sent them to me,”¹⁸Bamidbar 22:10. [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.”¹⁹Yeshayohu 39:3. Therefore, he was punished, and also [he was punished] because he rejoiced over them,²⁰God'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. and served them at his table.

Nothing will remain. You shall be paid measure for measure, [as stated above,] “There was nothing.”²¹Verse 15 above.

And some of your sons. Chananyoh, Mishoeil, and Azaryoh.²²Some 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.

”The word of Adonoy … is good.” Because in my days there will be peace.²³God's punishment would not be meted out until after his death.

And how he made the pool, etc. In Divrei Hayomim.²⁴See 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.