שׁ֣וּב וְאָמַרְתָּ֞ אֶל־חִזְקִיָּ֣הוּ נְגִיד־עַמִּ֗י כֹּֽה־אָמַ֤ר יְהוָה֙ אֱלֹהֵי֙ דָּוִ֣ד אָבִ֔יךָ שָׁמַ֙עְתִּי֙ אֶת־תְּפִלָּתֶ֔ךָ רָאִ֖יתִי אֶת־דִּמְעָתֶ֑ךָ הִנְנִי֙ רֹ֣פֶא לָ֔ךְ בַּיּוֹם֙ הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י תַּעֲלֶ֖ה בֵּ֥ית יְהוָֽה׃
"Retourne pour dire à Ezéchias, le souverain de mon peuple: Ainsi parle l’Éternel, le Dieu de David, ton père: J’ai entendu ta prière et vu tes larmes, je te guérirai, et dès le troisième jour tu monteras dans la maison de Dieu.
Midrash Tanchuma
When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying: “Show a wonder for you” (Exod. 7:9). He will be making a reasonable request to you. You find in the case of Noah, that though He said to him, after He saved him from the flood, Neither shall there be anymore a flood (Gen. 9:11), Noah demanded a sign, and God assured him: I have set my bow in the cloud (ibid., v. 13). Similarly, when Hezekiah was sick, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent Isaiah to him and he said: 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” (II Kings 20:5). But he replied: What shall be the sign? (ibid., v. 8), and He answered: This shall be the sign unto thee from 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? (ibid., v. 9). Likewise, Joshua, the high priest, was told: Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, … for they are men that are a sign (Zech. 3:8). Since the righteous demanded signs, how much more did the wicked Pharaoh (have the right to do so). Hence, when Pharaoh says unto you: Show a wonder for you (he will be making a reasonable request).
Devarim Rabbah
Halakha: A person of Israel who did not pray the morning prayer, the additional prayer, or the afternoon prayer, as many times he was too occupied to pray, because he was relieving himself, or he was walking on the way and forgot to pray – until what hour is it permitted for him to pray and fulfill his obligation? How must he act? So taught the Sages: The morning prayer is until noon. the afternoon prayer is until the evening.
the evening prayer has no fixed time, but the additional prayer is all day. Rabbi Elazar said: If one forgot and did not pray the additional prayer, and comes to pray the afternoon prayer, he prays the afternoon prayer and then the additional prayer. Why? It is because everything is recited at its time. The evening prayer has no fixed time, until dawn. Why?1Why is it important to know until when one can pray? It is as it is written: “I love those who love me, and those who seek me will find me” (Proverbs 8:17). And anyone who prays and focuses his heart in prayer, it is a positive indicator that his prayer was accepted, as it is stated: “Lord, You hear the desire of the humble” (Psalms 10:17).
Great is prayer before the Holy One blessed be He. Rabbi Elazar said: Is your wish to know the power of prayer? If it does not accomplish all of it, it accomplishes half of it. Cain stood against his brother Abel and killed him. An edict was issued: “Restless and itinerant you shall be on the earth” (Genesis 4:12). Immediately, he stood and confessed before the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “My iniquity is too great to bear” (Genesis 4:13). He said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, You bear the entire world, but you cannot bear me? You wrote: “Bearing iniquity and overlooking transgression” (Micah 7:18) – pardon my iniquity, which is great.’ Immediately, he found mercy before the Holy One blessed be He, and the “itinerant” half of the edict was withheld from him, as so it is written: “He resided in the land of Nod” (Genesis 4:16). From here you learn that prayer is great before the Holy One blessed be He. Likewise Hezekiah, when the prophet said to him: “Instruct your household, as you are dying” (Isaiah 38:1). Immediately, “Hezekiah turned his face to the wall [and he prayed to the Lord]” (Isaiah 38:2). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: “I have heard your prayer… behold, I am adding fifteen years to your days” (Isaiah 38:5), as it is written: “He grants the wishes of those who fear Him, and He hears their cry and saves them” (Psalms 145:19).
the evening prayer has no fixed time, but the additional prayer is all day. Rabbi Elazar said: If one forgot and did not pray the additional prayer, and comes to pray the afternoon prayer, he prays the afternoon prayer and then the additional prayer. Why? It is because everything is recited at its time. The evening prayer has no fixed time, until dawn. Why?1Why is it important to know until when one can pray? It is as it is written: “I love those who love me, and those who seek me will find me” (Proverbs 8:17). And anyone who prays and focuses his heart in prayer, it is a positive indicator that his prayer was accepted, as it is stated: “Lord, You hear the desire of the humble” (Psalms 10:17).
Great is prayer before the Holy One blessed be He. Rabbi Elazar said: Is your wish to know the power of prayer? If it does not accomplish all of it, it accomplishes half of it. Cain stood against his brother Abel and killed him. An edict was issued: “Restless and itinerant you shall be on the earth” (Genesis 4:12). Immediately, he stood and confessed before the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “My iniquity is too great to bear” (Genesis 4:13). He said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, You bear the entire world, but you cannot bear me? You wrote: “Bearing iniquity and overlooking transgression” (Micah 7:18) – pardon my iniquity, which is great.’ Immediately, he found mercy before the Holy One blessed be He, and the “itinerant” half of the edict was withheld from him, as so it is written: “He resided in the land of Nod” (Genesis 4:16). From here you learn that prayer is great before the Holy One blessed be He. Likewise Hezekiah, when the prophet said to him: “Instruct your household, as you are dying” (Isaiah 38:1). Immediately, “Hezekiah turned his face to the wall [and he prayed to the Lord]” (Isaiah 38:2). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: “I have heard your prayer… behold, I am adding fifteen years to your days” (Isaiah 38:5), as it is written: “He grants the wishes of those who fear Him, and He hears their cry and saves them” (Psalms 145:19).
Shemot Rabbah
“When Pharaoh will speak to you, saying: Provide a wonder for you; then you shall say to Aaron: Take your staff, and cast it before Pharaoh, it will become a serpent” (Exodus 7:9).
“When Pharaoh will speak to you” – Rabbi Pinḥas HaKohen bar Ḥama began: “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times matters that have not been done; saying: My counsel will stand, and all My desire I will do” (Isaiah 46:10) – the Holy One blessed be He declares at the beginning what will be at the end, as He says to Moses: “This people will rise, and go astray after the foreign gods of the land” (Deuteronomy 31:16), which they were destined to do after the death of Joshua: “And they will forsake Me, and breach My covenant” (Deuteronomy 31:16); “they forsook the Lord and did not worship Him” (Judges 10:6). That is “declaring the end from the beginning.”
Rabbi Pinḥas HaKohen bar Ḥama said: Anyone who reads this verse thinks that perhaps there is a dispute on High, as He says: “My counsel will stand [and all My desire I will do].” What is “and all My desire I will do”? It is that He desires to vindicate His creations, as it is stated: “The Lord desires for the sake of His righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious” (Isaiah 42:21), and does not seek to condemn any creature, as it is stated: “I have no desire in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked repent from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). Therefore, it is stated: “And all My desire I will do.” Likewise you find that the Holy One blessed be He told Moses the end from the beginning; it is not written: If Pharaoh will speak to you, but rather, “when [Pharaoh] will speak”; he is destined to say this to you.
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shalom said: He is speaking appropriately: “Provide a wonder for you.” Likewise, you find with Noah, after all the miracles that the Holy One blessed be He performed for him in the ark, and He took him out of it, He said to him: “And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:15). [Noah] began asking for a sign,1That there would never again be a flood. until the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “I have set My rainbow in the cloud” (Genesis 9:13); if the righteous Noah asked for a sign, all the more so, the wicked Pharaoh [would].
Likewise, you find with Hezekiah, when Isaiah came and said to him: “So says the Lord…I will heal you; on the third day you will go up to the house of the Lord” (II Kings 20:5), he began asking for a sign, as it is stated: “Hezekiah said…what is the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” (II Kings 20:8). If the righteous Hezekiah asked for a sign, all the more so, the wicked Pharaoh [would].
Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya, when they descended into the fiery furnace, they descended only with a sign. How so? “Not to us, Lord, not to us” (Psalms 115:1), said Ḥananya. “To Your name give glory” (Psalms 115:1), said Mishael. “For Your kindness and for Your truth” (Psalms 115:1), said Azarya. Gabriel was answering after them: “Why should the nations say: Where [now is their God?]” (Psalms 115:2). Once this became fluent in their mouths all night, they took that as a sign and descended.2They took as a sign the fact that their prayer was fluent in their mouths. See Berakhot 34b.
If you cannot learn it from here, learn it from another source, as it is written: “Hear now, Yehoshua the High Priest, you and your counterparts who sit before you; as they are men of a sign” (Zechariah 3:8). Who were they? Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shalom said: They were Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya, for whom this sign was performed.3The reference is to the sign that they received before descending into the furnace. If the righteous seek a sign, all the more so, the wicked [Pharaoh would].
“When Pharaoh will speak to you” – Rabbi Pinḥas HaKohen bar Ḥama began: “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times matters that have not been done; saying: My counsel will stand, and all My desire I will do” (Isaiah 46:10) – the Holy One blessed be He declares at the beginning what will be at the end, as He says to Moses: “This people will rise, and go astray after the foreign gods of the land” (Deuteronomy 31:16), which they were destined to do after the death of Joshua: “And they will forsake Me, and breach My covenant” (Deuteronomy 31:16); “they forsook the Lord and did not worship Him” (Judges 10:6). That is “declaring the end from the beginning.”
Rabbi Pinḥas HaKohen bar Ḥama said: Anyone who reads this verse thinks that perhaps there is a dispute on High, as He says: “My counsel will stand [and all My desire I will do].” What is “and all My desire I will do”? It is that He desires to vindicate His creations, as it is stated: “The Lord desires for the sake of His righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious” (Isaiah 42:21), and does not seek to condemn any creature, as it is stated: “I have no desire in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked repent from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). Therefore, it is stated: “And all My desire I will do.” Likewise you find that the Holy One blessed be He told Moses the end from the beginning; it is not written: If Pharaoh will speak to you, but rather, “when [Pharaoh] will speak”; he is destined to say this to you.
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shalom said: He is speaking appropriately: “Provide a wonder for you.” Likewise, you find with Noah, after all the miracles that the Holy One blessed be He performed for him in the ark, and He took him out of it, He said to him: “And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:15). [Noah] began asking for a sign,1That there would never again be a flood. until the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “I have set My rainbow in the cloud” (Genesis 9:13); if the righteous Noah asked for a sign, all the more so, the wicked Pharaoh [would].
Likewise, you find with Hezekiah, when Isaiah came and said to him: “So says the Lord…I will heal you; on the third day you will go up to the house of the Lord” (II Kings 20:5), he began asking for a sign, as it is stated: “Hezekiah said…what is the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” (II Kings 20:8). If the righteous Hezekiah asked for a sign, all the more so, the wicked Pharaoh [would].
Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya, when they descended into the fiery furnace, they descended only with a sign. How so? “Not to us, Lord, not to us” (Psalms 115:1), said Ḥananya. “To Your name give glory” (Psalms 115:1), said Mishael. “For Your kindness and for Your truth” (Psalms 115:1), said Azarya. Gabriel was answering after them: “Why should the nations say: Where [now is their God?]” (Psalms 115:2). Once this became fluent in their mouths all night, they took that as a sign and descended.2They took as a sign the fact that their prayer was fluent in their mouths. See Berakhot 34b.
If you cannot learn it from here, learn it from another source, as it is written: “Hear now, Yehoshua the High Priest, you and your counterparts who sit before you; as they are men of a sign” (Zechariah 3:8). Who were they? Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shalom said: They were Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya, for whom this sign was performed.3The reference is to the sign that they received before descending into the furnace. If the righteous seek a sign, all the more so, the wicked [Pharaoh would].