Our chapter is the closing chapter of the Sancheriv episode: after the taunts and blasphemies of the king of Ashur, after Chizkiyahu's prayer in the House of Hashem, and after the prophecy of Yeshayahu ben Amotz concerning the downfall of Ashur, we reach the part in which the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself turns to Sancheriv and puts him in his place. In this lesson we will focus on the conclusion of the prophecy, on the promise to Chizkiyahu and to the remnant of Yehudah, and on its fulfillment in a single night in the camp of Ashur, together with the words of Chazal that illuminate the greatness of the miracle and the greatness of King Chizkiyahu.
וְשִׁבְתְּךָ וְצֵאתְךָ וּבֹאֲךָ יָדָעְתִּי וְאֵת הִתְרַגֶּזְךָ אֵלָי׃ - Your sitting down, your going out and your coming in I know, and your raging against Me.
The Holy One, blessed be He, says to Sancheriv: I know everything you plan, even in your bedchamber. Do not think that your own hand has made you this power, do not think that you ascended to the heights of the mountains by your own strength. Between the time you sat in your house and the time you went out to wage war against Yehudah, "I know." And what does "I know" mean? That it all stems from Me, by My providence and My mission. And even "your raging against Me," all that you are destined to taunt and blaspheme, this too I knew in advance. And not only that, but for this too you will be punished.
יַעַן הִתְרַגֶּזְךָ אֵלַי וְשַׁאֲנַנְךָ עָלָה בְאָזְנָי וְשַׂמְתִּי חַחִי בְּאַפֶּךָ וּמִתְגִּי בִּשְׂפָתֶיךָ וַהֲשִׁבֹתִיךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר בָּאתָ בָּהּ׃ - Because of your raging against Me and because your complacency has come up into My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way that you came.
The prophet says in the name of Hashem: two things have come up into My ears. The first, "your raging against Me," what you taunted and blasphemed. And the second, "your complacency," that is, the din and the clamor and the publicity you made of the whole matter: you climbed the wall, you wrote letters, you made sure it would be revealed before everyone how I, the great Sancheriv, and Hashem the God of Israel is, as it were, beneath me.
Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, says: "I will put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips." These are expressions taken from the equipment used on animals. A "chach" is the "shir," the ring by which the animal is led, as in the phrase "all animals with a shir may go out with the shir." And a "meteg" is the muzzle, an iron muzzle placed in the nostrils of a she-camel, and she is led by her nose. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: I have placed this in your nose and in your lips, and I lead you like a beast, "and I will turn you back by the way that you came": I will return you to the place from which you came.
וְזֶה לְּךָ הָאוֹת אָכוֹל הַשָּׁנָה סָפִיחַ וּבַשָּׁנָה הַשֵּׁנִית סָחִישׁ וּבַשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁלִישִׁית זִרְעוּ וְקִצְרוּ וְנִטְעוּ כְרָמִים וְאִכְלוּ פִרְיָם׃ - And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from that, and in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
To whom is "and this shall be the sign for you" said? Here there are two explanations. Rashi explains that from here on the prophet is speaking with Chizkiyahu: you are afraid of dying of famine, for Sancheriv laid waste the land and cut down the trees, and you were forced to stop up the springs. The prophet says to him: the downfall of Sancheriv will be a sign for you concerning the coming years, that you will be able to live and be sustained from what grows here. "This year you shall eat what grows of itself": plants will sprout for you and you will be sustained from them, "and in the second year that which springs from that": the trees that were cut down will grow again. When you see the downfall of Sancheriv, you will know that the promise I am now making to you concerning sustenance in the coming years will also be fulfilled.
The Malbim explains in a different way. The prophet already earlier compared the destruction of the cities to a plant that withers and grows back again: "that you should lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps," and likewise "they were as the grass of the field and as the green herb": the destruction is likened to plants that wither and afterward grow. Therefore he comes and says to him: the produce of the land will be a sign for the produce of the people. Behold, now the whole land is desolate, so that this year there is no choice but to eat sefichim, what grows of itself, for out of the desolation there is nothing to eat. In the second year it will still not be possible to sow, for out of the desolation there is not even seed for sowing. But in the third year you will already sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit, and the land will return to its full strength. What you see happening in the land, this is the sign for you of what will happen to its people as well: the people of Israel who come will take root and grow again and flourish and thrive, and the kingdom of Yehudah will go on and blossom. Take a lesson from the plants regarding Yehudah itself, that its condition, which today is very lowly, will grow again, and the people of Israel will be fruitful and multiply just as the plants are fruitful and multiply.
וְיָסְפָה פְּלֵיטַת בֵּית יְהוּדָה הַנִּשְׁאָרָה שֹׁרֶשׁ לְמָטָּה וְעָשָׂה פְרִי לְמָעְלָה׃ - And the remnant of the house of Yehudah that has survived shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
This is the direct continuation of the parable: just as the plants will slowly grow and increase, so too the remnant of Yehudah, those who remain, will again put down "root downward" - they will strike roots below full of all good, and like trees that, when they have strong roots below, grow better above, so too "and bear fruit upward." The cities too will grow strong, and their inhabitants will multiply, and the sign of this will be the abundance seen in the plants.
כִּי מִירוּשָׁלַיִם תֵּצֵא שְׁאֵרִית וּפְלֵיטָה מֵהַר צִיּוֹן קִנְאַת יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת תַּעֲשֶׂה זֹּאת׃ - For out of Yerushalayim shall go forth a remnant, and a surviving band out of Har Tziyon; the zeal of Hashem of Hosts shall do this.
He promises that the multitude of the people who are in Yerushalayim will not be exiled, and there will be from them a surviving band "out of Har Tziyon." And what is Har Tziyon? Chizkiyahu dwells in the fortress of Tziyon, and the meaning is that through the righteousness of Chizkiyahu the Holy One, blessed be He, promises that this remnant will yet establish there a name and a surviving band. And why all this? "The zeal of Hashem of Hosts shall do this" - not because of the merits of Yisrael, for we have seen that in the past they had no merits, and Chizkiyahu himself we have seen that his father Achaz greatly increased wickedness. Rather, Hashem is zealous for His name and for His land, and since His name has been profaned among the nations, "the zeal of Hashem of Hosts shall do this."
לָכֵן כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה אֶל מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר לֹא יָבֹא אֶל הָעִיר הַזֹּאת וְלֹא יוֹרֶה שָׁם חֵץ וְלֹא יְקַדְּמֶנָּה מָגֵן וְלֹא יִשְׁפֹּךְ עָלֶיהָ סֹלְלָה׃ - Therefore thus says Hashem concerning the king of Ashur: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor confront it with a shield, nor cast up a siege mound against it.
"Nor shoot an arrow there" - as its plain meaning. "Nor confront it with a shield" - it was their way that before drawing near to fight against a place, they would approach with shields, for anyone who drew near to the wall would have catapult stones fired at him, and therefore they had to go with shields in order to protect themselves. "Nor cast up a siege mound against it" - this expression has two meanings: either they would make a kind of hill opposite the city, in order to be high and shoot from the hill into the city; or they would pile up a mound of earth beside the wall, so that it would be possible to climb up it, cross the wall, and enter within. And concerning all these the Holy One, blessed be He, promises that they will not happen.
בַּדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר יָבֹא בָּהּ יָשׁוּב וְאֶל הָעִיר הַזֹּאת לֹא יָבֹא נְאֻם יְהֹוָה׃ - By the way that he came, by it he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, says Hashem.
"By the way that he came, by it he shall return" - even though afterward he will once again turn toward Yerushalayim, nevertheless "he shall not come into this city, says Hashem": to enter into it he will not enter.
וְגַנּוֹתִי אֶל הָעִיר הַזֹּאת לְהוֹשִׁיעָהּ לְמַעֲנִי וּלְמַעַן דָּוִד עַבְדִּי׃ - For I will shield this city to save it, for My own sake and for the sake of David My servant.
"For I will shield" - from the language of shielding, from the word "shield" (magen). And the salvation will be for two reasons: "for My own sake" - on account of the profanation of the Name that took place here; "and for the sake of David My servant" - for the sake of the kingship of the house of David, for the Holy One, blessed be He, wants the kingship of the house of David to remain.
וַיְהִי בַּלַּיְלָה הַהוּא וַיֵּצֵא מַלְאַךְ יְהֹוָה וַיַּךְ בְּמַחֲנֵה אַשּׁוּר מֵאָה שְׁמוֹנִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה אָלֶף וַיַּשְׁכִּימוּ בַבֹּקֶר וְהִנֵּה כֻלָּם פְּגָרִים מֵתִים׃ - And it came to pass that night, that the angel of Hashem went out and struck in the camp of Assyria a hundred and eighty five thousand, and when they rose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
וַיִּסַּע וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיָּשָׁב סַנְחֵרִיב מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר וַיֵּשֶׁב בְּנִינְוֵה׃ - So Sancheriv king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt in Nineveh.
וַיְהִי הוּא מִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה בֵּית נִסְרֹךְ אֱלֹהָיו וְאַדְרַמֶּלֶךְ וְשַׂרְאֶצֶר בָּנָיו הִכֻּהוּ בַחֶרֶב וְהֵמָּה נִמְלְטוּ אֶרֶץ אֲרָרָט וַיִּמְלֹךְ אֵסַר חַדֹּן בְּנוֹ תַּחְתָּיו׃ - And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adramelech and Sar'etzer his sons struck him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat, and Esar Chadon his son reigned in his place.
That night the angel of Hashem goes out and strikes in the camp of Assyria a hundred and eighty five thousand. Following this, Sancheriv simply leaves the place and settles in Nineveh, and there, while he is worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, his sons Adramelech and Sar'etzer strike him with the sword and escape to the land of Ararat, and Esar Chadon his son reigns in his place. We need to understand: how does that count of a hundred and eighty five thousand break down, in what manner did they die, who is this Nisroch, and what is the logic behind his sons striking him with the sword.
Chazal say that that night was the night of Pesach. On that night Chizkiyahu sat and recited the Hallel, but when he was called upon to sing a song of praise over the miracle he said: "I have no strength," and went to sleep. Israel did say a song of praise that night, for on the night of Pesach everyone recites the Hallel anyway, but following the fall of Sancheriv, Chizkiyahu did not say a song of praise. And Chazal say that had he said a song of praise, he would have become the Mashiach. We will see in the next chapter that Chizkiyahu was ill for three days, and the salvation of Chizkiyahu and the people of Israel from Sancheriv came after he managed to recover from his illness, and there we will explain more fully what he fell ill with and what brought about the cure.
The Radak brings the words of Chazal that Sancheriv asked his sages: what is the power of this nation, in what do they succeed and by what do they prevail? They said to him: Avraham their father offered up his son as a burnt offering, they have the merit of the fathers through self sacrifice. Sancheriv saw the defeat he had suffered, and said: if so, I too will offer up my sons as a burnt offering. Where did he go? "The house of Nisroch his god." And what is Nisroch? From the word neser (plank) - a plank that was from Noach's ark, and he worshipped that plank. There he promised and vowed that when he would succeed in defeating the people of Israel after the defeat he had suffered, he would offer his two sons to idolatry. His sons heard this and said: before he does anything to us, we will deal with him. And this is "And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adramelech and Sar'etzer his sons struck him with the sword," and they escaped to the land of Ararat.
The Gemara in Sanhedrin, page 95b, describes what took place there in that war. Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: the wicked Sancheriv came upon them with forty five thousand men, princes seated in chariots of gold, and with them queens and harlots; and with eighty thousand mighty warriors clad in scaled armor; and with sixty thousand swordsmen running before him; and the rest cavalry. And so they came upon Avraham when he fought with the four kings, and so they are destined to come with Gog and Magog.
In a Baraita it was taught: the length of his camp was four hundred parsah, and the breadth of the neck of his horses was forty parsah, that is, when he spread out across the width, and the sum of his camp was two hundred and sixty myriads of thousands less one. Abaye asks: what is "less one"? Less one myriad? Less one thousand? Less one hundred? Less one? The question stands unresolved.
It was taught: The first ones crossed bent over, as it says "and he shall pass through Judah, he shall overflow and go over" - when they crossed the Jordan they had to bend down and cross by swimming. Those in the middle crossed upright, since the water had already diminished from those who had passed through it, as it says "it shall reach even to the neck." The last ones kicked up dust with their feet, for it had already dried up entirely - so many hundreds of thousands crossed there that the Jordan dried up - and they found no water in the river to drink, until they brought water from another source and drank, as it says "I have dug and drunk waters," "dug" from the language of source, I dug, since the Jordan had dried up.
The Gemara asks: But is it not written "And the angel of Hashem went out and smote in the camp of Assyria a hundred eighty five thousand," and according to this reckoning there were far, far more, and the verse says "and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses." Rabbi Abbahu said: These are the heads of their troops. That is, the hundred eighty five thousand were only the commanders, the heads of the troops, the heads of the companies, but the companies themselves numbered many thousands, as we have seen. Rav Ashi said: This too is precise from what it says "and He shall send among his fat ones leanness" - among the fattest among them, for the blow struck the heads of the troops. Ravina said: This too is precise from what it says "And Hashem sent an angel, who cut off every mighty man of valor, and the leader and captain in the camp" - we see that the smiting related to the great ones among them. And likewise "and when he came into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword," learn from this.
The Gemara asks: With what did He smite them? For it is not written by what means the angel smote them, only "and he smote in the camp of Assyria." Rabbi Eliezer says: He smote them with a hand, as it says "and Israel saw the great hand" - what is "the great"? That it was destined to exact punishment from Sancheriv. Rabbi Yehoshua says: He smote them with a finger, as it says "and the magicians said to Pharaoh, this is the finger of God" - a finger that was destined to exact punishment from Sancheriv. Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yose HaGelili says: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Gabriel, Gabriel, is your sickle sharpened? That is, honed and whetted and ready? He said before Him: Master of the world, it has been sharpened and ready since the six days of creation, as it says "for they fled from the swords."
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai says: That season was the time for the ripening of fruits, for this was in the period of Nisan. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Gabriel, who was appointed over the ripening of the fruits: When you go out to ripen the fruits, attend to them - to Sancheriv. That is, on the way, when you pass by to ripen the fruits, pay a visit to Sancheriv and deal with him. As it says "as it passes through it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass by, by day and by night; and it shall be sheer terror to understand the report." Rav Pappa said: This is what people say, on the way to your destination make yourself heard by your enemy - when you go on your way, along the way pay a visit to your enemy, so that he sees you and is upset.
And what do they wish to tell us here? One who reads might think that the Holy One, blessed be He, sent special troops and a special angel to deal with Sancheriv. They tell you: No. The Holy One, blessed be He, has an angel whose task is to ripen the fruits, and while he was going to ripen the fruits, along the way he passed through them, dealt with them, and continued on. Do not think a special operation was needed here, that special companies had to be deployed, special forces or counter terror units - nothing at all. The angel took them "as it passes through."
And some say: He blew upon them through their nostrils and they died, as it says "and He also blew upon them and they withered." Rabbi Yirmiyah says: He clapped his palms upon them and they died, as it says "and I will also smite my palm against my palm."
From all of this we see that the downfall of Sancheriv was a great and tremendous downfall. Therefore it is all the more difficult: Chizkiyahu the king, who should have sung song, said "I have no strength." And what is "I have no strength"? I have seen it explained that Chizkiyahu said: Master of the world, I did nothing at all. Moshe Rabbeinu sang song because Moshe Rabbeinu struck the Nile, stretched out his hand over the sea, performed actions. David the king sang song because David fought and went out to wars. But I, what did I do? I only sat in the beit midrash, I only prayed. If I sing song, it will look as though I did something, and I did nothing, You did it all. Therefore I have no strength to say song, and I will not say song.
But the truth is that this was a mistake. Why? Because in truth Chizkiyahu the king reached a level higher than David the king. David the king said "I will pursue my enemies and overtake them" - I will pursue, I will overtake, and You will help me. Chizkiyahu the king said: I do not pursue and I do not overtake, I sit in the beit midrash and You do the fighting. And who is greater? Chizkiyahu the king. And if so, surely he should have sung song. Only, out of his great humility he said: I did nothing, so how can I say song? And in truth he did everything, for the very fact that he sat in the beit midrash is what accomplished it all. Therefore he should have sung song, and for not saying it - for this there was a claim against him.
We see here a great principle. Sometimes a person thinks that if he takes action then he is accomplishing something, and if he does not take action he accomplishes nothing. The truth is exactly the opposite: the fewer actions a person takes and the more he trusts in Hashem, the more he accomplishes. King Chizkiyahu took no action at all, yet he brought about the greatest defeat in history: one hundred and eighty five thousand army commanders and millions of soldiers fell in a single night, without any action, solely through prayer and trust in Hashem. This is the great lesson we must learn from King Chizkiyahu: to trust in Hashem, to pray to Him, and to know that everything comes from Him, may He be blessed. And the more we trust in Him, the greater the salvations we will see.
In this chapter the Holy One, blessed be He, settles His account with Sancheriv: "ושבתך וצאתך ובואך ידעתי" - your sitting and your going out and your coming in I have known. Everything was under His providence and by His mission, and for his taunts and blasphemies he is drawn back like an animal by a hook and a bridle. To Chizkiyahu and to the remnant of Yehudah was given a promise of restoration: just as the desolate land will return to sow and reap and plant vineyards, so too the remnant of Yehudah will take root and bear fruit above, and all this not through their merit but because of Hashem's zeal for His name and for the sake of David His servant. And the promise was fulfilled in a single night, the night of Pesach, when the angel of Hashem struck down one hundred and eighty five thousand army commanders (as it were, in passing, on His way to ripen fruit), and Sancheriv returned to Nineveh and fell by the sword of his sons over his vow in the temple of Nisroch. And from Chizkiyahu, who out of his great humility said "I have no strength to say a song of praise," we learn the opposite principle: it is precisely the one who sits in the beit midrash, prays, and trusts in Hashem who brings about the great salvation.