Introduction: The Chapter and Its Time
Chapter 20 in Melachim B deals with the illness of King Chizkiyahu, his prayer, his healing, and the sign that was given to him. The opening words "in those days" teach that the event occurred during those same days when the war with Sancheriv was taking place, meaning that this episode preceded the war itself. Chizkiyahu lies ill in his house, while Sancheriv waits for him outside.
בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם חָלָה חִזְקִיָּהוּ לָמוּת, וַיָּבֹא אֵלָיו יְשַׁעְיָהוּ בֶן־אָמוֹץ הַנָּבִיא וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו: כֹּה־אָמַר יְהֹוָה, צַו לְבֵיתֶךָ כִּי מֵת אַתָּה וְלֹא תִחְיֶה. (א) - In those days Chizkiyahu became sick and was about to die, and Yeshayahu ben Amotz the prophet came to him and said to him: So says Hashem, set your house in order, for you shall die and shall not live. (1)
"You shall die and shall not live" - you shall die in this world, and you shall not live in the World to Come. This was an exceedingly severe decree, than which there is none harsher.
"What business do you have with the hidden things of the Merciful One?" - The Gemara in Berachot
The Gemara in Masechet Berachot 10a relates the continuation of the exchange. Chizkiyahu said to him: What is all this? Why all this severity? Yeshayahu answered him: Because you did not engage in being fruitful and multiplying. Chizkiyahu replied: Because I saw through Divine inspiration that children who are not worthy would come forth from me. Yeshayahu said to him: "What business do you have with the hidden things of the Merciful One? That which you are commanded, you must do, and that which is pleasing before the Holy One, blessed be He, He will do."
This is a tremendous principle. What have you to do with the calculations of Heaven? Who asked you to make calculations of what is above? You are commanded to fulfill the mitzvah of being fruitful and multiplying. Whether it is worthwhile or not - leave the calculation to the Creator of the world. Your task is to do what you were commanded, and what is pleasing before the Holy One, blessed be He, He will already do.
Calculations of Worthiness - Before the Giving of the Torah and After
We spoke about this at length in Nefesh HaChaim: all of this is said only after the giving of the Torah. After the giving of the Torah one cannot make calculations of worthiness. But before the giving of the Torah, when the Avot fulfilled the entire Torah and its mitzvot not as those who are commanded and perform, there was room for calculations of worthiness. That is why Yaakov married two sisters, for he knew that from this the entire house of Yisrael would emerge; and Amram married his aunt; and the sons of Adam HaRishon married their sisters. Before the giving of the Torah there was a situation in which one could know by calculation that there was a rectification in a particular matter and could do it even though it was against the Torah. But after we received the Torah - there is no wisdom, no understanding, and no counsel against Hashem. What is written in the Torah, that is how one must act.
"Finish your prophecy and leave"
The Gemara continues: Chizkiyahu said to Yeshayahu, now give me your daughter, perhaps my merit and your merit together will bring it about that worthy children come forth from me. Yeshayahu answered: The decree has already been issued against you, so why should I give my daughter to a man who is as good as dead, a man against whom death has already been decreed? Chizkiyahu said to him: "Ben Amotz, finish your prophecy and leave! This is the tradition I have from my father's father's house - even if a sharp sword rests upon a person's neck, he should not hold himself back from mercy."
Who is "my father's father"? Rashi says: David HaMelech. For David saw the angel with his sword drawn in his hand, and even so he did not hold himself back from mercy. So too here.
Until the Very Last Second
The masters of mussar expand at length on the meaning of "a sharp sword resting on his neck." Picture the following: a trial is taking place. At first they bring lawyers and advocates. Then comes the stage of the verdict, and the defendant is found guilty. They try again: they activate consuls and people from various countries to apply pressure, and it does not help. Then a sentence is issued for execution, and death is set. Still they do not give up, they bring the pope, they raise every kind of argument, and it does not help. The day of execution arrives, and still they exert themselves and still they strive, thinking that perhaps it is possible. It is set for twelve noon, and still it is possible. But when the hour of twelve arrives, and the rope has already been tightened around the neck, and someone is about to pull the lever that will drop the platform out from under his feet, will anyone at that moment say, "Wait, hold on a second, let me read a chapter of Tehillim"? After all, for an entire year we activated everything possible, we held prayer gatherings, and who is going to pray specifically at the moment the rope is wound around the neck and that person only needs to pull? To this they tell you: even when a sharp sword is resting, already resting, when we have already gone through everything and all that remains is to apply the pressure and cut, even then there is room for prayer, and one should still not withhold himself from mercy.
And it was also stated: Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Elazar both said, even when a sharp sword is resting on a person's neck, he should not withhold himself from mercy. We see from here that it is forbidden to despair in any situation.
Menashe and Ravshakeh: What Did Chizkiyahu See Through Ruach HaKodesh
It is brought in Seder Olam that all of this took place three days before Sancheriv's death. And through ruach hakodesh Chizkiyahu saw that two wicked men were destined to descend from him: Menashe and Ravshakeh. The Gemara relates that when they were children he would carry them on his shoulders and lead them to the beit midrash, and once he heard Ravshakeh stroking his head and saying to Menashe: father's head would be a perfect fit for making an idol out of it. Chizkiyahu heard this, and in his great anger he slammed the two of them to the ground. Ravshakeh died and Menashe survived. And in the end Menashe reigned and was a very wicked king who filled Yerushalayim with blood from end to end, exactly as Chizkiyahu had seen through ruach hakodesh.
Why Did Chizkiyahu Not See That Menashe Would Repent
It is known that Menashe ultimately repented, as we will learn later on. If so, the question arises: how did you see, Chizkiyahu, that you would have a wicked son, yet you did not see that he was destined to return in teshuvah? The answer is that the reality of teshuvah is above the level of prophecy. Teshuvah is something even a prophet is unable to grasp, for this matter is of a rank so lofty and exalted that it is beyond what a prophet can attain. There is in this an aspect of "no eye has seen, O God, besides You": the prophets do not speak at all about the matter of the world to come, they have no grasp of it. So too regarding teshuvah. Therefore Chizkiyahu was able to see through ruach hakodesh that his son would turn wicked, but not that he would do teshuvah.
A Person's Three Enemies: The Malbim
The Malbim explains the matter in depth. A person has three kinds of enemies. The first enemy is the external enemy: those who hate him, nations that wish to kill him and pursue him. The second enemy is closer to him, the forces of the body and its composition: when a person is ill, there is a war within his body, and this internal enemy endangers him and seeks to overcome him. The third enemy is the most internal of all: the bad character traits and dispositions, the desires and corruptions through which a person strays from the straight path.
Upon Chizkiyahu two of the external enemies gathered together: the illness fighting him from within, and Sancheriv waiting for him outside. And how does one overcome them? Says the Malbim: when a person conquers the most internal enemy, the bad character traits, he thereby subdues the two more external enemies as well. When he improves his deeds he makes peace with the internal enemy, and as a result he succeeds in making peace with the forces of the body and its composition too, and even in fully subduing the external enemy, Sancheriv. And this is what Yeshayahu came to awaken when he said, "You shall die and not live": that is, you have no factor that will help you defeat the enemies threatening to overcome you. And the only way is to first subdue the internal enemy. And indeed, following Yeshayahu's words Chizkiyahu does teshuvah, subdues the internal enemy, and thereby the path is paved for victory over the external enemies: he recovers from his illness, and in the end he also defeats Sancheriv.
The Prayer Toward the Wall
וַיַּסֵּב אֶת־פָּנָיו אֶל־הַקִּיר וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אֶל־יְהֹוָה לֵאמֹר. (ב) - And he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Hashem, saying. (2)
The plain meaning: he turned his face to the wall of his room so that he could focus on his prayer. From here we learn that it is good for a person to pray beside a wall, where there is nothing before him to distract or disturb him. Chazal expound that "to the wall" means that he prayed from the walls of his heart. In truth, the two interpretations complement one another: once he turned his face to the wall and had no disturbances, he could more easily pray from the walls of his heart. And some explain, as does the Targum, that "to the wall" refers to the wall of the Beit HaMikdash.
אָנָּה יְהֹוָה, זְכׇר־נָא אֵת אֲשֶׁר הִתְהַלַּכְתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ בֶּאֱמֶת וּבְלֵבָב שָׁלֵם וְהַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֶיךָ עָשִׂיתִי, וַיֵּבְךְּ חִזְקִיָּהוּ בְּכִי גָדוֹל. (ג) - Please, Hashem, remember now how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your eyes. And Chizkiyahu wept greatly. (3)
It was said of Chizkiyahu, "And he did what was right in the eyes of Hashem, according to all that David his father had done," and he kept His mitzvot. Chazal say that "I have done what is good in Your eyes" refers to his having hidden away the book of remedies that Shlomo had made, for people relied on it instead of relying on Hashem. Therefore he asks that Hashem remember all these good deeds, and in their merit save him from the distress in which he finds himself.
The Three Perfections
The Malbim explains that perfection comprises three matters. The first is the perfection of contemplation, the product of the intellect: that a person not believe in nonsense and false notions, but only in Hashem, blessed be He. The second is the perfection of the practical intellect: that a person do all his deeds for the sake of Heaven alone, not for the sake of profit nor to gain some benefit. The third is the perfection of the actions themselves: to fulfill the mitzvah in all its general principles and details. Beyond the pure intention, one must complete the action itself: to lay tefillin of the hand and of the head, to tie them properly, to be careful with the straps, not to be distracted, this is the perfection of the action.
And corresponding to all three, Chizkiyahu prays. Corresponding to the perfection of contemplation he says "how I have walked before You in truth" - without any belief in other powers, but before You in truth. Corresponding to the perfection of the practical intellect he says "and with a whole heart" - not for the purpose of some external motive but wholly for the sake of Hashem alone. And corresponding to the perfection of the actions themselves he says "and I have done what is good in Your eyes" - I fulfilled all of Hashem's commands in the best possible way, without any deficiency.
The Second Prophecy: Prayer and Tear
וַיְהִי יְשַׁעְיָהוּ לֹא יָצָא חָצֵר הַתִּיכֹנָה, וּדְבַר־יְהֹוָה הָיָה אֵלָיו לֵאמֹר. (ד) - And it came to pass, before Yeshayahu had gone out of the middle courtyard, that the word of Hashem came to him, saying. (4)
Even before Yeshayahu had managed to leave the middle courtyard. For in his first prophecy he had told him that there was nothing to be done, that he would die in this world and would not live in the World to Come, and that it was a waste even of time to plead, so Yeshayahu had thought. And immediately Hashem reveals Himself to him and commands him to return.
שׁוּב וְאָמַרְתָּ אֶל־חִזְקִיָּהוּ נְגִיד־עַמִּי: כֹּה־אָמַר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי דָּוִד אָבִיךָ, שָׁמַעְתִּי אֶת־תְּפִלָּתֶךָ, רָאִיתִי אֶת־דִּמְעָתֶךָ, הִנְנִי רֹפֶא לָךְ, בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי תַּעֲלֶה בֵּית יְהֹוָה. (ה) - Return and say to Chizkiyahu the leader of My people: So says Hashem, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tear, behold I am healing you, on the third day you shall go up to the House of Hashem. (5)
The Holy One, blessed be He, counts for him two merits. The first: "I have heard your prayer" - the very fact that you prayed recalls your merits, and the merits cause your prayer to be accepted. And the second: even without merits one can arouse the mercy of Heaven, and even one who is not worthy can do so - how? Through weeping. This is what He added, "I have seen your tear": beyond your merits, you aroused the mercy of Heaven through the tears you shed.
And after the illness of the soul was healed, that is, after he had defeated the inner enemy - the bad character traits and the improper conduct - now Hashem promises him victory over the enemy that follows: "behold I am healing you," this is the body and its resistances. And therefore He says "on the third day you shall go up to the House of Hashem" - you will reach a full recovery, and they will not carry you up on a stretcher, but you will go up on your own, like a person walking on his own feet.
וְהֹסַפְתִּי עַל־יָמֶיךָ חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה, וּמִכַּף מֶלֶךְ־אַשּׁוּר אַצִּילְךָ וְאֵת הָעִיר הַזֹּאת, וְגַנּוֹתִי עַל־הָעִיר הַזֹּאת לְמַעֲנִי וּלְמַעַן דָּוִד עַבְדִּי. (ו) - And I will add fifteen years to your days, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for My sake and for the sake of David My servant. (6)
"And I will deliver you from the hand of the king of Assyria" - this is the most external enemy. Once you have dealt with the internal enemy, the enemy that follows it, the bodily makeup and the illness, will heal of itself, and consequently it will also be easier to overcome Sancheriv and his armies besieging Jerusalem.
Fifteen years - a dispute among Chazal
Chazal disagreed about these fifteen years. Some say these are the very fifteen years that had been reduced from him because he did not marry a wife, for he was told "Command your household, for you shall die" - death was decreed upon him by shortening his days from what had been allotted to him, and according to this they returned to him what had been taken from him. Another opinion holds that they added to him fifteen additional years beyond what he was meant to live: what had been taken from him was certainly returned, since the decree of death was annulled, and if he had been meant to die in another twenty years, they return those to him and add another fifteen. And in the depth of the matter they disagreed whether there is a concept of adding to one's years, or whether there is no addition at all, and "the number of your days I will fill" means only the filling out of the allotted days.
"And I will defend" - a deliverance that is not natural
Hashem promises that He will not save the city by natural means. "And I will defend this city" - it will have a miracle through the way of providence, I Myself will shield it. Deliverance by natural means is called "deliverance," but "And I will defend" means that the Holy One, blessed be He, in His own glory, as it were, will shield the city.
And this seems puzzling: after all, Chizkiyahu himself has merits enough for Hashem to shield the city, so why "for My sake and for the sake of David My servant"? The Malbim answers: the merits of Chizkiyahu and of that generation sufficed for Hashem to save the city through a natural deliverance. But here Hashem intends to do something that is not natural, "And I will defend," and for this one already needs the merit of David and the sanctification of His blessed Name: "for My sake and for the sake of David My servant," that My Name be sanctified in the world. In truth your merits suffice for a natural deliverance, but I wish to save in a supernatural way, so that all the nations will see what a great miracle was performed here and what a special deliverance Israel had.
The cake of figs - a miracle within a miracle
וַיֹּאמֶר יְשַׁעְיָהוּ: קְחוּ דְּבֶלֶת תְּאֵנִים, וַיִּקְחוּ וַיָּשִׂימוּ עַל־הַשְּׁחִין וַיֶּחִי. (ז) - And Yeshayahu said: Take a cake of figs, and they took it and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. (7)
Figs are the fruit picked from the tree, and a d'velah is the fruit after it has been pressed and dried and made into a round cake, in the language of Chazal. And here Chazal say there was a miracle within a miracle. Just as we saw with Moshe Rabbeinu that the Holy One, blessed be He, heals the bitter with the bitter, so too here: a boil upon which a cake of figs is placed becomes more repulsive and more damaged and the illness grows, and yet precisely through the cake of figs the healing came. The Holy One, blessed be He, places something harmful into something that is being harmed, and it is healed. So it is brought in the Mechilta.
"What sign" - two puzzles
וַיֹּאמֶר חִזְקִיָּהוּ אֶל־יְשַׁעְיָהוּ: מָה אוֹת כִּי־יִרְפָּא יְהֹוָה לִי, וְעָלִיתִי בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי בֵּית יְהֹוָה. (ח) - And Chizkiyahu said to Yeshayahu: What is the sign that Hashem will heal me, and that I will go up on the third day to the House of Hashem? (8)
The first difficulty: why is a sign needed at all? We are speaking of a mere three days. Wait three days and see whether the word of Hashem is fulfilled. When it concerns a promise for future generations, as with Avraham at "How shall I know that I will inherit it," that is understandable, and even there our Sages discussed the matter. But something that is supposed to happen in another three days? Especially since it has already been said, "They laid it upon the boil and he recovered," meaning the boil has already healed and you can see that the process has begun, and the prophet promises: what further need have you of a sign and a wonder?
וַיֹּאמֶר יְשַׁעְיָהוּ: זֶה־לְּךָ הָאוֹת מֵאֵת יְהֹוָה כִּי יַעֲשֶׂה יְהֹוָה אֶת־הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר, הָלַךְ הַצֵּל עֶשֶׂר מַעֲלוֹת אִם־יָשׁוּב עֶשֶׂר מַעֲלוֹת. (ט) - And Yeshayahu said: This shall be the sign for you from Hashem that Hashem will do the thing which He has spoken, shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or shall it go back ten degrees. (9)
The second difficulty: Yeshayahu offers him a choice between two kinds of miracles, that the shadow move forward ten degrees or that it go back ten degrees. That is, that the sun leap ten hours forward or retreat ten hours backward. And this is an enormous wondrous sign. Is it really necessary, in order to inform Chizkiyahu that in three days he will recover, to overturn the natural order and change the course of the sun?
The Commentators' Answers to the Question of the Sign
The Radak explains according to the plain meaning: Yeshayahu said to him, "I am healing you," and Chizkiyahu feared that perhaps the prophet had come only to console him. After all, a prophecy had already been spoken that he was about to die, "Set your house in order, for you shall die" in this world, "and shall not live" in the world to come. And perhaps Yeshayahu saw into what a traumatic state the king had fallen and said to him: It will be alright, you will recover, Hashem will help. Perhaps this is only an illusion and it will not actually be so. And even though he already saw that the boil was healing, and here the Radak senses a difficulty, he was still not certain that the illness would leave him entirely, and therefore he asked for a sign.
The Ralbag explains that Chizkiyahu's concern was that the promise depended on conditions: if you are righteous, if you do such and such, if you withstand the tests. He thought this was not an absolute promise but a conditional one, and therefore he wanted to know "what is the sign that Hashem will heal me," so that they would not later tell him that Hashem had not healed him because he did not meet the criteria and was not on the fitting level. Rather, that He would heal him in any case, and about this he asked for a sign.
The Metzudat David takes a different path. There is a usage of "mah" that is not a question but a declaration, as in "how mighty is Your name in all the earth," which has no answer, for its meaning is "how mighty is Your name," how very glorious is the matter. And so the Metzudat David says: "What is the sign that Hashem will heal me" is not a question of which sign, but a statement: how greatly it will be regarded as a great and wondrous sign when Hashem heals me, how much of a mark of Hashem's providence there will be in this. Admittedly this interpretation is somewhat difficult, for immediately it says, "And Yeshayahu said, this shall be the sign for you," implying that this is an answer to a question. But in itself the interpretation is a fine one.
What Are the "Degrees"
"Ma'alot" means steps or stairs. This is also the concept of "Shir HaMa'alot," named for the steps upon which the Levi'im would stand and sing. Here there were steps upon which one could observe the course of the sun: as the sun moves away, the shadow climbs and rises up the steps, and by this they would know the state of the day, each step being about an hour. And some say that Achaz made a kind of sundial based on the shadow, with markings like graduations, and by the movement of the shadow they would know whether the day was short or long and how much of it remained. Either way, "ma'alot" here is a concept of time. And the question is: how many hours do you want, forward or backward?
וַיֹּאמֶר יְחִזְקִיָּהוּ: נָקֵל לַצֵּל לִנְטוֹת עֶשֶׂר מַעֲלוֹת, לֹא כִי יָשׁוּב הַצֵּל אֲחֹרַנִּית עֶשֶׂר מַעֲלוֹת. (י) - And Chizkiyahu said: It is a light thing for the shadow to incline ten degrees, no, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. (10)
According to the plain meaning: Chizkiyahu says that it is easier for the sun to leap ten hours forward than to travel backward ten hours, and therefore he prefers the more difficult sign, that the sun return backward, which is a wondrous thing. But this is difficult: what does "a light thing" mean? Does the sun have an easier time going forward than backward? The sun operates according to the nature the Creator set for it, and if the Holy One, blessed be He, makes it leap ten degrees forward and suddenly sunset comes ten hours before its time, that is an enormous miracle and wonder. And He who is able to lead it forward is able to lead it backward, and both are equally wondrous.
Rather, the commentators say as follows: when the sun moves forward more quickly, it does not make a great impression in the world. The sunset was supposed to be in another few hours and it came early: who exactly was watching the clock? Perhaps the day was cloudy. The sun moved in its usual direction, only faster. But if one suddenly sees the sun, which was already about to set, turn back and begin the day anew, what an enormous impression is made in the world, everyone stands astonished with their mouths agape. And this is "a light thing": not that it is easier for Hashem, for both are equal before Him, but that the impression is lighter. Chizkiyahu wants a miracle that will leave everyone in amazement, so that all will see that the Holy One, blessed be He, performed a miracle here.
The Malbim's Innovative Approach
The Malbim noticed that the verse speaks of a shadow and not of the sun, and he explains: the hour on that day was already late. If the day contains twelve hours, it was already the tenth hour, roughly six in the early evening in our terms. In such a situation, if the sun were to race ten hours forward, how many of them would we actually sense? Only two. For in two more hours it passes to the other side of the globe and is hidden from our eyes, and even if it continued racing another eight hours, we would not see it and would not be aware of it. All we would notice is a sunset that came two hours early. But if at the tenth hour the sun were to turn back, we would see with our own eyes all ten hours returning in a single moment. That is a miracle visible to the eyes. This is why he said "it is easy for the shadow to decline": it is a slight wonder if only the shadow declines, for from a certain stage onward it is merely a shadow and we no longer see the disc of the sun. But if the Holy One, blessed be He, brings the sun back, it will be a clear and open miracle, and all will know that something against nature was done here.
"On the Dial of Achaz"
וַיִּקְרָא יְשַׁעְיָהוּ הַנָּבִיא אֶל־יְהֹוָה, וַיָּשֶׁב אֶת־הַצֵּל בַּמַּעֲלוֹת אֲשֶׁר יָרְדָה בְּמַעֲלוֹת אָחָז אֲחֹרַנִּית עֶשֶׂר מַעֲלוֹת. (יא) - And Yeshayahu the prophet called to Hashem, and He brought the shadow back on the degrees which it had gone down on the dial of Achaz, ten degrees backward. (11)
Yeshayahu prays, and so indeed the Holy One, blessed be He, does. Taken plainly, as we explained: Achaz had made a kind of sundial, and on those very degrees they saw how the sun returned ten degrees backward.
There is a further explanation: Chazal say that on the day Achaz died, the day was shortened by ten hours. Why? They had prepared everything for the eulogy: they set up a platform, brought important people and officials to eulogize Achaz, and suddenly darkness fell. The sun set before its time, and in those days there was no light or anything of the sort. Darkness arrived and everyone fled to their homes, for people are afraid to walk at night. Thus the whole "gathering" for the passing of the wicked king Achaz was cancelled, and Israel was spared from hearing eulogies for such a corrupt evildoer. The Holy One, blessed be He, nullified the eulogies for him. But ever since then, ten hours were missing from the calendar. And now, when Hashem brought the shadow back ten degrees, we received our compensation, and the situation returned to what it had been.
In summary:
The chapter opens with the most severe decree, "you shall die and not live," and teaches that there is no despair in the world at all: even if a sharp sword rests upon a person's neck, he should not hold himself back from seeking mercy. Chizkiyahu does not surrender to the prophecy; he turns his face to the wall and prays from the depths of his heart with three qualities of completeness (in truth, with a whole heart, and having done what is good in Your eyes) and weeps a great weeping, and his prayer and his tears are accepted. Throughout the entire chapter the Malbim's principle accompanies us: victory over the inner enemy, the bad character traits, is the key to victory over the illness of the body and over the enemy from without. Alongside this is Yeshayahu's principle: "why should you concern yourself with the hidden things of the Merciful One": a person should not make heavenly calculations, but rather fulfill what is incumbent upon him, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will do the rest. And finally comes the open sign: the sun returns ten degrees backward on the dial of Achaz, a public miracle before the eyes of all, so that all the nations should see the great miracle and the special salvation that was done for Israel.