Chizkiyahu
3173-3227 (after Creation)
(מלכים ב יח-כ, ישעיה לו-לט, דברי הימים א ג:יג, דברי הימים ב כט-לב )
Thirteenth king of Yehudah,who succeeds his father Ahaz אָחָז. Chikiyahu was a righteous king who attempted to restore the crown of the House of Dovid to its former glory. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 94a) says the Chizkyahu had the potential of becoming Moshiach.
Major Moments of Chizkiyahu’s Life:
HALTS THE IDOLATROUS PRACTICES
Chizkiyahu halts idolatrous practices in the land ofYehudah. He tirelessly cleanses the Temple. He removed the private altars, broke the pillars, cut down the asheira trees, and broke into pieces the brazen snake that Moshe had made (which was being worshipped as an idol). The Chachumim agreed with this action.
SOLIDIFIED TORAH LEARNING
They inquired from Dan until Beer Sheva (the entire Kingdom) and they did not find a man, woman or child that was not an expert in the laws of tumah and taharah.
SEEKS UNIFICATION OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOM
He invites the citizens of the northern nation of Israel to come to Yerushalayim for the Pesach holiday seeking to unite the divided Kingdom. He proclaims a leap year in the month of Nissan to facilitate the ability of all to come.
PARTNERSHIP OF KING AND PROPHET
Unlike prior kings, King Chizkiyahu and the prophet Yeshayahu acted as partners in the leadership of the Jewish people (politically and spiritually), as envisioned by Torah Yeshayahu acted as his mentor throughout his life.
He dragged his father's bones on a litter of ropes
He dragged his father's bones, for atonement, and [therefore] he did not provide him with an honorable burial on a handsome bier, in order to sanctify G-d's name, that [Achaz] be disgraced for his wickedness and the wicked be reprimanded. (Rashi, Pesachim 56a)The Chachumim agreed with this action.
HE CONCEALED THE BOOK OF REMEDIES
We find two understandings of the incident. According to one understanding, the reference is to a book explaining the healing qualities of medicinal herbs which Chizkiyahu concealed so that people would turn to G-d and put their trust in him – rather than in the book (see Rashi, ad loc., and in Pesachim 56a; Maharal, Netzach Yisrael, chap. 30). According to a second understanding, it is forbidden to conceal a medical text based on natural remedies, and Chizkiyahu concealed a book containing remedies based on astrology or other forbidden practices after people had begun to make practical use of the text (see Rambam's commentary to the Mishna).The Chachumim agreed with this action.
STOPPED THE GICHON WATER
He stopped up the Gichon watercourse. He cut off the doors of the sanctuary and sent them to the King of Assyria. He proclaimed a leap year in Nissan. The Chachumim did not agree.
DEFENSE OF ERETZ YISRAEL
Chizkiyahu is threatened by Sancheriv, King of Assyria, and agrees to pay a huge tribute to the invader, which includes the gold from the doors of the Sanctuary.The Chachimim did not agree. Sancheriv attacks anyway and captures all of Yehudah’sfortified towns, occupying Lakish. The Assyrian king sends an army led by Ravshaketo call for the capital's surrender. Chizkiyausends three of his officers to hear Ravskake'sspeech and the three returned, dismayed, in torn clothes. Chizkiyahu sends these same three to Yeshayahu the prophet who tells them not to be afraid: G-d will chase the enemy back to his homeland where he will be defeated. This is the day of Pesach. Indeed, that night G-d strikes the army of Sancheriv,killing 185,000 soldiers. Sancherivflees back to Ninveh, where he vowed to offer his two sons as sacrifices, so the sons assassinated him first.
REPENTANCE
Chizkiyahufalls ill three days prior to the fall of Sancheriv. Yeshayaha tells him that he will die of this illness. Chizkiyahu prays to G-d asking Him to recall his righteousness. G-d tells Yeshayahuto inform the king that his prayers have been heard: not only will he recover, he will live for another fifteen years. A song describing the king's fear of his imminent death, and joy at recovery is recorded inYeshayahu 38.Chizkiyahu asked for a sign that he would be healed betraying a lack of faith. Plus,when a king of Babel came to visit Chizkiyahuarrogantly gave a tour of the royal treasures. Thus,G-d tells Chizkiyahu through Yeshayahu that in the futureBabelwill plunder the wealth and enslave the royal family.
Table of the Major Events in the Days of Chizkiyahu
Internal events / External events3186 / Prophecy about Chizkiyahu and the nature of his monarchy / Yishayahu 9:1-6
3198 / The death of Achaz / I Melakhim 16:20; II Divrei Ha-yamim 28:27
Year 1 and 1 month / Chikiyahu becomes King.
The opening of the doors of the house of G-d and its purification and rededication / II Divrei Ha-yamim 29
Year 2 and 2 months / Offering of the paschal sacrifice together with the northern Kingdom of Israel / II Divrei Ha-yamim 30
The restoration of the Torah and prophecy to its former status / Mishlei 25:1
Year 7
3205 / II Melakhim 18:9-12 / The conquest of Shomron by Shalmaneser King of Assyria and the exile of the kingdom of Israel to Assyria
Yishayahu 20
II Divrei Ha-yamim 4:41-43; II Melakhim 18:8
Yishayahu 30-31 / The conquest of Ashdod by Sargon.
The smiting of Amalek and the Philistines.
The alliance with Egypt
The fortification of Jerusalem and wantonness / Yishayahu 22:1-14; II Divrei Ha-yamim 32:2-8 II Melakhim 18:7 / Rebellion against the king of Assyria
The corruption of the regime in Jerusalem / Yishayahu 1; Mikha 3:9-11 (Yirmiyahu 26:18) / "Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the house like the high places of the forest" (Mikha 3:12)
Year 14 -
3212 / The replacement of Shevna with Elyakim ben Chilkiyahu / (Mikha 1:10-15) (Yishayahu 10:28-32) Yishayahu 36 / Sancheriv's invasion of the cities of Yehuda, and his campaign in the coastal plain and Binyamin. The siege of Jerusalem
Chizkiyahu's repentance and prayer, and G-d's answer / II Melakhim 18:17-37; 19:14-34; Yishayahu 36 / The delegation of Ravshake on the outskirts of Jerusalem. "For I will defend this city, to save it, for my own sake, and for My servant David's sake" (II Melakhim 19:34)
Chizkiyahu's illness, his prayer and the addition of 15 years to his life / II Melakhim 20:1-11; Yishayahu 38
II Melakhim 19:35; Yishayahu 37:36 / G-d smites the Assyrian camp; 185,000 casualties (according to Shemot Rabba 18,5– on the night of Pesach)
Following the deliverance from Assyria, the nations bring gifts to G-d and to Chizkiyahu / II Divrei Ha-yamim 32:23
Chizkiyahu's arrogance / II Divrei Ha-yamim 32:25-26 Yishayahu 39; II Melakhim 20:12-19 / The Babylonian delegation sees all the treasures in the royal palace. The decree of the Babylonian exile
3227 / Chizkiyahu dies / Menashe, his son, becomes King
Repentance
Until the moment of death, the Almighty awaits the return of the sinner. No matter how great his sins, no matter how long he had drifted from the Torah, if at the final moment there is a real, sincere desire to do teshuva, to repent of his transgressions, the Almighty awaits him with mercy and forgiveness.
One of the greatest sinners in all Israel was a king by the name of Menashe, who was the son of the king Chizkiyahu. Indeed, because of this son, Chizkiyahu almost died before his time.
Chizkiyahu was not only a great king but a great scholar, who was possessed of Divine vision to see into the future. To his horror, he beheld that the son who was to come from his loins would be a wicked and evil man, who would defy G-d and destroy man. Because of this, he decided that though man is commanded to marry, he would nevertheless abstain and not bring into the world such a wicked son.
Became Gravely Sick
Because of this, the Holy One, Blessed Be He, struck Chizkiyahu down, and he fell gravely ill, until the palace despaired of his life. The prophet Isaiah, who lived at the time, sealed the doom of the king when he came to his bedside and commanded:
“Speak to your household and settle your affairs, for you will die – both in this world and in the World to Come.”
When Chizkiyahu heard this he began to weep and asked why G-d was striking him down.
When he heard the reason, he implored Isaiah: “Perhaps if I repent the Almighty will forgive me. Let me marry your daughter and I will have children.”
Isaiah however said: “I fear that this will not help you, for it is decreed that you will die (in this world) and not live (in the world to come).”
Chizkiyahu, however, replied: “Why do you say such a thing? My fore-fathers (Dovid and Shlomo) taught me that though a sword rests upon a man’s neck, he should not lose faith in the Almighty but should implore his mercies.”
And it was as Chizkiyahu said. He turned his face to the wall and implored the Almighty for forgiveness. The Almighty heard his prayer and granted him recovery, and Chizkiyahu married the daughter of Isaiah and had a son – Menasheh.
However, Menasheh was a wicked King for twenty two years. But for the last 33 years of his life he did Teshuvah.
Turning the Clock Back
While still mortally sick but having heard the prophecy that he was to live, Hezekiah asked for a sign that he would indeed be healed and ascend to the House of G-d on the third day (v 9). Isaiah offered him his choice of a sign: either the sun would go forward by ten degrees on the special steps that were carefully positioned to serve as a natural clock like the sundial, or else it would go backwards. Hezekiah requested the harder option: that time should go backwards so as to have a ten-hour longer day (v 11) and the prophet called out to G-d, who sent the sign. It is said that on the day Hezekiah's idolatrous father Ahaz had died, the sun set ten hours early to leave no time for any eulogies, and now, to compensate, it set ten hours later.
Perhaps the miracle of time stopping still to make a longer day was a sign of the extra time Hezekiah was given to live and strengthen Judah in preparation for the decree of the destruction of the Temple and the exile to Babylon, which came about as the end result of his son Menasheh's idolatry in Jerusalem. The decree was irrevocable, but in Hezekiah's fifteen years of grace he was able to "stop the clock" for the time being, as it were, in order to continue with his spiritual revival in Yehudah.