Isaiah · Chapter 39

"And he heard that he was ill, and he strengthened himself." He was accustomed to eat at three hours [of the day] and to sleep until the ninth hour. When the sun's disk returned for Hezekiah, and he awoke from his sleep at the ninth hour, he found that it was still morning. He sought to kill all his servants, saying, "You let me sleep, day and night, until morning!" They said to him, "It is the sun's disk that returned." He said to them, "And who returned it?" They said to him, "The God of Hezekiah," etc., as it is stated in Tanchuma and in Pesikta.

"At that time." This passage is expounded in the Book of Kings:

"At that time." I have also explained this passage thoroughly in the book of Kings.

And he heard. This means that upon hearing that he had fallen ill and then recovered, he therefore sent him books and a gift as an act of love. And in Chronicles it is stated that he sent him to inquire about the miracle that occurred during his illness.

At that time, it is explained in the commentary on the verse, that the primary purpose of the mission was to ascertain the miracle that had occurred in the land, namely, that the sun had retreated ten degrees backward. This was a great, publicized miracle whose report had spread throughout the entire land. They sent [messengers] to investigate and spy out how and for what reason, and by what merit, this great thing had been done. For truly, the ultimate purpose for which the Lord performed this great miracle, which had not been done like it since the days of Joshua son of Nun, was not so that Hezekiah’s heart would be assured that he would be healed and that he would ascend to the House of the Lord. For He would not perform such a great thing for a minor matter like that, especially since even without the miracle, he knew on the third day that the affliction had been healed. Rather, there was a great purpose and general benefit for the entire nation in this. They had then been driven away by Sennacherib to the ends of the earth, and the Lord desired to provide them with some assistance, lest these lost sheep be destroyed among many wolves. Therefore, He performed this great miracle for their sake, so that the ends of the earth saw it and were afraid, and their neighbors all around trembled before them. These exiles strengthened their hearts in the Lord, and some of them returned to their land under the shadow of Hezekiah, with no one standing against them, for their awe fell upon all the inhabitants of the land, as prophesied regarding this (above, 18:24, 19:17, and in the commentary). And even if they had merited it, the general ingathering would have occurred through Hezekiah, as I mentioned (above, 12:1), because the sin mentioned here was due to their fault. Therefore, the King of Babylon also stirred himself to inquire after the cause of this miracle. He did not send letters and a gift out of love for Hezekiah and his people, for Hezekiah himself stated that they came to him from a distant land, indicating that they had had no connection with Israel until then. On the contrary, they were like spies of the land, for the Kingdom of Babylon was close relatives and allies with the Kingdom of Assyria, and for the most part, they were one kingdom, as is well known. Their hearts were troubled by the defeat of their brothers. From then on, they devised thoughts against Israel (and they raised their schemes immediately in the days of Manasseh, when the officers of the army of the King of Assyria came against him, chastised him with copper chains, and took him to Babylon [commentary on 2 Kings 23:33], for then the royal city of Assyria was in Babylon, for both Nineveh and Babylon were royal cities for the kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon, which were one shared kingdom). And they acted cunningly by sending letters and a gift, and by deceitfully inquiring about the matter and the root of the miracle. This was in order to know by what power this people was great, with the help of the God who said on their behalf, “Let the sun stand still.” And it is written that through the mission of these letters, the King of Babylon heard that Hezekiah had been ill and had recovered. For when they came to Hezekiah and asked him by what merit this great miracle had occurred, he, in his arrogance, did not wish to say that it was for the sake of Israel, and that the sign was that the Lord would save them from the hand of Assyria, as was indeed the primary cause of the sign and the miracle. Rather, he attributed the honor to himself, and told them that the miracle was done for his sake, to be a sign that he would be healed from his illness. And it is explained in the commentary that this was a great sin on the part of Hezekiah, as it is stated there [2 Chronicles 32:24-25]: Hezekiah was sick and prayed to the Lord, "and He spoke to him, and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah rendered not according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath came upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem." And there [verse 31]: so too concerning the ambassadors of Babylon, sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, "God left him, to test him, to know all that was in his heart." And his sin was in two things: A. The arrogance, that he boasted in his spirit that this great thing was done for his sake, which was not the truth, for the Lord would not do such a thing for an individual. (And the reason that the Lord did not inform him clearly that the miracle was done for Israel is explained there: “God left him to test him, in order to know all that was in his heart.”) B. The disclosure, that he revealed this to the princes of Babylon. For thereby, their fear, which they had feared from Israel and from their saving God, departed, after it became known to them that this miracle was not done for Israel, but for one man, who was Hezekiah. And by this, although they were subdued before him while he was alive, their hearts rejoiced to come against his son Manasseh, thinking that the shadow had departed with the death of their king. And they did not tremble to return the exiles to their place, who were under the command of the King of Assyria and Babylon, for it became known to them that the Lord did not desire Israel. (And therefore our Sages of blessed memory said in Sanhedrin that the Lord desired to make Hezekiah the Messiah, but he sinned by not singing a song over the defeat of Sennacherib. Meaning, that the general ingathering would have occurred then. If Hezekiah had not diminished the miracle of Sennacherib and sung the song of the miracle for himself rather than for the community, and by this the fear departed from the kings of Assyria and Babylon, as mentioned above):

"The house of his spices." The house of his treasuries of spices, as it is written (Genesis 37:25), "spices, balm, and lot." "And the good oil." Some explain it as the anointing oil, and others say it is apersimon oil, which was common in the Land of Israel, and it is the "pannag" mentioned (in Ezekiel 27:17): "Judah and Israel, they were your merchants; with wheat of Minnith and pannag." And I saw in the book of Yosephon that it is apersimon, and it grows in Jericho; therefore, Jericho is named after its fragrance. There was no matter. So too with the Torah scroll:

“Upon them.” On their arrival:

“Niktah.” The matter is a pleasant treasure; and so too “nik’ah” and “tzari” (Genesis 37:25), which is to say, pleasant things.

"And he rejoiced over them" — this teaches that he did not rejoice in them for their own sake, for he knew that they had not come as covenant partners and friends; rather, he rejoiced over them and because of them, finding an opportunity to boast before them that he was great in the eyes of the Lord. And from his arrogance and his desire to boast, he also boasted in the honor of his wealth and treasures, and showed them everything, as if to say: "Not only am I favored in the eyes of the Lord, but I am also successful in the success of the times, in wealth and honor and royal privilege." And in this he sinned in two ways: A. He sinned against the wisdom of governance, for after he saw that they had come as spies, he should not have shown them his treasures and the abundance of his wealth, because thereby they would keep in their hearts the intention to come, when the opportunity presented itself, against the land of Judah, on account of the abundance of these treasures that they would find there. Even though they knew that these treasures were gathered through the captivity of Assyria and the plunder of its fallen camp, the kings of that time used to hide their treasures from their neighbors so as not to arouse jealousy against them. B. He sinned against the Lord, for it was commanded to the king of Israel not to multiply his treasures and not to let his heart be lifted up above his brothers. And even so, he should not have boasted in these treasures before the foreigners who entered his gates.

“From a distant land they have come to me.” This is one of three individuals whom the Omnipresent tested: Cain, Hezekiah, and Balaam. Hezekiah ought to have replied, “Are you not a prophet of the Omnipresent, and yet you ask me?” Instead, he began to boast, saying, “From a distant land they have come to me.” Therefore, he was punished. Moreover, because he rejoiced over them and fed them at his table. So too with Balaam, to whom it was said, “Who are these men with you?” and he answered and said, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me” (Numbers 22:10). And so too with Cain, to whom it was said, “Where is Abel your brother?” (Genesis 4:9). He ought to have said, “Sovereign of the Universe, are not all hidden things revealed to You?” as it is stated in Tanchuma.

And from where? And from which place?

Isaiah’s question is not properly structured, for the proper order would be to ask first from where they will come, and only afterward, what they said? And Hezekiah did not answer the question of “what did they say to you?” What did he intend by saying, “They have come from a distant land”? Did he not know the distance from Babylonia to the Land of Israel? (3) “And he came, and he said to him”: After Isaiah came and rebuked him for the two matters in which he had sinned: A. For the answer he gave to their inquiry regarding the cause of the miracle, which was for his sake and not for the sake of Israel; B. For having shown them his treasures. Therefore, they first asked him, “What did these men say?” The intent was regarding all the matters that had passed between them concerning the miracle, so that he would tell them what they had asked and what he had answered them. And afterward, they asked, “From where did they come to you?” For if he could show his treasures and storehouses to angels who would come to him from a distant land, such that he would have no fear that they would envy him or engage him in wars, it would not have been fitting for him to show them to angels from nations close to him, for this would incite them to set their hearts to fight against him. Therefore, they asked from where they would come, whether from a near or distant place. Now, Hezekiah, who understood the content of the questions and their intent, regarding the first question was ashamed to answer, for he was caught like a thief in the night, and was humiliated by the prophet who rebuked him to his face. And regarding the second question, he answered, “From a distant land they came to me.” That is to say, I considered them as coming from a distant land, and that is to say, they were considered by me as coming from a distant land, for until that time, the foot of the Chaldeans had not entered my land, and it had not occurred to my mind that I should fear that they would wage war against me.

"And He said" — this refers to the second time He asked about this particular matter: "What did they see in your house?" And he answered in his usual manner: "Because they were regarded by me as angels from a distant land, I did not refrain from showing them everything."

“Not a word more.” Measure for measure, corresponding to “there was not a word.”

And he shall take. It shall be "he shall take" and "he shall be taken." "ואשר אצרו" – "And that which they have stored up": That which they have hidden away in a treasury. "Nothing shall be left over. From all that is in your house:"

What was his sin for which this great punishment came upon him? Was a king not permitted to show his houses of treasures? Did Solomon not boast of his wealth before many nations? In the verse it is mentioned that Hezekiah’s heart was lifted up, and there was wrath against Judah and Jerusalem. What was this lifting up of heart, and he did this innocently? Specifically, it is mentioned there that the Lord left him in the hand of the envoys of the princes of Babylon to test him, to know all that was in his heart. What is all this commotion? What was the sin of his sons? “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”? Did Jerusalem not commit great sins and great abominations, for which they went into captivity before the enemy? Was it not for the sake of Hezekiah the righteous, who showed his treasures? (5-6) And Isaiah said, "Behold, days are coming," even though now it may seem to you that they are from a distant land and have no connection with the Land of Judah, you will see that because they have now seen your treasures, they will be stirred from then on to come to the Land of Judah time after time, until the end result will be that all your treasures, as well as your children, will be carried away to Babylon.

"And from your sons." They are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

"And from your sons." They are Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. “Which went out, etc.” – The matter is repeated two or three times, in the manner of Scripture.

Eunuchs. Princes and officials:

The word of the Lord is good. Since in His days there will be peace:

"A good thing of the Lord." The thing is good in My eyes, and the explanation of His words is: Since it will be in days of peace, and the Lord will fulfill my promise, I am not concerned about what will happen after my death.

How could he say, “Good is the word of the Lord, for there shall be peace in his days”? And did a father not grieve over the calamities that befall his descendants? And even more so, if he himself was the cause of these calamities? (8) And He said: At that moment, Hezekiah realized that they had acted foolishly, and he acknowledged that the word of the Lord is very good. This acknowledgment was either from the perspective of wisdom—recognizing that such circumstances necessarily arise from their causes, a fact he had previously failed to comprehend due to his folly—or from the perspective of justice and punishment for his arrogance. He said, “Nevertheless, it is said that the word of the Lord concerning good will not return empty in any way.” Herein lies the distinction between a prophecy that a prophet delivers concerning evil, which can be altered if the people change their deeds from evil to good, and a prophecy that a prophet delivers in the name of the Lord concerning good, which cannot be altered in any way, as stated by Jeremiah to Hananiah ben Azzur. According to this principle, the prophecy that Isaiah delivered to him here, that evil would befall his sons, contains within it two prophecies: 1. A prophecy of evil concerning his sons, which could potentially be altered if they improve their deeds; and this is what is meant by “the word of the Lord is good.” 2. It is understood from the Lord’s own words that there is good for him personally, in that the evil will not occur in his days; and this cannot be altered in any way. And this is what is meant by “the word of the Lord is good,” for at the very least, it is certain that peace and truth will prevail in my days. This is not the case with the prophecy concerning my sons, which can be altered if they improve their deeds.