בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם חָלָה חִזְקִיָּהוּ לָמוּת וַיָּבוֹא אֵלָיו יְשַׁעְיָהוּ בֶן אָמוֹץ הַנָּבִיא וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו — כֹּה אָמַר ה' צַו לְבֵיתֶךָ כִּי מֵת אַתָּה וְלֹא תִחְיֶה

In those days, when Sennacherib was delivering his threats or after his downfall, Hizkiyahu became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amotz came to him. He said to him: So said the Lord: Instruct your household, prepare a testament for your relatives, as you are dying from your current illness and you will not survive.

וַיַּסֵּב חִזְקִיָּהוּ פָּנָיו אֶל הַקִּיר וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אֶל ה'

Rather than preparing a testament, Hizkiyahu decided to seclude himself with his God, and he turned his face to the wall, and he prayed to the Lord a short supplication.

וַיֹּאמַר אָנָּה ה' זְכָר נָא אֵת אֲשֶׁר הִתְהַלַּכְתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ בֶּאֱמֶת וּבְלֵב שָׁלֵם וְהַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֶיךָ עָשִׂיתִי וַיֵּבְךְּ חִזְקִיָּהוּ בְּכִי גָדוֹל

He said: Please Lord, please remember that I walked before You truthfully and wholeheartedly and have done that which is good in Your eyes. Now I am about to die. According to some opinions, Hizkiyahu was also childless at that time, and therefore he felt that his memory and good deeds would not be perpetuated. Hizkiyahu wept a great weeping in his agitation and frustration.

וַיְהִי דְּבַר ה' אֶל יְשַׁעְיָהוּ לֵאמֹר

The word of the Lord was again with Isaiah, saying:

הָלוֹךְ וְאָמַרְתָּ אֶל חִזְקִיָּהוּ כֹּה אָמַר ה' אֱלֹהֵי דָּוִד אָבִיךָ שָׁמַעְתִּי אֶת תְּפִלָּתֶךָ רָאִיתִי אֶת דִּמְעָתֶךָ הִנְנִי יוֹסִף עַל יָמֶיךָ חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה

Go and say to Hizkiyahu: So said the Lord, God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears; behold, I am cancelling the death sentence issued against you, and adding another fifteen years to your days, starting immediately.

וּמִכַּף מֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר אַצִּילְךָ וְאֵת הָעִיר הַזֹּאת וְגַנּוֹתִי עַל הָעִיר הַזֹּאת

God adds another good tiding: I will deliver both you and this city from the palm of the king of Assyria, and I will do so not only on this occasion, but in the future as well. Assyria will no longer pose a threat; I will protect this city.

וְזֶה לְּךָ הָאוֹת מֵאֵת ה' אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה ה' אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר

Isaiah’s prophecy is so startling in light of Hizkiyahu’s weakness and his sense of imminent death that he adds a sign to convince Hizkiyahu that a dramatic change is about to take place: This will be the sign for you from the Lord, which will prove that the Lord will perform this matter of which He spoke:

הִנְנִי מֵשִׁיב אֶת צֵל הַמַּעֲלוֹת אֲשֶׁר יָרְדָה בְמַעֲלוֹת אָחָז בַּשֶּׁמֶשׁ אֲחֹרַנִּית עֶשֶׂר מַעֲלוֹת וַתָּשָׁב הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ עֶשֶׂר מַעֲלוֹת בַּמַּעֲלוֹת אֲשֶׁר יָרָדָה

Behold, I will bring back the shadow of the stairs that descended on the sun-stairs of Ahaz, constructed out of steps that face northward, backward ten stairs. Since the sun sets in the southwest, the shadow’s descent along the stairs was an indication that time had passed. Isaiah states that instead of continuing downward on its usual course, the shadow will return backwards, an unparalleled miracle. And indeed, the sun went back ten stairs from the stairs that it had descended. A change in the course of the sun is not a local event, but an occurrence that is evident throughout the world. When this wonder was attributed to the sign received by Hizkiyahu and his victory, the king’s honor grew throughout the world. It is possible that word of this miracle led to Babylon’s support of Hizkiyahu, as described in the next section.

מִכְתָּב לְחִזְקִיָּהוּ מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה בַּחֲלֹתוֹ וַיְחִי מֵחָלְיוֹ

The following is a hymn authored by Hizkiyahu, not composed by the prophet Isaiah: A composition [mikhtav], similar to mikhtam, hymn, psalm, of Hizkiyahu king of Judah upon his becoming ill and recovering from his illness.

אֲנִי אָמַרְתִּי בִּדְמִי יָמַי אֵלֵכָה בְּשַׁעֲרֵי שְׁאוֹל פֻּקַּדְתִּי יֶתֶר שְׁנוֹתָי

I said in my heart that in the prime of my days, while I am still at the height of my powers, I will go to the gates of the netherworld, deprived of my remaining years that I should have lived.

אָמַרְתִּי לֹא אֶרְאֶה יָהּ יָהּ בְּאֶרֶץ הַחַיִּים לֹא אַבִּיט אָדָם עוֹד עִם יוֹשְׁבֵי חָדֶל

I further said to myself: I will not see the Lord, the Lord in the land of the living, in this world, I will no longer behold a person among the rest of the inhabitants of the world.

דּוֹרִי נִסַּע וְנִגְלָה מִנִּי כְּאֹהֶל רֹעִי קִפַּדְתִּי כָאֹרֵג חַיַּי מִדַּלָּה יְבַצְּעֵנִי מִיּוֹם עַד לַיְלָה תַּשְׁלִימֵנִי

I said: My generation, the people close to me and my peers, has departed and has been exiled from me. An entire world of relationships was uprooted due to my sickness. My life was like a shepherd’s tent, which leaves no trace after it has been folded up. I have truncated the threads of my life like a weaver. Hizkiyahu compares his life to cloth that is woven on a loom; when the weaving comes to an end, the weaver cuts the woof thread loose from the cloth. He would sever me from the fringe [dala] of threads left on the loom. Alternatively, dala is a branch; Hizkiyahu is saying that God would break him off like a branch. A third possibility is that dala refers to Hizkiyahu’s illness: God will sever his life through this illness. From day until night You, God, would end me and my life.

שִׁוִּיתִי עַד בֹּקֶר כָּאֲרִי כֵּן יְשַׁבֵּר כָּל עַצְמוֹתָי מִיּוֹם עַד לַיְלָה תַּשְׁלִימֵנִי

I imagined it, my illness, before me all night like a lion until morning, so it breaks all my bones. The nature of Hizkiyahu’s illness is unknown, but apparently he suffered severe pain. The descriptions that follow indicate that he also suffered from terrible sores. From day until night You would end me and my life.

כְּסוּס עָגוּר כֵּן אֲצַפְצֵף אֶהְגֶּה כַּיּוֹנָה דַּלּוּ עֵינַי לַמָּרוֹם אֲדֹנָי עָשְׁקָה לִּי עָרְבֵנִי

Like a swift, or a crane,so I chirp; I moan like a dove. My pain is as powerful as a lion, while I myself feel like a bird, sighing and moaning, barely able to speak. My eyes are lifted on high. Lord, it, my illness, oppresses [oshka] me and removes me from this world. Some interpret oshka as an imperative: Take away my illness. Intervene on my behalf and save me.

מָה אֲדַבֵּר ואָמַר לִי וְהוּא עָשָׂה אֶדַּדֶּה כָל שְׁנוֹתַי עַל מַר נַפְשִׁי

How can I speak in prayer? He, God, told me that I will die, and He did it, as He has issued a decree from which there is no escape. I falter with difficulty through all my years because of the bitterness of my soul and my physical weakness. Some understand that Hizkiyahu is saying that he has always suffered from physical ailments, but this illness was the worst of all.

אֲדֹנָי עֲלֵיהֶם יִחְיוּ וּלְכָל בָּהֶן חַיֵּי רוּחִי וְתַחֲלִימֵנִי וְהַחֲיֵנִי

Nevertheless, I know that those whom the blessing of the Lord is upon them, they live, and so for all of the parts of my body upon which the life of my spirit depends; You heal me and revive me.

הִנֵּה לְשָׁלוֹם מַר לִי מָר וְאַתָּה חָשַׁקְתָּ נַפְשִׁי מִשַּׁחַת בְּלִי כִּי הִשְׁלַכְתָּ אַחֲרֵי גֵוְךָ כָּל חֲטָאָי

Behold, for together with the surprising tidings of peace and the removal of the threat over the city, it was very bitter for me, as my life appeared to be coming to an end; but You desired my soul, delivering it from destructive decay, death that destroys everything, for You cast behind Your back all my sins. Since You have cast aside my sins, I can now live again in a new world of peace.

כִּי לֹא שְׁאוֹל תּוֹדֶךָּ מָוֶת יְהַלְלֶךָּ לֹא יְשַׂבְּרוּ יוֹרְדֵי בוֹר אֶל אֲמִתֶּךָ

For the netherworld does not thank You, nor death praise You. Those who have departed from this world cannot praise or extol You. Those who descend into the pit, the dead, do not await Your truth.

חַי חַי הוּא יוֹדֶךָ כָּמוֹנִי הַיּוֹם אָב לְבָנִים יוֹדִיעַ אֶל אֲמִתֶּךָ

The living man, and the living man alone, he will have the capacity to thank You, like me, today upon my recovery. Had I died, I would have been unable to laud God. A father who merits to have children will likewise proclaim to his offspring Your truth.

ה' לְהוֹשִׁיעֵנִי וּנְגִנוֹתַי נְנַגֵּן כָּל יְמֵי חַיֵּינוּ עַל בֵּית ה'

The Lord is coming to save me, and we will play my tunes all the days of our lives in the House of the Lord, thereby thanking Him for His kindness and deliverance.

וַיֹּאמֶר יְשַׁעְיָהוּ יִשְׂאוּ דְּבֶלֶת תְּאֵנִים וְיִמְרְחוּ עַל הַשְּׁחִין וְיֶחִי

Isaiah said: Let them take a cake of dried figs, and spread it on the king’s rash, and he will live.

וַיֹּאמֶר חִזְקִיָּהוּ מָה אוֹת ! — כִּי אֶעֱלֶה בֵּית ה'

In light of the prophet’s advice with regard to the healing of his sores, Hizkiyahu said: What is the sign that I have been healed? It is that I will go up to the House of the Lord. When I feel strong enough to rise from my bed and enter the House of the Lord, my arrival in the most appropriate place for expressing gratitude will signify my complete recovery.