Melakhim B 18: The Rise of King Chizkiyahu
SEFER MELAKHIM BET: THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS
By Rav Alex Israel
Shiur #22: Chapter 18 The Rise of King Chizkiyahu
King Chizkiyahu heralds an exciting period in the
kingdom of Yehuda. Chizkiyahu is devoted to God and responsive to His prophet.
During his reign, Chizkiyahu leads Israel in a religious renaissance and seeks
to heal the rift between the kingdom of Yisrael in the north and the kingdom of
Yehuda in the south. There are moments in which Chizkiyahu seems to display the
same grandeur as Shlomo.[1] And yet the
challenges that he faces are far from easy. He assumes the leadership after the
death of his father, the idolatrous king Achaz. Achaz had instigated a
pro-Assyrian foreign policy, and in his era Yehuda had functioned as an Assyrian
vassal enjoying the benefits of affiliation with the regional superpower. But an
alliance with Ashur meant acceptance of its gods. How could Chizkiyahu restore
the nations loyalty to God, purify the kingdom of its idolatry and still keep
his kingdom safe from the Assyrian threat? If he needed any reminder of the
dangers that loomed ahead, his northern neighbor, the kingdom of Yisrael, was
vanquished and exiled in the sixth year of his reign, palpable evidence of the
menacing power of Ashur. How does a small kingdom navigate in such a perilous
environment? Let us follow Chizkiyahus narrative and see how he confronts the
formidable tests of his reign.
REPUDIATING IDOLATRY
Sefer Melakhim offers a very favorable impression of Chizkiyahu in
the opening verses of Chapter 18:
3. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David
his father had done.
4.
He removed the high places [bamot] and broke the pillars and cut down the
Ashera. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moshe had made,
for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it and called it
Nechushtan.
5. He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him
among all the kings of Yehuda after him, nor among those who
were before
him.
6. For he held fast to the Lord.
He did not depart from following Him, but kept the commandments that the Lord
commanded Moshe.
7. And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out,
he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Ashur and would not serve him.
8. He struck down the Philistines as far as Azza and its territory, from
watchtower to fortified city.
We are impressed by several points of emphasis. First, Chizkiyahu engages in an
unwavering campaign to eradicate idolatry from the kingdom. We see him swiftly
dismantling the bamot and the Ashera. Evidently, the country had
become so overwhelmingly idolatrous that even Moshe's copper serpent, an
instrument of God's miraculous healing in the wilderness,[2]
had been adopted as an object of worship. Yet Chizkiyahu is single minded; he is
not averse to removing and dismantling that historic artifact in his ardent
offensive against national idolatry.
Second, the verses employ an impressive sequence of superlatives to denote
Chizkiyahus unwavering devotion to God. He is compared to David, he does not
depart from the laws of Moshe, he trusted in God and held fast to Him.
These are unusual accolades.
Lastly, we note Chizkiyahus military victories. In an era that sees Ashur
dominating the region, the conquests of this king are no small feat.
A BED OF ROPES
Let us begin our analysis with Chizkiyahu's war against idolatry. His father
Achaz had turned the Temple of Jerusalem into a pagan shrine, welcoming an
influx of Assyrian religion into Yehuda (Ch. 16). With his father's death,
Chizkiyahu uproots and totally overturns his father's religious practices.
Chazal offer a fascinating image for Chizkiyahu's rejection of his father;
they recount that he dragged his father's coffin on a bed of ropes (Pesachim
56a). In a recently published volume, Rav Yoel Bin-Nun and Rav Beni Lau
dramatize the scene of Achaz's state funeral and the shock that this act would
have generated:
We can only try to imagine the scene of that funeral, choreographed by the heir
to the throne, Chizkiyahu, under the supervision of the prophet Yeshayahu. The
officials of Yehuda and its national leadership stand, lined up for the royal
procession. The protocol dictates that the heir apparent lead the royal coffin
of the dead sovereign to the official burial tomb of the monarchs of the House
of David.
At that same time, a heated discussion was being held in Yeshayahus study;
Yeshayahu refused to approve the funeral proceedings. For almost twenty years,
Chizkiyahu had grown under Yeshayahus tutelage. His grandfather had put him
under Yeshayahus guidance, his father barely noticed, and he had become one of
the prophet's finest students
Now Yeshayahu and the royal heir sat hatching the
spectacle of the king's departure, his final journey. He must show the people of
Jerusalem that the days of paganism have ended, his father's evil era had come
to a close.
At the key moment, the courtiers lay the coffin of the deceased sovereign in
the palace courtyard, a coffin fit for a king. Official royal convention
dictated a silken burial shroud and a hearse encrusted with precious stones.
Around the head of the king were spices and sweet-smelling branches. All the
elder statesmen and the members of the government stood waiting for the heir to
emerge and approach the bier.
Suddenly, an official announcement sounded: By order of Chizkiyahu, son of
Achaz: Remove the body from the carriage, and place it on a bed of ropes! A
shocked murmur was heard from the crowd: A bed of ropes? Like a wretched
pauper?
Suddenly the figure of Chizkiyahu emerged, erect, standing tall at the gateway
of the palace. Nobody dared defy the royal pronouncement. Slowly, the body was
removed from the royal hearse onto the bed of ropes and the funeral procession
began on its way to the royal burial grounds, the resting place of the House of
David. (Isaiah, 170-172)
Divrei Ha-yamim
takes the indignity visited upon Achaz even further. It claims that Chizkiyahu
denied his father's burial inside the royal tomb:
Achaz slept with his forefathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem,
but they did not bring him to the graves of the kings of Yisrael, and Chizkiyahu
his son reigned in his stead.
(Divrei Ha-yamim II 28:27)
There is little doubt that this shocking inaugural act conveyed a powerful
message regarding the new king's religious orientation.
REOPENING THE TEMPLE
Divrei Ha-yamim
presents new information on Chizkiyahu's religious revolution:
In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the
Temple of the
Lord
and repaired
them.
He
brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east
side
and said: Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate
yourselves now and consecrate the Temple of the
Lord,
the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.
Our parents
were unfaithful;
they did evil in the eyes of the
Lord
our God
. Therefore, the anger of the
Lord
has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem
Now I intend to make a
covenant
with the Lord, the God of Israel
(Divrei Ha-yamim II 29:3-10)
This they do. It takes eight days to remove all the idolatry from the Temple,
following which they rededicate the Temple in an eight day ceremony of
consecration.[3]
NATIONAL UNITY
Next, Chizkiyahu invites the northern tribes to join him in celebrating Pesach
in Jerusalem.[4]
Because the purification of the Temple had taken so long, the official date for
Pesach had already passed. As a result, the holiday was scheduled a month later:
Chizkiyahu sent word to all Yisrael and Yehuda and also wrote letters to Efraim
and Menashe, inviting them to come to the Temple of the
Lord
in Jerusalem and celebrate the Pesach to the
Lord,
the God of Israel. The king and his officials and the whole assembly in
Jerusalem decided to celebrate
the Pesach in the second month. They had not been able to celebrate it at the
regular time because not enough priests had consecrated
themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem.[5]
(Divrei Ha-yamim 30:1-3)
Here the key, repeated throughout the chapter is Chizkiyahus appeal to the
tribes of the north, from Beer Sheva to Dan (30:5) Efraim and Menashe,
Asher and Zevulun (30:10-11). It seems that Chizkiyahu made a considerable
effort to unify the nation for this inaugural celebration. To achieve this goal,
a variety of measures were undertaken to ensure participation of the northern
tribes. One issue was that many of the northerners were ritually impure:
Although most of the many people who came from Efraim, Menashe, Yissakhar and
Zevulun had not purified themselves,
yet they ate the Pesach, contrary to what was written. But Chizkiyahu prayed for
them, saying, May the
Lord,
who is good, pardon everyone
who sets their heart on seeking Godthe
Lord,
the God of their ancestorseven if they are not clean according to the rules of
the sanctuary. And the
Lord
heard
Chizkiyahu and healed
the people.
(18-20)
The people are impure and yet they celebrate Pesach![6]
Ordinarily, this would be an insurmountable obstacle. And yet, Chizkiyahu prays
for them and God forgives them. Clearly Chizkiyahu was determined to bring the
nation together for this event.
It is possible that the rescheduling of Pesach in the second month was also a
measure directed at tribal unity. If we recall the national rupture in which
Yerovam rebelled and the secession of the ten tribes, we should remember that
Yerovam enacted the celebration of Sukkot at a month's remove from the southern
kingdoms celebration:
And Yerovam established a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in
imitation of the festival in Judah. (Melakhim I 13:32)
Some understand that Yerovam shifted the calendar a month behind to ensure that
the population in the north would not migrate to the Temple for its festive
celebrations. The idea was ingenious. Since Sukkot was celebrated in the north a
month after Jerusalem, there would be no opportunity to attend the Sukkot
celebration in Jerusalem because it had already transpired a month earlier.[7]
Now, Chizkiyahu's addition of a month synchronized the southern and northern
calendars, allowing all of Israel to celebrate at the same time![8]
Why was Chizkiyahu so passionate about welcoming the northern tribes to
Jerusalem?
There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Shlomo
son of David, King of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.
(30:26)
Immediately after the reign of Shlomo, the kingdom had split into two. This was
the first religious moment celebrated in national unity at the Temple in over
200 years. Chizkiyahu sought this national unity. He wanted Jerusalem and the
Temple to be a national center and not merely the shrine of a single tribe. The
joy of this Pesach reflects the delight at a nation reunited.
TEACHING TORAH
We have discussed Chizkiyahu's repudiation of his father's regime, his battle
against idolatry, his rehabilitation of the Temple and his hopes for national
unity. But the Tanakh and Chazal point out a final passion of this
righteous king Torah study:
The yoke of Sancheriv shall be destroyed on account of the oil of Chizkiyahu,
which burned in the synagogues and schools. What did he do? He planted a sword
by the door of the schoolhouse and proclaimed, He who will not study the Torah
will be pierced with the sword. Search was made from Dan unto Beer Sheba, and
no ignoramus was found, from Gavat unto Antipatris and no boy or girl, man or
woman was found who was not thoroughly versed in the laws of cleanliness and
uncleanliness. (Sanhedrin 94b)
Chizkiyahu is seen as a figure who enforces national Torah study. His methods
are admittedly rather violently coercive, but the results are a civilian
population that is thoroughly versed in the minutiae of Jewish law.
Evidence of Chizkiyahu's interest in spreading Torah knowledge is not limited to
Talmudic tradition. In Mishlei, after twenty-four chapters, we read:
These are also the proverbs of
Shlomo, compiled by the men of Chizkiyahu, King of Yehuda. (25:1)
It seems that Chizkiyahu published a revised and expanded edition of
Mishlei, including certain as yet unpublished writings of Shlomo. We see
that Chizkiyahu encouraged the publication of Torah literature, like Mishlei.
This must indicate an interest in national education. Similarly,
the Talmud states:
Chizkiyahu and his company wrote
Yeshayahu, Mishlei, Shir Ha-shirim and Kohelet.
(Bava Batra 15a)
The impression is that Chizkiyahu promoted the publication and distribution of
literature that would boost his religious worldview.
IN SUMMARY
This week we discussed the first year of Chizkiyahus reign and his religious
reforms. Next week we shall discuss the challenge of the Assyrian attack on
Jerusalem.
[1]
Divrei Ha-yamim II 30:26
[2]
Bamidbar
ch.21
[3]
This was possibly based on the eight day miluim ceremony described in
Vayikra 8-9.
[4]
Divrei Ha-yamim gives us the impression that Ch. 30-31 take place in
Chizkiyahu's first year. Some contest this, assuming that it would take time for
Chizkiyahu to gain the political capital needed to invite the northern tribes,
especially before the fall of Shomron. Additionally, Chizkiyahu speaks of the
captivity of the northern tribes (30:9). (Rav Beni Lau and Rav Yoel Bin-Nun
suggest this approach, p. 96.) But the text can be read as taking place in the
first year of Chizkiyahus reign without difficulty. Chazal (Seder
Olam 22) assume that the northern tribes made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem in
Hoshea's reign. The captives that Chizkiyahu refers to may have been from the
Assyrian attack which preceded the fall of Shomron, see Melakhim II
15:29.
[5]
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 12a-b) debates the meaning of the second month
(30:2) referenced here. One opinion suggests that it is the second month of
Chizkiyahu's reign, and that Chizkiyahu added a month to the calendar,
effectively creating a second Nissan. (This act was criticized by the rabbis,
since a leap year may only be enacted in Adar and not in Nissan.) A second
opinion sees the second month as the calendric month of Iyar and they were
celebrating a mass Pesach Sheni. See the various proofs in the classical
commentaries to Divrei Ha-yamim.
[6]
See the Rambam, Hilkhot Biat Ha-mikdash 4:16-18, who explains that the
community may bring the korban Pesach even if they are all impure.
Chizkiyahu acted inappropriately by creating a leap month at the wrong time, and
additionally by adjusting the calendar for the concern of ritual impurity.
[7]
See my explanation of this passage in my I Kings: Torn in Two (Maggid,
2013) 165.
[8]
See Zev Erlich, To perform Passover in the Second Month, Hazofe, 11 Iyar 5741,
5-6 [Hebrew] or at
http://www.vbm-torah.org/vtc/0033968.html.
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