2 Reis 20

ARC · Chapter 20/25

¹N'aquelles dias adoeceu Ezequias de morte: e o propheta Isaias, filho d'Amós, veiu a elle, e lhe disse: Assim diz o Senhor: Ordena a tua casa, porque morrerás, e não viverás.

²Então virou o rosto para a parede, e orou ao Senhor, dizendo:

³Ah, Senhor! Sê servido de te lembrar de que andei diante de ti em verdade, e com o coração perfeito, e fiz o que era recto aos teus olhos. E chorou Ezequias muitissimo.

⁴Succedeu pois que, não havendo Isaias ainda saido do meio do pateo, veiu a elle a palavra do Senhor, dizendo:

⁵Volta, e dize a Ezequias, chefe do meu povo: Assim diz o Senhor Deus de teu pae David: Ouvi a tua oração, e vi as tuas lagrimas; eis que eu te sararei; ao terceiro dia subirás á casa do Senhor.

⁶E accrescentarei aos teus dias quinze annos, e das mãos do rei d'Assyria te livrarei, a ti e a esta cidade; e ampararei esta cidade por amor de mim, e por amor de David, meu servo.

⁷Disse mais Isaias: Tomae uma pasta de figos. E a tomaram, e a pozeram sobre a chaga; e elle sarou.

⁸E Ezequias disse a Isaias: Qual é o signal de que o Senhor me sarará, e de que ao terceiro dia subirei á casa do Senhor?

⁹E disse Isaias: Isto te será signal, da parte do Senhor, de que o Senhor cumprirá a palavra que disse: Adiantar-se-ha a sombra dez graus, ou voltará dez graus atraz?

¹⁰Então disse Ezequias: É facil que a sombra decline dez graus; não, mas volte a sombra dez graus atraz.

¹¹Então o propheta Isaias clamou ao Senhor; e fez voltar a sombra dez graus atraz, pelos graus que tinha declinado nos graus do relogio de sol d'Achaz.

¹²N'aquelle tempo enviou Berodac Baladan, filho de Baladan, rei de Babylonia, cartas e um presente a Ezequias; porque ouvira que Ezequias tinha estado doente.

¹³E Ezequias lhes deu ouvidos, e lhes mostrou toda a casa de seu thesouro, a prata, e o oiro, e as especiarias, e os melhores unguentos, e a sua casa d'armas, e tudo quanto se achou nos seus thesouros: coisa nenhuma houve que lhes não mostrasse, nem em sua casa, nem em todo o seu dominio.

¹⁴Então o propheta Isaias veiu ao rei Ezequias, e lhe disse: Que disseram aquelles homens, e d'onde vieram a ti? E disse Ezequias: De um paiz mui remoto vieram, de Babylonia.

¹⁵E disse elle: Que viram em tua casa? E disse Ezequias: Tudo quanto ha em minha casa viram: coisa nenhuma ha nos meus thesouros que eu lhes não mostrasse.

¹⁶Então disse Isaias a Ezequias: Ouve a palavra do Senhor:

¹⁷Eis que veem dias em que tudo quanto houver em tua casa, e o que enthesouraram teus paes até ao dia de hoje, será levado a Babylonia: não ficará coisa alguma, disse o Senhor.

¹⁸E ainda até de teus filhos, que procederem de ti, e que tu gerares, tomarão, para que sejam eunuchos no paço do rei de Babylonia.

¹⁹Então disse Ezequias a Isaias: Boa é a palavra do Senhor que disseste. Disse mais: E pois não o seria? pois em meus dias haverá paz e verdade.

²⁰Ora o mais dos successos de Ezequias, e todo o seu poder, e como fez a piscina e o aqueducto, e como fez vir a agua á cidade, porventura não está escripto no livro das chronicas dos reis de Judah?

²¹E Ezequias dormiu com seus paes: e Manasseh, seu filho, reinou em seu logar.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Hezekiah falls gravely ill and, after praying and weeping, receives fifteen additional years of life, along with a miraculous sign of the sundial's shadow moving backward. Later, he unwisely shows all the kingdom's treasures to Babylonian messengers, and Isaiah prophesies that these riches, and even his own descendants, would one day be carried off into exile in Babylon.

Explanation

Hezekiah's healing shows that God responds to sincere prayer even when a judgment (imminent death) had already been announced, but the episode that follows reveals a flaw of character: pride and a lack of discernment in displaying national treasures to an emerging foreign power. This vanity has prophetic consequences of the longest possible term, foreshadowing the Babylonian exile that would occur more than a hundred years later. It is a reminder that even the most faithful kings can have serious blind spots, and that seemingly unimportant decisions (showing off riches to visitors) can have profound historical repercussions.

Fun facts

This episode of Hezekiah's illness is narrated in parallel in Isaiah 38, including a song of thanksgiving written by the king himself after his healing, one of the few examples of personal royal poetry preserved in the Old Testament.
Hezekiah's seemingly resigned response to the prophecy of future exile ('Good is the word of the Lord... there will be peace and truth in my days') is often criticized by commentators as an example of selfish complacency, thinking only of his own generation.

Verse-by-verse explanation

2 Reis 20:1Hezekiah’s healing is tied both to personal faith — the king weeps and recalls his faithfulness — and to a visible physical sign, the shadow on the sundial moving back ten steps. It is one of the few miracles in the book linked to an explicit request for confirmation.
2 Reis 20:2Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and prays, a gesture of intimacy and desperation on hearing the news that he is going to die.
2 Reis 20:3He asks the Lord to remember his faithfulness, how he walked with a whole heart doing what is right, and weeps bitterly — a deeply human prayer in the face of death.
2 Reis 20:4Even before Isaiah leaves the middle courtyard of the palace, the word of the Lord reaches him again — the answer comes fast.
2 Reis 20:5The Lord sends Isaiah back to tell Hezekiah: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, I will heal you, and on the third day you will go up to the temple.
2 Reis 20:6The Lord adds fifteen years to Hezekiah’s life and promises to deliver him, together with the city, from the hand of Assyria, for His own honor and for the promise made to David.
2 Reis 20:7Isaiah prescribes a lump of figs applied to the boil, and Hezekiah recovers — a practical remedy used alongside the miracle.
2 Reis 20:8Hezekiah asks for a sign confirming the healing and that he really will go up to the temple on the third day.
2 Reis 20:9Isaiah offers a choice: should the shadow on the sundial move forward ten steps or back ten steps?
2 Reis 20:10Hezekiah chooses the harder option: it is easy for the shadow to go forward, so let it go back ten steps instead — asking for the more astonishing miracle.
2 Reis 20:11Isaiah prays, and the shadow actually goes back ten steps on the sundial of Ahaz — a sign that literally involves reversing marked time.
2 Reis 20:12Showing off the royal treasury to foreign envoys was normal in prestige diplomacy, but Isaiah rebukes Hezekiah for exactly that. He foresees that these same treasures, and Hezekiah’s own descendants, would one day be carried off to Babylon, anticipating an exile that will only happen more than a hundred years later.
2 Reis 20:13Hezekiah shows the messengers from Babylon everything he has: silver, gold, spices, fine oils, his armory — hiding nothing of his own treasures.
2 Reis 20:14Isaiah asks Hezekiah what the men said and where they came from; he answers that they came from a distant land, Babylon.
2 Reis 20:15Isaiah asks what they saw in the king’s house; Hezekiah admits he showed them everything, keeping nothing hidden.
2 Reis 20:16Isaiah tells Hezekiah to hear the word of the Lord, setting up the announcement that follows.
2 Reis 20:17Days are coming when everything in the palace, everything your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be carried off to Babylon — nothing will be left.
2 Reis 20:18Even some of Hezekiah’s own descendants will be taken away to serve as eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
2 Reis 20:19Hezekiah answers that the word of the Lord is good, since at least there will be peace and security for the rest of his own life — accepting a judgment that will fall only on his descendants.
2 Reis 20:20This engineering project, likely the tunnel still visible today in Jerusalem, brought water from an outside spring inside the city walls. It secured the water supply even during a prolonged siege.
2 Reis 20:21Hezekiah dies, and his son Manasseh takes the throne of Judah (the southern kingdom).