2 Reis 20

BLIVRE · Chapter 20/25

¹Naqueles dias caiu Ezequias enfermo de morte, e veio a ele Isaías profeta filho de Amoz, e disse-lhe: o SENHOR disse assim: Dá ordens à tua casa, porque hás de morrer, e não viverás.

²Então virou ele seu rosto à parede, e orou ao SENHOR, e disse:

³Rogo-te, ó SENHOR, rogo-te faças memória de que andei diante de ti em verdade e íntegro coração, e que fiz as coisas que te agradam. E chorou Ezequias com grande choro.

⁴E antes que Isaías saísse até a metade do pátio, veio a palavra do SENHOR a Isaías, dizendo:

⁵Volta, e dize a Ezequias, príncipe de meu povo: Assim diz o SENHOR, o Deus de Davi teu pai: Eu ouvi tua oração, e vi tuas lágrimas: eis que eu te saro; ao terceiro dia subirás à casa do SENHOR.

⁶E acrescentarei a teus dias quinze anos, e te livrarei a ti e a esta cidade da mão do rei da Assíria; e ampararei esta cidade por causa de mim, e por causa de Davi meu servo.

⁷E disse Isaías: Tomai uma pasta de figos. E tomando-a, puseram sobre a chaga, e sanou.

⁸E Ezequias havia dito a Isaías: Que sinal terei de que o SENHOR me sarará, e que subirei à casa do SENHOR ao terceiro dia?

⁹E respondeu Isaías: Esta sinal terás do SENHOR, de que fará o SENHOR isto que disse: Avançará a sombra dez degraus, ou retrocederá dez degraus?

¹⁰E Ezequias respondeu: Fácil coisa é que a sombra decline dez degraus: mas, que a sombra volte atrás dez degraus.

¹¹Então o profeta Isaías clamou ao SENHOR; e fez voltar a sombra pelos degraus que havia descido no relógio de Acaz, dez degraus atrás.

¹²Naquele tempo Berodaque-Baladã, filho de Baladã, rei da Babilônia, enviou cartas e um presente a Ezequias, porque havia ouvido que Ezequias havia estado doente.

¹³E Ezequias os ouviu, e mostrou-lhes toda a casa das coisas preciosas, prata, ouro, e especiaria, e preciosos unguentos; e a casa de suas armas, e tudo o que havia em seus tesouros: nenhuma coisa restou que Ezequias não lhes mostrasse, tanto em sua casa como em todo o seu domínio.

¹⁴Então o profeta Isaías veio ao rei Ezequias, e disse-lhe: Que disseram aqueles homens, e de onde vieram a ti? E Ezequias lhe respondeu: De distantes terras vieram, de Babilônia.

¹⁵E ele lhe voltou a dizer: Que viram em tua casa? E Ezequias respondeu: Viram tudo o que havia em minha casa; nada restou em meus tesouros que não lhes mostrasse.

¹⁶Então Isaías disse a Ezequias: Ouve a palavra do SENHOR:

¹⁷Eis que vêm dias, em que tudo o que está em tua casa, e tudo o que teus pais entesouraram até hoje, será levado a Babilônia, sem restar nada, disse o SENHOR.

¹⁸E de teus filhos que sairão de ti, que haverás gerado, tomarão; e serão eunucos no palácio do rei da Babilônia.

¹⁹Então Ezequias disse a Isaías: A palavra do SENHOR que falaste, é boa. Depois disse: Mas não haverá paz e verdade em meus dias?

²⁰Os demais dos feitos de Ezequias, e todo o seu vigor, e como fez o tanque, e o aqueduto, e meteu as águas na cidade, não está escrito no livro das crônicas dos reis de Judá?

²¹E descansou Ezequias com seus pais, e reinou em seu lugar Manassés seu filho.

📖 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).