meta: {"file": "/data/tomer/Sefaria-Export/txt/Tanakh/Commentary/Ralbag/Prophets/Ralbag on II Kings/English/merged.txt"}
text: Ralbag on II Kings
  רלב"ג על מלכים ב
  merged
  
  This file contains merged sections from the following text versions:
  -Sefaria Community Translation
  -
  
  Ralbag on II Kings
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  "...and all the strongholds and towers in the mountains were ripped up."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  And he did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done: Behold he did even more than David, because he never sinned but always did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, but David sinned in the matter or Uriah.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death: I should think that this was after the preceding story. And don't be surprised when it says, "I will deliver you out of the hand of the King of Assyria," (2 Kings 20:6) because it is possible that Esarhaddon threatening Jerusalem.
  
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  And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, "a What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me?": It is fitting for you to know that this was not a diminishing of faith for Hezekiah, that he requested a sign for this. This was when Isaiah had already made known to him that God's decree was that he should die. But now that He had agreed to add 15 years to his lifespan, perhaps there was a stipulation. This means 
  
  
  
  
  
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  that whosoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle: This means that because of the great outcry and excitement that will happen to him as a result, the terrible rumor will seem like an echoing voice in his ears.
  
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  And I will stretch over Jerusalem... : This means that Jerusalem will be given into the hand of an enemy, just as Samaria was given into the hand of the King of Assyria.
  and the plummet of the house of Ahab: This is a leaden stone used in construction, and it says this as part of a parable to the matter of the destruction of the house of Ahab and its ceasing. Thus it says that the inhabitants of Jerusalem will likewise cease.
  and I will wipe: and I will strike
  as a man wipes a dish: This means, like a man strikes a bowl full of food, such that his blow overturns it and nothing remains of the dish that was in it.
  
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  And I will cast off the remnant of Mine inheritance: Behold, the kingship of Judah is called the remnant of God's inheritance because it alone remains of God's inheritance which is the nation of Israel, because the king of Assyria exiled the rest.
  
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  Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much: It seems that he would kill anyone who did not agree to worship idols as well as the prophets who rebuked him, as did Jezebel who killed the prophets of God.
  
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  And he forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord: This means that he had already altogether separated from the way of the Lord.
  
  
  
  
  
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  and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or the left: This means that even though Huldah the prophetess sent to him, "because they heart was tender, and though didst humble thyself before the Lord," (2 Kings 22:19) the intention is not that Josiah sinned prior to this. The intention is that at the time when he heard this disaster which was decreed by God upon Israel, he strove in any case to repair that which earlier ones had distorted. Because before this, he did not know about the disaster that was decreed upon them. Thus he used to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but this was not enough for him to turn aside God's wrath from upon him. But, it was fitting that he should increase his devotion to God through rescuing Israel from this disaster decreed by God. And thus you find that Josiah tried to turn Israel into a people of God in order to turn avert this disaster from them, and to eradicate completely all idol worship.
  
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  kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened: This means ״is burning against us."
  
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  she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter: Targum Yonatan reads, "in the second district in the house of study."
  
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  Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers: This means that upon his death he will be buried with his ancestors, and the disaster will not be during his days. It would appear that there were other prophets in Israel apart from Huldah. But he sent to here because of her proximity to him, because she was then in Jerusalem.
  
  
  
  
  
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  And the king stood on the platform: It would seem that they build a platform there, and the King would stand on it at the time when they read the Torah, as was mentioned with regard to the communal Torah reading.
  
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  And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there, upon the altars: It would seem that there still remained there a few Israelites, as mentioned after this, and they still clung to their wickedness. And there were priests of the high places there and Josiah sacrificed them upon the altars and burned the bones of men upon the altars.
  
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  according to all that his fathers had done: This means his fathers that had a done evil in the eyes of the Lord, like Ahaz and Menasseh and others like them.
  
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  and put the land to a fine: This means that he required a yearly tribute, and made Eliakim king over them.
  
  
  
  
  
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  and the LORD would not pardon: This means that even though Menasseh repented, God was not willing to forgive his spilling of innocent blood. And it would seem that this included servants of the Lord - that he killed Isaiah son of Amoz because of how he reproached him. And thus our teachers of blessed memory said that Menasseh killed Isaiah.
  
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  And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: This is said to remark that God took vengeance against him for Josiah, whom he killed when he went up to fight near the river Euphrates.
  
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  And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon: This means that he went out during the King of Babylon's siege, when they heard that he had come there, to make peace with him and to place his neck under his yoke. But he (the King of Babylon) didn't want to make peace with him, so he exiled him to Babylon - him, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers, in the eighth year of rather reign of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon - seven full years had passed for him.
  
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  and all the craftsmen and the smiths: 
  
  
  
  
  
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  they built forts against it round about: These are towers that they built around the city to conquer it.
  
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  On the ninth day of the [fourth] month the famine was sore in the city: It is not explained in which month, however in the book of Jeremiah it is explained that this was the fourth month on the ninth of the month. (Jeremiah 39:2)
  
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  Then a breach was made in the city: This means, "(a breach was made) by the Babylonian army."
  and all the men of war [fled] by night: This means they fled at night when they saw the army of Babylon entering the city.
  by the way of the gate between the two walls: This means that they went out by a path that was between two walls in order that the Babylonians would not see them and not notice them. 
  which was by the king's garden: This means near the king's garden. 
  and the king went by the way of the Arabah: This means that the King went through the wilderness so that the Babylonians would not notice him.
  
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  and they gave judgment upon him: The pronounced upon him the sentence of a rebel and one who breaks his oath. And therefore they killed his sons and blinded Zedekiah's eyes and bound him in fetters and put him in prison until the day of his death, as is mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 39:6-7)
  
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  Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month: It was already stated in the book of Jeremiah, "on the tenth day of the month." (Jeremiah 52:12) It would appear that the beginning of the destruction was on the seventh day today the month because that is when they entered Jerusalem. And the end of the destruction was on the tenth of the month because that is when the Temple was burned. 
  
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  even every great man's house: This means, "every great man's house."
  
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  that were with the captain of the guard: This means, "that were with the captain of the guard."