A mention of Hezekiah on yesterday’s daf engenders the following teaching about one of Judea’s best-loved kings:
“That the government may be increased (lemarbe) and of peace there be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it through justice and through righteousness, from now and forever; the zeal of the Lord of hosts does perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6) Rabbi Tanhum says that bar Kappara taught in Tzippori: Due to what reason is it that every letter mem in the middle of a word is open and this mem, of the word lemarbe, is closed? This is because the Holy One, Blessed be He, sought to designate King Hezekiah as the Messiah and to designate Sennacherib and Assyria, respectively, as Gog and Magog.
To understand this text, one must first understand that some Hebrew letters have two forms: one if it is in the middle of a word and another if it is the last letter of the word. Mem is one of these letters. In the middle of a word, mem is shaped as an open triangle; at the end of a word, it is written as a closed rectangle. In the verse from Isaiah, the word lemarbe is an oddity: The mem in the middle of this word assumes the closed final form. The rabbis interpret this strange final mem as a sign that God wished to designate King Hezekiah, to whom this prophecy was given, as none other than the Messiah (in Hebrew moshiach, which starts with the letter mem).
The Jewish people have been waiting for the Messiah, and the return of the Davidic monarchy, for more than two and a half millennia. From our vantage point, the Messiah, the leader prophesied to usher in the final redemption, is expected to restore the fallen Davidic monarchy. But according to the rabbis’ thinking, there was no a priori reason for the Davidic monarchy to fail and then come back. King Hezekiah, one of the great kings of David’s line, could have been the Messiah.
So why wasn’t God’s desire to make Hezekiah the Messiah fulfilled? The Gemara imagines that after God declared this intention, an objection was raised by the attribute of justice personified. Justice said:
Master of the Universe: If with regard to David, King of Israel, who recited many songs and praises before You, You did not designate him as the Messiah. Then with regard to Hezekiah, for whom You performed all these miracles, delivering him from Sennacherib and healing his illness, and he did not recite praise before You, will You designate him as the Messiah?
The attribute of justice employs talmudic logic, in the form of a kal v’chomer argument, to disqualify Hezekiah: King David was a prodigiously successful ruler whose numerous conquests (including Jerusalem) built a small empire. As the author of the psalms, he was also unparalleled in his praise of God. Hezekiah, by contrast, barely held off destruction at the hands of the Assyrian ruler Sennacherib who, according to the biblical narrative, first conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and then most of the southern kingdom of Judea. Hezekiah may have kept Jerusalem, but barely, and he was ultimately forced to pay Sennacherib tribute. He left no book of poetry praising God. If King David didn’t merit becoming the Messiah, surely Hezekiah ought not!
Two more characters now speak out in favor of Hezekiah. First, the earth offers to sing praises on Hezekiah’s behalf, and the rabbis bring a verse from Isaiah prove it:
From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs: Glory to the righteous. (Isaiah 24:16)
A creative reading of the verse suggests that the song doesn’t just emanate from the corners of the earth, but the earth itself intoned “glory to the righteous” which, on this midrashic reading, is a reference to the righteous King Hezekiah who should be given the glory of ushering in the end of days as the Messiah.
Next, sar ha’olam, the angel that oversees the earth, also speaks up on behalf of Hezekiah:
Master of the Universe, perform the will of this righteous person!
For those keeping score: So far, God has expressed an interest in making Hezekiah the Messiah, but Justice argued against it. The earth and the angel that oversees the earth spoke up in favor. Now a bat kol, or divine voice, enters the debate, quoting the continuation of Isaiah 24:16:
My secret is Mine, My secret is Mine.
Rashi explains the meaning of this response: Even if logic and mercy dictate that Hezekiah should merit to bring about the redemption, there are divine secrets which we will never understand preventing it. Part of what’s remarkable about this conclusion to the heavenly debate is that the bat kol, which usually gives voice to God’s will or thoughts, weighs in against God.
The rabbis lived in a world almost entirely under the influence of powerful empires, and without any meaningful Jewish state power. Underneath this debate may be a fervent question: Is redemption even possible without Jewish autonomy? Can a Hezekiah-like Jewish leader, independent in some sense, but fundamentally beholden to his imperial overlords, be the Messiah we seek? The conclusion offers hope but no promise: Hezekiah wasn’t the Messiah, but he wasn’t far off.
Read all of Sanhedrin 94 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on March 21, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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