## Radak on II Chronicles Chapter 32

###### Radak on II Chronicles 32:1:1
[Radak on II Chronicles 32:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Radak%20on%20II%20Chronicles/r/32:1:1)

**אחרי הדברים והאמת האלה.** אחרי שעשו הדברים והאמת האלה חזקיהו ויהודה, ולשוב לעבודת אלהי אמת, **בא** עליהם **סנחריב**. כי אע"פ שחזקיהו היה לבו שלם, ביהודה היו דברים רעים, ולא היה לבב כלם שלם עם יי', כמו שאמ' ישעיה הנביא בהרבה תוכחות שאמ' עליהם:

**The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007:**
**After these faithful deeds.** After Hezekiah and the Judeans performed all these faithful deeds and returned to the worship of the true God, **Sennacherib invaded** them. For even though Hezekiah’s heart was sincere, there were improper things going on in Judah, where not everyone was wholeheartedly committed to the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah indicates in his many admonitions to them.


###### Radak on II Chronicles 32:1:2
[Radak on II Chronicles 32:1:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Radak%20on%20II%20Chronicles/r/32:1:2)

**ויאמר לבקעם אליו.** וכן עשה, כמו שאמ' במלכים "ויתפשם" (מ"ב יח,יג). וכמהו "לשכב את בת יעקב" (בר' לד,ז), "להרגו בערמה" (שמ' כא,יד), והדומים להם:

**The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007:**
**And resolved to take them over.** And so [Sennacherib] did, as it says in Kings: “and he seized them” (2 Kgs 18:13). Similar cases include: “to lie with Jacob’s daughter” (Gen 34:7), “to kill him treacherously” (Exod 21:14), and those like them.


###### Radak on II Chronicles 32:4:1
[Radak on II Chronicles 32:4:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Radak%20on%20II%20Chronicles/r/32:4:1)

**ואת הנחל השוטף בתוך הארץ.** זה גיחון; והיה אז מלא ושוטף, וסתמו אותו:

**The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007:**
**And the wadi that flowed through the land.** This is Gihon. It had been full and flowing at that point, and [the Judeans] stopped it up.


###### Radak on II Chronicles 32:5:1
[Radak on II Chronicles 32:5:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Radak%20on%20II%20Chronicles/r/32:5:1)

**שלח לרב.** חרב, והוא כלל לכל כלי זיין. וכן "ואיש שלחו בידו" (דה"ב כג,י):

**The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007:**
**Great quantities of *shelaḥ*.** [This is just like] *ḥerev*: it is a collective term for all armaments. The same applies for: “each man with his *shelaḥ*” (2 Chr 23:10).


###### Radak on II Chronicles 32:23:1
[Radak on II Chronicles 32:23:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Radak%20on%20II%20Chronicles/r/32:23:1)

**וינשא לעיני כל הגוים מאחרי כן.** משפטו "ויתנשא", ופי' כמו "מתנשא לאמר" (מ"א א,ה): מתגאה מפני הגדולה והכבוד שהיה לו. וזהו שאמ' "כי גבה לבו" (להלן פס' כה):

**The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007:**
**Thereafter, *vayyinnassei* (=he boasted) before all the nations.** This would normally be *vayyitnassei*. It is similar in meaning to *mitnassei lemor* (=went about boasting; 1 Kgs 1:5): [Hezekiah] boasted over all the greatness and honor he had attained. It is with reference to this that the text says, “for he grew arrogant” (v. 25).


###### Radak on II Chronicles 32:28:1
[Radak on II Chronicles 32:28:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Radak%20on%20II%20Chronicles/r/32:28:1)

**וארות.** אבוסים; ותר' "אבוס בעליו" (יש' א,ג) – "אוריא דמרוהי".

**The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007:**
**And *uravot* (***ארות***).** [This means] troughs: the Targum renders “the trough of its master” (Isa 1:3) *orya* (***אוריא***) *de-marohi*.


###### Radak on II Chronicles 32:28:2
[Radak on II Chronicles 32:28:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Radak%20on%20II%20Chronicles/r/32:28:2)

וכן **ועדרים לאֲוֵרוֹת**; והוא הפוך מן "אֻרָוֹת". ו"עדרים" פרושו: מערכות; וכן "עדרי מערכה בלב שלם" (הש' דה"א יב,לט):

**The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007:**
The same is true for: “**and *‘adarim* for the *averot* (***אורות***)**”—this is a metathesized form of ***ארות***. The meaning of *‘adarim* is *ma‘arakhot* (=orderly storage places); compare “*‘oderei marakhah* (=men who manned the battle lines) with whole heart” (1 Chr 12:39).


###### Radak on II Chronicles 32:30:1
[Radak on II Chronicles 32:30:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Radak%20on%20II%20Chronicles/r/32:30:1)

**העליון.** נראה כי שני פלגים היה נחל גיחון, והעליון סתם. ואני תמה ממה שאמרו רבותי' ז"ל (ב' בר' י,ב): סתם מי גיחון ולא הודו לו; והנה כת' למעלה "ויועץ עם שריו וגבוריו לסתום את מימי העינות" (לעיל פס' ג), ובכלל "שריו" חכמי ישראל, כמו שכת' "שרי אלפים" (שמ' יח,כא), והם היו החכמים והשופטים (שם יח,כא-כב)! ובהגדה מצאתי (אדר"נ ב נוסחא א): סתם מי גיחון, והסכימה דעתו לדעת המקום:

**The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007:**
**The upper one.** It seems that Wadi Gihon had two courses, and that it was the top one that [Hezekiah] stopped up. I am surprised that our Sages, of blessed memory (b. Berakhot 10b), say that when he stopped up the flow of Gihon, the [religious authorities] did not accede to this. For the text says above, “he consulted with his officers (*sarav*) and warriors about stopping up the flow of the springs” (v. 3), and *sarav* include the scholars of Israel; for it says “*sarei* (=chiefs of) thousands” when referring to the scholars of the judiciary (Exod 18:21–22)! In fact, I found in an aggadic source (Avot de-Rabbi Natan [Schechter] A:2) that when he stopped up the flow of Gihon, his will corresponded to that of God.


###### Radak on II Chronicles 32:30:2
[Radak on II Chronicles 32:30:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Radak%20on%20II%20Chronicles/r/32:30:2)

**וַיַּישְּרֵם למטה מערבה.** משפטו "וַיְיַשְּרֵם", ובנוח היו"ד – פ"א הפעל – הוטלה תנועתה על היו"ד הנוספת. "מערבה" מלעיל, ובה"א נוספת; רוצ' לומ': ישרם והעבירם למטה מן הארץ על ידי חלונות לצד מערב **לעיר דוד**:

**The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007:**
**And he directed it (*vayyasherem* [וַיַּישְּׁרֵם]) underneath, toward the west (*ma‘ravah*).** In principle this should have been וַיְיַשְּׁרֵם, but when the *yod* that constitutes the first root-letter quiesced, its vowel shifted to the preformative *yod*. *Ma‘ravah* is stressed on the penultimate syllable and has an added [directional] *hei*. So this means: He directed it underground through openings and led it westward **toward the City of David**.


###### Radak on II Chronicles 32:31:1
[Radak on II Chronicles 32:31:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Radak%20on%20II%20Chronicles/r/32:31:1)

**במליצי שרי בבל.** סמוך על סמוך; וכן "נהרי נחלי דבש וחמאה" (איוב כ,יז), "מבחר וטוב לבנון" (יח' לא,טז). ופי' "מליצי" מענין מליצה:

**The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007:**
**In the matter of *meliṣei sarei* (=the officers and chiefs of) Babylon.** These are two consecutive [synonymous] nouns in the construct state. The same is true for: “*naharei naḥalei* (=rivers and brooks of) honey and cream” (Job 20:17), and for: “*mivḥar ve-tov* (=the choicest and best) of Lebanon” (Ezek 31:16). *Meliṣei* is in the sense of *meliṣah*.


###### Radak on II Chronicles 32:31:2
[Radak on II Chronicles 32:31:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Radak%20on%20II%20Chronicles/r/32:31:2)

**לדעת כל בלבבו.** כל אשר בלבבו. והוא שמח עליהם, והראה אותם כל בית נכתה (מ"ב כ,יג). וכל זה לכבוד עצמו, והתגאה בזה; והשם חשב לו זה לעון. ופי' "לדעת": שידעו בני אדם:

**The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007:**
**To know *kol bi-levavo*.** [This means]: *kol asher bi-levavo* (=all *that* was in his heart). [Hezekiah] was thrilled when [the Babylonian officers] came, and he showed them his entire treasurehouse (2 Kgs 20:13). All this was for his own honor: he boasted in this respect, and God considered that he had sinned. “To know” means: so that *people* should know.


###### Radak on II Chronicles 32:33:1
[Radak on II Chronicles 32:33:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Radak%20on%20II%20Chronicles/r/32:33:1)

**במעלה קברי בני דויד.** במקום המעֻלה שבהם, כלומ': עם הטובים שבהם. וכן אמרו רבותי' ז"ל (ב' ב"ק טז,ב): אצל המעולים שבמשפחה; ומאן נינהו? דוד ושלמה:

**The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007:**
**In the *ma‘aleh* of the tombs of the descendants of David.** [This means]: in the *maqom ha-me‘uleh* (=choicest place) among them; that is, with the best of them. Similarly, our Sages, of blessed memory (b. Bava Kamma 16b), say: “With the choicest members of the family. Who are they? David and Solomon.”