Why Did This King Refuse to Have Children? | Talmud for Sleep

Why did King Hezekiah refuse to have children? In the Talmud’s telling, he says he foresaw that his children would not be good people. The prophet Isaiah answers that hidden outcomes belong to God, while Hezekiah remains responsible for what he has been commanded to do. Settle into the conversation between king and prophet, then follow the rabbis through Hezekiah’s prayer, six royal decisions, a small room prepared for a guest, and a disagreement about reading the Shema. The Shema is a daily reading of passages from the Torah. This unhurried episode asks what remains valuable when a reading is late, how a person’s posture can express an interpretation, and what students may learn from watching a teacher. 0:00 Who visits whom? 17:43 A face toward the wall 33:22 Six deeds, mixed verdicts 52:06 A small room for a guest 1:05:06 Seeing a guest 1:12:58 Prayer begins low 1:24:03 Reading after the time 1:34:52 Lie down or go your way? 1:45:00 Words and obligations 2:00:17 What an example teaches Read the passage: Hezekiah’s reason and Isaiah’s reply: https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.10a.... Full episode text: https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.10a.... · https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.10b?... · https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.11a.... Further context used in the narration: The British Museum’s Assyrian record of tribute from Hezekiah: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collect... Aristotle’s question about a future sea battle, On Interpretation 9: https://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/in... The US Naval Observatory on lunisolar calendars: https://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/calendars Montaigne on learning with understanding, Of the Education of Children: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3600/... The original Hebrew and Aramaic text is the Wikisource Talmud Bavli edition served by Sefaria; the narration uses new explanations and brief working readings. The selected source metadata labels this original edition CC-BY-SA. Later comments by Rashi are identified in the episode; the selected Vilna original is labelled Public Domain. Historical pictures are artistic reconstructions. Narration and pictures were created with AI tools. #TalmudForSleep #WiseSleepwalker #Talmud