Righteous
Righteous Hezekiah
†ок. 686 г. до Р.Х., правил 29 лет
Righteous Hezekiah, King of Judah — son of the impious King Ahaz, who ascended the throne at 25 and reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years, a zealous reformer who restored Temple worship and rooted out idolatry, miraculously delivered Jerusalem from the siege of the Assyrian King Sennacherib, and received from God an additional 15 years of life during a mortal illness.
Righteous Hezekiah, son of the impious King Ahaz, ascended the throne of the Kingdom of Judah at the age of 25 and reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years. A zealous reformer, he reopened Solomon's Temple for worship, destroyed idol shrines and high places throughout Judah, and restored the celebration of the Passover, calling on the remnant of the northern kingdom to join him. During the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian King Sennacherib, Hezekiah's prayer, supported by the Prophet Isaiah, led to the city's miraculous deliverance (2 Kings 18-19, Isaiah 36-37). When the king fell mortally ill, his fervent prayer moved God, who granted him an additional 15 years of life (2 Kings 20, Isaiah 38). He died at the age of 54 and was buried with great honor in Jerusalem.
ON HIS COMMEMORATION: besides the fixed date of August 28/September 10, confirmed by three independent sources, Hezekiah is, per some accounts, also commemorated on the movable Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (the Sunday before the Nativity of Christ) among the Old Testament righteous — this second commemoration rests on fewer sources and is given with the corresponding caveat.