Commentaire sur Pesahim 4:9

גירר עצמות אביו – because of atonement. And he did not bury him according to his honor on a nice bier in order that he would be put to shame on his wickedness and that the wicked would be tormented.

Six things King Hezekiah did, concerning three they [the sages] agreed with him, and concerning three they did not agree with him: He dragged his father's bones [corpse] on a rope bier, and they agreed with him; He crushed the bronze serpent, and they agreed with him; He hid the book of remedies, and they agreed with him.
And concerning three they did not agree with him: He cut down the doors of the Temple and sent them to the king of Assyria, and they did not agree with him; He closed up the waters of the Upper Gihon, and they did not agree with him; He intercalated [the month of] Nisan in Nisan, and they did not agree with him.
This mishnah was not originally part of the Mishnah but rather a tannaitic source from the Talmud that was added later into the Mishnah. It is missing from many mishnaic manuscripts. Nevertheless, since it appears in printed editions of the Mishnah, we will treat it as a mishnah.
The “mishnah” is in the same format as yesterday’s mishnah (six things, three of which the sages liked and three that they did not). It relates to King Hezekiah who ruled in Judea in the late 8th century. He is often idealized in the aggadah as a righteous king.
Section one:
1) Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz, was an evil king. Hezekiah did not provide a proper burial for his father (see II Chronicles 29:27) but rather dragged his corpse around on a bier made of ropes. The belief in this mishnah is that this ill treatment would cause posthumous suffering to Ahaz and that this suffering would bring him atonement.
2) Hezekiah crushed the bronze serpent which Moses had made (see Numbers 21:6-9) because Israel was worshipping this serpent (II Kings 18:4).
3) Rashi explains that the reason that Hezekiah hid the “book of remedies” and that the sages agreed with him is that people believed that the remedies were healing and not God. The Rambam vehemently disagrees with this understanding, which he finds to be completely irrational. Would one tell a hungry man not to eat but to rely on God? The Rambam (who was himself a doctor) therefore explains that this book of remedies was really a book of astrology, one which led people away from both rational medicine and from God.
Section two:
1) In order to appease the king of Syria, Hezekiah cut the gold off of the doors of the Temple (II Kings 18:16). The sages did not agree with this action he should have had faith and relied on God to protect.
2) Hezekiah closed up the waters of the Upper Gihon spring so that the Assyrians would not have water (II Chronicles 32:30). The sages did not agree for two reasons: 1) he should have had faith in God; 2) he caused suffering to his own people.
3) About once every three years the Hebrew lunar calendar needs to have an extra month added in order so that it keeps pace with the solar calendar. The way that this is done is by adding an extra month of Adar, the twelfth month of the year (according to the way months are counted in the Bible). Once Nissan has begun (the first month of the year) it is supposed to be impossible to add an extra month. Hezekiah tried to intercalate the year in Nisan, and thereby push off the observance of Pesah for another month (II Chronicles 30:2-3).

כתת נחש הנחשת – as it is written in Chronicles (2 Kings 18:4 – “He broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until that time the Israelites had been offering sacrifices to it; it was called Nehushtan”) because they would err after him.

וגנז ספר רפואות – because their hearts were not humbled by their illnesses but they were healed immediately. And Maimonides explained, that the book of healing, was a book informing of the matters of the forms of the stars and their witchcraft, that a certain form was made at a known time and period while curing from specific illness. And this was close to causing humans to error after idolatry and for that reason, the books were hidden.

עיבר ניסן בניסן – after Nisan had begun, he took counsel and it was made Second Adar, and the Biblical verse states (Exodus 12:2): “This month shall be for you the first of months.” This is Nisan and there is nothing after Nisan, and Hezekiah did not intercalate the year after Nisan had already begun, but on the thirtieth day of Adar, he intercalated the year. And we hold that we do not intercalate the year on the thirtieth of Adar since it is appropriate to establish it as Nisan.