2 Kings 20:10 BSB — MannaFest

2 Kings 20:10

“It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps,” answered Hezekiah, “but not for it to go back ten steps.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten steps: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.

KJV

And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

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Commentary

3 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

It is a light thing - It seemed to Hezekiah comparatively easy that the shadow, which had already begun to lengthen, should merely make a sudden jump in the same direction; but, wholly contrary to all experience that it should change its direction, advancing up the steps again when it had once begun to descend them.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

He desired to recover that he might glorify God in the gates of the daughter of Zion. It is not worth while to live for any other purpose than to serve God. It was put to his choice whether the sun should go back or go forward; for it was equal to Omnipotence, and it would be the more likely to confirm his faith if he chose that which he thought the more difficult of the two.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The shadow of the sun went back upon the dial of Ahaz the ten degrees it had gone down. Various conjectures have been formed as to this dial. The word in the original is "degrees," or "steps," and hence many commentators have supposed that it was a stair, so artfully contrived, that the shadows on the steps indicated the hours and course of the sun.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

14 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙	vai.Yo.mer	and he said	H559 →
יְחִזְקִיָּ֔הוּ	ye.chiz.ki.Ya.hu	Hezekiah	H2396 →
נָקֵ֣ל	na.Kel	it is trifling	H7043 →
לַצֵּ֔ל	la.Tzel	to the shadow	H6738 →
לִנְט֖וֹת	lin.Tot	to stretch out	H5186 →
עֶ֣שֶׂר	'E.ser	ten	H6235 →
מַעֲל֑וֹת	ma.'a.Lot	steps	H4609 →
לֹ֣א	lo'	In-	H3808 →
כִ֔י	Khi	deed	H3588 →
יָשׁ֥וּב	ya.Shuv	let it go back	H7725 →
הַצֵּ֛ל	ha.Tzel	the shadow	H6738 →
אֲחֹרַנִּ֖ית	'a.cho.ra.Nit	backwards	H322 →
עֶ֥שֶׂר	'E.ser	ten	H6235 →
מַעֲלֽוֹת׃	ma.'a.Lot	steps	H4609 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
John 14:12
Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
leads to
- Matthew 21:21
  “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain,…
- Mark 16:17
  And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
- Luke 10:17–19
  The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.”
- Acts 16:18
  She continued this for many days. Eventually Paul grew so aggravated that he turned and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” And…
- Acts 19:12
  so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and the diseases and evil spirits left them.
Through
Isaiah 49:6
He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light…
leads to
- Acts 13:47
  For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
- Isaiah 42:6
  “I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a…
- Luke 2:32
  a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.”