2 Kings 20:7
in 2 Kings 20Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” So they brought it and applied it to the boil, and Hezekiah recovered.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
KJV
And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
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This verse in 2 Kings 20
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe vine, and that not in a few places, refers to the Lord himself, and the fig tree to the Holy Spirit, as the Lord makes glad the hearts of people and heals them. And therefore Hezekiah is commanded first to make a plaster with a lump of figs—that is, the fruit of the Spirit—that he may be healed—that is, according to the apostle—by love; for he says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance;" which, on account of their great pleasantness the prophet calls figs.
This site's exposition
Prepare a poultice of figs
Isaiah prescribes a plaster of figs, the ordinary remedy for a boil. Commentators read the means as real but insufficient of themselves against a mortal tumor, so the plaster and the promise work together. A word that could have healed with nothing at all still sends for figs.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Isaiah said, take a lump of figs,.... Not moist figs, but a cake of dried figs, as the word used signifies, and so the less likely to have any effect in curing the boil: and they took, and laid it on the boil, and he recovered; made a plaster of it, and laid it on the ulcer, and it was healed.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A lump of figs - The usual remedy in the East, even at the present day, for ordinary boils. But such a remedy would not naturally cure the dangerous tumor or carbuncle from which Hezekiah suffered. Thus the means used in this miracle were means having a tendency toward the result performed by them, but insufficient of themselves to produce that result (compare 2Ki 4:34 note).
Take a lump of figs - and laid it on the boil - We cannot exactly say in what Hezekiah’s malady consisted. שחין shechin signifies any inflammatory tumour, boil, abscess, etc. The versions translate it sore, wound, and such like. Some think it was a pleurisy; others, that it was the plague; others, the elephantiasis; and others, that it was a quinsey. A poultice of figs might be very proper to maturate a boil, or to discuss any obstinate inflammatory swelling. This Pliny remarks, Omnibus quae maturanda ant discutienda sunt imponuntur. But we cannot pronounce on the propriety of the application, unless we were certain of the nature of the malady. This, however was the natural means which God chose to bless to the recovery of Hezekiah’s health; and without this interposition he must have died.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְשַֽׁעְיָ֔הוּ | yesha'yahu | Isaiah | H3470 → | 39 times |
| קְח֖וּ | kechu | take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| דְּבֶ֣לֶת | develet | a cake of | H1690 → | |
| תְּאֵנִ֑ים | teenim | figs | H8384 → | |
| וַיִּקְח֛וּ | vaiyikchu | and people took [it] | H3947 → | 966 times |
| וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ | vaiyasimu | and they put [it] | H7760 → | 584 times |
| עַֽל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַשְּׁחִ֖ין | hashechin | the boil | H7822 → | |
| וַיֶּֽחִי׃ | vaiyechi | and he lived | H2421 → | 282 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְשַֽׁעְיָ֔הוּIsaiah
yesha'yahuH3470 →39 times
קְח֖וּtake
kechuH3947 →966 times
דְּבֶ֣לֶתa cake of
develetH1690 →
תְּאֵנִ֑יםfigs
teenimH8384 →
וַיִּקְח֛וּand people took [it]
vaiyikchuH3947 →966 times
וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּand they put [it]
vaiyasimuH7760 →584 times
עַֽל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַשְּׁחִ֖יןthe boil
hashechinH7822 →
וַיֶּֽחִי׃and he lived
vaiyechiH2421 →282 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 38:21Now Isaiah had said, “Prepare a lump of pressed figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”
it leads to
- 2 Kings 20:7–8
Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” So they brought it and applied it to the boil, and Hezekiah recovered.
- John 9:6
When Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground, made some mud, and applied it to the man’s eyes.
- Mark 7:33
So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue.
- 2 Kings 20:7–8
Through
2 Kings 4:41Then Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it out for the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
it leads to
- Exodus 15:25
And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and…
- 2 Kings 2:21
and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’”
- 1 Corinthians 1:25
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
- 2 Kings 6:6
“Where did it fall?” asked the man of God. And when he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float.
- 2 Kings 5:10
Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.”
- Exodus 15:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonLate 8th century BCE / Divided KingdomIsaiahEighth-century BCE prophet of Judah whose oracles make up the book of Isaiah; a central voice for messianic prophecy.
- PersonDivided kingdomHezekiahThe reforming king of Judah who trusted Jehovah against Sennacherib, spread the Assyrian letter before the LORD, was granted fifte…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Methodius of Olympus, SYMPOSIUM OR BANQUET OF THE TEN VIRGINS 10.5.