2 Kings 20:10
in 2 Kings 20“It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps,” answered Hezekiah, “but not for it to go back ten steps.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
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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This verse in 2 Kings 20
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
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.
This site's exposition
It is a light thing
on 2 Kings 20:10-11
Hezekiah calls the forward jump a light thing, since the shadow was already moving that way, and asks instead for the harder reversal, the shadow returning backward ten degrees against its whole day's motion. Isaiah cries to the Lord and the shadow goes back by the dial of Ahaz exactly as asked, a sun-worshipping empire's own instrument turned into the LORD of Israel's proof. The event is named nowhere else in Scripture and the mechanism is left undescribed; the text records the sign given, not the physics behind it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten steps; nay, but let the shadow return backward ten steps. Accordingly after the shadow of the sun, as he proceeded [from mid-heaven] had declined the ten steps, then by the divine power, through the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
And Hezekiah answered, it is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And Chizkiyohu said, ”It is easier for the shade to advance ten steps.” It is easy [for the shade] to remain in its place, and stay for ten steps, it is not something that is so conspicuous.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְחִזְקִיָּ֔הוּ | yechizkiyahu | Hezekiah | H2396 → | 127 times |
| נָקֵ֣ל | nakel | it is trifling | H7043 → | 82 times |
| לַצֵּ֔ל | latzel | to the shadow | H6738 → | 49 times |
| לִנְט֖וֹת | lintot | to stretch out | H5186 → | 214 times |
| עֶ֣שֶׂר | ʾeser | ten | H6235 → | 176 times |
| מַעֲל֑וֹת | maalot | steps | H4609 → | 32 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | In- | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| כִ֔י | khi | deed | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָשׁ֥וּב | yashuv | let it go back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| הַצֵּ֛ל | hatzel | the shadow | H6738 → | 49 times |
| אֲחֹרַנִּ֖ית | ʾachoranit | backwards | H322 → | |
| עֶ֥שֶׂר | ʾeser | ten | H6235 → | 176 times |
| מַעֲלֽוֹת׃ | maalot | steps | H4609 → | 32 times |
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙and he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְחִזְקִיָּ֔הוּHezekiah
yechizkiyahuH2396 →127 times
נָקֵ֣לit is trifling
nakelH7043 →82 times
לַצֵּ֔לto the shadow
latzelH6738 →49 times
לִנְט֖וֹתto stretch out
lintotH5186 →214 times
עֶ֣שֶׂרten
ʾeserH6235 →176 times
מַעֲל֑וֹתsteps
maalotH4609 →32 times
לֹ֣אIn-
lo'H3808 →5168 times
כִ֔יdeed
khiH3588 →4482 times
יָשׁ֥וּבlet it go back
yashuvH7725 →1056 times
הַצֵּ֛לthe shadow
hatzelH6738 →49 times
אֲחֹרַנִּ֖יתbackwards
ʾachoranitH322 →
עֶ֥שֶׂרten
ʾeserH6235 →176 times
מַעֲלֽוֹת׃steps
maalotH4609 →32 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
John 14:12Truly, 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.
it 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.
- Matthew 21:21
Through
Isaiah 49:6He 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…
it 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.”
- Acts 13:47
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.