2 Kings 20:8
in 2 Kings 20Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that Jehovah will heal me, and that I shall go up unto the house of Jehovah the third day?
KJV
And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day?
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This verse in 2 Kings 20
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWhat shall be the sign - He wished to be fully convinced that his cure was to be entirely supernatural; and, in order to this, he seeks one miracle to prove the truth of the other, that nothing might remain equivocal.
This site's exposition
What shall be the sign
on 2 Kings 20:8-9
Hezekiah asks for a sign that the third-day promise will hold, and Isaiah answers by handing him the choice: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees, on the dial of Ahaz. The instrument is usually read as a set of marked steps rather than a dial with a gnomon, its shadow lengthening and shortening with the sun across the day. Either direction would be a wonder; the choice is left entirely to the king who asked.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And Hezekiah said - Previous to the actual recovery, Hezekiah, who at first may have felt himself no better, asked for a “sign” that he would indeed be restored to health. Asking for a sign is a pious or a wicked act according to the spirit in which it is done. No blame is attached to the requests of Gideon Jdg 6:17, Jdg 6:37, Jdg 6:39, or to this of Hezekiah, because they were real wishes of the heart expressed humbly. The “evil generation” that “sought for a sign” in our Lord’s days did not really want one, but made the demand captiously, neither expecting nor wishing that it should be granted.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| חִזְקִיָּ֙הוּ֙ | chizkiyahu | Hezekiah | H2396 → | 127 times |
| אֶֽל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְשַׁעְיָ֔הוּ | yesha'yahu | Isaiah | H3470 → | 39 times |
| מָ֣ה | mah | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| א֔וֹת | ʾot | [will be] a sign | H226 → | 80 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִרְפָּ֥א | yirpa' | he will heal | H7495 → | 67 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לִ֑י | li | <to> me | ||
| וְעָלִ֛יתִי | vealiti | and I will go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| בַּיּ֥וֹם | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֖י | hashelishi | <the> third | H7992 → | 107 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
חִזְקִיָּ֙הוּ֙Hezekiah
chizkiyahuH2396 →127 times
אֶֽל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְשַׁעְיָ֔הוּIsaiah
yesha'yahuH3470 →39 times
מָ֣הwhat?
mahH4100 →752 times
א֔וֹת[will be] a sign
ʾotH226 →80 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יִרְפָּ֥אhe will heal
yirpa'H7495 →67 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לִ֑י<to> me
li
וְעָלִ֛יתִיand I will go up
vealitiH5927 →890 times
בַּיּ֥וֹםon the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֖י<the> third
hashelishiH7992 →107 times
בֵּ֥ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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
2 Kings 20:5“Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I…
it leads to
- Psalms 66:19–20
But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer.
- Isaiah 38:5
“Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to…
- 1 Samuel 9:16
“At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him leader over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of…
- 2 Kings 19:20
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.
- Psalms 39:12
Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.
- Psalms 66:19–20
Through
Isaiah 7:11“Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 37:30
And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 38:7–8
This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised:
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 37:30
Through
Hosea 6:2After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 20:5
“Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I…
- 2 Kings 20:5
Where this verse is studied
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).