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Isaiah 38:7

in Isaiah 38

This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised:

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And this shall be the sign unto thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do this thing that he hath spoken:

KJV

And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken;

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This verse in Isaiah 38

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
And this shall be a sign unto thee - That is, a sign, or proof that God would do what he had promised, and that Hezekiah would recover and be permitted to go again to the temple of the Lord Isa 38:22; 2Ki 20:8. On the meaning of the word ‘sign,’ see Isa 7:11, note; Isa 7:14, note; compare the note at Isa 37:30. The promise was, that he should be permitted to go to the temple in three days 2Ki 20:5.

This site's exposition

a sign to you from the LORD

on Isaiah 38:7-8

The sign is the sun's shadow on the stairway of Ahaz. The stairway bears the name of the king whose reign gave Judah its darkest years, and it becomes the stage for a reversal. The text records the result plainly, the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verses 7-8) And this shall be a sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this word that he has spoken: Behold, I will turn back the shadow of the steps by which it has gone down on the sun dial of Ahaz ten steps backwards: and the sun returned ten steps by the same steps that it had gone down. And Hezekiah said to Isaiah: What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me?

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

proposed

Third, he sets out the confirmation by a sign: and this shall be a sign to you.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

sign--a token that God would fulfil His promise that Hezekiah should "go up into the house of the Lord the third day" (2Ki 20:5, 8); the words in italics are not in Isaiah.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

13 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְזֶה־and this

    vezeh-H2088 →1180 times

  • לְּךָ֥for you

    lekha

  • הָא֖וֹת[will be] the sign

    haotH226 →80 times

  • מֵאֵ֣תfrom with

    meetH854 →929 times

  • יְהוָ֑הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֲשֶׁר֙that

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • יַעֲשֶׂ֣הhe will do

    yaasehH6213 →2628 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַדָּבָ֥רthe thing

    hadavarH1697 →1440 times

  • הַזֶּ֖ה<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • דִּבֵּֽר׃he has spoken

    diberH1696 →1141 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

7 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Judges 6:37–39then behold, I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”5 worksIsaiah 37:30And 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 year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.5 works2 Kings 20:8–21Now 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?”4 worksJudges 6:17–22Gideon answered, “If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that it is You speaking with me.4 worksIsaiah 7:11–14“Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”4 worksGenesis 9:13I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.3 works
The other 1 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 38:22And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?”2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each 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 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…

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 19:29

      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…

    • 2 Kings 20:9

      And Isaiah had replied, “This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: Would you like the shadow to go forward ten steps, or back…

    • Leviticus 25:4–5

      But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to the LORD. You are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard.

    • Isaiah 7:14

      Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

    • 1 Kings 13:3–5

      That day the man of God gave a sign, saying, “The LORD has spoken this sign: ‘Surely the altar will be split apart, and the ashes upon it will be poured out.’”

Where this verse is studied

About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Isaiah: the study guide →Read Isaiah 38 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.

Read on in Isaiah 38 →