Isaiah 38:8 BSB — MannaFest

Isaiah 38:8

I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down on the dial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the dial whereon it was gone down.

KJV

Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

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Commentary

3 voices

Cyril of Jerusalem

Catechetical Lecture 2:15 (386)

For Hezekiah's sake the sun turned back, but for Christ the sun was eclipsed. The sun did not simply retrace its path for Christ but was completely eclipsed. This shows the difference between Hezekiah and Jesus. The former's prayer resulted in the canceling of God's decree. But does not Jesus forgive sins? Repent, shut your door, and pray to be forgiven. Pray that Christ may remove you from the burning flames, for confession has power even to quench fire, power even to tame lions.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

Which is gone down “By which the sun is gone down” - For בשמש bashshemesh, the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee read השמש, hashshemesh. - Houbigant. In the history of this miracle in the book of Kings, (2Ki 20:9-11), there is no mention at all made of the sun, but only of the going backward of the shadow: which might be effected by a supernatural refraction. The first ὁ ἡλιος, the sun, in this verse is omitted in the Septuagint, MS. Pachom.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

He was one, from his connection with Tiglath-pileser, likely to have done so (2Ki 16:7, 10). "Shadow of the degrees" means the shadow made on the degrees. JOSEPHUS thinks these degrees were steps ascending to the palace of Ahaz; the time of day was indicated by the number of steps reached by the shadow.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

20 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
הִנְנִ֣י	hi.Ni	here I	H2005 →
מֵשִׁ֣יב	me.Shiv	[am] about to turn back	H7725 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
צֵ֣ל	tzel	[the] shadow of	H6738 →
הַֽמַּעֲל֡וֹת	ha.ma.'a.Lot	the steps	H4609 →
אֲשֶׁ֣ר	'a.Sher	which	H834 →
יָרְדָה֩	ya.re.Dah	it had gone down	H3381 →
בְמַעֲל֨וֹת	ve.ma.'a.Lot	on [the] steps of	H4609 →
אָחָ֥ז	'a.Chaz	Ahaz	H271 →
בַּשֶּׁ֛מֶשׁ	ba.She.mesh	with the sun	H8121 →
אֲחֹרַנִּ֖ית	'a.cho.ra.Nit	backwards	H322 →
עֶ֣שֶׂר	'E.ser	ten	H6235 →
מַעֲל֑וֹת	ma.'a.Lot	steps	H4609 →
וַתָּ֤שָׁב	va.Ta.shov	and it went back	H7725 →
הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙	ha.She.mesh	the sun	H8121 →
עֶ֣שֶׂר	'E.ser	ten	H6235 →
מַעֲל֔וֹת	ma.'a.Lot	steps	H4609 →
בַּֽמַּעֲל֖וֹת	ba.ma.'a.Lot	on the steps	H4609 →
אֲשֶׁ֥ר	'a.Sher	which	H834 →
יָרָֽדָה׃ ס	ya.Ra.dah	it had gone down	H3381 →

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
2 Chronicles 32:31
And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might…
leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:2
  Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your…
- Proverbs 17:3
  A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.
- John 15:5
  I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.
- Genesis 22:1
  Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered.
Through
2 Chronicles 32:24
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So he prayed to the LORD, who spoke to him and gave him a sign.
leads to
- Isaiah 38:1–8
  In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to…
- 2 Kings 20:1–11
  In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to…
- Isaiah 38:21–22
  Now Isaiah had said, “Prepare a lump of pressed figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”
Through
Matthew 16:1
Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven.
leads to
- Luke 11:16
  And others tested Him by demanding a sign from heaven.

Featured studies on this passage

Walks through Isaiah 38

Hezekiah's Sundial, 2 Kings 20 & Isaiah 38, MannaFest

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About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Isaiah: the study guide →Read chapter 38 →The featured study →

Continue: Isaiah 38 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Isaiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Isaiah