Isaiah 38:8
in Isaiah 38I 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
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
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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This verse in Isaiah 38
Commentary
10 notes on this verseFor 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.
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.
This site's exposition
the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps
Cyril of Jerusalem sets this sign beside the darkness at the cross, for the sun turned back for Hezekiah and was eclipsed for Christ. The stairway of Ahaz marked the hours by the shadow on its steps. Daylight ran backward for a dying king.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(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?
We find in the commentaries, written by our predecessors, that day had thirty-two hours. For when the sun had run its course, and reached the tenth hour, and the shadow had gone down by the ten degrees in the house of the temple, the sun turned back again by the ten degrees, according to the word of the Lord, and there were thus twenty hours. And again, the sun accomplished its own proper course, according to the common law, and reached its setting. And thus there were thirty-two hours.
The Medieval Church1 voice
With the sun, that is, through the movement of the sun; ten lines, by which ten hours were calculated according to the movement of the shadow; and the sun returned: if it did so right away, then that artificial day had twenty-two hours of daylight, …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees,.... Or lines made on a dial plate, to show the progress of the sun, and what time of day it was.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Behold, I will bring again the shadow - The shadow, or shade which is made by the interception of the rays of the sun by the gnomon on the dial. The phrase ‘bring again’ (Hebrew, משׁיב mēshı̂yb) means to cause to return (Hiphil, from שׁוב shûb, to return); that is, I will cause it retrograde, or bring back. Septuagint, Στρέψω Strepsō - ‘I will turn back.’ Few subjects have perplexed commentators more than this account of the sun-dial of Ahaz. The only other place where a sun-dial is mentioned in the Scriptures is in the parallel place in 2Ki 20:9-10, where the account is somewhat more full, and the nature of the miracle more fully represented: ‘This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing which he hath spoken: Shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? 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.’ That is, it would be in the usual direction which the shadow takes, for it to go down, and there would be less that would be decisive in the miracle. He therefore asked that it might be moved backward from its common direction, and then there could be no doubt that it was from God; 2Ki 20:11: ‘And Isaiah the prophet cried unto Yahweh, and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.’ The shadow of the degrees - That is, the shadow made on the degrees; or indicated by the degrees on the dial. But there has been much difficulty in regard to the meaning of the word degrees. The Hebrew word (מעלה ma‛ălâh from עלה ‛âlâh, to ascend, to go up) means properly an ascent; a going up from a lower to a higher region; then a step by which one ascends, applied to the steps on a staircase, etc. 1Ki 10:19; Eze 40:26, Eze 40:31, Eze 40:34. […]
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנְנִ֣י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| מֵשִׁ֣יב | meshiv | [am] about to turn back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| צֵ֣ל | tzel | [the] shadow of | H6738 → | 49 times |
| הַֽמַּעֲל֡וֹת | hamaalot | the steps | H4609 → | 32 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָרְדָה֩ | yaredah | it had gone down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| בְמַעֲל֨וֹת | vemaalot | on [the] steps of | H4609 → | 32 times |
| אָחָ֥ז | ʾachaz | Ahaz | H271 → | 42 times |
| בַּשֶּׁ֛מֶשׁ | bashemesh | with the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
| אֲחֹרַנִּ֖ית | ʾachoranit | backwards | H322 → | |
| עֶ֣שֶׂר | ʾeser | ten | H6235 → | 176 times |
| מַעֲל֑וֹת | maalot | steps | H4609 → | 32 times |
| וַתָּ֤שָׁב | vatashov | and it went back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ | hashemesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
| עֶ֣שֶׂר | ʾeser | ten | H6235 → | 176 times |
| מַעֲל֔וֹת | maalot | steps | H4609 → | 32 times |
| בַּֽמַּעֲל֖וֹת | bamaalot | on the steps | H4609 → | 32 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָרָֽדָה׃ ס | yaradah | it had gone down | H3381 → | 381 times |
הִנְנִ֣יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
מֵשִׁ֣יב[am] about to turn back
meshivH7725 →1056 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
צֵ֣ל[the] shadow of
tzelH6738 →49 times
הַֽמַּעֲל֡וֹתthe steps
hamaalotH4609 →32 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יָרְדָה֩it had gone down
yaredahH3381 →381 times
בְמַעֲל֨וֹתon [the] steps of
vemaalotH4609 →32 times
אָחָ֥זAhaz
ʾachazH271 →42 times
בַּשֶּׁ֛מֶשׁwith the sun
bashemeshH8121 →134 times
אֲחֹרַנִּ֖יתbackwards
ʾachoranitH322 →
עֶ֣שֶׂרten
ʾeserH6235 →176 times
מַעֲל֑וֹתsteps
maalotH4609 →32 times
וַתָּ֤שָׁבand it went back
vatashovH7725 →1056 times
הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙the sun
hashemeshH8121 →134 times
עֶ֣שֶׂרten
ʾeserH6235 →176 times
מַעֲל֔וֹתsteps
maalotH4609 →32 times
בַּֽמַּעֲל֖וֹתon the steps
bamaalotH4609 →32 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יָרָֽדָה׃ סit had gone down
yaradahH3381 →381 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 Chronicles 32:31And 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…
it 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.
- Deuteronomy 8:2
Through
2 Chronicles 32:24In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So he prayed to the LORD, who spoke to him and gave him a sign.
it 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.”
- Isaiah 38:1–8
Through
Matthew 16:1Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven.
it leads to
- Luke 11:16
And others tested Him by demanding a sign from heaven.
- Luke 11:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 2:15; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Hippolytus of Rome, Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments; 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.