2 Kings 20:10

2 Kings 20:10 in other versions

• King James Version (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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And Hezekiah answered, "It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps."
• New King James Version (NKJV)And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)“The shadow always moves forward,” Hezekiah replied, “so that would be easy. Make it go ten steps backward instead.”

Context of 2 Kings 20:10

8Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?” 9Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?” “It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.” 11Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz. 12At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness.

2 Kings 20:10 word by word

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ יְחִזְקִיָּ֔הוּ נָקֵ֣ל לַצֵּ֔ל לִנְט֖וֹת עֶ֣שֶׂר מַעֲל֑וֹת לֹ֣א כִ֔י יָשׁ֥וּב הַצֵּ֛ל אֲחֹרַנִּ֖ית עֶ֥שֶׂר מַעֲלֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Hezekiahיְחִזְקִיָּהyechizqîyâh yechizqîyâhû · JehizkiahH3169
• answeredאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• It is a light thingקָלַלqâlal · to lightenH7043
• for the shadowצֵלtsêl · shadowH6738
• to go downנָטָהnâţâh · to stretchH5186
• tenעֶשֶׂר‛eώer ‛ăώârâh · tenH6235
• degreesמַעֲלָהma‛ălâh · stepH4609
• returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• backwardאֲחֹרַנִּית'ăchôrannîyth · backwardsH322

Cross-references for 2 Kings 20:10

• 2 Kings 2:10“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”
• 2 Kings 3:18This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; he will also deliver Moab into your hands.
• Isaiah 49:6he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
• Mark 9:28After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
• John 14:12Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Commentaries on 2 Kings 20:10

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10It 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.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 10go back ten steps: The shadow's retreat was unnatural, and this miracle confirmed God's message to Hezekiah.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 8-118-11. Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What will be the sign that the Lord shall heal me--His recovery in the course of nature was so unlooked for, that the king asked for some token to justify his reliance on the truth of the prophet's communication; and the sign he specified was granted to him. 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…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Kings 20:10

• Degrees
• Disease
• Faith
• Hezekiah
• Isaiah
• Miracles
• Rulers
• Symbols and Similitudes
• Time

In the dictionaries

• Hezekiah
• Dial
• Issue
• Lump
• Ahaz
• Chronicles, Books of
• Decline
• Degree
• Dial of Ahaz
• Hezekiah (2)

Commentaries on 2 Kings 20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings