New International Version
Isaiah 38:8
8I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’ ” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.
Isaiah 38:8 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps." So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.” So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.
- New Living Translation (NLT)I will cause the sun’s shadow to move ten steps backward on the sundial of Ahaz!’” So the shadow on the sundial moved backward ten steps.
Context of Isaiah 38:8
6And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city. 7“ ‘This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’ ” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down. 9A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery: 10I said, “In the prime of my life must I go through the gates of death and be robbed of the rest of my years?”
Read all of Isaiah 38Isaiah 38:8 word by word
הִנְנִ֣י מֵשִׁ֣יב אֶת־צֵ֣ל הַֽמַּעֲל֡וֹת אֲשֶׁ֣ר יָרְדָה֩ בְמַעֲל֨וֹת אָחָ֥ז בַּשֶּׁ֛מֶשׁ אֲחֹרַנִּ֖ית עֶ֣שֶׂר מַעֲל֑וֹת וַתָּ֤שָׁב הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ עֶ֣שֶׂר מַעֲל֔וֹת בַּֽמַּעֲל֖וֹת אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָרָֽדָה׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Behold, I will bring againשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- the shadowצֵלtsêl · shadowH6738
- of the degreesמַעֲלָהma‛ălâh · stepH4609
- which is gone downיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381
- in the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
- of Ahazאָחָז'âchâz · AhazH271
- tenעֶשֶׂר‛eώer ‛ăώârâh · tenH6235
- backwardאֲחֹרַנִּית'ăchôrannîyth · backwardsH322
Cross-references for Isaiah 38:8
- Joshua 10:12On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
- 2 Kings 20:11Then 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.
- 2 Chronicles 32:24In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign.
- Matthew 16:1The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
Commentaries on Isaiah 38:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Which 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, ( 2 Kings 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 ̔ ̔, the sun, in this verse is omitted in the Septuagint, MS. Pachom.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Behold, 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, ́ Strepsō - I will turn back.‘ Few subjects have perplexed commentators more than this account of the sun-dial of Ahaz. The only other…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-9The story of Hezekiah’s healing connects two events. It links the extension of Hezekiah’s life with Jerusalem’s rescue from the Assyrians. These events happened before Jerusalem was saved. However, the book places them in this order because of their theme, not their time sequence. One main theme is the power of prayer (see Isaiah 37:14–20; 38:2–3). The Lord truly listens. Hezekiah learned to trust God. His father, Ahaz, had refused to trust the Lord…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. bring again--cause to return (Jos 10:12-14). In 2Ki 20:9, 11, the choice is stated to have been given to Hezekiah, whether the shadow should go forward, or go back, ten degrees. Hezekiah replied, "It is a light thing (a less decisive miracle) for the shadow to go down (its usual direction) ten degrees: nay, but let it return backward ten degrees"; so Isaiah cried to Jehovah that it should be so, and it was so (compare Jos 10:12, 14). sundial of…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 38:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 38
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- 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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries