2 Kings 20:8

8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "How do I know whether this is of God and not just the fig plaster? What confirming sign is there that God is healing me and that in three days I'll walk into The Temple of God on my own legs?"

2 Kings 20:8 Meaning and Commentary

And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah,.... Or "had said," {w} before the plaster of figs was directed to, or, however, laid on, and as soon as he was told he should be healed:

what shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day? not that he disbelieved the promise of God, or doubted of a cure, but this he requested for the confirmation of his faith; which good men sometimes asked, when they doubted not, as Gideon; and Ahaz, Hezekiah's father, was bid to ask a sign for the like purpose, and it was resented in him that he did not, see Judges 6:17.

{w} rmayw "dixerat autem," V. L. Vatablus.

2 Kings 20:8 In-Context

6 I've just added fifteen years to your life; I'm saving you from the king of Assyria, and I'm covering this city with my shield - for my sake and my servant David's sake.'"

7 Isaiah then said, "Prepare a plaster of figs." They prepared the plaster, applied it to the boil, and Hezekiah was on his way to recovery.

8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "How do I know whether this is of God and not just the fig plaster? What confirming sign is there that God is healing me and that in three days I'll walk into The Temple of God on my own legs?"

9 "This will be your sign from God," said Isaiah, "that God is doing what he said he'd do: Do you want the shadow to advance ten degrees on the sundial or go back ten degrees? You choose."

10 Hezekiah said, "It would be easy to make the sun's shadow advance ten degrees. Make it go back ten degrees."