2 Kings 20:8

8 King Hezekiah asked, "What is the sign to prove that the Lord will heal me and that three days later I will be able to go to the Temple?"

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 will let you live fifteen years longer. I will rescue you and this city Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria. I will defend this city, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David."

7 Then Isaiah told the king's attendants to put on his boil a paste made of figs, and he would get well.

8 King Hezekiah asked, "What is the sign to prove that the Lord will heal me and that three days later I will be able to go to the Temple?"

9 Isaiah replied, "The Lord will give you a sign to prove that he will keep his promise. Now, would you prefer to have the shadow on the stairway go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?"

10 Hezekiah answered, "It's easy to have the shadow go forward ten steps! Have it go back ten steps."