2 Kings 20:8

8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What is the sign that Yahweh will heal me that I shall go up on the third day [to] the temple of Yahweh?"

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 add to your days fifteen years, and from the hand of the king of Assyria I will deliver you and this city. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of David my servant." '"

7 Then Isaiah said, "Bring a lump of figs," so they took and put it on the skin sores, and he lived.

8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What is the sign that Yahweh will heal me that I shall go up on the third day [to] the temple of Yahweh?"

9 Isaiah said, "This [is] the sign for you from Yahweh that Yahweh will do the thing that he has promised: Shall the shadow advance ten steps or shall it return ten steps?"

10 Hezekiah answered, "It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backwards ten steps."