2 Kings 20:11

11 Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD, and ¹He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

2 Kings 20:11 Meaning and Commentary

And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord,.... Or prayed, as the Targum; and was very earnest in prayer, that what Hezekiah had desired might be granted:

and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz; Ben Gersom understands it not of the sun itself, but of the shadow of it only; See Gill on "Isa 38:8."

2 Kings 20:11 In-Context

9 Isaiah said, "This shall be the sign to you from the LORD , that the LORD will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?"

10 So Hezekiah answered, "It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps."

11 Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD , and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

12 At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

13 Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

Cross References

• 1. Joshua 10:12-14; Isaiah 38:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "steps"
• [b]. Lit "steps"