2 Kings 20:9
New International Version
Isaiah answered, “This is the LORD’s sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”

New Living Translation
Isaiah replied, “This is the sign from the LORD to prove that he will do as he promised. Would you like the shadow on the sundial to go forward ten steps or backward ten steps?”

English Standard Version
And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?”

Berean Standard Bible
And Isaiah had replied, “This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: Would you like the shadow to go forward ten steps, or back ten steps?”

King James Bible
And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

New King James Version
Then Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?”

New American Standard Bible
Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will perform the word that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?”

NASB 1995
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?”

NASB 1977
And 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?”

Legacy Standard Bible
And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or turn back ten steps?”

Amplified Bible
Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from the LORD, that He will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow [indicating the time of day] go forward ten steps, or go backward ten steps?”

Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the LORD that he will do what he has promised: Should the shadow go ahead ten steps or go back ten steps? ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: Should the shadow go ahead 10 steps or go back 10 steps?”

American Standard Version
And Isaiah said, This shall be the sign unto thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Isaiah said: “This is the sign for you from before LORD JEHOVAH, that LORD JEHOVAH will perform for you the statement that he spoke: will the shadow walk ten degrees, or will it return ten degrees?”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Esaias said, This is the sign from the Lord, that the Lord will perform the word which he has spoken, the shadow of the dial shall advance ten degrees: or if it should go back ten degrees this would also be the sign.

Contemporary English Version
Isaiah replied, "The LORD will prove to you that he will keep his promise. Will the shadow made by the setting sun on the stairway go forward ten steps or back ten steps?"

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Isaias said to him: This shall be the sign from the Lord, that the Lord will do the word which he hath spoken: Wilt thou that the shadow go forward ten lines, or that it go back so many degrees?

English Revised Version
And Isaiah said, This shall be the sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Isaiah said, "This is your sign from the LORD that he will do what he promises. Do you want the shadow to go forward ten steps or come back ten steps?"

Good News Translation
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?"

International Standard Version
So Isaiah replied, "This will be your sign from the LORD that the LORD will do what he has promised. Shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?"

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Isaiah said: 'This shall be the sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that He hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

Literal Standard Version
And Isaiah says, “This [is] the sign to you from YHWH, that YHWH does the thing that He has spoken—[will] the shadow have gone on ten degrees, or does it turn back ten degrees?”

Majority Standard Bible
And Isaiah had replied, “This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: Would you like the shadow to go forward ten steps, or back ten steps?”

New American Bible
Isaiah replied, “This will be the sign for you from the LORD that he will carry out the word he has spoken: Shall the shadow go forward or back ten steps?”

NET Bible
Isaiah replied, "This is your sign from the LORD confirming that the LORD will do what he has said. Do you want the shadow to move ahead ten steps or to go back ten steps?"

New Revised Standard Version
Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has promised: the shadow has now advanced ten intervals; shall it retreat ten intervals?”

New Heart English Bible
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?"

Webster's Bible Translation
And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

World English Bible
Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he has spoken: should the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?”

Young's Literal Translation
And Isaiah saith, 'This is to thee the sign from Jehovah, that Jehovah doth the thing that He hath spoken -- The shadow hath gone on ten degrees, or it doth turn back ten degrees?'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery
8Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?” 9And Isaiah had replied, “This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: Would you like the shadow to go forward ten steps, or back ten steps?” 10“It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps,” answered Hezekiah, “but not for it to go back ten steps.”…

Cross References
2 Kings 19:29
And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

2 Kings 20:8
Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?"

2 Kings 20:10
"It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps," answered Hezekiah, "but not for it to go back ten steps."

Isaiah 38:1
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: 'Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.'"

Isaiah 38:7
This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised:

Isaiah 38:8
I will make the sun's shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.'" So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.


Treasury of Scripture

And Isaiah said, This sign shall you have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

This sign.

Isaiah 38:7,8
And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken; …

Matthew 16:1-4
The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven…

Mark 8:11,12
And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him…

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Degrees Forward Isaiah Lord's Promised Shade Shadow Sign Steps Ten Turn
2 Kings 20
1. Hezekiah, having received a message of death, by prayer has his life lengthened.
8. The sun goes ten degrees backward for a sign of that promise.
12. Berodach-baladan sending to visit Hezekiah has notice of his treasures.
14. Isaiah understanding thereof, foretells the Babylonian captivity.
20. Manasseh succeeds Hezekiah.














(9) Shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?--Rather, the shadow hath marched (or travelled) ten steps; shall it return ten steps? This is what the Hebrew text seems to say at a first glance. But Hezekiah's answer apparently implies an alternative; and we might render: "the shadow shall have travelled ten steps; or shall it return ten steps?" (Comp. the LXX. ??????????.) The Targum has: "shall the shadow march ten hours or return ten hours?" The Vulgate also makes it a double question. The Syriac is: "the shadow shall march ten steps, or return ten steps."

It is very probable that the Hebrew text is corrupt. We might read the first word as an infinitive instead of a perfect, after the analogy of 2Kings 19:29 ("ye shall eat"). Or we might read "shall it march?" as a question (h?-y?l?k); or better still, "shall it go up" (h?-y?l?k), after the hint afforded by the Vulgate: "Vis ut ascendat umbra . . . Et ait Ezeehias, Facile est umbram crescere," &c. It is obvious that a kind of sun-dial is meant, though what kind is not so clear. The word "degrees" (ma'?loth) means "steps" or "stairs" wherever it occurs. (See Exodus 20:26; Ezekiel 40:6; Ezekiel 40:22; Ezekiel 40:26; Ezekiel 40:31, &c; 1Kings 10:20; Nehemiah 3:15.) There is probability, therefore, in Knobel's conjecture that "the dial of Ahaz" consisted of a column rising from a circular flight of steps, so as to throw the shadow of its top on the top step at noon, and morning and evening on the bottom step. This, or some similar device, was set up in the palace court, and was probably visible to Hezekiah lying on his sick bed and facing the window. Herodotus (ii. 9) ascribes the invention of the gnomon to the Babylonians. From the inscriptions we know that they divided time into periods of two hours, each called in Sumerian kasbumi, and in Assyrian asli. Each kasbu or aslu was subdivided into sixty equal parts. . . .

Verse 9. - And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken. Hezekiah is no more reproved for asking for a sign than was Gideon (Judges 6:37, 39). Ahaz, his father, had been reproved for not asking (Isaiah 7:13). It would be faithless now for Christians to demand signs; but in an age of miracles, when there were prophets upon the earth empowered to give signs, faithful men might request them without incurring God's displeasure. Shall the shadow go forward ten degrees? The Hebrew text will scarcely bear this translation, which, however, seems to be required by Hezekiah's answer. Perhaps for חָלַך we should read הֲחָלך. Or go back ten degrees? literally, in both clauses, ten steps. There are abundant reasons for believing that the early dials consisted of a gnomon set up on the top of a flight of steps, and that time was measured by the number of steps on which the shadow of the gnomon fell (see a paper by Mr. Bosanquet, in the 'Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology' for 1874, pp. 1-82).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And Isaiah
יְשַׁעְיָ֗הוּ (yə·ša‘·yā·hū)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3470: Isaiah -- 'salvation of Yah', four Israelites

replied,
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“This
זֶה־ (zeh-)
Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

will be a sign
הָאוֹת֙ (hā·’ō·wṯ)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 226: A signal, as a, flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence

to you
לְּךָ֤ (lə·ḵā)
Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

from
מֵאֵ֣ת (mê·’êṯ)
Preposition-m | Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

the LORD
יְהוָ֔ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

that
כִּ֚י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

He
יְהוָ֔ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

will do
יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה (ya·‘ă·śeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

what
אֲשֶׁ֣ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

He has promised:
דִּבֵּ֑ר (dib·bêr)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1696: To arrange, to speak, to subdue

[Would you like] the shadow
הַצֵּל֙ (haṣ·ṣêl)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6738: A shadow

to go
הָלַ֤ךְ (hā·laḵ)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

forward ten
עֶ֣שֶׂר (‘e·śer)
Number - feminine singular construct
Strong's 6235: Ten

steps,
מַֽעֲל֔וֹת (ma·‘ă·lō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 4609: Elevation, the act, the condition, a climactic progression

or
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

back
יָשׁ֖וּב (yā·šūḇ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

ten
עֶ֥שֶׂר (‘e·śer)
Number - feminine singular construct
Strong's 6235: Ten

steps?”
מַעֲלֽוֹת׃ (ma·‘ă·lō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 4609: Elevation, the act, the condition, a climactic progression


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OT History: 2 Kings 20:9 Isaiah said This shall be the sign (2Ki iiKi ii ki 2 kg 2kg)
2 Kings 20:8
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