Isaiah 38:8
New International Version
I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.

New Living Translation
I will cause the sun’s shadow to move ten steps backward on the sundial of Ahaz!’” So the shadow on the sundial moved backward ten steps.

English Standard Version
Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.

Berean Standard Bible
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.

King James Bible
Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

New King James Version
Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.” So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.

New American Standard Bible
Behold, I will make the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

NASB 1995
“Behold, I will cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

NASB 1977
“Behold, I will cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

Legacy Standard Bible
Behold, I will cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

Amplified Bible
Listen carefully, I will turn the shadow on the stairway [denoting the time of day] ten steps backward, the shadow on the stairway (sundial) of Ahaz.” And the sunlight went ten steps backward on the stairway where it had [previously] gone down.

Christian Standard Bible
I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on the stairway of Ahaz go back by ten steps.’ ” So the sun’s shadow went back the ten steps it had descended.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on Ahaz’s stairway go back by 10 steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back the 10 steps it had descended.

American Standard Version
behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down on the dial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the dial whereon it was gone down.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Behold, I am returning the sun backward ten degrees, the shadow of the degrees which have gone down by the degrees of Akhaz your father. And the sun returned backward ten degrees by the degrees that it had gone down

Brenton Septuagint Translation
behold, I will turn back the shadow of the degrees of the dial by which ten degrees on the house of thy father the sun has gone down - I will turn back the sun the ten degrees; so the sun went back the ten degrees by which the shadow had gone down.

Contemporary English Version
Do you see the shadow made by the setting sun on the stairway built for King Ahaz? I will make the shadow go back ten steps. Then the shadow went back ten steps.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Behold I will bring again the shadow of the lines, by which it is now gone down in the sun dial of Achaz with the sun, ten lines backward. And the sun returned ten lines by the degrees by which it was gone down.

English Revised Version
behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down on the dial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the dial whereon it was gone down.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The sun made a shadow that went down the stairway of Ahaz's upper palace. I'm going to make the shadow go back ten steps." So the sun on the stairway went back up the ten steps it had gone down.

Good News Translation
On the stairway built by King Ahaz, the LORD will make the shadow go back ten steps." And the shadow moved back ten steps.

International Standard Version
Watch! I will make the shadow on the steps of the upper dial of Ahaz that marks the sun go ten steps backwards."'" Then the sunlight turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had gone down.

JPS Tanakh 1917
behold, I will cause the shadow of the dial, which is gone down on the sun-dial of Ahaz, to return backward ten degrees.' So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

Literal Standard Version
Behold, I am bringing back the shadow of the degrees that it has gone down on the degrees of Ahaz, by the sun, backward ten degrees”; and the sun turns back ten degrees in the degrees that it had gone down.

Majority Standard Bible
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.

New American Bible
See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz go back the ten steps it has advanced. So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced.

NET Bible
Look, I will make the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz." And then the shadow went back ten steps.

New Revised Standard Version
See, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.

New Heart English Bible
Look, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which has gone down with the sun on the upper steps of Ahaz, to go backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down."'"

Webster's Bible Translation
Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which hath gone down on the sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it had gone down.

World English Bible
Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps.”’” So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down.

Young's Literal Translation
Lo, I am bringing back the shadow of the degrees that it hath gone down on the degrees of Ahaz, by the sun, backward ten degrees:' and the sun turneth back ten degrees in the degrees that it had gone down.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery
7This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: 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.

Cross References
Joshua 10:12
On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: "O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon."

Joshua 10:13
So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? "So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day."

Judges 6:17
Gideon answered, "If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that it is You speaking with me.

2 Kings 20:9
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?"

2 Kings 20:11
So Isaiah the prophet called out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow back the ten steps it had descended on the stairway of Ahaz.

2 Chronicles 32:31
And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might know all that was in Hezekiah's heart.

Isaiah 7:11
"Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven."


Treasury of Scripture

Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

I will bring

Joshua 10:12-14
Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon…

2 Kings 20:11
And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

2 Chronicles 32:24,31
In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign…

the sun dial.

Jump to Previous
Ahaz Backward Cast Cause Declined Declining Degrees Dial Shade Shadow Steps Sun Sunlight Sun's Ten Turn Turned Whereon
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Ahaz Backward Cast Cause Declined Declining Degrees Dial Shade Shadow Steps Sun Sunlight Sun's Ten Turn Turned Whereon
Isaiah 38
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
9. His song of thanksgiving.














Verse 8. - The sun-dial of Ahaz. We are informed by Herodotus that the sun-dial was an invention of the Babylonians (Herod., 2:109), from whom it would readily pass to the Assyrians. Ahaz may have obtained a knowledge of it, or an actual specimen, when he visited Tiglath-Pileser at Damascus (2 Kings 16:10), and, on his return to his capital, have caused one to be erected there. Sun-dials are of several kinds. The one here spoken of seems to have consisted of a set of steps, with a perpendicular gnomon or pole at the top, the shadow of which receded up the steps as the sun rose in the heavens, and descended down them as the sun declined. We must suppose that the sign was given in the forenoon, when the shadow was gradually creeping up the steps. Hezekiah thought that a sudden jump in the same direction would be as nothing compared with a reversal of the motion, and therefore required that the shadow should go back, which it did. How the effect was produced, whether by an eclipse as argued by Mr. Bosanquet ('Transactions of Society of Bibl. Archaeology,' vol. 3. pp. 34-40), or by refraction, or by an actual alteration of the earth's motion, we are not told; but there is reason to believe that the cause, whatever it was, was local, not general, since the King of Babylon subsequently sent ambassadors, to inquire concerning "the wonder that was done in the land" (2 Chronicles 32:31). The sun returned ten degrees. We must not press this expression as indicating a real alteration of the sun's place in the heavens. The meaning is that the shadow cast by the sun returned.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
I will make the sun’s
בַּשֶּׁ֛מֶשׁ (baš·še·meš)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 8121: The sun, the east, a ray, a notched battlement

shadow
צֵ֣ל (ṣêl)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6738: A shadow

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

falls
יָרְדָה֩ (yā·rə·ḏāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 3381: To come or go down, descend

on the stairway
הַֽמַּעֲל֡וֹת (ham·ma·‘ă·lō·wṯ)
Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 4609: Elevation, the act, the condition, a climactic progression

of Ahaz
אָחָ֥ז (’ā·ḥāz)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 271: Ahaz -- 'he has grasped', two Israelites

go
מֵשִׁ֣יב (mê·šîḇ)
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

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

steps
בְמַעֲל֨וֹת (ḇə·ma·‘ă·lō·wṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 4609: Elevation, the act, the condition, a climactic progression

backward.”
אֲחֹרַנִּ֖ית (’ă·ḥō·ran·nîṯ)
Adverb
Strong's 322: Backwards

So [the shadow cast by] the sun
הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ (haš·še·meš)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 8121: The sun, the east, a ray, a notched battlement

went back
וַתָּ֤שָׁב (wat·tā·šāḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

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

steps
בַּֽמַּעֲל֖וֹת (bam·ma·‘ă·lō·wṯ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 4609: Elevation, the act, the condition, a climactic progression

it had descended.
יָרָֽדָה׃ (yā·rā·ḏāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 3381: To come or go down, descend


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 38:8 Behold I will cause the shadow (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 38:7
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