2 Kings 20 · Verse 10

2 Kings 20:10

And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
2 Kings 20:10, King James Version

2 Kings 20:10 in other translations

BSB“It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps,” answered Hezekiah, “but not for it to go back ten steps.”
WEBHezekiah answered, “It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.”
ASVAnd Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten steps: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.
YLTAnd Hezekiah saith, ‘It hath been light for the shadow to incline ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow turn backward ten degrees.'
DARBYAnd Hezekiah said, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: no, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
BBEAnd Hezekiah said in answer, It is a simple thing for the shade to go forward; but let it go back ten degrees.
WebsterAnd Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten degrees: no, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

What does 2 Kings 20:10 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 20:8-11

8-11. Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What will be the sign that the Lord shall heal me--His recovery in the course of nature was so unlooked for, that the king asked for some token to justify his reliance on the truth of the prophet's communication; and the sign he specified was granted to him. The shadow of the sun went back upon the dial of Ahaz the ten degrees it had gone down. Various conjectures have been formed as…

Read the full comment on 2 Kings 20:8-11 →

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Kings 20:1-11

Hezekiah was sick unto death, in the same year in which the king of Assyria besieged Jerusalem. A warning to prepare for death was brought to Hezekiah by Isaiah. Prayer is one of the best preparations for death, because by it we fetch in strength and grace from God, to enable us to finish well. He wept sorely: some gather from hence that he was unwilling to die; it is in the nature of man to dread the separation of…

Read the full comment on 2 Kings 20:1-11 →

2 Kings 20:10 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙vai.Yo.merand he saidH559
יְחִזְקִיָּ֔הוּye.chiz.ki.Ya.huHezekiahH2396
נָקֵ֣לna.Kelit is triflingH7043
לַצֵּ֔לla.Tzelto the shadowH6738
לִנְט֖וֹתlin.Totto stretch outH5186
עֶ֣שֶׂר'E.sertenH6235
מַעֲל֑וֹתma.'a.LotstepsH4609
לֹ֣אlo'In-H3808
כִ֔יKhideedH3588
יָשׁ֥וּבya.Shuvlet it go backH7725
הַצֵּ֛לha.Tzelthe shadowH6738
אֲחֹרַנִּ֖ית'a.cho.ra.NitbackwardsH322
עֶ֥שֶׂר'E.sertenH6235
מַעֲלֽוֹת\׃ma.'a.LotstepsH4609

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Kings 20:10

  • 2 Kings 2:10

    And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

  • 2 Kings 3:18

    And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.

  • John 14:12

    Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

  • Isaiah 49:6

    And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

  • Mark 9:28-29

    And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2:10; 3:18; Isa 49:6; Mr 9:28,29; Joh 14:12

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 2 Kings 20:9

    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?

  • 2 Kings 20:10

    And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

  • 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.

Read all of 2 Kings 20

2 Kings 20:10 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y Ezechîas respondió: Fácil cosa es que la sombra decline diez grados: pero, que la sombra vuelva atrás diez grados.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et Ézéchias dit: C’est peu de chose que l’ombre descende de dix degrés: non, mais que l’ombre retourne de dix degrés en arrière.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Hiskia sprach: Es ist dem Schatten ein Leichtes, zehn Grade zu fallen; nein, sondern der Schatten soll zehn Grade rückwärts gehen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et ait Ezechias: Facile est umbram crescere decem lineis: nec hoc volo ut fiat, sed ut revertatur retrorsum decem gradibus.