2 Kings 20 · Verse 11

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 Kings 20:11, King James Version

2 Kings 20:11 in other translations

BSB	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.
WEB	Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.
ASV	And Isaiah the prophet cried unto Jehovah; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz.
YLT	And Isaiah the prophet calleth unto Jehovah, and He bringeth back the shadow by the degrees that it had gone down in the degrees of Ahaz--backward ten degrees.
DARBY	And Isaiah the prophet cried to Jehovah, and he brought the shadow back on the degrees by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.
BBE	Then Isaiah the prophet made prayer to the Lord, and he made the shade go back ten degrees from its position on the steps of Ahaz.
Webster	And Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz.

What does 2 Kings 20:11 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…

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Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 11 He brought the shadow ten degrees backward - We cannot suppose that these ten degrees meant ten hours; there were ten divisions of time on this dial: and perhaps it would not be right to suppose that the sun went ten degrees back in the heavens, or that the earth turned back upon its axis from east to west, in a contrary direction to its natural course. But the miracle might be effected by means of refraction, for a ray of light we know can be varied or refracted from a right line by passing through a dense medium; and we know also, by means of the refracting power of the atmosphere, the sun, when near rising and setting, seems to be higher above the horizon than he really is, and, by horizontal refraction, we find that the sun appears above the horizon when he is actually below it, and literally out of sight: therefore, by using dense clouds or vapors, the rays of light in that place might be refracted from their direct course ten, or any other number of degrees; so that the miracle might have been wrought by occasioning this extraordinary refraction, rather than by disturbing the course of the earth, or any other of the celestial bodies. The dial of Ahaz - See the note on 2Kgs 9:13, and the observations and diagram at the end of this chapter.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

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…

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2 Kings 20:11 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.

וַיִּקְרָ֛אvai.yik.Ra'and he called outH7121

יְשַׁעְיָ֥הוּye.sha'.Ya.huIsaiahH3470

הַנָּבִ֖יאha.na.Vi'the prophetH5030

אֶל\־'el-toH413

יְהוָ֑הYah.wehYahwehH3068

וַיָּ֣שֶׁבvai.Ya.shevand he turned backH7725

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

הַצֵּ֗לha.Tzelthe shadowH6738

בַּֽ֠מַּעֲלוֹתBa.ma.'a.loton the stepsH4609

אֲשֶׁ֨ר'a.SherwhichH834

יָרְדָ֜הya.re.Dahit had gone downH3381

בְּמַעֲל֥וֹתbe.ma.'a.Loton [the] steps ofH4609

אָחָ֛ז'a.ChazAhazH271

אֲחֹֽרַנִּ֖ית'a.cho.ra.NitbackwardsH322

עֶ֥שֶׂר'E.sertenH6235

מַעֲלֽוֹת\׃\ \פma.'a.LotstepsH4609

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

Cross references for 2 Kings 20:11

Isaiah 38:8
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.
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. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel.
2 Chronicles 32:24
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.
Acts 9:40
But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
Exodus 14:15
And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
1 Kings 17:20-21
And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.
1 Kings 18:36-38
And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
2 Chronicles 32:31
Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

cried unto.
Ex 14:15; 1Ki 17:20,21; 18:36-38; Ac 9:40
he brought.
Jos 10:12-14; 2Ch 32:24,31; Isa 38:8
dial. Heb. degrees.

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

Context

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.
2 Kings 20:12
At that time Berodach–baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Read all of 2 Kings 20

2 Kings 20:11 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Entonces el profeta Isaías clamó á Jehová; é hizo volver la sombra por los grados que había descendido en el reloj de Achâz, diez grados atrás.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et Ésaïe, le prophète, cria à l’ Éternel; et l’ Éternel fit retourner l’ombre de dix degrés en arrière sur les degrés par lesquels elle était descendue sur le cadran d’Achaz.
German Elberfelder 1871	Da rief der Prophet Jesaja zu Jehova; und er ließ den Schatten an den Graden, welche er am Sonnenzeiger Ahas niederwärts gegangen war, um zehn Grade rückwärts gehen.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Invocavit itaque Isaias propheta Dominum, et reduxit umbram per lineas quibus jam descenderat in horologio Achaz, retrorsum decem gradibus.