2 Kings 20 · Verse 7

2 Kings 20:7

And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

2 Kings 20:7, King James Version

2 Kings 20:7 in other translations

BSB	Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” So they brought it and applied it to the boil, and Hezekiah recovered.
WEB	Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
ASV	And Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
YLT	And Isaiah saith, ‘Take ye a cake of figs;' and they take and lay it on the boil, and he reviveth.
DARBY	And Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
BBE	Then Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. So they took it and put it on his wound, and he got better.
Webster	And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

What does 2 Kings 20:7 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 7 Take a lump of figs - and laid it on the boil - We cannot exactly say in what Hezekiah's malady consisted. שחין shechin signifies any inflammatory tumour, boil, abscess, etc. The versions translate it sore, wound, and such like. Some think it was a pleurisy; others, that it was the plague; others, the elephantiasis; and others, that it was a quinsey. A poultice of figs might be very proper to maturate a boil, or to discuss any obstinate inflammatory swelling. This Pliny remarks, Omnibus quae maturanda ant discutienda sunt imponuntur. But we cannot pronounce on the propriety of the application, unless we were certain of the nature of the malady. This, however was the natural means which God chose to bless to the recovery of Hezekiah's health; and without this interposition he must have died.

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…

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

2 Kings 20:7 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.

וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559

יְשַֽׁעְיָ֔הוּye.sha'.Ya.huIsaiahH3470

קְח֖וּke.ChutakeH3947

דְּבֶ֣לֶתde.Ve.leta cake ofH1690

תְּאֵנִ֑יםte.'e.NimfigsH8384

וַיִּקְח֛וּvai.yik.Chuand people took [it]H3947

וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּvai.ya.Si.muand they put [it]H7760

עַֽל\־'al-onH5921

הַשְּׁחִ֖יןha.she.Chinthe boilH7822

וַיֶּֽחִי\׃vai.Ye.chiand he livedH2421

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

Cross references for 2 Kings 20:7

Isaiah 38:21
For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.
2 Kings 2:20-22
And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
2 Kings 4:41
But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Take a lump.
2:20-22; 4:41; Isa 38:21
the boil.The word {shechin,} from the Arabic {sachana,} to be hot, signifies an inflammatory tumour, or burning boil; and some think that Hezekiah's malady was a pleurisy; others, that it was the plague; and others, the elephantiasis, a species of leprosy, as one of the Hexapla versions renders in Job 2:7. A poultice of figs might be very proper to maturate a boil, or dismiss any obstinate inflammatory swelling; but we need not discuss its propriety in this case, because it was as much the means which God chose to bless for his recovery, as the clay which Christ moistened to anoint the eyes of the blind man; for in both cases, without Divine interposition the cure could not have been effected.

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

Context

2 Kings 20:6
And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
2 Kings 20:7
And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
2 Kings 20:8
And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day?

Read all of 2 Kings 20

2 Kings 20:7 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y dijo Isaías: Tomad masa de higos. Y tomándola, pusieron sobre la llaga, y sanó.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et Ésaïe dit: Prenez une masse de figues. Et ils la prirent, et la mirent sur l’ulcère; et Ézéchias se rétablit.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und Jesaja sprach: Holet einen Feigenkuchen. Und sie holten ihn und legten ihn auf das Geschwür; und er genas.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Dixitque Isaias: Afferte massam ficorum. Quam cum attulissent, et posuissent super ulcus ejus, curatus est.