2 Kings 20 · Verse 8

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?
2 Kings 20:8, King James Version

2 Kings 20:8 in other translations

BSBNow 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?”
WEBHezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I will go up to the LORD’s house the third day?”
ASVAnd Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that Jehovah will heal me, and that I shall go up unto the house of Jehovah the third day?
YLTAnd Hezekiah saith unto Isaiah, ‘What is the sign that Jehovah doth give healing to me, that I have gone up on the third day to the house of Jehovah?'
DARBYAnd Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What shall be the sign that Jehovah will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of Jehovah the third day?
BBEAnd Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What is to be the sign that the Lord will make me well, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?
WebsterAnd Hezekiah said to 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?

What does 2 Kings 20:8 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 to this dial. The word in the original is "degrees," or "steps," and hence many commentators have supposed that it was a stair, so artfully contrived, that the shadows on the steps indicated the hours and course of the sun. But it is more probable that it was a proper instrument, and, from the Hebrews having no term to designate it, that it was one of the foreign novelties imported from Babylon by Ahaz. It seems to have been of such magnitude, and so placed in the court, that Isaiah could point to it, and the king see it, from his chamber. The retrogression of the sun's shadow on the dial was miraculously accomplished by the omnipotent power of God; but the phenomenon was temporary, local, confined to the notice, and intended for the satisfaction, only of Hezekiah and his court.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 8 What shall be the sign - He wished to be fully convinced that his cure was to be entirely supernatural; and, in order to this, he seeks one miracle to prove the truth of the other, that nothing might remain equivocal.

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 20:8 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.

וַיֹּ֤אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
חִזְקִיָּ֙הוּ֙chiz.ki.Ya.huHezekiahH2396
אֶֽל\־'el-toH413
יְשַׁעְיָ֔הוּye.sha'.Ya.huIsaiahH3470
מָ֣הmahwhat?H4100
א֔וֹת'ot[will be] a signH226
כִּֽי\־ki-thatH3588
יִרְפָּ֥אyir.Pa'he will healH7495
יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahwehH3068
לִ֑יLi<to> me
וְעָלִ֛יתִיve.'a.Li.tiand I will go upH5927
בַּיּ֥וֹםbai.Yomon the dayH3117
הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֖יha.she.li.Shi<the> thirdH7992
בֵּ֥יתbeit[the] house ofH1004
יְהוָֽה\׃Yah.wehYahwehH3068

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

Cross references for 2 Kings 20:8

  • Isaiah 7:11

    Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

  • Judges 6:17

    And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.

  • 2 Kings 20:5

    Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.

  • Hosea 6:2

    After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

  • 2 Kings 19:29

    And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.

  • Isaiah 7:14

    Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

  • Isaiah 38:22

    Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?

  • Judges 6:37-40

    Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
What shall be.
5; 19:29; Jud 6:17,37-40; Isa 7:11,14; 38:22; Ho 6:2

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

Context

  • 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?

  • 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?

Read all of 2 Kings 20

2 Kings 20:8 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y Ezechîas había dicho á Isaías: ¿Qué señal tendré de que Jehová me sanará, y que subiré á la casa de Jehová al tercer día?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et Ézéchias dit à Ésaïe: Quel est le signe que l’ Éternel me guérira et que le troisième jour je monterai à la maison de l’ Éternel?
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Hiskia sprach zu Jesaja: Welches ist das Zeichen, daß Jehova mich heilen wird, und daß ich am dritten Tage in das Haus Jehovas hinaufgehen werde?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Dixerat autem Ezechias ad Isaiam: Quod erit signum, quia Dominus me sanabit, et quia ascensurus sum die tertia templum Domini?