2 Kings 20:5 (ASV)

Passage

Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the prince of my people, Thus saith Jehovah, 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 Jehovah.

Nearby Context

2 Kings 20:3 Remember now, O Jehovah, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

2 Kings 20:4 And it came to pass, before Isaiah was gone out into the middle part of the city, that the word of Jehovah came to him, saying,

2 Kings 20:5 Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the prince of my people, Thus saith Jehovah, 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 Jehovah.

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 cake of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "turn", "back", "hezekiah", "prince", "people", "thus", "saith", and "jehovah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "turn" and "back", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And it came to pass before Isaiah..." into verse 6's "And I will add unto thy days...", so "turn" and "back" belong inside that flow. In 2 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "turn" and "back" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.