2 Kings 20:8 (LSB)

Passage

Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of Yahweh the third day?”

Nearby Context

2 Kings 20:6 And I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’”

2 Kings 20:7 Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he was restored to life.

2 Kings 20:8 Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of Yahweh the third day?”

2 Kings 20:9 And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or turn back ten steps?”

2 Kings 20:10 So Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to stretch forward ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hezekiah", "said", "isaiah", "sign", "yahweh", "heal", "shall", and "house". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hezekiah" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "Then Isaiah said Take a cake of..." into verse 9's "And Isaiah said This shall be the...", so "hezekiah" and "said" 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 "hezekiah" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.