2 Kings 20:11 (WEB)

Passage

Isaiah the prophet cried to Yahweh; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

Nearby Context

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

2 Kings 20:10 Hezekiah answered, “It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.”

2 Kings 20:11 Isaiah the prophet cried to Yahweh; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

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

2 Kings 20:13 Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the storehouse of his precious things, the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, or in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn’t show them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "isaiah", "prophet", "cried", "yahweh", "brought", "shadow", "steps", and "backward". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "isaiah" and "prophet", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "Hezekiah answered It is a light thing..." into verse 12's "At that time Berodach Baladan the son...", so "isaiah" and "prophet" 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 "isaiah" and "prophet" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.