2 Kings 20:8 (WEB)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

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

2 Kings 20:7 Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

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

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.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hezekiah", "said", "isaiah", "sign", "yahweh", "heal", 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 "Isaiah said Take a cake of figs..." into verse 9's "Isaiah said This will be the sign...", 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.