2 Kings 20:10 (YLT)

Passage

And Hezekiah saith, `It hath been light for the shadow to incline ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow turn backward ten degrees.'

Nearby Context

2 Kings 20:8 And Hezekiah saith unto Isaiah, `What <FI>is<Fi> the sign that Jehovah doth give healing to me, that I have gone up on the third day to the house of Jehovah?'

2 Kings 20:9 And Isaiah saith, `This <FI>is<Fi> to thee the sign from Jehovah, that Jehovah doth the thing that He hath spoken--The shadow hath gone on ten degrees, or it doth turn back ten degrees?'

2 Kings 20:10 And Hezekiah saith, `It hath been light for the shadow to incline ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow turn backward ten degrees.'

2 Kings 20:11 And Isaiah the prophet calleth unto Jehovah, and He bringeth back the shadow by the degrees that it had gone down in the degrees of Ahaz--backward ten degrees.

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

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "hezekiah", "saith", "hath", "been", "shadow", "incline", and "degrees". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "hezekiah", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "And Isaiah saith This FI is Fi..." into verse 11's "And Isaiah the prophet calleth unto Jehovah...", so "light" and "hezekiah" 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 "light" and "hezekiah" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.