2 Kings 20:8

_AND HEZEKIAH SAID UNTO ISAIAH, WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN THAT THE LORD WILL HEAL ME, AND THAT I SHALL GO UP INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD THE THIRD DAY?_ What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me. His recovery in the course of nature was so unlooked for, that the king asked for some token to justify his reliance on the truth of the prophet's communication; and the sign he specified was granted to him. The shadow of the sun went back upon the dial of Ahaz the ten degrees it had gone down. Various conjectures have been formed as to this dial The word in the original х_ MA`ªLOWT_ (H4609)] means Various conjectures have been formed as to this dial. The word in the original х_ MA`ªLOWT_ (H4609)] means "degrees," or 'steps;' and hence, many commentators have supposed that it was a stair, so artfully contrived that the shadow on the steps indicated the hours

1-11 Hezekiah was sick unto death, in the same year in which the king of Assyria besieged Jerusalem. A warning to prepare for death was brought to Hezekiah by Isaiah. Prayer is one of the best preparations for death, because by it we fetch in strength and grace from God, to enable us to finish well. He wept sorely: some gather from hence that he was unwilling to die; it is in the nature of man to dread the separation of soul and body. There was also something peculiar in Hezekiah's case; he was now in the midst of his usefulness. Let Hezekiah's prayer, see 2 Kings 20:38. interpret his tears; in that is nothing which is like his having been under that fear of death, which has bondage or torment. Hezekiah's piety made his sick-bed easy. "O Lord, remember now;" he does not speak as if God needed to be put in mind of any thing by us; nor, as if the reward might be demanded as due; it is Chr...

Verse 2 Kings 20:8. _WHAT_ SHALL BE _THE SIGN_] He wished to be fully convinced that his cure was to be entirely supernatural; and, in order to this, he seeks one miracle to prove the truth of the other, that nothing might remain _equivocal_....

AND HEZEKIAH SAID - Previous to the actual recovery, Hezekiah, who at first may have felt himself no better, asked for a “sign” that he would indeed be restored to health. Asking for a sign is a pious or a wicked act according to the spirit in which it is done. No blame is attached to the requests of Gideon Judges 6:17, Judges 6:37, Judges 6:39, or to this of Hezekiah, because they were real wishes of the heart expressed humbly. The “evil generation” that “sought for a sign” in our Lord’s days did not really want one, but made the demand captiously, neither expecting nor wishing that it should be granted....

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 20:1 ILLNESS OF HEZEKIAH AND EMBASSY OF MERODACH-BALADAN. HEZEKIAH'S DEATH. The writer proceeds to relate an illness and a recovery of Hezekiah, which happened about the middle of his reign, probably in B.C. 713, and which was accompanied by strange, if not miraculous, circumstances (2 Kings 20:1). Hezekiah's recovery was followed by an embassy of congratulation from Merodach-Baladan, King of Babylon, which led Hezekiah into an act of folly, and brought upon him the rebuke of Isaiah (verses 12-19). The narrative terminates with a notice of some of Hezekiah's great works, and of h

AND HEZEKIAH SAID UNTO ISAIAH,.... Or "had said", w before the plaster of figs was directed to, or, however, laid on, and as soon as he was told he should be healed: WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN THAT THE LORD WILL HEAL ME, AND THAT I SHALL GO UP INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD THE THIRD DAY? not that he disbelieved the promise of God, or doubted of a cure, but this he requested for the confirmation of his faith; which good men sometimes asked, when they doubted not, as Gideon; and Ahaz, Hezekiah's father, was bid to ask a sign for the like purpose, and it was resented in him that he did not, see Judges 6:17. w ויאמר "dixerat autem", V. L. Vatablus....

3. HEZEKIAH'S ILLNESS, RECOVERY, FAILURE, AND DEATH CHAPTER 20 _ 1. Hezekiah's illness and recovery (2 Kings 20:1; 2 Chronicles 32:24)_ 2. Hezekiah's failure (2 Kings 20:12; 2 Chronicles 32:25) 3. The death of Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:32) Hezekiah's sickness must have occurred about the second invasion of the Assyrian. Then the prophet Isaiah delivered to him the m

SICKNESS OF HEZEKIAH. This is related in the parallel passage, Isaiah 38, in a much abbreviated form, save that it adds the prayer of Hezekiah after his recovery. Isaiah 38 omits 2 Kings 20:4 (Isaiah being recalled afore he was gone out of the middle court (_mg._) of the palace, 2 Kings 20:5_ b_ (promising that Hezekiah shall go up to the Temple on the third day), 2 Kings 20:8 (Hezekiah's request for a sign), 2 Kings 20:9_ a_ (the alternative sign, Hezekiah's choice, and Isaiah's crying to Yahweh). 11. THE DIAL OF AHAZ: Heb. the steps (_mg.)._ Probably the shadow on certain steps indicated the hours of the

WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN... ? Contrast Ahaz (Isaiah 7:11; Isaiah 7:12). GO UP INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. See note on 2 Kings 19:14, and App-67....

_What_shall be _the sign_ The king would have some token at once that the promise made to him should come to pass, and though the time was out very brief to wait, yet his request is granted. In Isaiah 7:11 there was a sign _offered_by God to Hezekiah's father....