2 Kings 19:29

And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The prophet Isaiah delivers God’s message to King Hezekiah during the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem. God provides a three-year agricultural timeline as a tangible sign of impending deliverance.

The words — The Hebrew terms סָפִיחַ (sa.Fi.ach) and סָחִישׁ (sa.Chish) literally denote self-sown grain and self-seeded plants. These words specify crops that emerge without human planting or cultivation.

The thread — The promise of unlabored harvests addresses the same logistical anxiety found in Leviticus 25:20 regarding the seventh year. The sign motif also parallels God’s assurance to Moses in Exodus 3:12 and Hezekiah’s own request for confirmation in 2 Kings 20:8, while the agricultural imagery directly sets up the remnant metaphor in 2 Kings 19:30.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that survival in the immediate crisis depends on divine provision rather than human agricultural planning. It demands acceptance that restoration follows a fixed, three-stage sequence before normal labor and cultivation resume.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְזֶה־ve./zeh-and/ thisלְּךָ֣le./Khafor/ youהָא֔וֹתha./'ot[will be] the/ sign אָכ֤וֹל'a.Kholyou will eat הַשָּׁנָה֙ha./sha.Nahthis/ year סָפִ֔יחַsa.Fi.achself-sown grain וּבַשָּׁנָ֥הu./va./sha.Nahand/ in the/ year הַשֵּׁנִ֖יתha./she.Nit<the>/ second סָחִ֑ישׁsa.Chishself-seeded plant[s]וּבַשָּׁנָ֣הu./va./sha.Nahand/ in the/ year הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֗יתha./she.li.Shit<the>/ third זִרְע֧וּzir.'Usow וְקִצְר֛וּve./kitz.Ruand/ reap וְנִטְע֥וּve./nit.'Uand/ plant כְרָמִ֖יםkhe.ra.Mimvineyards וְאִכְל֥וּve./'ikh.Luand/ eat פִרְיָֽם׃fir.Ya/mfruit/ their

King James Version

And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.

Cross-references

Leviticus 25:20 Now you may wonder, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow or gather our produce?’
Exodus 3:12 “I will surely be with you,” God said, “and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship God on this mountain.”
2 Kings 20:8 Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?”
Isaiah 37:30 And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Luke 2:12 And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
Leviticus 25:4 But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to the LORD. You are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard.
1 Samuel 2:34 And this sign shall come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: They will both die on the same day.
Isaiah 7:11 “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”
2 Kings 19:21 This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.
2 Kings 19:31 For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.