Bible Strands
2 Kings 20:11
So Isaiah the prophet called out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow back the ten steps it had descended on the stairway of Ahaz.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah the prophet calls out to Yahweh to reverse a solar shadow on the stairway of Ahaz, directly responding to Hezekiah’s request for a confirmatory sign. This action occurs immediately after Hezekiah notes that making the shadow move backward ten steps is unnatural.
The words — וַ/יָּ֣שֶׁב (va/i.Ya.shev) translates literally as "and he turned back," describing God's reversal of the shadow's path. הַ/צֵּ֗ל (ha./Tzel) means "the shadow," specifically the sun's shadow cast on the stairway.
The thread — The identical stairway shadow reversal is recorded in Isaiah 38:8, while Joshua 10:12 and 2 Chronicles 32:24 parallel the broader biblical pattern of God halting or redirecting natural phenomena to authenticate His word.
Why it lands — The text states that God physically reversed a celestial shadow to validate a promise, requiring the reader to acknowledge divine sovereignty over natural order when confirming His covenantal word.
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
King James Version
And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 38:8 I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.
- Joshua 10:12 On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
- 2 Chronicles 32:24 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So he prayed to the LORD, who spoke to him and gave him a sign.
- Exodus 14:15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.
- 1 Kings 17:20 Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on this widow who has opened her home to me, by causing her son to die?”
- 1 Kings 18:36 At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command.
- 2 Chronicles 32:31 And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might know all that was in Hezekiah’s heart.
- Acts 9:40 Then Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down and prayed, and turning toward her body, he said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.