Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Kings 20:10 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 10. 10And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence: “And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Hezekiah's illness is healed and a shadow reverses.”
A death sentence is spoken, then tears are seen
This verse is one part of that explanation in 2 Kings 20:1–11. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 2 Kings 20:1–11
Read 2 Kings 20:10 with 20:1–11. The selected wording supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Isaiah tells sick Hezekiah to set his house in order, Hezekiah prays and weeps, fifteen years are added, a fig poultice is applied, and a shadow reverses as a sign.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Hezekiah's illness is healed and a shadow reverses,” 2 Kings 20:10 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 2 Kings 19:35–37 establishes this prior movement: The angel of the LORD strikes 185,000, Sennacherib returns to Nineveh, and his sons later kill him in Nisroch's temple. 2 Kings 20:1–11 continues the same royal, prophetic, household, military, reform, or exile movement; that evidenced relationship, rather than database adjacency alone, explains its placement.
Read 2 Kings 20:1–11 together
Why these verses belong together: 2 Kings 20:1–11 forms one scene or regnal notice: Isaiah tells sick Hezekiah to set his house in order, Hezekiah prays and weeps, fifteen years are added, a fig poultice is applied, and a shadow reverses as a sign.
Verse 1. 1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
Verse 2. 2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
Verse 3. 3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
Verse 4. 4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
Verse 5. 5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
Verse 6. 6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
Verse 7. 7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
Verse 8. 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?
Verse 9. 9 And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
Verse 10. 10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
Verse 11. 11 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.
Follow the Context
- Isaiah tells sick Hezekiah to set his house in order, Hezekiah prays and weeps, fifteen years are added, a fig poultice is applied, and a shadow reverses as a sign.
- The unit closes by establishing the result or tension named in “Hezekiah's illness is healed and a shadow reverses” before the next narrated movement.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
2 Kings 20:10 does not permit the wording “And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. This healing does not promise extended life, make tears a technique, replace medical care with figs, or blame people who die after faithful prayer.
What Remains True
Faithful interpretation protects the dignity, agency, safety, grief, and material needs of people whom leadership-centered readings can overlook. This unit tests that truth through the narrated movement: Isaiah tells sick Hezekiah to set his house in order, Hezekiah prays and weeps, fifteen years are added, a fig poultice is applied, and a shadow reverses as a sign. In 2 Kings 20:10, the concrete line “And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but…” keeps that truth accountable to narrated evidence.
Teach It Back
In 70–220 words, explain 2 Kings 20:10's role in 20:1–11. Paraphrase “And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but…,” identify one agent or affected person, state one material source or historical limit, and name one conclusion the context does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 2 Kings 20:1–11 — Hezekiah's illness is healed and a shadow reversesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The illness, poultice, shadow sign, chronology relative to Sennacherib, and parallels in Isaiah and Chronicles remain open to literary and historical study.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Kings 20:1–11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, royal formulas, clause relationships, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 20:1–11
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 2 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: A unit-bounded translation comparison plus only the lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, or older-English notes actually printed for these verses; silence is not treated as evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 2 Kings PDF, printed pp. 659–660, translation and translator notes for 20:1–11
Open source ↗