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Verses 1-11

2 Kings 20:1-1 Kings : . 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 20:9-1 Kings : 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 day. Sundials were used in Babylonia, and Ahaz seems ( 2 Kings 16:10-Nehemiah :) to have been interested in what he saw when away from Jerusalem, and anxious to introduce curious and artistic novelties (see also 2 Kings 23:12). [Hezekiah regards the going forward of the shadow as a trifle since it simply accelerated the motion in the direction in which it was already travelling; for it to go backward was hard, because it reversed the natural, inevitable direction.— A. S. P.]

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