What Does 2 Kings 20:9 Mean in the King James?

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?

2 Kings 20:9 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The sign is time’s shadow changing direction, so what seems to move only forward becomes witness to the spoken word.

THE MEANING

Here the spoken promise becomes visible: the shadow may go forward or return, and its movement is offered as a sign of what the LORD says. Even the passing of time, which seems fixed and measurable, becomes legible as part of that promise.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This loosens the belief that what has begun moving can only continue in its established direction: the shadow itself is offered as a sign that its course can turn.

THE ROOT

יָשׁוּב

yāshūv

GROWS FROM

שׁוּב

shuv

Turn back; return.

The Hebrew word for “go back” comes from ⁨שׁוּב⁩ (shuv, return), a root that also gives words for restoration. The sign makes reversal legible as restoration: the shadow’s return becomes the visible form of the spoken word being fulfilled.

ALSO GROWS

shāv: Returned; turned back.

שָׁב

This is the direct movement asked of the shadow: to return along its path.

yeshōvēv: Restores; brings back.

יְשׁוֹבֵב

Psalm 23:3 uses this form for restoration, linking return with the restoring of life.

THE PATTERN

A spoken promise becomes recognizable through a sign made visible in the world around the reader.

I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

Genesis 9:13 · KJVThe bow makes the covenant visible in the sky as a sign the reader can recognize.

And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.

Exodus 3:12 · KJVThe mountain becomes the visible sign confirming the promise of presence and sending.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Luke 2:12 · KJVThe promised sign is something tangible the reader can see and identify.

THE THREAD

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Psalm 23:3 · KJV

The psalm uses ⁨יְשׁוֹבֵב⁩ (yeshōvēv, “restores”) from ⁨שׁוּב⁩ (shuv, “return”) for the restoring of ⁨נֶפֶשׁ⁩ (nefesh, “living soul”), tying return to restored life. Its “name” is ⁨שֵׁם⁩ (shem, “nature in a name”), opening restoration as life returning into the LORD’s nature.

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