2 Kings 20:7

Contextual Overview

¹ Around this time, Hizkiyahu became ill to the point of death. Yesha‘yahu the prophet, the son of Amotz, came and said to him, "Here is what Adonai says: ‘Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not live.'" ¹ In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. ¹ At that time Hezekiah became sick and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and told him, "The Lord says, ‘You will die soon, so you should tell your family what they should do when you die. You will not get well.'" ¹ In those days was Hizkiyahu sick to death. Yesha`yahu the prophet the son of Amotz came to him, and said to him, Thus says the LORD, Set your house in order: for you shall die, and not live. ¹ In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him: 'Thus saith the LORD: Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.' ¹ In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. ¹ In those days Hezekiah was ill and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, The Lord says, Put your house in order, for your death is near. ¹ About that time was Hezekia sicke vnto the death: And the prophete Isai the sonne of Amoz came to him, and sayde vnto him, Thus saith the Lord: Put thine houshold in an order, for thou shalt dye, and not lyue. ¹ About that time was Hezekiah sicke vnto death: and the Prophet Isaiah the sonne of Amoz came to him, and said vnto him, Thus saith the Lorde, Put thine house in an order: for thou shalt die, and not liue. ¹ IN those days Hezekiah became sick to death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order; for you shall die, you shall not live.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Take a lump: 2 Kings 2:20-22, 2 Kings 4:41, Isaiah 38:21

the boil: The word shechin, from the Arabic sachana, to be hot, signifies an inflammatory tumour, or burning boil; and some think that Hezekiah's malady was a pleurisy; others, that it was the plague; and others, the elephantiasis, a species of leprosy, as one of the Hexapla versions renders in Job 2:7. A poultice of figs might be very proper to maturate a boil, or dismiss any obstinate inflammatory swelling; but we need not discuss its propriety in this case, because it was as much the means which God chose to bless for his recovery, as the clay which Christ moistened to anoint the eyes of the blind man; for in both cases, without Divine interposition the cure could not have been effected.

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:18 - a boil 2 Kings 20:5 - I will heal Hebrews 11:34 - out of Revelation 13:14 - they

Cross-References

Genesis 2:17
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt certainly die.

Genesis 2:17
But you must not eat from the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil. If you eat fruit from that tree, on that day you will certainly die!"

Genesis 2:17
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die."

Genesis 2:17
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'

Genesis 2:17
But of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not take; for on the day when you take of it, death will certainly come to you.

Genesis 2:17
But as touching the tree of knowlege of good and euyll thou shalt not eate of it: For in what daye so euer thou eatest therof, thou shalt dye the death.

Genesis 2:17
But of the tree of knowledge of good and euill, thou shalt not eate of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt die the death.

Genesis 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

Genesis 2:17
except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day."

Genesis 2:17
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—of it ye shall not eat, but in whatsoever day ye eat of it, ye shall surely die.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Isaiah said, take a lump of figs,.... Not moist figs, but a cake of dried figs, as the word used signifies, and so the less likely to have any effect in curing the boil:

and they took, and laid it on the boil, and he recovered; made a plaster of it, and laid it on the ulcer, and it was healed. Physicians observe u, that as such like inflammations consist in a painful extension of the fibres by the hinderance of the circulation of the blood, through the extreme little arteries, which may be mitigated, or dissipated, or ripened, by such things as are emollient and loosening, so consequently by figs; and, in a time of pestilence, figs beaten together with butter and treacle have been applied to plague of boils with great success; yet these figs being only a cake of dry figs, and, the boil not only malignant, but deadly, and the cure so suddenly performed, show that this was done not in a natural, but in a supernatural way, though means were directed to be made use of.

u Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 620. Vid. Levin. Lemnii Herb. Bibl. Explicat. c. 19. p. 60.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A lump of figs - The usual remedy in the East, even at the present day, for ordinary boils. But such a remedy would not naturally cure the dangerous tumor or carbuncle from which Hezekiah suffered. Thus the means used in this miracle were means having a tendency toward the result performed by them, but insufficient of themselves to produce that result (compare 2 Kings 4:34 note).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 20:7. Take a lump of figs - and laid it on the boil — We cannot exactly say in what Hezekiah's malady consisted. שחין shechin signifies any inflammatory tumour, boil, abscess, c. The versions translate it sore, wound, and such like. Some think it was a pleurisy others, that it was the plague; others, the elephantiasis; and others, that it was a quinsey. A poultice of figs might be very proper to maturate a boil, or to discuss any obstinate inflammatory swelling. This Pliny remarks, Omnibus quae maturanda ant discutienda sunt imponuntur. But we cannot pronounce on the propriety of the application, unless we were certain of the nature of the malady. This, however was the natural means which God chose to bless to the recovery of Hezekiah's health; and without this interposition he must have died.