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Bible Dictionaries
Dial

Smith's Bible Dictionary

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Dial. An instrument for showing the time of day from the shadow of a style or gnomon on a graduated arc or surface; rendered "steps" in Authorized Version, Exodus 20:26; 2 Kings 10:19, and "degrees," 2 Kings 20:9-11; Isaiah 38:8, where, to give a consistent rendering, we should read with the margin the "degrees" rather than the "dial" of Ahaz.

It is probable that the dial of Ahaz was really a series of steps or stairs, and that the shadow, (perhaps of some column or obelisk on the top), fell on a greater or smaller number of them according as the sun was low or high. The terrace of a palace might easily be thus ornamented.

Bibliography Information
Smith, William, Dr. Entry for 'Dial'. Smith's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​sbd/​d/dial.html. 1901.
 
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