"Why did God turn the sundial back ten degrees?" (Alleged Contradiction #E5938)
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? … 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.
II Kings 20:8, 11
Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, 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. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken; Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
Isaiah 38:4-8
Response
The sundial was turned back ten degrees as a sign that God would:
-
Heal Hezekiah and add 15 years to his life
- Deliver the city out of the hand of the king of Assyria
- Defend the city
II Kings records one of these reasons, and Isaiah records all three. There is no contradiction.
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