Isaiah 38:7-8

7, 8. The corresponding narrative in 2 Kings xx, is more full and circumstantial, for comments on which, see Terry, WHEDON’S Commentary, 2 Kings 20:1, etc.

A sign A token of the truth of Isaiah’s prediction of lengthened life. This “sign” was the backward movement of the shadow on the dial, or degrees, or steps of Ahaz. Ahaz borrowed as much as he could from other nations note his Damascus altar. It is known that astronomy was early cultivated beyond the Euphrates, and that Ahaz, being an idolatrous vassal to Tiglath-pileser, adopted at Jerusalem the eastern altars on the roof of his house for the adoration of the sun and the stars. A blameless result of all this was the measuring of time by the degrees, or advancing steps, of the sun on the dial, which may have consisted of a column or obelisk placed on the top of a terrace, so casting a shadow upon steps or stairs מעלות ( ma’aloth) ascending on either side, as to mark spaces of time. Several devices are given by Terry (WHEDON’S Commentary on 2 Kings 20:11,) to whose excellent comments the reader is referred.