Text: Isaiah 38:21
OT Text Referred to: 2 Kings 20:7
Subject: topical application of figs
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Both Isaiah 38:21 and 2 Kings 20:7 record Isaiah's instruction to apply a poultice of figs (דְּבֶלֶת תְּאֵנִים, develet te'enim) to Hezekiah's boil (שְׁחִין, shechin). The accounts are parallel but placed differently in each narrative: in 2 Kings 20, the fig remedy appears in chronological sequence within the story, while in Isaiah 38, it is appended after Hezekiah's psalm (38:9-20), almost as an afterthought. This placement difference reveals the literary priorities of each author — the Kings account prioritizes historical narrative flow, while Isaiah's account prioritizes the devotional response (the psalm) before returning to the practical details of the cure.
Consolidated 2026-06-09 per the later-text → earlier-text canonical-direction ruling (Full Corpus Audit, Phase 0). The content below is preserved verbatim from the deleted file "2 Kings 20.7 to Isaiah 38.21"; fold unique material into the Significance during the Phase 3 IP audit, then remove this section.
Text: 2 Kings 20:7
OT Text Referred to: Isaiah 38:21
Subject: topical application of figs
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Both texts record Isaiah's instruction to apply a lump of pressed figs (דְּבֶלֶת תְּאֵנִים, develet te'enim) to Hezekiah's boil as a healing remedy. In 2 Kings 20:7, this instruction appears in its natural narrative position after God's promise of healing. In Isaiah 38:21, the same instruction appears appended after Hezekiah's psalm, repositioned for literary rather than chronological purposes. The fig poultice represents a convergence of divine healing and natural means — God's promise to heal precedes and validates the remedy, indicating that the cure's efficacy lies not in the figs but in the divine word that accompanies them.