Intertextuality Pair

Isaiah 38:21-22 → 2 Kings 20:7-8

Quotation

Later text

Isaiah 38:21-22BSB

Now Isaiah had said, "Prepare a lump of pressed figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover." And Hezekiah had asked, "What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?"

Earlier text

2 Kings 20:7-8BSB

Then Isaiah said, "Prepare a poultice of figs." So they brought it and applied it to the boil, and Hezekiah recovered. Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?"

Significance

Isaiah 38:21-22 and 2 Kings 20:7-8 are parallel accounts of the same two details from Hezekiah's recovery: Isaiah's prescription of a fig poultice (דְּבֶלֶת תְּאֵנִים, develet te'enim) for the boil (שְׁחִין, shechin), and Hezekiah's request for a confirming sign. The texts are nearly verbatim, indicating direct literary dependence. The placement differs significantly: in 2 Kings, these details appear in chronological sequence within the main narrative; in Isaiah 38, they are appended as an afterthought following Hezekiah's psalm (38:9-20), creating a narrative flashback. This difference in arrangement reveals each author's literary priorities — Kings emphasizes the historical sequence, while Isaiah centers Hezekiah's poetic response to the crisis.

Found via
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type
Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s)
Redemptive-Historical Progression — near-verbatim parallel of the same two details (the pressed-fig poultice for the boil; Hezekiah's request for a sign): direct literary dependence between the two canonical placements of one healing, Kings preserving the chronological sequence while Isaiah re-sites the details after the psalm as the historical bridge into chapter 39 and the exile oracle that follows.

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