Dial

The dial (Hebrew ma'aloth, steps or degrees) of Ahaz is one of Scripture's most remarkable accounts of divine miracle-working to confirm a prophetic sign. When King Hezekiah was mortally ill and prayed for healing, the prophet Isaiah promised recovery and as a sign caused the shadow on the stairway (sundial) of Ahaz to go backward ten steps — either a reversal of the sun's apparent movement or a phenomenon of refraction causing the shadow to retreat (2 Kings 20:9–11; Isaiah 38:7–8). The term likely refers to a series of graduated steps on which the sun cast a measurable shadow, functioning as a time-keeping device. It represents both the reality of the miracle and the physical sign confirming God's word to Hezekiah that he would live an additional fifteen years.