Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps.” ’ ” So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down.
The sun can move backwards in the sky.
Astronomy
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The cited passage
What current science says
For the sun to appear to move backwards, Earth would have to suddenly reverse its rotation. This would require an impossible amount of energy and would be catastrophic - the atmosphere and oceans would keep moving at over 1,000 mph, creating planet-wide destruction.
What the text says
Isaiah 38:8 describes God making the shadow on the sundial - and thus the sun's apparent position - move backward ten degrees as a sign for Hezekiah, implying the sun can reverse its course across the sky.
Three honest ways to read this passage
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As history
The text records how its authors understood the world with the knowledge they had. Read this way, a difference from modern science is a window into the ancient mind, not a failure.
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As accommodation
The text speaks to its first audience in their own terms, to make a point that isn't mainly about physics or biology. Read this way, the scientific detail is the vehicle, not the cargo.
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As contradiction
The text makes a claim about the physical world that modern findings dispute. Read this way, the difference is a genuine factual disagreement worth naming.
GEBible doesn't pick one of these for you. Each entry shows the passage, what it says, and what current science says — nothing more.