II Kings 19:29 · Bible study
2 Kings 19:29 Commentary: God's Three-Year Sign of Provision
Hebrew · 7 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
God gives Hezekiah a three-year agricultural sign to confirm deliverance from Sennacherib and promise restoration of the land.
Research Summary
- Meaning: A three-year agricultural sign confirming God's deliverance of Jerusalem and promise of restored prosperity after the Assyrian siege.
- Key words: safiach (self-sown grain), sachish (volunteer plants from second growth), and ot (miraculous sign).
- Main debate: Whether the second year is a literal sabbatical year (Clarke) or simply describes the natural recovery of the land (Cambridge Bible).
- Theological theme: God's provision in times of devastation; the rhythm of rest and work under His care.
- Best use: Preaching on trusting God through seasons of loss, waiting, and gradual restoration.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
WEB World English Bible 2000
“This will be the sign to you: This year, you will eat that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from that; and in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
KJV King James Version 1769
And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And this shall be the sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And this to thee is the sign, Food of the year is the spontaneous growth, And in the second year the self-produced, And in the third year sow ye, and reap, And plant vineyards, and eat their fruits.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And this [shall be] the sign unto thee: They shall eat this year such as groweth of itself, And in the second year that which springeth of the same; But in the third year sow ye and reap, And plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And to thee, O Ezechias, this shall be a sign: Eat this year what thou shalt find: and in the second year, such things as spring of themselves: but in the third year sow and reap: plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y esto te será por señal Ezechîas: Este año comerás lo que nacerá de suyo, y el segundo año lo que nacerá de suyo; y el tercer año haréis sementera, y segaréis, y plantaréis viñas, y comeréis el fruto de ellas.
E isto te será por sinal Ezequias: Este ano comerás o que nascerá de si mesmo, e no segundo ano o que nascerá de si mesmo; e ao terceiro ano semeareis, e colhereis, e plantareis vinhas, e comereis o fruto delas.
Que ceci soit un signe pour toi: On a mangé une année le produit du grain tombé, et une seconde année ce qui croît de soi-même; mais la troisième année, vous sèmerez, vous moissonnerez, vous planterez des vignes, et vous en mangerez le fruit.
Und das sei dir ein Zeichen: In diesem Jahr iß, was von selber wächst; im andern Jahr, was noch aus den Wurzeln wächst; im dritten Jahr säet und erntet, und pflanzt Weinberge und esset ihre Früchte.
En dat zij u een teken, dat men in dit jaar eten zal, wat van zelf gewassen is; en in het tweede jaar, wat daarvan weder uitspruit; maar zaait in het derde jaar, en maait, en plant wijngaarden, en eet hun vruchten.
E questo, o Ezechia, ti servirà di segno: Quest’anno si mangerà il frutto del grano caduto; il secondo anno, quello che crescerà da sé; ma il terzo anno, seminerete e mieterete; pianterete vigne, e ne mangerete il frutto.
A to będziesz miał, Ezechyjaszu! za znak: Tego roku będziesz jadł samorodne zboże, i roku także drugiego samorodne zboże; ale roku trzeciego będziecie siać i żąć, i sadzić winnice i jeść owoc ich.
И вот тебе, [Езекия,] знамение: ешьте в этот год выросшее от упавшего зерна, и в другой год — самородное, а на третий год сейте и жните, и садите виноградные сады и ешьте плоды их.
「以色列人哪，我賜你們 一個 證據：你們今年 要吃 自生的，明 年 也要吃自長的；至於後 年，你們要耕種 收割，栽植 葡萄園，吃 其中的果子。
And this will be the sign to you: you will get your food this year from what comes up of itself; and in the second year from the produce of the same; and in the third year you will put in your seed and get in the grain and make vine-gardens and take of their fruit.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · II Kings 19:29
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this verse provides Hezekiah with a concrete sign confirming the deliverance promised in the preceding oracles. The three-year plan, eating self-sown grain the first year, what springs from that the second, then normal sowing and reaping the third, functions as a tangible guarantee that the Assyrian threat is over and the land will recover. Adam Clarke notes that the spontaneous bounty prevents famine even though sowing is impossible, demonstrating that the deliverance was not by natural means. Barnes observes that the sign covers the remainder of Sennacherib's reign, about 17 years of peace. Cambridge Bible adds that the sign looks beyond the immediate crisis, proclaiming a prolonged period of peace and security. The two years of untended harvest echo the sabbatical laws (Leviticus 25), underscoring that God supplies even when human labor stops.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Literal forecast of agricultural recovery: The sign describes the actual years following the siege: the land will produce volunteer crops because of the previous years' spillage and roots, and normal farming resumes in the third year.
- Sabbatical-year interpretation: The two years of spontaneous growth fulfill the pattern of the sabbatical rest (Leviticus 25:5), showing God's provision during a year when the land lay fallow.
- Symbolic promise of future prosperity: The three-year progression symbolizes a complete restoration of life and blessing, extending beyond the immediate crisis to a prolonged era of peace.
What is clear: God will deliver Jerusalem from Sennacherib, and the land will recover to full agricultural productivity within three years.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Sabbatical year reference | The sign echoes the principles of the sabbatical year (Leviticus 25), where the land rests and God provides spontaneous growth. | Some commentators identify the second year as the actual sabbatical year (Clarke), while others see it simply as a period of post-war recovery without requiring the land to be formally fallow (Cambridge Bible). |
| Scope of the sign | The sign is given to Hezekiah as a direct assurance that the Assyrian threat is ended and Judah will recover. | Some read it as addressed only to the king (Geneva Bible Notes), while others see it as a sign for the whole remnant (Matthew Henry). |
| Duration and meaning of the two years of self-sown crops | The first year's crop is from spilled seed; the second year's is from roots of the previous growth, both require no human planting. | There is disagreement about whether the two years represent a literal sabbatical cycle or simply the natural but providential renewal of uncultivated land. |
| Relationship to Isaiah 7:14 | Both verses use a sign involving multiple years to confirm divine deliverance. | Some draw a direct typological link (Cambridge Bible); others treat them as separate prophetic contexts without strong connection. |
Historical & Cultural Context
The setting is the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (2 Kings 18, 19). Hezekiah has received Isaiah's oracle that the king of Assyria will not enter the city but will return by the way he came (19:32, 33). Verse 29 then gives a confirming sign. The Assyrian campaign has ravaged Judah's countryside, armies trampled fields, consumed stores, and forced peasants into fortified towns. Normal farming has ceased; seed time has passed for the current year.
In that context, the promise of two years of harvest from volunteer plants is remarkable. Leviticus 25 instructs Israel to let the land rest every seventh year, trusting God to supply enough. The sign draws on that pattern. The first year's crop (safiach) is grain that grows from seeds dropped during previous harvests. The second year's (sachish) is what shoots up from the roots of that first growth, a double provision that requires no planting. Only in the third year do the people return to plowing, sowing, and reaping.
Cambridge Bible notes that the sign looks beyond immediate deliverance and proclaims prolonged peace. It also mirrors the sign given to Ahaz in Isaiah 7:14, a sign that spans years, not days. For a nation just rescued from annihilation, the slow rhythm of agricultural restoration becomes a pledge of God's enduring faithfulness.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for II Kings 19:29. The verse is stable across the Masoretic tradition and ancient versions. The main difference among English translations is the word order and the use of definite articles (e.g., “the sign” vs. “a sign”), which reflects interpretation rather than a textual variation.
Reception History
Throughout church history, this verse has been read as a model of God’s restorative provision in times of judgment. Early and medieval commentators often linked it to the sabbatical rest, seeing in the two years of self-sown crops a picture of divine care that overrides human inability. During the Reformation, it was cited in debates about faith and works, whether God’s people must passively wait or actively plant after deliverance. Matthew Henry treats it as an example of God ‘growing meat out of nothing’ for those who trust Him. More recently, the verse appears in sermons on seasons of waiting and the gradual restoration of hope after trauma. Its concrete, agricultural focus has made it a favorite for rural congregations and those recovering from disaster.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Provision in crisis: God feeds His people from what seems barren, the self-sown crops show He is not limited by destroyed fields or an exhausted land.
- The discipline of waiting: Two years of eating without sowing require trust. The land rests; the people learn dependence on God's word, not their own effort.
- Restoration of normal life: In the third year, full farming resumes. God’s deliverance is not just survival but the return of fruitfulness and stability.
Five-point outline
- God confirms His word with a sign that touches daily life.
- God provides through means that look like neglect (volunteer plants).
- God’s timing includes seasons of rest and seasons of work.
- God’s restoration is gradual and complete.
- God’s sign points to a future beyond the immediate crisis.
Illustration hooks
- A farmer whose cornfield is flattened by a storm finds ears still growing from stalks that survived; he eats that year and holds onto hope for next season.
- A family after a job loss unexpectedly receives help from a former employer and a relative, enough to get through two years until the breadwinner is rehired.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why did God make them wait two years before resuming normal farming? Couldn't He have restored the land faster?
- Does this verse mean we should stop planting and wait for God to provide miraculously?
- How can I recognize a “sign” from God in my own situation, especially when I am under pressure?
Leading a Discussion
This verse is part of the larger story of God's deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian army. Hezekiah had prayed desperately, and Isaiah sent a promise of rescue. Now God adds a sign that reaches into the next three years of daily life. The sign is not a miracle in the sky but a promise about crops and planting, the ordinary stuff of survival.
Discussion questions
- What does the verse tell you about the condition of the land after Sennacherib's invasion? (Consider the surrounding verses: 19:24, 26.)
- Why do you think God gives a sign that spans three years instead of a single sign that happens immediately?
- How does the sign connect to the sabbatical year laws in Leviticus 25:4, 5? What does that connection add to the promise?
- The first two years require no sowing. What does this teach about trusting God's provision without human effort?
- By the third year, normal farming resumes. Why is the return to ordinary work part of the good news of deliverance?
- In what area of your life right now might God be calling you to trust His provision through a season of waiting?
- How can this sign shape the way you pray for restoration, for your family, church, or community?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 3:12 | He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” |
| Leviticus 25:4 | but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to Yahweh. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. |
| Leviticus 25:5 | What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and you shall not gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. |
| Leviticus 25:20 | If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;” |
| Leviticus 25:22 | You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits from the old store until the ninth year. Until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store. |
| I Samuel 2:34 | This will be the sign to you that will come on your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they will both die. |
| II Kings 19:21 | This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you. |
| II Kings 19:31 | For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. Yahweh’s zeal will perform this. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
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What the Commentators Say
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke argues that the sign for Hezekiah—eating what grows without sowing during the sabbatical years after Assyria's devastation—proves the deliverance was miraculous. Without supernatural provision, the ravaged land could not sustain them; the same miracle that fed them also cut off the Assyrian army and saved Israel.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes specifies that the sign given to Hezekiah guaranteed safety from Sennacherib for a definite period: the remaining 17 years of the Assyrian king's reign. This token assured Judah of continued freedom from attack during that entire time.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The sign given to Hezekiah promises not only immediate deliverance but a prolonged period of peace and security. The two years of eating what grows by itself allow the land to rest, followed by a third year of normal farming, showing God's provision extends far beyond the crisis.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva notes emphasize the three-stage sign given to Hezekiah
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that the parallel accounts of Hezekiah in Kings and Isaiah are not copied from each other but independently drawn from a lost common source. He traces this source to a collection of prophetic histories, likely including Isaiah's own record, which neither existing text reproduces fully or perfectly.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry highlights that God answers prayer by directly confronting the boasting of the oppressor. Sennacherib's threats against Jerusalem are treated as blasphemy against the Holy One himself, and God promises to lead this proud king away like a beast with a hook in its nose.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley explains the three-year sign as a guarantee that God will restore full prosperity after the Assyrian devastation. The first year provides from enemy leftovers, the second from unplanted produce during the year of release, and the third from their own harvest, so the people finally eat the fruit of their own labor.