Decline
An Older Meaning of Decline
Modern English speakers associate "decline" with decreasing or refusing, but in the King James Version of the Bible, the word carries its original, now largely obsolete sense of "turning aside" from a straight course. The Hebrew words behind this translation convey the idea of deviating, bending away, or departing from the right direction. This makes "decline" a moral and directional term in Scripture rather than simply one of diminishment.
Turning Aside from God's Law
Several Old Testament passages use "decline" to describe departing from God's commands. Exodus 23:2 warns against following a crowd to do evil, instructing the people not to "decline" or turn aside after the majority in perverting justice. Deuteronomy 17:11 commands obedience to the verdict of the priests and judges, saying the people must not "decline" from the sentence to the right hand or to the left.
Job 23:11 provides a positive counterexample, where Job declares his faithfulness: "My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not declined." Here, refusing to decline means maintaining a steady course of obedience even through suffering. King Josiah was similarly praised for walking in the ways of David and not declining to the right or to the left (2 Chronicles 34:2).
The Declining Shadows
A second important use of "decline" in Scripture refers to the lengthening of shadows as afternoon progresses toward evening. Psalm 102:11 laments, "My days are like a shadow that declines," using the fading afternoon light as a metaphor for the shortness and fragility of human life. Psalm 109:23 echoes this imagery: "I am gone like a shadow when it declines."
This image of declining shadows also appears in narrative contexts. Judges 19:8 describes a Levite who delayed his journey until the afternoon shadows had declined. In 2 Kings 20:10, King Hezekiah recognized that it would be easy for a shadow on a sundial to decline forward, the natural direction, so he asked God for the miraculous sign of shadows moving backward. Jeremiah 6:4 uses declining shadows as part of a warning about approaching danger.
The Spiritual Metaphor
The dual meaning of decline in Scripture creates a powerful spiritual metaphor. Just as shadows naturally stretch and fade as the day wanes, so a person's spiritual life can gradually drift from the path of righteousness. The biblical writers use both senses to warn that departure from God is often gradual rather than sudden. One does not typically leap from faithfulness to rebellion but slowly declines, drifting by small degrees.
This warning resonates throughout the prophetic literature. Jeremiah repeatedly called Israel back from its decline into idolatry, and the book of Judges describes a recurring pattern where each generation declined further from the faithfulness of its predecessors (Judges 2:19).
Staying the Course
The biblical remedy for spiritual decline is deliberate faithfulness. Proverbs 4:27 instructs, "Do not swerve to the right or the left; turn your foot away from evil." Joshua 1:7 promises success to those who are careful to observe the law without turning from it. The New Testament continues this theme with Hebrews 2:1, which warns believers to "pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away."
Biblical Context
The word 'decline' appears in the Pentateuch (Exodus 23:2; Deuteronomy 17:11), the historical books (2 Chronicles 34:2; 2 Kings 20:10; Judges 19:8), the wisdom literature (Job 23:11), the Psalms (102:11; 109:23), and the prophets (Jeremiah 6:4). It functions both as a moral term for turning from God's way and as a natural description of fading daylight.
Theological Significance
The concept of declining from God's path underscores that faithfulness requires active, intentional commitment. The gradual nature of spiritual decline, like shadows imperceptibly lengthening, warns believers against complacency. Scripture presents staying on God's path not as passive drift but as deliberate, persistent obedience that resists the natural human tendency to wander.
Historical Background
The ancient Israelites tracked time partly by the position and length of shadows, making declining shadows a universally understood image. Sundials, or shadow clocks, are attested in the ancient Near East from at least the second millennium BC. The miracle of the shadow retreating in 2 Kings 20:10-11 would have been especially striking in a culture where shadow movement was the primary measure of passing hours. The moral sense of 'declining' reflects ancient Near Eastern treaty language, where parties swore not to 'turn aside' from covenant obligations.