Isaiah38
King James Version · Public Domain
1In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
2Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord,
3And said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
4Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying,
5Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
6And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
7And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken;
8Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
9The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
10I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
13I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
15What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
16O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
17Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
18For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
19The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
20The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.
21For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.
22Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Isaiah 38.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Hezekiah's sickness and recovery. (1-8). His thanksgiving. (9-22).
vv1-8
When we pray in our sickness, though God send not to us such an answer as he here sent to Hezekiah, yet, if by his Spirit he bids us be of good cheer, assures us that our sins are forgiven, and that, whether we live or die, we shall be his, we do not pray in vain. See II Kin. 20:1-11.
vv9-22
We have here Hezekiah's thanksgiving. It is well for us to remember the mercies we receive in sickness. Hezekiah records the condition he was in. He dwells upon this; I shall no more see the Lord. A good man wishes not to live for any other end than that he may serve God, and have communion with him. Our present residence is like that of a shepherd in his hut, a poor, mean, and cold lodging, and with a trust committed to our charge, as the shepherd has. Our days are compared to the weaver's shuttle, Job 7:6, passing and repassing very swiftly, every throw leaving a thread behind it; and when finished, the piece is cut off, taken out of the loom, and showed to our Master to be judged of. A good man, when his life is cut off, his cares and fatigues are cut off with it, and he rests from his labours. But our times are in God's hand; he has appointed what shall be the length of the piece. When sick, we are very apt to calculate our time, but are still at uncertainty. It should be more our care how we shall get safe to another world. And the more we taste of the loving-kindness of God, the more will our hearts love him, and live to him. It was in love to our poor perishing souls that Christ delivered them. The pardon does not make the sin not to have been sin, but not to be punished as it deserves. It is pleasant to think of our recoveries from sickness, when we see them flowing from the pardon of sin. Hezekiah's opportunity to glorify God in this world, he made the business, and pleasure, and end of life. Being recovered, he resolves to abound in praising and serving God. God's promises are not to do away, but to quicken and encourage the use of means. Life and health are given that we may glorify God and do good.
Key Words
הֵם: they (only used when emphatic)
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
חִזְקִיָּה: Chizkijah, a king of Judah, also the name of two other Israelites
חָלָה: properly, to be rubbed or worn; hence (figuratively) to be weak, sick, afflicted; or (causatively) to grieve, make sick; also to stroke (in flattering), entreat
מוּת: to die (literally or figuratively); causatively, to kill
יְשַׁעְיָה: Jeshajah, the name of seven Israelites
נָבִיא: a prophet or (generally) inspired man
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָמוֹץ: Amots, an Israelite
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
Cross References
Isaiah 38The primary parallel account of Hezekiah's sickness, prayer, and recovery.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The explicit promise of fifteen added years and going up to the house of the Lord.
Supported by JFB
Direct parallel detail recording the miracle of the shadow turning back ten degrees on the dial.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Great Old Testament precedent of God miraculously altering the sun's natural course.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the vivid weaving metaphor of life being swiftly cut off from the loom.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallel recording Isaiah ordering a lump of figs as a plaster for the boil.
Supported by JFB
Mentions the Babylonian ambassadors sent to inquire of the wonder done in the land.
Supported by JFB
Uses the same phrase 'land of the living' in contrast to the grave.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Thematic connection that man lives by every word that proceeds from God's mouth.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallel imagery of God casting all sins behind His back or into depths.
Supported by John Calvin
Thematic parallel on the dead in the grave being unable to praise or remember God.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Verbal link to the ideal of walking before God with a perfect, sincere heart.
Supported by JFB
God's promise to defend and deliver Jerusalem for His own sake and David's.
Supported by John Calvin
Comparable personal psalm of distress, prayer, and deliverance composed after escaping death.
Supported by John Calvin
Hezekiah's exact sentiment: 'Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?'
Supported by Matthew Poole