9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
10 I 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.
11 I 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.
12 Mine 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.
13 I 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.
14 Like 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.
15 What 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.
16 O 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.
17 Behold, 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.
18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
20 The 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.
9 The writing H4385 of Hezekiah H2396 king H4428 of Judah, H3063 when he had been sick, H2470 and was recovered H2421 of his sickness: H2483
10 I said H559 in the cutting off H1824 of my days, H3117 I shall go H3212 to the gates H8179 of the grave: H7585 I am deprived H6485 of the residue H3499 of my years. H8141
11 I said, H559 I shall not see H7200 the LORD, H3050 even the LORD, H3050 in the land H776 of the living: H2416 I shall behold H5027 man H120 no more with the inhabitants H3427 of the world. H2309
12 Mine age H1755 is departed, H5265 and is removed H1540 from me as a shepherd's H7473 tent: H168 I have cut off H7088 like a weaver H707 my life: H2416 he will cut me off H1214 with pining sickness: H1803 from day H3117 even to night H3915 wilt thou make an end H7999 of me.
13 I reckoned H7737 till morning, H1242 that, as a lion, H738 so will he break H7665 all my bones: H6106 from day H3117 even to night H3915 wilt thou make an end H7999 of me.
14 Like a crane H5483 or a swallow, H5693 so did I chatter: H6850 I did mourn H1897 as a dove: H3123 mine eyes H5869 fail H1809 with looking upward: H4791 O LORD, H3068 I am oppressed; H6234 undertake H6148 for me.
15 What shall I say? H1696 he hath both spoken H559 unto me, and himself hath done H6213 it: I shall go softly H1718 all my years H8141 in the bitterness H4751 of my soul. H5315
16 O Lord, H136 by these things men live, H2421 and in all these things is the life H2416 of my spirit: H7307 so wilt thou recover H2492 me, and make me to live. H2421
17 Behold, for peace H7965 I had great bitterness: H4751 H4843 but thou hast in love H2836 to my soul H5315 delivered it from the pit H7845 of corruption: H1097 for thou hast cast H7993 all my sins H2399 behind H310 thy back. H1460
18 For the grave H7585 cannot praise H3034 thee, death H4194 can not celebrate H1984 thee: they that go down H3381 into the pit H953 cannot hope H7663 for thy truth. H571
19 The living, H2416 the living, H2416 he shall praise H3034 thee, as I do this day: H3117 the father H1 to the children H1121 shall make known H3045 thy truth. H571
20 The LORD H3068 was ready to save H3467 me: therefore we will sing my songs H5058 to the stringed instruments H5059 all the days H3117 of our life H2416 in the house H1004 of the LORD. H3068
9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.
10 I said, In the noontide of my days I shall go into the gates of Sheol: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see Jehovah, `even' Jehovah in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd's tent: I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life; he will cut me off from the loom: From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
13 I quieted `myself' until morning; as a lion, so he breaketh all my bones: From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow `or' a crane, so did I chatter; I did moan as a dove; mine eyes fail `with looking' upward: O Lord, I am oppressed, be thou my surety.
15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, by these things men live; And wholly therein is the life of my spirit: Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live.
17 Behold, `it was' for `my' peace `that' 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.
18 For Sheol cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: The father to the children shall make known thy truth.
20 Jehovah is `ready' to save me: Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of Jehovah.
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah concerning his being sick, when he reviveth from his sickness:
10 `I -- I said in the cutting off of my days, I go in to the gates of Sheol, I have numbered the remnant of mine years.
11 I said, I do not see Jah -- Jah! In the land of the living, I do not behold man any more, With the inhabitants of the world.
12 My sojourning hath departed, And been removed from me as a shepherd's tent, I have drawn together, as a weaver, my life, By weakness it cutteth me off, From day unto night Thou dost end me.
13 I have set `Him' till morning as a lion, So doth He break all my bones, From day unto night Thou dost end me.
14 As a crane -- a swallow -- so I chatter, I mourn as a dove, Drawn up have been mine eyes on high, O Jehovah, oppression `is' on me, be my surety.
15 -- What do I say? seeing He said to me, And He Himself hath wrought, I go softly all my years for the bitterness of my soul.
16 Lord, by these do `men' live, And by all in them `is' the life of my spirit, And Thou savest me, make me also to live,
17 Lo, to peace He changed for me bitterness, And Thou hast delighted in my soul without corruption, For Thou hast cast behind Thy back all my sins.
18 For Sheol doth not confess Thee, Death doth not praise Thee, Those going down to the pit hope not for Thy truth.
19 The living, the living, he doth confess Thee.
20 Like myself to-day -- a father to sons Doth make known of Thy faithfulness, O Jehovah -- to save me: And my songs we sing all days of our lives In the house of Jehovah.'
9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said, In the meridian of my days I shall go to the gates of Sheol: I am deprived of the rest of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see Jah, Jah in the land of the living. With those who dwell where all has ceased to be, I shall behold man no more.
12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent. I have cut off like a weaver my life. He separateth me from the thrum: -- from day to night thou wilt make an end of me.
13 I kept still until the morning; ... as a lion, so doth he break all my bones. From day to night thou wilt make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow [or] a crane, so did I chatter; I mourned as a dove; mine eyes failed [with looking] upward: Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
15 What 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.
16 Lord, by these things [men] live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit; and thou hast recovered me, and made me to live.
17 Behold, instead of peace I had bitterness upon bitterness; but thou hast in love delivered my soul from the pit of destruction; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
18 For not Sheol shall praise thee, nor death celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit do not hope for thy truth.
19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
20 Jehovah was [purposed] to save me. -- And we will play upon my stringed instruments all the days of our life, in the house of Jehovah.
9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.
10 I said, In the noontide of my days I shall go into the gates of Sheol: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see Yah, Yah in the land of the living: I shall see man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd's tent: I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life; he will cut me off from the loom: From day even to night will you make an end of me.
13 I quieted [myself] until morning; as a lion, so he breaks all my bones: From day even to night will you make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow [or] a crane, so did I chatter; I did moan as a dove; my eyes fail [with looking] upward: Lord, I am oppressed, be my collateral.
15 What shall I say? he has both spoken to me, and himself has done it: I shall go softly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 Lord, by these things men live; Wholly therein is the life of my spirit: You restore me, and cause me to live.
17 Behold, [it was] for [my] peace [that] I had great bitterness: But you have in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; For you have cast all my sins behind your back.
18 For Sheol can't praise you, death can't celebrate you: Those who go down into the pit can't hope for your truth.
19 The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do this day: The father to the children shall make known your truth.
20 Yahweh is [ready] to save me: Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of Yahweh.
9 The writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, after he had been ill, and had got better from his disease.
10 I said, In the quiet of my days I am going down into the underworld: the rest of my years are being taken away from me.
11 I said, I will not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living: I will not see man again or those living in the world.
12 My resting-place is pulled up and taken away from me like a herdsman's tent: my life is rolled up like a linen-worker's thread; I am cut off from the cloth on the frame: from day even to night you give me up to pain.
13 I am crying out with pain till the morning; it is as if a lion was crushing all my bones.
14 I make cries like a bird; I give out sounds of grief like a dove: my eyes are looking up with desire; O Lord, I am crushed, take up my cause.
15 What am I to say? seeing that it is he who has done it: all my time of sleeping I am turning from side to side without rest.
16 O Lord, for this cause I am waiting for you, give rest to my spirit: make me well again, and let me come back to life.
17 See, in place of peace my soul had bitter sorrow. but you have kept back my soul from the underworld; for you have put all my sins out of your memory.
18 For the underworld is not able to give you praise, death gives you no honour: for those who go down into the underworld there is no hope in your mercy.
19 The living, the living man, he will give you praise, as I do this day: the father will give the story of your mercy to his children.
20 O Lord, quickly be my saviour; so we will make my songs to corded instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the Lord.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 38
Commentary on Isaiah 38 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
There is nothing to surprise us in the fact that we are carried back to the time when Jerusalem was still threatened by the Assyrian, since the closing vv. of chapter 37 merely contain an anticipatory announcement, introduced for the purpose of completing the picture of the last Assyrian troubles, by adding the fulfilment of Isaiah's prediction of their termination. It is within this period, and indeed in the year of the Assyrian invasion (Isaiah 36:1), since Hezekiah reigned twenty-nine years, and fifteen of these are promised here, that the event described by Isaiah falls - an event not merely of private interest, but one of importance in connection with the history of the nation also. “In those days Hizkiyahu became dangerously ill. And Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, came to him, and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah, Set thine house in order: for thou wilt die, and not recover. Then Hizkiyahu turned (K. om.) his face to the wall, and prayed to Jehovah, and said (K. saying ) , O Jehovah, remember this, I pray, that I have walked before thee in truth, and with the whole heart, and have done what was good in Thine eyes! And Hizkiyahu wept with loud weeping.” “Give command to thy house” ( ל , cf., אל , 2 Samuel 17:23) is equivalent to, “Make known thy last will to thy family” (compare the rabbinical tsavvâ' âh , the last will and testament); for though tsivvâh is generally construed with the accusative of the person, it is also construed with Lamed (e.g., Exodus 1:22; cf., אל , Exodus 16:34). חיה in such a connection as this signifies to revive or recover. The announcement of his death is unconditional and absolute. As Vitringa observes, “the condition was not expressed, because God would draw it from him as a voluntary act.” The sick man turned his face towards the wall ( פּניו הסב , hence the usual fut. cons. ויּסּב as in 1 Kings 21:4, 1 Kings 21:8, 1 Kings 21:14), to retire into himself and to God. The supplicatory אנּה (here, as in Psalms 116:4, Psalms 116:16, and in all six times, with ה ) always has the principal tone upon the last syllable before יהוה = אדני (Nehemiah 1:11). The metheg has sometimes passed into a conjunctive accent (e.g., Genesis 50:17; Exodus 32:31). אשׁר את does not signify that which, but this, that, as in Deuteronomy 9:7; 2 Kings 8:12, etc. “In truth,” i.e., without wavering or hypocrisy. שׁלם בלב , with a complete or whole heart, as in 1 Kings 8:61, etc. He wept aloud, because it was a dreadful thing to him to have to die without an heir to the throne, in the full strength of his manhood (in the thirty-ninth year of his age), and with the nation in so unsettled a state.
The prospect is now mercifully changed. “And it came to pass (K. Isaiah was not yet out of the inner city; keri סהצר , the forecourt, and ) the word of Jehovah came to Isaiah (K. to him) as follows: Go (K. turn again) and say to Hizkiyahu (K. adds, to the prince of my people ), Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thine ancestor, I have heard thy prayer, seen thy tears; behold, I (K. will cure thee, on the third day thou shalt go up to the house of Jehovah ) add (K. and I add) to thy days fifteen years. And I will deliver thee ad this city out of the hand of the king of Asshur, and will defend this city (K. for mine own sake and for David my servant's sake ) .” In the place of העיר (the city) the keri and the earlier translators have הצר . The city of David is not called the “inner city” anywhere else; in fact, Zion, with the temple hill, formed the upper city, so that apparently it is the inner space of the city of David that is here referred to, and Isaiah had not yet passed through the middle gate to return to the lower city, where he dwelt. The text of Kings is the more authentic throughout; except that עמּי נגיד , “the prince of my people,” is an annalistic adorning which is hardly original. סהלו ך in Isaiah is an inf. abs. used in an imperative sense; שׁוּב , on the other hand, which we find in the other text, is imperative. On yōsiph , see at Isaiah 29:14.
The pledge desired. “ (K. Then Isaiah said ) and (K. om.) let this be the sign to thee on the part of Jehovah, that ( אשׁר , K. כּי ) Jehovah will perform this (K. the ) word which He has spoken; Behold, I make the shadow retrace the steps, which it has gone down upon the sun-dial of Ahaz through the sun, ten steps backward. And the sun went back ten steps upon the dial, which it had gone down” (K. “Shall the shadow go forward [ הל ך , read הל ך according to Job 40:2, or היל ך ] ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps? Then Yechizkiyahu said, It is easy for the shadow to go down ten steps; no, but the shadow shall go back ten steps. Then Isaiah the prophet cried to Jehovah, and turned back the shadow by the steps that it had gone down upon the sun-dial of Ahaz, ten steps backward” ) . “Steps of Ahaz” was the name given to a sun-dial erected by him. As m a‛ălâh may signify either one of a flight of steps or a degree (syn. m adrigâh ), we might suppose the reference to be to a dial-plate with a gnomon; but, in the first place, the expression points to an actual succession of steps, that is to say, to an obelisk upon a square or circular elevation ascended by steps, which threw the shadow of its highest point at noon upon the highest steps, and in the morning and evening upon the lowest either on the one side or the other, so that the obelisk itself served as a gnomon. It is in this sense that the Targum on 2 Kings 9:13 renders gerem hamma‛ălōth by d e rag shâ‛ayyâ' , step (flight of steps) of the sun-dial; and the obelisk of Augustus, on the Field of Mars at Rome, was one of this kind, which served as a sun-dial. The going forward, going down, or declining of the shadow, and its going back, were regulated by the meridian line, and under certain circumstances the same might be said of a vertical dial, i.e., of a sun-dial with a vertical dial-plate; but it applies more strictly to a step-dial, i.e., to a sun-dial in which the degrees that measure definite periods of time are really gradus . The step-dial of Ahaz may have consisted of twenty steps or more, which measured the time of day by half-hours, or even quarters. If the sign was given an hour before sunset, the shadow, by going back ten steps of half-an-hour each, would return to the point at which it stood at twelve o'clock. But how was this effected? Certainly not by giving an opposite direction to the revolution of the earth upon its axis, which would have been followed by the most terrible convulsions over the entire globe; and in all probability not even by an apparently retrograde motion of the sun (in which case the miracle would be optical rather than cosmical); but as the intention was to give a sign that should serve as a pledge, and therefore had not need whatever to be supernatural, it may have been simply through a phenomenon of refraction, since all that was required was that the shadow which was down at the bottom in the afternoon should be carried upwards by a sudden and unexpected refraction. Hamma‛ălōth (the steps) in Isaiah 38:8 does not stand in a genitive relation to tsēl (the shadow), as the accents would make it appear, but is an accusative of measure, equivalent to בּמּעלות in the sum of the steps (2 Kings 20:11). To this accusative of measure there is appended the relative clause: quos ( gradus ) descendit ( ירדה ; צל being used as a feminine) in scala Ahasi per solem , i.e., through the onward motion of the sun. When it is stated that “the sun returned,” this does not mean the sun in the heaven, but the sun upon the sun-dial, upon which the illuminated surface moved upwards as the shadow retreated; for when the shadow moved back, the sun moved back as well. The event is intended to be represented as a miracle; and a miracle it really was. The force of will proved itself to be a power superior to all natural law; the phenomenon followed upon the prophet's prayer as an extraordinary result of divine power, not effected through his astronomical learning, but simply through that faith which can move mountains, because it can set in motion the omnipotence of God.
As a documentary proof of this third account, a psalm of Hezekiah is added in the text of Isaiah, in which he celebrates his miraculous rescue from the brink of death. The author of the book of Kings has omitted it; but the genuineness is undoubted. The heading runs thus in Isaiah 38:9 : “Writing of Hizkiyahu king of Judah, when he was sick, and recovered from his sickness.” The song which follows might be headed Mikhtam , since it has the characteristics of this description of psalm (see at Psalms 16:1). We cannot infer from bachălōthō (when he was sick) that it was composed by Hezekiah during his illness (see at Psalms 51:1); vayyechi (and he recovered) stamps it as a song of thanksgiving, composed by him after his recovery. In common with the two Ezrahitish psalms, Ps 88 and 89, it has not only a considerable number of echoes of the book of Job, but also a lofty sweep, which is rather forced than lyrically direct, and appears to aim at copying the best models.
Strophe 1 consists indisputably of seven lines:
“I said, In quiet of my days shall I depart into the gates of Hades:
I am mulcted of the rest of my years.
I said, I shall not see Jah, Jah, in the land of the living:
I shall behold man no more, with the inhabitants of the regions of the dead.
My home is broken up, and is carried off from me like a shepherd's tent:
I rolled up my life like a weaver; He would have cut me loose from the roll:
From day to night Thou makest an end of me.”