King James Version
Isaiah 38
22 verses with commentary
Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery
In 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. Set: Heb. Give charge concerning thy house
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KJV Study Commentary
God's command to 'set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live' demonstrates divine sovereignty over life and death, yet also allows for prayer to change outcomes within His decreed purposes. This paradox reveals that God's pronouncements can be conditional warnings rather than immutable decrees. Hezekiah's childlessness at this point (Manasseh was born three years later) meant no he...
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XXXVIII.
(1) **In those days.**—On any supposition, the narrative of Hezekiah’s illness throws us back to a time fifteen years before his death, and therefore to an earlier date than the destruction of the Assyrian army, which it here follows. So in Isaiah 38:6, the deliverance of the city is spoken of as still future. Assuming the rectified chronology given above, we are carried to a time ten or ...
Read full commentary →Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,
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KJV Study Commentary
Hezekiah's response "Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall" depicts private, intense prayer. Facing the wall removes distractions, focusing entirely on God. This physical posture demonstrates desperate seeking of God's face. The immediacy "then" shows Hezekiah's instant turn to prayer upon hearing the death sentence. Rather than despairing or seeking human solutions, the king brings his cr...
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(2) **Turned his face toward the wall . . .**—The royal couch was in the corner, as the Eastern place of honour, the face turned to it, as seeking privacy and avoiding the gaze of men. (Comp. Ahab in 1Kings 21:4.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 2
Is 2:1-22.
1. The inscription.
**The word--**the revelation.
And 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. sore: Heb. with great weeping
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KJV Study Commentary
Hezekiah's prayer appeals to his covenant faithfulness and wholehearted devotion, not as merit earning salvation, but as evidence of genuine faith. The Hebrew 'perfect heart' (shalem) means complete or undivided loyalty, not sinless perfection. His 'sore weeping' demonstrates that mature faith includes honest emotional expression before God, not stoic denial of human frailty.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Remember now, O Lord.**—Devout as the prayer is, there is a tone of self-satisfaction in it which contrasts with David’s prayer (Psalm 51:1-3). He rests on what he has done in the way of religious reformation, and practically asks what he has done that he should be cut off by an untimely death. The tears may probably have been less egotistic than the words, and, therefore, were more prevaili...
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2. Same as Mi 4:1. As Micah prophesied in Jotham's reign, and Isaiah in Uzziah's, Micah rests on Isaiah, whom he confirms: not vice versa. Hengstenberg on slight grounds makes Mi 4:1 the original.
**last days--**that is, Messiah's: especially the days yet to come, to which all prophecy hastens, when "the house of the God of Jacob," namely, at Jerusalem, shall be the center to which the converted...
Read full commentary →Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,
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KJV Study Commentary
The simple statement "Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah" shows God's responsive initiative. Before Hezekiah's prayer concludes, God is already answering through His prophet. The immediacy demonstrates divine attentiveness to faithful prayer. This pattern of quick prophetic response reveals that God delights to answer prayers that align with His purposes. Isaiah's prophetic role as intermedi...
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3. If the curse foretold against Israel has been literally fulfilled, so shall the promised blessing be literal. We Gentiles must not, while giving them the curse, deny them their peculiar blessing by spiritualizing it. The Holy Ghost shall be poured out for a general conversion then (Jr 50:5; Zec 8:21, 23; Joe 2:28).
**from Jerusalem--**(Lu 24:47) an earnest of the future relations of Jerusalem...
Read full commentary →Go, 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.
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KJV Study Commentary
God's response as 'the God of David thy father' invokes covenant promises to the Davidic line, assuring continuity of messianic hopes. The addition of fifteen years demonstrates both divine sovereignty (knowing the future) and responsiveness (hearing prayer). The 'sign' Hezekiah requests (v. 7) shows that seeking confirmation of God's promises is legitimate faith, not doubting unbelief.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Fifteen years.**—The words fix the date of the illness, taking the received chronology, as B.C. 713. The next verse shows that there was danger at the time to be apprehended from Assyria, but does not necessarily refer to Sennacherib’s invasion. Sargon’s attack (Isaiah 20:1) may have caused a general alarm.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. judge--**as a sovereign umpire, settling all controversies (compare Is 11:4). Lowth translates "work," "conviction."
**plowshares--**in the East resembling a short sword (Is 9:6, 7; Zec 9:10).
And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
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KJV Study Commentary
God's additional promise "I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria" connects Hezekiah's healing to national deliverance. The declaration "I will defend this city" shows that the king's personal healing serves larger purposes—he must live to see Jerusalem's deliverance. This demonstrates that individual lives have significance in God's comprehensive plan. Personal an...
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5. The connection is: As Israel's high destiny is to be a blessing to all nations (Ge 12:3), let Israel's children walk worthy of it (Ep 5:8).
And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;
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KJV Study Commentary
The shadow moving backward ten degrees is a supernatural sign validating God's promise, demonstrating His sovereign control over creation's natural laws. This miracle, like Joshua's long day, shows that the God who established physical laws can suspend them for redemptive purposes. The sign's visibility throughout the ancient Near East (2 Chronicles 32:31) served as international testimony to Yahw...
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(7) **This shall be a sign unto thee . . .**—The offer reminds us of that made to Ahaz; but it was received in a far different spirit. In 2Kings 20:8-11 the story is more fully told. Hezekiah asks for a sign, and is offered his choice. Shall the shadow go forward or backward? With something of a child-like simplicity he chooses the latter, as the more difficult of the two. The sun-dial of Ahaz, pr...
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**6. Therefore--**rather, "For": reasons why there is the more need of the exhortation in Is 2:5.
**thou--**transition to Jehovah: such rapid transitions are natural, when the mind is full of a subject.
**replenished--**rather, filled, namely, with the superstitions of the East, Syria, and Chaldea.
**soothsayers--**forbidden (De 18:10-14).
**Philistines--**southwest of Palestine: antithesi...
Read full commentary →Behold, 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. sun dial: Heb. degrees by, or, with the sun
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KJV Study Commentary
The miraculous sign "I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward" demonstrates God's power over creation. Reversing the sun's shadow defies natural law, proving God's supernatural intervention. The specificity "ten degrees" and reference to "Ahaz's sun dial" provide measurable verification. This cosmic sign for one man's healing de...
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**7. gold--**forbidden to be heaped together (De 17:17). Solomon disobeyed (1Ki 10:21, 27).
**horses ... chariots--**forbidden (De 17:16). But Solomon disobeyed (1Ki 20:26). Horses could be used effectively for war in the plains of Egypt; not so in the hilly Judea. God designed there should be as wide as possible a distinction between Israel and the Egyptians. He would have His people wholly dep...
Read full commentary →The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
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KJV Study Commentary
The heading "The writing of Hezekiah...when he had been sick, and was recovered" introduces his thanksgiving psalm. The practice of written testimony preserves God's faithfulness for future generations. Hezekiah doesn't merely experience deliverance privately but publicly records it for others' benefit. This demonstrates proper response to answered prayer—testimony that glorifies God and encourage...
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(9) **The writing of Hezekiah . . .**—Isaiah 38:21-22 would seem to have their right place before the elegiac psalm that follows. The culture which the psalm implies is what might have been expected from one whom Isaiah had trained, who had restored and organised the worship of the Temple (2Chronicles 29:25-30), who spoke to Levites and soldiers as a preacher (2Chronicles 30:22; 2Chronicles 32:6),...
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8. (Ho 8:4). Not so much public idolatry, which was not sanctioned in Uzziah's and Jotham's reign, but (see 2Ki 15:4, 35) as private.
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
Hezekiah's lament "I said in the cutting off of my days" uses "cutting off" (Hebrew damah) suggesting premature death. The phrase "gates of the grave" (sheol) personifies death as a walled city with entrance gates—once entered, no exit exists. "I am deprived of the residue of my years" expresses grief over unfulfilled life expectancy. This honest expression of distress models that believers can vo...
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(10) **I said in the cutting off of my days . . .**—The words have been very differently interpreted—(1) “in the *quietness,*” and so in the even tenor of a healthy life. As a fact, however, the complaint did not, and could not, come in the “quiet” of his life, but after it had passed away; (2) “in *the dividing point,” scil., *the “half-way house of life.” Hezekiah was thirty-nine, but the word m...
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**9. mean--**in rank: not morally base: opposed to "the great man." The former is in Hebrew, Adam, the latter, ish.
**boweth--**namely, to idols. All ranks were idolaters.
**forgive ... not--**a threat expressed by an imperative. Isaiah so identifies himself with God's will, that he prays for that which he knows God purposes. So Re 18:6.
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
The grief "I shall not see the LORD" expresses deepest loss—death means separation from conscious worship and God's presence. "Even the LORD, in the land of the living" emphasizes that relationship with God belongs to earthly life in Old Testament understanding. The parallel "I shall behold man no more" adds relational loss—community and fellowship end at death. This pre-resurrection perspective m...
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(11) **I shall not see the Lord . . .**—The words are eminently characteristic of the cheerless dimness of the Hebrew’s thoughts of death. To St. Paul and those who share his faith death is to “depart, and to be with Christ” (Philippians 1:23), to be “ever with the Lord” (1Thessalonians 4:17). To Hezekiah, it would seem, the outward worship of the Temple, or possibly, the consciousness of God’s pr...
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10. Poetical form of expressing that, such were their sins, they would be obliged by God's judgments to seek a hiding-place from His wrath (Re 6:15, 16).
**dust--**equivalent to "caves of the earth," or dust (Is 2:19).
**for fear, &c.--**literally, "from the face of the terror of the Lord."
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. with: or, from the thrum
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KJV Study Commentary
The metaphor "Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent" depicts life's fragility—tents easily fold and move. The weaving imagery "I have cut off like a weaver my life" shows life as a tapestry prematurely severed from the loom. "He will cut me off from the pining loom" uses divine passive—God controls life and death. The phrase "from day even to night wilt thou make an end...
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(12) **Mine age is departed . . .**—Better, *my home, *or *habitation ***. . .** as in Psalm 49:19, and thus fitting in better with the similitude that follows. The “home” is, of course, the body, as the dwelling-place of the spirit. (Comp. Psalm 52:5, “hurl thee away tentless,” Heb., and Job 21:28, “Is not their tent-cord torn away?” Heb.) The “shepherd’s tent” is the type of a transitory home (2...
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**11. lofty looks--**literally, "eyes of pride" (Psa 18:27).
**humbled--**by calamities. God will so vindicate His honor "in that day" of judgments, that none else "shall be exalted" (Zec 14:9).
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
The vivid complaint "I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones" depicts sleepless agony through the night. Comparing God to a lion destroying prey is startling imagery showing the intensity of suffering's felt experience. The repetition "from day even unto night wilt thou make an end of me" emphasizes relentless progression toward death. This raw honesty about experie...
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(13) **I reckoned till morning . . .**—Better, *I quieted myself, *as in Psalm 131:2. He threw himself into the calm submission of the weaned child; yet when the morning came there was a fresh access of suffering. Life had been prolonged, contrary to his expectations; but it was only for renewed agony. Surely that would end his sufferings.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12. Man has had many days: "the day of the Lord" shall come at last, beginning with judgment, a never-ending day in which God shall be "all in all" (1Co 15:28; 2Pe 3:10).
**every--**not merely person, as English Version explains it, but every thing on which the nation prided itself.
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. undertake: or, ease me
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KJV Study Commentary
The simile "Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter" describes incoherent groaning in pain—unable to form coherent words. "I did mourn as a dove" adds the dove's mournful cooing, expressing grief. The physical symptom "mine eyes fail with looking upward" depicts exhaustion from looking toward heaven for help. The desperate cry "O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me" is plea for divine inter...
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(14) **Like a crane . . .**—The three birds—strictly, the “swift,” the “crane,” the “dove”—each with its special note of lamentation, represent, as it were, the cries of pain and the low suppressed wail of the sufferer. The three appear again together in Jeremiah 8:7.
**Undertake for me**—*i.e.,* as in Genesis 43:9; Genesis 44:32; Job 17:3, *Be surety for me. *The idea is that of Death, who, yet i...
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**13. cedars ... oaks--**image for haughty nobles and princes (Am 2:9; Zec 11:1, 2; compare Re 19:18-21).
**Bashan--**east of Jordan, north of the river Jabbok, famous for fine oaks, pasture, and cattle. Perhaps in "oaks" there is reference to their idolatry (Is 1:29).
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
The question "What shall I say?" acknowledges inability to adequately respond to God's intervention. "He hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it" recognizes God's promise and its fulfillment—word and deed align perfectly. The resolution "I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul" describes humble, chastened living. "Go softly" (Hebrew dadah) suggests careful, reverent ...
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(15) **What shall I say?**—With the same force as in 2Samuel 7:20; Hebrews 11:32. Words fail to express the wonder and the gratitude of the sufferer who has thus been rescued for the fulfilment which followed so immediately on the promise.
**I shall go softly . . .**—Better, *That I should walk at ease upon *(*i.e., because of, *or, as others take it, *in spite of*)* the trouble of my soul. *The v...
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**14. high ... hills--**referring to the "high places" on which sacrifices were unlawfully offered, even in Uzziah's (equivalent to Azariah) reign (2Ki 15:4). Also, places of strength, fastnesses in which they trusted, rather than in God; so
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
The declaration "O Lord, by these things men live" recognizes that life itself depends on God's sustaining power, not merely physical processes. The phrase "in all these things is the life of my spirit" shows that spiritual vitality comes from the same source as physical life. The prayer "so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live" asks for comprehensive restoration—both body and spirit. This ho...
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(16) **By these things . . .***—i.e., *by the word of God and the performance which fulfils it. For “in all these things,” read *wholly through them. *The words remind us of Deuteronomy 8:3, “Man doth not live by bread alone **. . .**”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. tower ... wall--**Towers were often made on the walls of cities.
**fenced--**strongly fortified.
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. for peace: or, on my peace came great bitterness thou hast in: Heb. thou hast loved my soul from the pit
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KJV Study Commentary
Hezekiah's reflection that God's love 'cast all my sins behind thy back' is a profound statement of substitutionary atonement and divine forgetfulness of confessed sin. The Hebrew implies violent throwing away, anticipating the scapegoat imagery and Christ bearing sin 'far as east from west' (Psalm 103:12). His illness becoming 'for peace' demonstrates Romans 8:28 - God works all things for good.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **For peace I had great bitterness . . .**—The words in the Authorised Version read like a retrospect of the change from health to suffering. Really, they express the very opposite. *It was for my peace *(*i.e., for my salvation, *in the fullest sense of the word) *that it was bitter, was bitter unto me *(emphasis of iteration). All things were now seen as “working together for good.”
**Thou ...
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**16. Tarshish--**Tartessus in southwest Spain, at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, near Gibraltar. It includes the adjoining region: a Phoenician colony; hence its connection with Palestine and the Bible (2Ch 9:21). The name was also used in a wide sense for the farthest west, as our West Indies (Is 66:19; Psa 48:7; 72:10). "Ships of Tarshish" became a phrase for richly laden and far-voyaging vesse...
Read full commentary →For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
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KJV Study Commentary
The statement "the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee" reflects Old Testament understanding that conscious worship belongs to earthly life. "They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth" shows that death ends active faith and testimony. This perspective makes earthly life precious as opportunity for worship and witness. The theology is pre-resurrection, lacking New ...
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(18) **For the grave . . .***—i.e., Sheol, *or *Hades. *We return to the king’s thoughts of the dim shadow-world, *Death and Sheol *(joined together, as in Isaiah 28:15; Psalm 6:5). In that region of dimness there are no psalms of thanksgiving, no loud hallelujahs. The thought of spiritual energies developed and intensified after death is essentially one which belongs to the “illuminated” immortal...
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17. Repeated from Is 2:11, for emphatic confirmation.
The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
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KJV Study Commentary
The contrast "The living, the living, he shall praise thee" emphasizes that worship is the privilege and responsibility of those alive. "As I do this day" makes it personal and immediate—Hezekiah fulfills this duty through his testimony. "The father to the children shall make known thy truth" establishes intergenerational responsibility—those who experience God's faithfulness must teach the next g...
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(19) **The father to the children . . .**—The words are perfectly general, but they receive a special significance from the fact that Hezekiah’s son and successor, Manasseh, who was only twelve years old at his father’s death (2Kings 21:1), was not born till two or three years afterwards. At the time of his illness the king may still have been childless, and the thought that there was no son to ta...
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**18. idols--**literally, "vain things," "nothings" (1Co 8:4). Fulfilled to the letter. Before the Babylonian captivity the Jews were most prone to idolatry; in no instance, ever since. For the future fulfilment, see Zec 13:2; Re 13:15; 19:20.
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
The declaration "The LORD was ready to save me" attributes deliverance entirely to God's gracious initiative. The resolution "therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD" commits to perpetual worship and testimony. The plural "we" involves the community in celebration—personal deliverance becomes corporate worship. "All the days of ...
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(20) **Was ready.**—Better, as fitting in with the praise and hope of the close of the prayer, *is ready.*
**We will sing.**—The king identifies himself with the great congregation, perhaps even yet more closely with the Levite minstrels of the Temple whom he had done so much to train and re-organise.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19. The fulfilment answers exactly to the threat (Is 2:10).
**they--**the idol-worshippers.
**caves--**abounding in Judea, a hilly country; hiding-places in times of alarm (1Sa 13:6).
**shake ... earth--**and the heavens also (He 12:26). Figure for severe and universal judgments.
For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.
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KJV Study Commentary
The medical instruction "For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil" shows God uses natural means alongside supernatural promises. The fig poultice was a recognized medicinal treatment. This demonstrates that trusting God doesn't exclude using medical wisdom—divine healing can work through natural remedies. The placement of this verse after Hezekiah'...
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(21) **For Isaiah had said . . .**—The direction implies some medical training on the part of Isaiah (see Note on Isaiah 1:6, and *Introduction*)*, *such as entered naturally into the education of the prophet-priests. They were to Israel, especially in the case of leprosy and other kindred diseases, what the priests of Asclepios were to Greece. The Divine promise guaranteed success to the use of n...
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**20. moles--**Others translate "mice." The sense is, under ground, in darkness.
**bats--**unclean birds (Le 11:19), living amidst tenantless ruins (Re 11:13).
Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?
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KJV Study Commentary
Hezekiah's question "What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?" requests confirmation of the healing promise. Asking for a sign isn't necessarily lack of faith but desire for assurance, particularly when the promise seems extraordinary. God graciously provides the sign of the reversed shadow (verse 8) without rebuking the request. This demonstrates that God understands human ne...
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