About Isaiah

Isaiah proclaims both judgment and salvation, containing the most detailed messianic prophecies in the Old Testament.

Author: IsaiahWritten: c. 740-680 BCReading time: ~1 minVerses: 8
HolinessJudgmentSalvationMessiahServantRestoration

Places in This Chapter

View map →

King James Version

Isaiah 39

8 verses with commentary

Envoys from Babylon

At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The Babylonian envoy's timing (during Hezekiah's recovery) appears friendly but masks strategic intelligence-gathering for future conquest. This teaches that Satan often attacks through flattery and friendship when frontal assault fails. Merodach-baladan's anti-Assyrian alliance seemed politically wise but led to spiritual compromise and eventual judgment.

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

XXXIX. (1) **Merodach-baladan.**—The name is conspicuous in the Assyrian inscriptions of Sargon (*Records of the Past, ix.* 13), as having rebelled against him and set up an independent monarchy. He is described in them as *son of Yakin, *but this is, probably, a dynastic appellative, just as Jehu is described in the Assyrian records (*Records of the Past, v.* 41) as “the son of Khumri” (*i.e.,* O...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. The high ones (Is 2:11, 13) on whom the people trust, shall be "brought low" (Is 3:2); therefore "cease from" depending on them, instead of on the Lord (Psa 146:3-5).

And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. precious things: or, spicery armour: or, jewels: Heb. vessels, or, instruments

View commentary (2 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The statement "Hezekiah was glad of them" shows his pleasure at Babylonian attention. The comprehensive display "shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures" reveals prideful ostentation. The phrase "there was nothing...that Hezekiah shewed them not" empha...
Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(2) **Shewed them the house of his precious things.**—This fixes the date of the embassy at a time prior to the payment to Sennacherib (2Kings 18:15-16), unless we were to assume that the treasury had been replenished by the gifts that followed on the destruction of Sennacherib’s army; but this, as we have seen, is at variance with both the received and the rectified chronology. The display was ob...
Read full commentary →

Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Isaiah's questions "What said these men? and from whence came they?" probe the encounter's nature. Hezekiah's answer "From a far country are they come unto me, even from Babylon" seems innocent but reveals the problem—he attributes their coming to himself ("unto me") rather than recognizing geopolitical maneuvering. The prophet's questioning technique draws out the king's error gently, giving oppo...
Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(3) **Then came Isaiah . . .**—The words that follow, like those in Isaiah 7:3, are spoken with the authority at once of age and of a Divine mission, perhaps also of a master speaking to one who had been his pupil. No sooner does the arrival of the embassy from Babylon reach his ear than he goes straight to the king to ask him what it all meant. The king’s answer seems to plead that they came “fro...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 3 Is 3:1-26. **1. For--**continuation of Is 2:22. **Lord of hosts--**therefore able to do as He says. **doth--**present for future, so certain is the accomplishment. **stay ... staff--**the same Hebrew word, the one masculine, the other feminine, an Arabic idiom for all kinds of support. What a change from the previous luxuries (Is 2:7)! Fulfilled in the siege by Nebuchadnezzar a...
Read full commentary →

Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Isaiah's direct question "What have they seen in thine house?" and Hezekiah's comprehensive answer "All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them" exposes the full extent of the folly. The repetition "nothing...not shewed" emphasizes total disclosure. Hezekiah seems almost proud of his openness, not recognizing the security risk. This dem...
Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(4) **What have they seen in thine house?**—The question was pressed home. Had the king contented himself with such hospitality as would have satisfied the demands of the code of Eastern ethics? or had he, as the prophet rightly suspected, done more than that, in his vain-glorious hope of figuring among the “great powers” of the East? On the minds of the ambassadors, we may well believe the impres...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. Fulfilled (2Ki 24:14). **prudent--**the Hebrew often means a "soothsayer" (De 18:10-14); thus it will mean, the diviners, on whom they rely, shall in that day fail. It is found in a good sense (Pr 16:10), from which passage the Jews interpret it a king; "without" whom Israel long has been (Ho 3:4). **ancient--**old and experienced (1Ki 12:6-8).

Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:

View commentary (2 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts</strong>—the prophetic formula introducing divine judgment. After Hezekiah's foolish display of treasures to Babylonian envoys (vv.1-4), Isaiah pronounces consequences. <strong>The word of the LORD of hosts</strong> (דְּבַר־יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, <em>devar-YHWH Tseva'ot</em>) emphasizes divine authority—this isn't Isaiah's opinion ...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**3. captain of fifty--**not only captains of thousands, and centurions of a hundred, but even semi-centurions of fifty, shall fail. **honourable--**literally, "of dignified aspect." **cunning--**skilful. The mechanic's business will come to a standstill in the siege and subsequent desolation of the state; artisans are no mean "stay" among a nation's safeguards. **eloquent orator--**rather, ...
Read full commentary →

Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Isaiah's prophecy that 'nothing shall be left' and royal sons would become eunuchs in Babylon is unconditional judgment arising from Hezekiah's pride in showing his treasures. This demonstrates that consequences of sin can extend beyond personal punishment to affect descendants and nations. The 150-year fulfillment lag shows God's patience, yet certainty of judgment (2 Peter 3:9).

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(6, 7) **Behold, the days come . . .**—The words, it may be noted, received a two-fold fulfilment, under widely different conditions. Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, at the time when Isaiah spoke unborn, was carried as a prisoner to Babylon by Esar-haddon, king of Assyria (2Chronicles 33:11). The last lineal heir of the house of David, Jehoiachin, died there after long years of imprisonment (2Kings 25:27...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**4. children--**in ability for governing; antithesis to the "ancient" (see Is 3:12; Ec 10:16). **babes--**in warlike might; antithesis to "the mighty" and "man of war."

And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

View commentary (2 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

<strong>And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away</strong>—the prophecy targets Hezekiah's descendants specifically. The phrase <strong>that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget</strong> (אֲשֶׁר יֵצְאוּ מִמְּךָ אֲשֶׁר תּוֹלִיד, <em>asher yetse'u mimmekha asher tolid</em>) emphasizes direct lineage—your own biological offspring. This personall...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. The anarchy resulting under such imbecile rulers (Is 3:4); unjust exactions mutually; the forms of respect violated (Le 19:32). **base--**low-born. Compare the marks of "the last days" (2Ti 3:2).

Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

Hezekiah's response 'Good is the word of the LORD' shows humble submission to deserved judgment, yet his relief that 'peace and truth be in my days' reveals self-centered short-sightedness. This tension between accepting God's sovereignty and caring primarily for personal peace warns against generational selfishness. True covenant faith considers 'children's children' (Psalm 128:6).

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(8) **Good is the word of the Lord . . .**—The words have the appearance of a pious resignation, but we feel that they are less true and noble than those of David on a like occasion: “I have sinned and done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house” (2Samuel 24:17). Hezekiah’s thanksgiving reminds us a little too much of...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. Such will be the want of men of wealth and ability, that they will "take hold of" (Is 4:1) the first man whom they meet, having any property, to make him "ruler." **brother--**one having no better hereditary claim to be ruler than the "man" supplicating him. **Thou hast clothing--**which none of us has. Changes of raiment are wealth in the East (2Ki 5:5). **ruin--**Let our ruined affairs ...
Read full commentary →

Test Your Knowledge

Continue Your Study