Isaiah · Chapter 38

Verse 1. In those days] The reader is requested to consult the notes on 2 Kings 20:1-21. in reference to the principal parts of this chapter.

Verses 1-8. In those days was Hezekiah sick — See notes on 2 Kings 20:1-11.

Verse 1. Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live. This burden of the Lord placed the prophet in a critical situation. God saw that nothing milder than this harsh and tremendous stroke would bring the royal mind to recollection, and elicit those fine sentiments of repentance which follow in the subsequent psalm. But the prophet’s life would also have been in danger, had it not been for the recession of the solar shadow on the dial of Ahaz, having as a false prophet terrified and deceived his sovereign, and given a falsehood to the nation.

1. In those days — Probably about the time Sennacherib and his host were providentially routed from out of the land: but see verse 6. Sick unto death — With a sickness to all appearances fatal. Some conjecture that the plague which proved so destructive to the Assyrian army was still lingering in the neighbourhood. Such a mortality, necessarily without adequate burial, would taint the whole atmosphere, and produce, at least, sporadic diseases without discrimination over the land. Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die — Such was at first the Lord’s determination — graciously turned aside by Hezekiah’s plea. The command implies, Make due arrangements for thy succession, and whatever else is left incomplete in thy plans. The king was not yet in his prime, being but thirty-nine years old, and had not prepared against an unanticipated death.

Verse 2. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall] The furniture of an eastern divan or chamber, either for the reception of company or for private use, consists chiefly of carpets spread on the floor in the middle; and of sofas, or couches ranged on one or more sides of the room, on a part raised somewhat above the floor. On these they repose themselves in the day, and sleep at night. It is to be observed that the corner of the room is the place of honour. Dr. Pococke, when he was introduced to the Sheikh of Furshout, found him sitting in the corner of his room. He describes another Arab Sheikh “as sitting in the corner of a large green tent, pitched in the middle of an encampment of Arabs; and the Bey of Girge as placed on a sofa in a corner to the right as one entered the room.”—Harmer’s Observ. ii. p. 60. Lady Mary Montague, giving an account of a visit which she made to the Kahya’s lady at Adrianople, says, “She ordered cushions to be given me; and took care to place me in the corner, which is the place of honour.”—Letter xxxiii. The reason of this seems to be, that the person so placed is distinguished, and in a manner separated, from the rest of the company, and as it were guarded by the wall on each side. We are to suppose Hezekiah’s couch placed in the same situation; in which turning on either side, he must turn his face to the wall; by which he would withdraw himself from those who were attending upon him in his apartment, in order to address his private prayer to God.

Ver. 3. And he said, I beseech thee, O JEHOVAH, remember now how I have endeavoured to walk before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart; and have done that which is good in thine eyes. And Hezekiah wept, and lamented grievously.—L.

Ver. 4. Now [before Isaiah was gone out into the middle court] the word of JEHOVAH came unto him, saying, Go [back,] and say unto Hezekiah, Thus saith JEHOVAH the God of David thy father, I have heard thy supplication; I have seen thy tears. Behold [I will heal thee; and on the third day thou shalt go up into the house of JEHOVAH.

Ver. 5. And] I will add unto thy days fifteen years. And I will deliver thee, and this city, from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city. And [Hezekiah said, By what sign shall I know that I shall go up into the house of JEHOVAH?

Ver. 7. And Isaiah said,] This shall be the sign unto thee from JEHOVAH, that JEHOVAH still bring to effect this word which he hath spoken. The words in the translation included within crotchets are supplied from the parallel place, 2 Kings 20:4, 5, to make the narration more perfect. I have also taken the liberty, with Houbigant, of bringing forward the two last verses of this chapter, and inserting them in their proper places of the narration with the same mark. Kimchi’s note on these two verses is as follows: “This and the following verse belong not to the writing of Hezekiah; and I see no reason why they are written here after the writing; for their right place is above, after And I will protect this city, Isaiah 38:6. And so they stand in the book of Kings,” 2 Kings 20:7, 8. The narration of this chapter seems to be in some parts an abridgment of that of 2 Kings 20:1-6. The abridger, having finished his extract here with the eleventh verse, seems to have observed, that the seventh and eighth verses of 2 Kings 20:7, 8 were wanted to complete the narration: he therefore added them at the end of the chapter, after he had inserted the song of Hezekiah, probably with marks for their insertion in their proper places; which marks were afterwards neglected by transcribers. Or a transcriber might omit them by mistake, and add them at the end of the chapter with such marks. Many transpositions are, with great probability, to be accounted for in the same way.

Verses 1-8. In those days was Hezekiah sick — See notes on 2 Kings 20:1-11.

Ver. 2. Towards the wall. Either to hide his tears, or rather to look towards the temple.

2. Turned his face toward the wall — Upon his divan, his bed; and gave himself up to reflection and prayer.

Verses 1-8. In those days was Hezekiah sick — See notes on 2 Kings 20:1-11.

3. Walked before thee in truth — Hezekiah was conscious of entire rectitude. He had broken with idolatry against great odds. His plans were large for the future. To leave them unfinished was a deep grief. Manasseh was yet unborn, (verse 6, and 2 Kings 21:1,) and, so far as appears, the king had no lineal heirs.

Verses 1-8. In those days was Hezekiah sick — See notes on 2 Kings 20:1-11.

4, 5. Go… say to Hezekiah — Isaiah lives in holy communion with God. A divine conviction seizes him before he has even crossed the outer entrance of the middle court, as is shown 2 Kings 20:4, to go back and give a contrary announcement to the king. Hezekiah was duly tested by the announcement that he must die. His grief was not on his own account, but for the peril he foresees to the kingdom. On Isaiah’s return Hezekiah was promised an addition of fifteen years to his life.

Verses 1-8. In those days was Hezekiah sick — See notes on 2 Kings 20:1-11.

4, 5. Go… say to Hezekiah — Isaiah lives in holy communion with God. A divine conviction seizes him before he has even crossed the outer entrance of the middle court, as is shown 2 Kings 20:4, to go back and give a contrary announcement to the king. Hezekiah was duly tested by the announcement that he must die. His grief was not on his own account, but for the peril he foresees to the kingdom. On Isaiah’s return Hezekiah was promised an addition of fifteen years to his life.

Verse 6. I will defend this city.] The other copy, 2 Kings 20:6, adds: “for mine own sake, and for the sake of David my servant;” and the sentence seems somewhat abrupt without it.

Verses 1-8. In those days was Hezekiah sick — See notes on 2 Kings 20:1-11.

Ver. 6. I will deliver thee out of the hand of the king of Assyria. Of course, this sickness was presently after the Assyrians had fled.

6. This verse has been taken by some to imply that Hezekiah’s sickness was at the beginning of the Assyrian invasion. This seems gratuitous, or assumed without adequate support. See Isaiah 39:1. I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria — This is a promise of assured protection from Assyria forever hereafter, as comments further on will show.

Verses 1-8. In those days was Hezekiah sick — See notes on 2 Kings 20:1-11.

7, 8. The corresponding narrative in 2 Kings xx, is more full and circumstantial, for comments on which, see Terry, WHEDON’S Commentary, 2 Kings 20:1, etc. A sign — A token of the truth of Isaiah’s prediction of lengthened life. This “sign” was the backward movement of the shadow on the dial, or degrees, or steps of Ahaz. Ahaz borrowed as much as he could from other nations — note his Damascus altar. It is known that astronomy was early cultivated beyond the Euphrates, and that Ahaz, being an idolatrous vassal to Tiglath-pileser, adopted at Jerusalem the eastern altars on the roof of his house for the adoration of the sun and the stars. A blameless result of all this was the measuring of time by the degrees, or advancing steps, of the sun on the dial, which may have consisted of a column or obelisk placed on the top of a terrace, so casting a shadow upon steps or stairs twl[m (ma’aloth) ascending on either side, as to mark spaces of time. Several devices are given by Terry (WHEDON’S Commentary on 2 Kings 20:11,) to whose excellent comments the reader is referred.

Verse 8. Which is gone down— “By which the sun is gone down”] For vmvb bashshemesh, the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee read vmvh, hashshemesh.—Houbigant. In the history of this miracle in the book of Kings, (2 Kings 20:9-11,) there is no mention at all made of the sun, but only of the going backward of the shadow: which might be effected by a supernatural refraction. The first o hliov, the sun, in this verse is omitted in the Septuagint, MS. Pachom.

Verses 1-8. In those days was Hezekiah sick — See notes on 2 Kings 20:1-11.

Ver. 8. The sun returned ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz. The Chaldaic reads ten hours, but nearly all the Versions ten steps; and though we are ignorant of the construction of this dial, it was no doubt correct, its gnomen or stile indicating on the steps of the palace the time or hours of the day. The ancients divided the day and the night into four parts, as we learn from Matthew 20:3-6; calling them the third, the sixth, and the ninth hour; they therefore had dials by which time was measured. All authors agree that dials were invented by the Chaldeans, yet they must in some form or other have been coëval with the labours of man, Job 7:2. The dials of Greece and of India, are all found standing on pedestals, or are of mural structure. Though Jerome represents the dial of Ahaz as placed on a staircase, it is thought to have been otherwise constructed. Be the form what it might, the gnomen was parallel with the poles of the earth. The lines marked on the plane are what the text calls degrees; but whether those lines were three to the hour, as in India, or four as with us, we have no certainty.

How was this retrogation of the solar shadow on the dial effected? Our rational theologians say, by a deflection of the sun’s shadow. That might indeed have convinced the priests in the temple; but how could it convince the people that Isaiah was a true prophet? The phenomenon seems to have been observed in Chaldea, as well as in Judea, which induced the king of Babylon to send an embassy to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery. The event was also registered at Heliopolis in Egypt, where all the people were called astronomers. The priests assured Herodotus “that from the time of their first king, to the destruction of Sennacherib’s army, the sun had four times changed from east to west; that he had risen twice where he now sets, and that he had twice set where we see him daily rise.”—Euterpe, chap. 142. It is also added, that no change had been produced by these phenomena, on the Nile, on the nation, or the affairs of Egypt. Had it not been for this stupendous miracle, the recession of the sun’s shadow, Isaiah would have been denounced as a false prophet, who had presumptuously afflicted both the king and the people; but providence took care to seal the divine prediction. And it is surely some help to our faith, to see the facts of sacred history confirmed by pagan testimony; nor does it appear that any reputable author has denied the correctness of the above statement, though some have smiled at the Egyptian chronology in dating back eleven thousand years. See also the note on Joshua 10.

7, 8. The corresponding narrative in 2 Kings xx, is more full and circumstantial, for comments on which, see Terry, WHEDON’S Commentary, 2 Kings 20:1, etc. A sign — A token of the truth of Isaiah’s prediction of lengthened life. This “sign” was the backward movement of the shadow on the dial, or degrees, or steps of Ahaz. Ahaz borrowed as much as he could from other nations — note his Damascus altar. It is known that astronomy was early cultivated beyond the Euphrates, and that Ahaz, being an idolatrous vassal to Tiglath-pileser, adopted at Jerusalem the eastern altars on the roof of his house for the adoration of the sun and the stars. A blameless result of all this was the measuring of time by the degrees, or advancing steps, of the sun on the dial, which may have consisted of a column or obelisk placed on the top of a terrace, so casting a shadow upon steps or stairs twl[m (ma’aloth) ascending on either side, as to mark spaces of time. Several devices are given by Terry (WHEDON’S Commentary on 2 Kings 20:11,) to whose excellent comments the reader is referred.

Verse 9. The writing of Hezekiah] Here the book of Kings deserts us, the song of Hezekiah not being inserted in it. Another copy of this very obscure passage (obscure not only from the concise poetical style, but because it is probably very incorrect) would have been of great service. The MSS. and ancient Versions, especially the latter, will help us to get through some of the many difficulties which we meet with in it.

Verse 9. Grotius is of opinion that this song was dictated by Isaiah. But it is more probable, as Hezekiah was a truly pious man, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, that he was moved thereby to write this form of thanksgiving, both as a testimony of his own gratitude to God, and for the instruction of future ages.

9. The writing of Hezekiah — A psalm celebrating God’s goodness in restoring him to health. By some it is supposed to be Isaiah’s composition for the king. The latter, however, was a writer of proverbs; (see Proverbs 25:1;) several psalms also are supposed to be his; he was a most devout man; why should he not, therefore, be accounted most fit in heart and intellect for authorship of a grateful song like this, on a recovery from what was at first pronounced a fatal sickness?

Verses 10, 11. I said — Within myself; I concluded, in the cutting off of my days — When my days were cut off by the sentence of God, related verse 1; I shall go to the gates of the grave — I perceive that I must die without any hopes of prevention. The grave is called man’s long home, Ecclesiastes 12:5; and the house appointed for all living, Job 30:23; and death opens the gates of this house. I am deprived of the residue of my years — Which I might have lived according to the common course of nature, and of God’s dispensations; and which I hoped to live for the service of God and of my generation. I shall not see the Lord — I shall not behold his beauty and glory as he manifests them in his temple, in his oracles and ordinances; I shall not enjoy him: for seeing is frequently put for enjoying; even the Lord in the land of the living — In this world, which is often so called; which limitation is prudently added, to intimate that he expected to see God in another place and manner, on the other side death; but he despairs of seeing him any more on this side death, as he had seen him in the sanctuary, Psalm 63:2. I shall behold man no more. &c. — I shall have no more society with men upon earth. Many good men, under the law, had but imperfect notions of a future state, and thought it a great unhappiness to be deprived, by death, of the communion of saints here upon earth. But by not seeing the Lord in the land of the living, Hezekiah might probably mean that he should not see the effects of God’s grace and goodness in the deliverance of his people.

Ver. 10. In the cutting off of my days, being then in his fortieth year. The word is used of weavers, who “cut off” one piece, and then proceed to work the rest of their warp or chain, as is repeated in ver. 12. It would also have been the cutting off of his house, Manasseh not being born till the third year after the king’s sickness.

10, 11. I said — In my heart, my thought. In the cutting off of my days — Of all the opinions on these very perplexing words, that seems the best which renders them, In the meridians, in the high noon, of life, just as I had attained the summit of my best years. I shall go to the gates of the grave — Of sheol, the under world. No more of life here remaining to me. Shall not see the Lord — Or, Jah, namely, in his working and providence on earth. Shall no more have demonstrations of his power and goodness in this state of being, but shall die and go away among the dead. With the inhabitants of the world — The “world” here, (in the Hebrew ldj, chedel, the land of stillness, of cessation from activity,) is a state sometimes dreaded even by the good. The import of the whole phrase, then, is, “I, with those in the land of stillness, shall no more see man.”

Verse 11. The Lord— “JEHOVAH”] hy Yah, hy Yah, seems to be hwhy Yehovah, in MS. Bodl., and it was so at first written in another. So the Syriac. See Houbigant. I believe hwhy Yehovah was the original reading. See Clarke’s note on “Isaiah 12:2”.

Verses 10, 11. I said — Within myself; I concluded, in the cutting off of my days — When my days were cut off by the sentence of God, related verse 1; I shall go to the gates of the grave — I perceive that I must die without any hopes of prevention. The grave is called man’s long home, Ecclesiastes 12:5; and the house appointed for all living, Job 30:23; and death opens the gates of this house. I am deprived of the residue of my years — Which I might have lived according to the common course of nature, and of God’s dispensations; and which I hoped to live for the service of God and of my generation. I shall not see the Lord — I shall not behold his beauty and glory as he manifests them in his temple, in his oracles and ordinances; I shall not enjoy him: for seeing is frequently put for enjoying; even the Lord in the land of the living — In this world, which is often so called; which limitation is prudently added, to intimate that he expected to see God in another place and manner, on the other side death; but he despairs of seeing him any more on this side death, as he had seen him in the sanctuary, Psalm 63:2. I shall behold man no more. &c. — I shall have no more society with men upon earth. Many good men, under the law, had but imperfect notions of a future state, and thought it a great unhappiness to be deprived, by death, of the communion of saints here upon earth. But by not seeing the Lord in the land of the living, Hezekiah might probably mean that he should not see the effects of God’s grace and goodness in the deliverance of his people.

Ver. 11. I shall not see the Lord. I shall not go and thank him in his temple for my recovery, and praise him for the victory over the Assyrians by enjoying its fruits. Many think that this sickness happened while Sennacherib was fighting in Egypt.

10, 11. I said — In my heart, my thought. In the cutting off of my days — Of all the opinions on these very perplexing words, that seems the best which renders them, In the meridians, in the high noon, of life, just as I had attained the summit of my best years. I shall go to the gates of the grave — Of sheol, the under world. No more of life here remaining to me. Shall not see the Lord — Or, Jah, namely, in his working and providence on earth. Shall no more have demonstrations of his power and goodness in this state of being, but shall die and go away among the dead. With the inhabitants of the world — The “world” here, (in the Hebrew ldj, chedel, the land of stillness, of cessation from activity,) is a state sometimes dreaded even by the good. The import of the whole phrase, then, is, “I, with those in the land of stillness, shall no more see man.”

Verse 12. Mine age—is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent] רעי roi is put for רעה roeh, say the rabbis (Sal. ben Melec on the place;) but much more probably is written imperfectly for רעים roim, shepherds. See Clarke’s note on “Isaiah 5:1”.

I shall be removed from this state to another, as a shepherd removes his tent from one place to another for the sake of his flock. Is not this a strong intimation of his belief in a future state?

I have cut off like a weaver my life— “My life is cut off as by the weaver”] ytdpq kippadti. This verb is rendered passively, and in the third person, by the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate.

Verse 12. Mine age is departed — The time of my life is expired; and is removed as a shepherd’s tent — Which is easily and speedily removed: I have cut off — Namely, by my sins, provoking God to do it; or, I have concluded, and declare that my life is, or will be, soon cut off: for men are often said, in the Scriptures, to do those things that they only declare and pronounce to be done; like a weaver my life — Who cutteth off the web from the loom, either when it is finished, or before, according to his pleasure. He — God; will cut me off with pining sickness — With a consuming disease, wasting my spirits and life; from day, even till night, wilt thou make an end of me — That is, either, 1st, This sickness will kill me in the space of one day; or, 2d, Thou dost pursue me night and day with continual pains, and wilt not cease till thou hast made a full end of me; so that I expect every day will be my last day. Bishop Lowth translates this verse: “My habitation is taken away, and is removed from me, like a shepherd’s tent: my life is cut off, as by the weaver; he will sever me from the loom; in the course of the day thou wilt finish my web.” Vitringa and Dr. Waterland read the verse nearly in the same manner, considering the similitude of the weaver as being continued to the end of it.

12. Mine age is departed — “Age,” from rwd, (dor,) which, besides meaning a period, a generation, also means a dwelling; so here body, the dwelling of the soul. It has this meaning from being round, like a nomad tent. Thus the parallel with next phrase is complete. Is removed… as a shepherd’s tent — The same idea runs in the words, I have cut off… cut me off, etc., as a weaver cuts his threads of warp when he has finished his cloth — has cut the web which fastens to the loom. From day even to night — During all the day, life seemed to wane. Make an end of me — Finish me, cut off existence; as the weaver loosens the cloth from the loom when it is fully woven.

V. 13. I reckon-When I could not rest all the night even ‘till morning, my thoughts were presaging that God would instantly break me to pieces, and the like thoughts followed me from morning ‘till evening.

Verse 13. The last line of the foregoing verse ynmylvt hlyl d[ מיום migom ad layelah tashlimeni, “In the course of the day thou wilt finish my web;” or, as the common version has it, “From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me,” is not repeated at the end of this verse in the Syriac version; and a MS. omits it. It seems to have been inserted a second time in the Hebrew text by mistake.

I reckoned till morning, &c.— “I roared until the morning like the lion”] For ytywv shivvithi, the Chaldee has tymhn nihameith: he read ytgav shaagti, the proper term for the roaring of a lion; often applied to the deep groaning of men in sickness. See Psalm 22:1; 32:3; 38:9; Job 3:24. The Masoretes divide the sentence, as I have done; taking yrak caari, like a lion, into the first member; and so likewise the Septuagint.

Verses 13, 14. I reckoned till morning, &c. — When night came I reckoned I should die before the next morning, my pains being as great as if my bones had been broken, and the whole frame of my body crushed by a lion. Bishop Lowth reads: I roared until the morning like the lion; so did he break to pieces all my bones. Like a crane or a swallow, &c. — “My pains were sometimes so violent that they forced me to cry aloud; at other times my strength was so exhausted that I could only groan inwardly, and bemoan my unhappy condition in sighs.” I did mourn as a dove — Whose mournful tone is observed Isaiah 59:11, and elsewhere; mine eyes fail with looking upward — While I lift up my eyes and heart to God for relief in vain; O Lord, I am oppressed — Namely, by my disease, which, like a sergeant, hath seized upon me, and is haling me to the prison of the grave; undertake for me — Stop the execution, and rescue me out of his hands.

13. Night came, but no relief. Till morning — The disease wrought hard, like a lion, to break all my bones — To kill outright. Then all the following day. From day… to night — Pain was so great, so resembling a lion crushing all my bones, that I thought a quick end must be certain.

Verse 14. Like-a swallow— “Like the swallow”] sysk kesis; so read two MSS., Theodot., and Hieron.

Mine eyes fail] For wld dallu the Septuagint read wlk calu, exelipon. Compare Psalm 69:4; 119:82, 123; Lamentations 2:11; 4:17, in the Hebrew and in the Septuagint.

O LORD— “O Lord”] For hwhy Jehovah, thirty MSS. and eight editions read ynda Adonai.

Undertake for me— “Contend for me”] hqv[ ashekah, with v shin, Jarchi: this sense of the word is established by Genesis 26:20: “He called the name of the well qc[ esek, because they strove with him:” wqc[th hithasseku, equivalent to wbyry yaribu, at the beginning of the verse.

Verses 13, 14. I reckoned till morning, &c. — When night came I reckoned I should die before the next morning, my pains being as great as if my bones had been broken, and the whole frame of my body crushed by a lion. Bishop Lowth reads: I roared until the morning like the lion; so did he break to pieces all my bones. Like a crane or a swallow, &c. — “My pains were sometimes so violent that they forced me to cry aloud; at other times my strength was so exhausted that I could only groan inwardly, and bemoan my unhappy condition in sighs.” I did mourn as a dove — Whose mournful tone is observed Isaiah 59:11, and elsewhere; mine eyes fail with looking upward — While I lift up my eyes and heart to God for relief in vain; O Lord, I am oppressed — Namely, by my disease, which, like a sergeant, hath seized upon me, and is haling me to the prison of the grave; undertake for me — Stop the execution, and rescue me out of his hands.

14. Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter — Mournfully twittering. So Furst, decidedly, and Gesenius with wavering views. I did mourn — I sorrowed vocally as a dove does when it has lost its mate. The attempt here is to indicate the sounds made by him in his extreme pain of body and mind. Mine eyes fail — Because weak from constant looking upward for help. In his pain the poor man cried, I am oppressed — Overwhelmed. Undertake for me — Be surety for me. Hezekiah seems not to have surrendered all hope.

Verse 15. I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul— “Through the rest of my years will I reflect on this bitterness of my soul”] hdda eddaddeh; recogitabo, Vulg., reputabo, Hieron. in loc.

Verse 15. What shall I say? — I want words sufficiently to express my deep sense of God’s dealings with me; he hath spoken, &c. — He foretold it by his word, and effected it by his hand. In this verse he seems to make a transition into the thanksgiving, which is undoubtedly contained in the following verses, and so the sense is, He hath sent a gracious message to me, by his prophet, concerning the prolongation of my life, and himself hath made good his word. Thus the words are understood by the Chaldee paraphrast, the LXX., and by the Syriac and Arabic interpreters. To this purpose also Bishop Lowth reads the clause. He hath given me a promise, and he hath performed it. I shall go softly all my years — I will conduct myself with humble thankfulness to God for conferring so great a favour upon so unworthy a person, as long as I live. I shall never forget my unworthiness and his loving kindness; in the bitterness of my soul — That is, or rather, upon, or after it: or, as the Chaldee paraphrast reads it, because of my deliverance from bitterness of soul.

15. And hope grew with each hour. What shall I say — Perhaps the second announcement of Isaiah comes in here. Despair leaves Hezekiah entirely. He turns to praise. I shall go softly — This probably means, I will humbly pass the rest of my life. Submission to God shall mark my days in the future.

V. 16. By these-By thy promises, and thy performance of them; therefore it is not strange, that one word of God hath brought me back from the jaws of death.

Verse 16. By these things men live— “For this cause shall it be declared”] Peri authv gar anhggelh soi, kai exhgeirav mou thn pnohn, Sept. They read in their copies yjwr yyjtw Ël wwjy hyl[ not very different from the present text, from which all the ancient Versions vary. They entirely omit two words, בהנ ולכל ulecol bahen; as to which there is some variation in the MSS. One MS. has lkbw ubechol, and in all; two others lkw vechol, and all, and ten MSS. have בהם bahem, in them, in the masculine gender.

Taking this as in the common Version, we may observe, it is not an unfrequent case, that afflictions, and especially such as tend to a speedy death, become the means, not only of saving the soul, but also of lengthening the life.

Make me to live— “Hast prolonged my life.”] A MSS. and the Babylonish Talmud read ynyjtw vetachayeni, and so the ancient Versions. It must necessarily be in the second person.

Verse 16. By these things men live — By virtue of thy gracious word, or promise, and powerful work; or, by thy promises, and thy performance of them: and therefore it is not strange that one word of God hath brought me back from the jaws of death. And in all these things is the life of my spirit — As all men’s lives are thy gift, so I shall always acknowledge the preservation of mine to be owing to thy goodness in promising, and thy faithfulness in fulfilling thy promise. So wilt thou recover me, &c. — Or, for thou hast recovered me. Thou hast restored my health and prolonged my life. — Bishop Lowth.

16. By these… men live — God’s virtual promise in the preceding verse is referred to. In consequence of this, “men live,” and in them shall my life be. Thou hast ordained to recover me, and cause me still to live.

Verse 17. For peace I had great bitterness— “My anguish is changed into ease”] rm yl rm mar li mar, “mutata mthi est amaritudo.” Paronomasia; a figure which the prophet frequently admits. I do not always note it, because it cannot ever be preserved in the translation, and the sense seldom depends upon it. But here it perfectly clears up the great obscurity of the passage. See Lowth on the place.

Thou hast rescued] tkvj chashachta, with k caph, instead of q koph; so the Septuagint and Vulgate; Houbigant. See Chappelow on Job 33:18.

From perdition] ylb tjvm mishshachath beli, ina mh apolhtai, Sept. ut non periret, “that it may not perish.” Vulg. Perhaps inverting the order of the words. See Houbigant.

Thou hast in love to my soul] tqvj chashakta, “thou hast lovingly embraced” or kissed “my soul out of the pit of corruption.”

Verse 17. Behold, for peace I had great bitterness — “When I perceived and feared no evil, and seemed to enjoy my usual health, then this terrible evil came upon me.” The Hebrew, however, rm wl rm µwlvl, may be properly rendered, Behold my grievous anguish is turned into ease; or, My great bitterness was unto peace, that is, became the occasion of my safety and comfort, for it drove me to prayer, and prayer prevailed with God for a gracious answer, and the prolonging of my life. Thou hast in love to my soul, &c. — That is, in kindness to me, (the soul being put for the man,) delivered it from the pit of corruption — This is an emphatical circumstance, for sometimes God prolongs men’s days in anger, foreknowing that they will only fill up still more the measure of their iniquities. For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back — Thou hast forgiven those sins that brought this affliction upon me, and, upon that account, hast removed the punishment of them.

Ver. 17. Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. A phrase of the same import occurs in the Wisdom of Solomon, 11:23. “Thou lookest another way, and beholdest not the sins of men that they may repent.” Æsop has given us a fable of a Greek, who put all his own faults in one end of a wallet, and his neighbour’s in the other. Unluckily, he threw the end with his own faults behind his back, and carried his neighbours before.

17. Behold — Hezekiah here challenges attention to an important fact, namely, In place of my former healthful, peaceful life, I came to have extreme anguish. But God has saved me from the dreaded sheol, the pit of corruption, as it was held by the ancients in its first intention. With all Hezekiah’s rectitude he yet was sinful, and this was his chastisement, meant, however, for his good; and it bringing its appropriate results, no longer were his sins remembered.

V. 18. Praise-The dead are not capable of glorifying thy name among men upon earth. They cannot expect nor receive the accomplishment of thy promised goodness in the land of the living.

Verses 18-20. For the grave cannot praise thee — The dead cannot be instruments of promoting thy glory among men upon earth, or of making thy goodness known to others, which I desire and determine to do. They cannot hope for thy truth — Cannot expect nor receive the accomplishment of thy promised goodness in this world. The living, &c., shall praise thee — They are especially obliged to do it, and they only have the privilege of doing it among men on earth. The father to the children, &c. — They shall not only praise thee while they live, but shall take care to propagate and perpetuate thy praise to all succeeding generations. Or, he means, “Thy wonderful mercy toward me shall be recorded for the benefit of after ages; and fathers shall mention it to their children, as an instance of thy faithfulness.” The Lord was ready to save me — Was a present help to me, ready to hear and succour me upon my praying to him in my great extremity. Therefore will we sing my songs — Both I and my people will sing those songs of praise which are due, especially from me, for God’s great mercy to me; to the stringed instruments — Or, to the harp, (as Bishop Lowth renders it,) which was according to the custom of those times. Some infer from this verse that Hezekiah composed several other sacred songs, some of which may be still extant among the Psalms. All the days of our life in the house of the Lord — Here we are taught, that the proper fruit of deliverance from evil is thanksgiving, diffusing itself through all the actions of our life. This passage exhibits to us especially a picture of our duty and state as Christians, who, redeemed as we are by the precious blood of the Son of God from everlasting destruction, ought, with all the powers of our souls and bodies, to celebrate his name and glory, so that our whole life may appear one continued thanksgiving. — Vitringa.

18. The grave cannot praise thee — The idea of sheol, above mentioned, is here recognised. See Psalm 6:5; 30:9; 88:11, 12. The removal of this sad idea was effected only by the progressive history of salvation. There was, indeed, beyond this, a vague belief of a future state, ever growing more receptive of strength and vividness, till, by Christianity, “life and immortality” were brought fully to light. But Hezekiah’s age saw principally the dark, natural images of the future state, which fact explains the words of this verse.

Verse 19. Thy truth] Ëtma la el amittecha. A MS. omits la el; and instead of la el, an ancient MS. and one edition read ta eth. The same mistake as in Psalm 2:7.

Verses 18-20. For the grave cannot praise thee — The dead cannot be instruments of promoting thy glory among men upon earth, or of making thy goodness known to others, which I desire and determine to do. They cannot hope for thy truth — Cannot expect nor receive the accomplishment of thy promised goodness in this world. The living, &c., shall praise thee — They are especially obliged to do it, and they only have the privilege of doing it among men on earth. The father to the children, &c. — They shall not only praise thee while they live, but shall take care to propagate and perpetuate thy praise to all succeeding generations. Or, he means, “Thy wonderful mercy toward me shall be recorded for the benefit of after ages; and fathers shall mention it to their children, as an instance of thy faithfulness.” The Lord was ready to save me — Was a present help to me, ready to hear and succour me upon my praying to him in my great extremity. Therefore will we sing my songs — Both I and my people will sing those songs of praise which are due, especially from me, for God’s great mercy to me; to the stringed instruments — Or, to the harp, (as Bishop Lowth renders it,) which was according to the custom of those times. Some infer from this verse that Hezekiah composed several other sacred songs, some of which may be still extant among the Psalms. All the days of our life in the house of the Lord — Here we are taught, that the proper fruit of deliverance from evil is thanksgiving, diffusing itself through all the actions of our life. This passage exhibits to us especially a picture of our duty and state as Christians, who, redeemed as we are by the precious blood of the Son of God from everlasting destruction, ought, with all the powers of our souls and bodies, to celebrate his name and glory, so that our whole life may appear one continued thanksgiving. — Vitringa.

19. The living, the living — Intensive of those who were conceived as alone able to render active praises to God. One generation of the living to another, was the order in which those of old held that praise to God could be continued. Does this give the clew to Hezekiah’s ground for great mental agitation during his sickness? (He had then no children, if Manasseh was his firstborn.) This granted, we see his anguish to have been because of his pious interest for the religious future of the kingdom.

V. 20. Was ready-Was a present help.

Verses 18-20. For the grave cannot praise thee — The dead cannot be instruments of promoting thy glory among men upon earth, or of making thy goodness known to others, which I desire and determine to do. They cannot hope for thy truth — Cannot expect nor receive the accomplishment of thy promised goodness in this world. The living, &c., shall praise thee — They are especially obliged to do it, and they only have the privilege of doing it among men on earth. The father to the children, &c. — They shall not only praise thee while they live, but shall take care to propagate and perpetuate thy praise to all succeeding generations. Or, he means, “Thy wonderful mercy toward me shall be recorded for the benefit of after ages; and fathers shall mention it to their children, as an instance of thy faithfulness.” The Lord was ready to save me — Was a present help to me, ready to hear and succour me upon my praying to him in my great extremity. Therefore will we sing my songs — Both I and my people will sing those songs of praise which are due, especially from me, for God’s great mercy to me; to the stringed instruments — Or, to the harp, (as Bishop Lowth renders it,) which was according to the custom of those times. Some infer from this verse that Hezekiah composed several other sacred songs, some of which may be still extant among the Psalms. All the days of our life in the house of the Lord — Here we are taught, that the proper fruit of deliverance from evil is thanksgiving, diffusing itself through all the actions of our life. This passage exhibits to us especially a picture of our duty and state as Christians, who, redeemed as we are by the precious blood of the Son of God from everlasting destruction, ought, with all the powers of our souls and bodies, to celebrate his name and glory, so that our whole life may appear one continued thanksgiving. — Vitringa.

20. The Lord was ready to save me — Did not delay when the king’s moral condition of submission was to all obvious. The king proposes a public rejoicing — praises set to music on stringed instruments, (see Isaiah 5:12,) to be given in the temple.

Verse 21. Let them take a lump of figs, &c.] God, in effecting this miraculous cure, was pleased to order the use of means not improper for that end. “Folia, et, quæ non maturuere, fici, strumis illinuntur omnibusque quæ emollienda sunt discutiendave.”—PLIN. Nat. Hist. xxiii. 7. “Ad discutienda ea, quæ in corporis parte aliqua coierunt, maxime possunt— ficus arida,” &c.—CELSUS, v. 11. See the note on 2 Kings 20:7. Philemon Holland translates the passage as a medical man:— “The milke or white juice that the figge tree yieldeth is of the same nature that vinegre: and therefore it will curddle milke as well as rennet, or rendles. The right season of gathering this milkie substance is before that the figs be ripe upon the tree; and then it must be dried in the shadow: thus prepared, it is good to break impostumes, and keepe ulcer open.”

ISAIAH

Verses 21, 22. For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs — See note on 2 Kings 20:7. Hezekiah also had said — Or, for Hezekiah had said; What is the sign that I shall go up — Namely, within three days, as is more fully related 2 Kings 20:5, 8; to the house of the Lord? — For thither he designed to go first, partly that he might pay his vows and thanksgivings to God, and partly that he might engage the people to praise God with him and for him.

21, 22. For Isaiah had said — Introduced thus, these verses give the occasion for the previous song of gratitude. But their proper place is between the sixth and seventh verses, and they are so arranged in the corresponding narrative in 2 Kings 20. A lump of figs — A cake of bruised figs to be applied to the ulcer. Boil — From a word implying heated, inflamed; thus quite likely denoting the disease to have been the remains of the pestilence in the land. This kind of plaster was not known, or is said to be not now known, as an efficacious remedy; but it was ordered and it did its work. Hezekiah also had said — An additional reason for composing the above song of praise. What is the sign — The sign of a divine interference in the use of natural agencies, effecting a most remarkable change of the apparent course of the sun on the dial of Ahaz. What is its import? That I shall go up to the house of the Lord? Communion with God, the first thought and design of the prolonged life.

Verses 21, 22. For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs — See note on 2 Kings 20:7. Hezekiah also had said — Or, for Hezekiah had said; What is the sign that I shall go up — Namely, within three days, as is more fully related 2 Kings 20:5, 8; to the house of the Lord? — For thither he designed to go first, partly that he might pay his vows and thanksgivings to God, and partly that he might engage the people to praise God with him and for him.

21, 22. For Isaiah had said — Introduced thus, these verses give the occasion for the previous song of gratitude. But their proper place is between the sixth and seventh verses, and they are so arranged in the corresponding narrative in 2 Kings 20. A lump of figs — A cake of bruised figs to be applied to the ulcer. Boil — From a word implying heated, inflamed; thus quite likely denoting the disease to have been the remains of the pestilence in the land. This kind of plaster was not known, or is said to be not now known, as an efficacious remedy; but it was ordered and it did its work. Hezekiah also had said — An additional reason for composing the above song of praise. What is the sign — The sign of a divine interference in the use of natural agencies, effecting a most remarkable change of the apparent course of the sun on the dial of Ahaz. What is its import? That I shall go up to the house of the Lord? Communion with God, the first thought and design of the prolonged life.