Isaiah 38 - Introduction
Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery... [ Continue Reading ]
Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery... [ Continue Reading ]
_In those days_ The incident must have preceded by some months the embassy of Merodach-Baladan, the probable date of which will be considered in the Introduction to ch. 39. The order of the Chapter s cannot be chronological, and the vague expression "in those days" need not perhaps mean more than "i... [ Continue Reading ]
_turned his face toward the wall_ (cf. 1 Kings 21:4) an instinctive expression of the feeling that he was alone with God in this bitter moment.... [ Continue Reading ]
_with a perfect heart_ Lit. "with a whole heart," one absolutely devoted to Jehovah. Cf. 1 Kings 8:61; 1 Kings 11:4; 1 Kings 15:3; 1 Kings 15:14, where the expression occurs with the addition of the words "with Jehovah." The motive of this prayer is clearly expressed in the Song of Thanksgiving whic... [ Continue Reading ]
In 2 Kings 20:4 we read that "afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court," this message came to him. So quickly was the king's prayer answered. A somewhat similar instance of the revocation of one prophetic communication by another is that of Nathan in the matter of the building of the Temple ... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse is greatly abbreviated from 2 Kings 20:5. After _Hezekiah_the words "the captain of my people" are omitted; and also the sentence "I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord," which follows the word _behold_. It cannot be doubted that the historical book... [ Continue Reading ]
This is the only verse which would lead us to suppose that the events synchronised with Sennacherib's invasion; but its genuineness is doubtful. An unqualified assurance of deliverance is hardly consistent with the prophet's attitude to the king's policy at the time supposed. Hezekiah was deeply com... [ Continue Reading ]
After Isaiah 38:6; Isaiah 38:2 Kings describes the prophet's prescription for the malady (see on Isaiah 38:21). The account of the sign also is given in a much fuller form there. It was granted at the express request of the king (see Isaiah 38:22), who had not his father's fear of "tempting the Lord... [ Continue Reading ]
The R.V. has (after _Ahaz_) the phrase "with the sun," which is wrongly taken by the A.V. as an adjunct of the word "dial" (_the sun dial_). It is necessary, however, to strike out the preposition "with" (as in the LXX.). The whole verse then reads literally: BEHOLD I WILL TURN THE SHADOW OF THE STE... [ Continue Reading ]
_The writing of Hezekiah_ According to some commentators we should read "A Michtam of Hezekiah" (changing a letter in the Hebr.). The word _Michtam_occurs in the titles of Psalms 16, 56-60; but is of uncertain derivation and meaning.... [ Continue Reading ]
Hezekiah's thanksgiving for his recovery. This poem, which is not given in the parallel narrative in 2 Kings, must have been inserted here from an independent source. An external mark of the insertion is found in the displacement of Isaiah 38:21 from their proper context. The superscription (Isaiah... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the cutting off of my days_ R.V. IN THE NOONTIDE OF MY DAYS (lit. "in the stillness of my days"). The phrase has been variously interpreted; but the best sense is that given by the R.V., whether the noon be conceived as the time of rest, or (as in an Arabic idiom) the time when the sun seems to... [ Continue Reading ]
Death is the end of all communion both with God and men. To _see the Lord_is to enjoy the sense of His presence in the appointed acts of worship (see on ch. Isaiah 1:12), The thought that Sheol afforded no such opportunities of converse with the living God was that which made death a terror to O.T.... [ Continue Reading ]
Figures setting forth the utter frustration of his hope of life. The first is that of a nomad's tent, easily pitched and soon removed. _Mine age is departed_ Render: MY HABITATION IS PLUCKED UP (Cheyne). The sense "habitation" is Aramaic and Arabic, and does not occur again in the Bible (but see on... [ Continue Reading ]
_I reckoned till morning_ R.V. has "I quieted myself until morning." It is better to amend the text slightly and read I CRIED UNTIL MORNING. _so will he break_(better, HE BREAKETH) _all my bones_ the crushing effect of pain. Cf. Lamentations 3:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Like a crane_or _a swallow_ Rather, as R.V., LIKE A SWALLOW OR A CRANE. Both words occur again only in Jeremiah 8:7. The want of a copula in Heb., and the unsuitability of the verb "chirp" (E.V. "chatter") to the note of the crane suggests that the latter may have been imported into the text from t... [ Continue Reading ]
Two extremely difficult verses. As commonly explained, Isaiah 38:15 introduces the second half of the song with an exclamation of amazement at the wonderful deliverance experienced. Literally it reads: "What shall I say? And He said to me and _He_(emphatic) did it; I shall walk with leisurely pace... [ Continue Reading ]
The thought expressed by E.V. is somewhat as follows: "By such Divine words and deeds (Isaiah 38:15) men are preserved in life; and by such things my spirit is revived." No one will say that this is either good Hebrew or a natural sense; and the text is almost certainly corrupt. The verb "live" clos... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, for peace … bitterness_) (lit. "it was bitter to me, bitter"), i.e. the bitterness of affliction was mercifully overruled so as to yield "peaceable fruit" through his recovery (cf. Hebrews 12:11). _but thou hast in love … pit_ Lit. (according to the Hebrew text) "and thou hast loved my sou... [ Continue Reading ]
With the thought of this verse comp. Psalms 6:5; Psalms 30:9; Psalms 88:10-12; Psalms 115:17. _the grave_ SHEOL.... [ Continue Reading ]
The deepest motive for the saint's gratitude is that only on earth can he know the joys of fellowship with God.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the father … truth_ Cf. Psalms 22:30; Psalms 48:13-14; Psalms 71:18; Psalms 78:3-4.... [ Continue Reading ]
Perhaps a liturgical appendix, adapting the psalm for congregational use. Hence the transition from 1st pers. sing, to 1st pers. plu. _we will sing … instruments_ Rather, WE WILL PLAY WITH STRING MUSIC ("we" including the Levites or the congregation). The word for "string music" is _Něgînôth_, whic... [ Continue Reading ]
_lay_it _for a plaister_ Lit. RUB IT. _Lump_should be CAKE, as in R.V. Many commentators suppose that the malady from which Hezekiah suffered was the plague; and Gesenius explains that the appearance of the "boil" would be a hopeful, though not a certain, symptom of recovery. He adds that the applic... [ Continue Reading ]
Cf. 2 Kings 20:7-8. The verses are obviously out of their true places here. The pluperfects in the English Translation are ungrammatical (Driver, _Tenses_, pp. 84 ff.), and we must render AND ISAIAH SAID … AND HEZEKIAH SAID.... [ Continue Reading ]