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... [ Continue Reading ]
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 1 Kings 21:4.)... [ Continue Reading ]
REMEMBER NOW, O LORD. — Devout as the prayer is, there is a tone of self-satisfaction in it which contrasts with David’s prayer (Psalms 51:1). 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 t... [ Continue Reading ]
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 genera... [ Continue Reading ]
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 2 Kings 20:8 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 sim... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WRITING OF HEZEKIAH... — Isaiah 38:21 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 (2 Chronicles 29:25),... [ Continue Reading ]
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 div... [ Continue Reading ]
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” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). To Hezekiah, i... [ Continue Reading ]
MINE AGE IS DEPARTED... — Better, _my home,_ or _habitation_ ... as in Psalms 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. Psalms 52:5, “hurl thee away tentless,” Heb., and Job 21:28, “Is not their... [ Continue Reading ]
I RECKONED TILL MORNING... — Better, _I quieted myself,_ as in Psalms 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. Surel... [ Continue Reading ]
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 Gen... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT SHALL I SAY? — With the same force as in 2 Samuel 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_... [ Continue Reading ]
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 ...”... [ Continue Reading ]
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_... [ Continue Reading ]
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; Psalms 6:5). In that region of dimness there are no psalms of thanksgiving, no loud hallelujahs. The thought of spiritual energies developed... [ Continue Reading ]
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 (2 Kings 21:1), was not born till two or three years afterwards. At the time of his... [ Continue Reading ]
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.... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]