---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Isaiah 38"
description: "CHAPTER 38   :-. HEZEKIAH"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/isaiah/38"
---

CHAPTER 38

. HEZEKIAH'S
SICKNESS; PERHAPS
CONNECTED WITH THE PLAGUE
OR BLAST WHEREBY
THE ASSYRIAN ARMY
HAD BEEN
DESTROYED.

**1. Set . . . house in order**—Make
arrangement as to the succession to the throne; for he had then no
son; and as to thy other concerns.
**thou shall die**—speaking
according to the ordinary course of the disease. His being spared
fifteen years was not a change in God's mind, but an illustration of
God's dealings being unchangeably regulated by the state of man in
relation to Him.

**2.** The couches in the East run
along the walls of houses. He turned away from the spectators to hide
his emotion and collect his thoughts for prayer.

**3.** He mentions his past
religious consistency, not as a boast or a ground for justification;
but according to the Old Testament dispensation, wherein temporal
rewards (as long life, c., ) followed legal obedience, he makes his religious conduct a
plea for asking the prolongation of his life.
**walked**—Life is a
journey the pious "walk with God" ([Genesis 5:24](../../../kjv/genesis/5/24);
[1 Kings 9:4](../../../kjv/1-kings/9/4)).
**perfect**—sincere; not
absolutely perfect, but *aiming* towards it ([1 Kings 9:4](../../../kjv/1-kings/9/4)); single-minded in walking as in the presence of God ([1 Kings 9:4](../../../kjv/1-kings/9/4)). The *letter* of the Old Testament legal righteousness
was, however, a standard very much below the *spirit* of the law
as unfolded by Christ ([Matthew 5:20-48](../../../kjv/matthew/5/20-48);
[2 Corinthians 3:6](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/3/6); [2 Corinthians 3:14](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/3/14);
[2 Corinthians 3:17](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/3/17)).
**wept sore**—JOSEPHUS
says, the reason why he wept so sorely was that being childless, he
was leaving the *kingdom* without a successor. How often our
wishes, when gratified, prove curses! Hezekiah lived to have a son;
that son was the idolater Manasseh, the chief cause of God's wrath
against Judah, and of the overthrow of the kingdom ([2 Kings 23:26](../../../kjv/2-kings/23/26);
[2 Kings 23:27](../../../kjv/2-kings/23/27)).

**4.** In , the quickness of God's answer to the prayer is marked,
"afore Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, the word of
the LORD came to him";
that is, before he had left Hezekiah, or at least when he had just
left him, and Hezekiah was in the act of praying after having heard
God's message by Isaiah (compare [Isaiah 65:24](../../../kjv/isaiah/65/24);
[Psalms 32:5](../../../kjv/psalms/32/5); [Daniel 9:21](../../../kjv/daniel/9/21)).

**5. God of David thy father**—God
remembers the covenant with the father to the children ([Exodus 20:5](../../../kjv/exodus/20/5);
[Psalms 89:28](../../../kjv/psalms/89/28); [Psalms 89:29](../../../kjv/psalms/89/29)).
**tears**— ([Psalms 89:29](../../../kjv/psalms/89/29)).
**days . . . years**—Man's
*years,* however many, are but as so many *days* ([Psalms 89:29](../../../kjv/psalms/89/29)).

**6.** In , after this verse comes the statement which is put at the
end, in order not to interrupt God's message ([Isaiah 38:21](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/21);
[Isaiah 38:22](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/22)) by Isaiah ([Isaiah 38:22](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/22)).
**will deliver**—The city
was *already* delivered, but here assurance is given, that
Hezekiah shall have *no more* to fear from the Assyrians.

**7. sign**—a token that God would
fulfil His promise that Hezekiah should "go up into the house of
the Lord *the third day*" ([2 Kings 20:5](../../../kjv/2-kings/20/5);
[2 Kings 20:8](../../../kjv/2-kings/20/8)); the words in italics
are not in Isaiah.

**8. bring again**—cause to return
([Joshua 10:12-14](../../../kjv/joshua/10/12-14)). In
[2 Kings 20:9](../../../kjv/2-kings/20/9); [2 Kings 20:11](../../../kjv/2-kings/20/11),
the choice is stated to have been given to Hezekiah, whether the
shadow should go forward, or go back, ten degrees. Hezekiah replied,
"It is a light thing (a less decisive miracle) for the shadow to
go down (its usual direction) ten degrees: nay, but let it return
backward ten degrees"; so Isaiah cried to Jehovah that it should
be so, and it was so (compare [Joshua 10:12](../../../kjv/joshua/10/12);
[Joshua 10:14](../../../kjv/joshua/10/14)).
**sundial of Ahaz**—HERODOTUS
(2.109) states that the sundial and the division of the day into
twelve hours, were invented by the Babylonians; from them Ahaz
borrowed the invention. He was one, from his connection with
Tiglath-pileser, likely to have done so ([2 Kings 16:7](../../../kjv/2-kings/16/7);
[2 Kings 16:10](../../../kjv/2-kings/16/10)). "Shadow of the
degrees" means the shadow made on the degrees. JOSEPHUS
thinks these degrees were *steps ascending* to the palace of
Ahaz; the time of day was indicated by the number of steps reached by
the shadow. But probably a sundial, strictly so called, is meant; it
was of such a size, and so placed, that Hezekiah, when convalescent,
could witness the miracle from his chamber. Compare [Isaiah 38:21](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/21);
[Isaiah 38:22](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/22); [2 Kings 20:9](../../../kjv/2-kings/20/9),
where translate, shall *this* shadow go forward, c. the dial was
no doubt *in sight,* probably "in the middle court"
([2 Kings 20:4](../../../kjv/2-kings/20/4)), the point where
Isaiah turned back to announce God's gracious answers to Hezekiah.
Hence this particular sign was given. The retrogression of the shadow
may have been effected by refraction; a cloud denser than the air
interposing between the gnomon and dial would cause the phenomenon,
which does not take from the miracle, for God gave him the choice
whether the shadow should go forward or back, and regulated the time
and place. BOSANQUET makes
the fourteenth year of Hezekiah to be 689 B.C.,
the known year of a solar eclipse, to which he ascribes the recession
of the shadow. At all events, there is no need for supposing any
revolution of the relative positions of the sun and earth, but merely
an effect produced on the shadow ([2 Kings 20:4](../../../kjv/2-kings/20/4)); that effect was only *local,* and designed for the
satisfaction of Hezekiah, for the Babylonian astronomers and king
"sent to enquire of the wonder that was done *in the land*"
([2 Chronicles 32:31](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/32/31)), implying that it
had not extended to their country. No mention of any instrument for
marking time occurs before this dial of Ahaz, 700 B.C.
The first mention of the "hour" is made by Daniel at
Babylon ([Daniel 3:6](../../../kjv/daniel/3/6)).

**9-20.** The prayer and
thanksgiving song of Hezekiah is only given here, not in the parallel
passages of [2 Kings 20:1-11](../../../kjv/2-kings/20/1-11);
[2 Chronicles 32:24-33](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/32/24-33). [2 Chronicles 32:24-14](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/32/24-14) is the heading or inscription.

**10. cutting off**—ROSENMULLER
translates, "the meridian"; when the sun stands in the
zenith: so "the perfect day" (). Rather, "in the *tranquillity* of my days,"
that is, that period of life when I might now look forward to a
tranquil reign [MAURER].
The *Hebrew* is so translated ([Isaiah 62:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/62/6);
[Isaiah 62:7](../../../kjv/isaiah/62/7)).
**go to**—rather, "go
*into,*" as in [Isaiah 46:2](../../../kjv/isaiah/46/2)
[MAURER].
**residue of my years**—those
which I had calculated on. God sends sickness to teach man not to
calculate on the morrow, but to live more wholly to God, as if each
day were the last.

**11. Lord . . . Lord**—The
repetition, as in [Isaiah 38:19](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/19),
expresses the excited feeling of the king's mind.
**See the Lord**
(Jehovah)—figuratively for "to enjoy His good gifts." So,
in a similar connection ([Isaiah 38:19](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/19)). "I had fainted, unless I had believed *to see the
goodness of the Lord* in the land of the living"; ([Isaiah 38:19](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/19)), "What man is he that desireth life that he may *see
good?*"
**world**—rather,
translate: "among the inhabitants of the land of *stillness,*"
that is, Hades [MAURER],
in parallel antithesis to "the land of the living" in the
first clause. The *Hebrew* comes from a root, to "rest"
or "cease" ([Job 14:6](../../../kjv/job/14/6)).

**12. age**—rather, as the
parallel "shepherd's tent" requires *habitation,* so
the *Arabic* [GESENIUS].
**departed**—is broken up,
or shifted, as a tent to a different locality. The same image occurs
([2 Corinthians 5:1](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/5/1); [2 Peter 1:12](../../../kjv/2-peter/1/12);
[2 Peter 1:13](../../../kjv/2-peter/1/13)). He plainly expects to
exist, and not cease to be in another state; as the shepherd still
lives, after he has struck his tent and removed elsewhere.
**I have cut off**—He
attributes to *himself* that which is *God's* will with
respect to him; because he *declares* that will. So Jeremiah is
said to "root out" kingdoms, because he *declares*
God's purpose of doing so ([2 Peter 1:13](../../../kjv/2-peter/1/13)). The weaver cuts off his web from the loom when completed.
[Job 7:6](../../../kjv/job/7/6) has a like image. The
Greeks represented the Fates as spinning and cutting off the threads
of each man's life.
**he**—God.
**with pining sickness**—rather,
"from the thrum," or thread, which tied the loom to the
weaver's beam.
**from day . . . to night**—that
is, in the space of a single day between morning and night ([Job 7:6](../../../kjv/job/7/6)).

**13. I reckoned . . . that**—rather,
*I composed* (my mind, during the night, expecting relief in the
"morning," so [Job 7:4](../../../kjv/job/7/4)):
*for* ("*that*" is not, as in the *English
Version,* to be supplied) as a lion He *was breaking* all my
bones [VITRINGA] ([Job 10:16](../../../kjv/job/10/16);
[Lamentations 3:10](../../../kjv/lamentations/3/10); [Lamentations 3:11](../../../kjv/lamentations/3/11)).
The *Hebrew,* in [Psalms 131:2](../../../kjv/psalms/131/2),
is rendered, "I quieted." Or else, "I made myself like
a lion (namely, in roaring, through pain), He was so breaking my
bones!" Poets often compare great groaning to a lion's roaring,
so, [Isaiah 38:14](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/14), he compares his
groans to the sounds of other animals ([Isaiah 38:14](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/14)) [MAURER].

**14.** Rather, "Like a
swallow, or a crane" (from a root; "to disturb the water,"
a bird frequenting the water) [MAURER],
([Jeremiah 8:7](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/7)).
**chatter**—twitter: broken
sounds expressive of pain.
**dove**—called by the
Arabs the daughter of mourning, from its plaintive note ([Jeremiah 8:7](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/7)).
**looking upward**—to God
for relief.
**undertake for**—literally,
"be surety for" me; assure me that I shall be restored ([Jeremiah 8:7](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/7)).

**15-20.** The second part of the
song passes from prayer to thanksgiving at the prayer being heard.
**What shall I say?**—the
language of one at a loss for words to express his sense of the
unexpected deliverance.
**both spoken . . . and . . .
done it**— ([Numbers 23:19](../../../kjv/numbers/23/19)). Both
promised and performed ([1 Thessalonians 5:24](../../../kjv/1-thessalonians/5/24);
[Hebrews 10:23](../../../kjv/hebrews/10/23)).
**himself**—No one else
could have done it ([Psalms 98:1](../../../kjv/psalms/98/1)).
**go softly . . . in the
bitterness**—rather, "*on account* of the bitterness";
I will behave myself humbly in remembrance of my past sorrow and
sickness from which I have been delivered by God's mercy (see [1 Kings 21:27](../../../kjv/1-kings/21/27);
[1 Kings 21:29](../../../kjv/1-kings/21/29)). In [1 Kings 21:29](../../../kjv/1-kings/21/29), the same *Hebrew* verb expresses the slow and solemn
gait of one going up to the house of God; it is found nowhere else,
hence ROSENMULLER explains
it, "I will reverently attend the sacred festivals in the
temple"; but this ellipsis would be harsh; rather metaphorically
the word is transferred to a *calm, solemn,* and *submissive*
walk of life.

**16. by these**—namely, *by
God's benefits,* which are implied in the context (, "He hath Himself done it" "unto me").
*All* "men live by these" benefits (), "and in all these is the life of my spirit,"
that is, I also live by them ().
**and** (wilt) **make me to
live**—The *Hebrew* is *imperative,* "make me to
live." In this view he adds a *prayer* to the confident
hope founded on his comparative convalescence, which he expressed,
"Thou *wilt* recover me" [MAURER].

**17. for peace**—instead of the
prosperity which I had previously.
**great bitterness**—literally,
"bitterness to me, bitterness"; expressing intense emotion.
**in love**—literally,
"attachment," such as *joins* one to another tenderly;
"Thou hast been lovingly attached to me from the pit";
pregnant phrase for, Thy love has gone down to the pit, and drawn me
out from it. The "pit" is here simply *death,* in
Hezekiah's sense; realized in its fulness only in reference to the
*soul's* redemption from hell by Jesus Christ (), who went down to the pit for that purpose Himself ([Psalms 88:4-6](../../../kjv/psalms/88/4-6);
[Zechariah 9:11](../../../kjv/zechariah/9/11); [Zechariah 9:12](../../../kjv/zechariah/9/12);
[Hebrews 13:20](../../../kjv/hebrews/13/20)). "Sin" and
sickness are connected ([Psalms 103:3](../../../kjv/psalms/103/3);
compare [Isaiah 53:4](../../../kjv/isaiah/53/4); [Matthew 8:17](../../../kjv/matthew/8/17);
[Matthew 9:5](../../../kjv/matthew/9/5); [Matthew 9:6](../../../kjv/matthew/9/6)),
especially under the Old Testament dispensation of temporal
sanctions; but even now, sickness, though not invariably arising from
sin *in individuals,* is connected with it in the general moral
view.
**cast . . . behind
back**—consigned my sins to oblivion. The same phrase occurs
([1 Kings 14:9](../../../kjv/1-kings/14/9); [Nehemiah 9:26](../../../kjv/nehemiah/9/26);
[Psalms 50:17](../../../kjv/psalms/50/17)). Contrast [Psalms 50:17](../../../kjv/psalms/50/17), "Thou hast set our iniquities *before* thee, our
secret sins *in the light of thy countenance.*"

**18. death**—that is, the dead;
Hades and its inhabitants (; see on [Isaiah 38:3](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/3)).
Plainly Hezekiah believed in a world of disembodied spirits; his
language does not imply what skepticism has drawn from it, but simply
that he regarded the disembodied state as one incapable of declaring
the praises of God *before men,* for it is, *as regards this
world,* an unseen land of stillness; "the living" alone
can praise God *on earth,* in reference to which only he is
speaking; [Isaiah 57:1](../../../kjv/isaiah/57/1); [Isaiah 57:2](../../../kjv/isaiah/57/2)
shows that at this time the true view of the blessedness of the
righteous dead was held, though not with the full clearness of the
Gospel, which "has brought life and immortality to light"
([2 Timothy 1:10](../../../kjv/2-timothy/1/10)).
**hope for thy truth**— ([2 Timothy 1:10](../../../kjv/2-timothy/1/10)). Their probation is at an end. They can no longer
exercise faith and hope in regard to Thy faithfulness to Thy
promises, which are limited to the present state. For "hope"
ceases (even in the case of the godly) when sight begins ([Romans 8:24](../../../kjv/romans/8/24);
[Romans 8:25](../../../kjv/romans/8/25)); the ungodly have "no
hope" ([1 Thessalonians 4:13](../../../kjv/1-thessalonians/4/13)). Hope in
God's truth is one of the grounds of praise to God ([Psalms 71:14](../../../kjv/psalms/71/14);
[Psalms 119:49](../../../kjv/psalms/119/49)). Others translate,
"cannot celebrate."

**19. living . . . living**—emphatic
repetition, as in [Isaiah 38:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/11);
[Isaiah 38:17](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/17); his heart is so full
of the main object of his prayer that, for want of adequate words, he
repeats the same word.
**father to the children**—one
generation of the *living* to another. He probably, also, hints
at his own desire to live until he should have a child, the successor
to his throne, to whom he might make known and so perpetuate the
memory of God's truth.
**truth**—*faithfulness*
to His promises; especially in Hezekiah's case, His promise of
hearing prayer.

**20. was ready**—not in the
*Hebrew;* "Jehovah was for my salvation," that is,
saved me (compare [Isaiah 12:2](../../../kjv/isaiah/12/2)).
**we**—I and my people.
**in the house of the Lord**—This
song was designed, as many of the other Psalms, as a *form* to
be used in public worship at stated times, perhaps on every
anniversary of his recovery; hence "all the days of *our*
life."
**lump of figs**—a round
cake of figs pressed into a mass ([Isaiah 12:2](../../../kjv/isaiah/12/2)). God works by means; the meanest of which He can make
effectual.
**boil**—inflamed ulcer,
produced by the plague.

**22. house of the Lord**—Hence he
makes the praises to be sung there prominent in his song ([Isaiah 38:20](../../../kjv/isaiah/38/20);
[Psalms 116:12-14](../../../kjv/psalms/116/12-14); [Psalms 116:17-19](../../../kjv/psalms/116/17-19)).

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