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Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:9-22

The song of Hezekiah. It is a song of peculiar sweetness—from a literary point of view, characterized by great elegance; from a spiritual point of view, unfolding some deepest elements of Hebrew and of human pathos. I. THE CONTEMPLATION OF DEATH . It was in middle life , in the "noon-tide of his days," that he had to face the dark gates of Sheol. "Midway in life, as to Dante, came his peril of death." It has been said that there is a peculiar melancholy in middle life.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:10

In the cutting off of my days ; literally, in the pausing of my days—which is taken by some to mean "the noon-tide of my life"—when my sun had reached its zenith, and might have been expected to begin to decline; by others to signify "the still tranquillity of my life," when it was gliding quietly and peacefully along without anything to disturb it. Isaiah 38:6 is against this latter view. I shall go to the gates of the grave ; rather, I shall enter in at the gates of hell (or, ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:10-12

Figures of life and death. Some of the Scripture figures of death are full of the sweetest poetry for sensitive souls. Illustrating Hezekiah's figure, an Eastern traveller says, "It was in the bleak season of a cold autumn, by the side of a large moor, that I one day saw a shepherd's tent. It was composed of straw and fern, and secured under the warmer side of a hedge, with a few briars and stakes. Thither for about a week, he took shelter, until the herbage failed his flock, and he... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:11

I shall not see the Lord (comp. Psalms 6:5 , "In death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave ( Sheol ) who shall give thee thanks?" and see also Psalms 30:9 ; Psalms 88:10-12 ; Psalms 115:17 ). The Jews had not yet attained the conception of a blissful region in Hades, where God manifested himself, and the saints, who were awaiting the resurrection, saw him and praised him. Even the Lord . (For examples of repetition for the sake of emphasis, see Isaiah 29:1 ; Isaiah... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:11-19

The great disclosure. "If a man die, shall he live again?" asks the anxious, hopeful, human spirit. This composition of Hezekiah either indicates or suggests— I. THE LIGHT WHICH THE HEBREW SAINTS POSSESSED . They believed that death did not terminate man's existence; that, after death, he dwelt in Sheol with the spirits of the departed, with "the inhabitants of the land of stillness;" in a region, deep, dark, shut up within impassable gates through which they that have... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:12

Mine age is departed ; rather, my dwelling is plucked up. The body seems to be viewed as the dwelling-place of the soul. Hezekiah's is to be taken from him, and carried far away, like a shepherd's tent, while he, his true self, i.e. his soul, is left bare and naked. I have cut off like a weaver my life ; rather, I have rolled up , like a weaver , my life. The careful weaver rolls up the web, as it advances, to keep it clean and free from dust. Hezekiah had been equally careful of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:13

I reckoned till morning , etc.; i.e. "I lay thinking till the morning, that God would crush me as a lion crushes his prey—I expected him all day long to make an end of me." read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 38:10

I said - Probably the words ‘I said’ do not imply that he said or spoke this openly or audibly; but this was the language of his heart, or the substance of his reflections.In the cutting off of my days - There has been considerable diversity of interpretation in regard to this phrase. Vitringa renders it as our translators have done. Rosenmuller renders it, ‘In the meridian of my days.’ The Septuagint, Ἐν τῷ ὕψει τῶν ἡμερῶν μου En tō hupsei tōn hēmerōn mou - ‘In the height of my... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 38:11

I shall not see the Lord - In the original, the Hebrew which is rendered ‘Lord,’ is not Yahweh, but יה יה yâhh yâhh. On the meaning of it, see the note at Isaiah 12:2 (compare the note at Isaiah 7:14). The repetition of the name here denotes emphasis or intensity of feeling - the deep desire which he had to see Yahweh in the land of the living, and the intense sorrow of his heart at the idea of being cut off from that privilege. The idea here is, that Hezekiah felt that he would not be spared... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 38:12

Mine age - The word which is used here (דור dôr) means properly the revolving period or circle of human life. The parallelism seems to demand, however, that it should be used in the sense of dwelling or habitation, so as to correspond with the ‘shepherd’s tent.’ Accordingly, Lowth and Noyes render it, ‘Habitation.’ So also do Gesenius and Rosenmuller. The Arabic word has this signification; and the Hebrew verb דור dûr also means “to dwell, to remain,” as in the Chaldee. Here the word means a... read more

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