Isaiah 39

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:1

XXXIX.(1) Merodach-baladan.—The name is conspicuous in the Assyrian inscriptions of Sargon (Records of the Past, ix. 13), as having rebelled against him and set up an independent monarchy. He is described in them as son of Yakin, but this is, probably, a dynastic appellative, just as Jehu is described in the Assyrian records (Records of the Past, v. 41) as “the son of Khumri” (i.e., Omri). The mission had two ostensible objects: (1) congratulation on Hezekiah’s recovery; (2) to inquire and... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:2

(2) Shewed them the house of his precious things.—This fixes the date of the embassy at a time prior to the payment to Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:15-16), unless we were to assume that the treasury had been replenished by the gifts that followed on the destruction of Sennacherib’s army; but this, as we have seen, is at variance with both the received and the rectified chronology. The display was obviously something more than the ostentation of a Crœsus showing his treasures to Solon (Herod. i. 3).... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:3

(3) Then came Isaiah . . .—The words that follow, like those in Isaiah 7:3, are spoken with the authority at once of age and of a Divine mission, perhaps also of a master speaking to one who had been his pupil. No sooner does the arrival of the embassy from Babylon reach his ear than he goes straight to the king to ask him what it all meant. The king’s answer seems to plead that they came “from a far country” as an excuse. Could he refuse to admit those who had taken so long a journey in his... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:4

(4) What have they seen in thine house?—The question was pressed home. Had the king contented himself with such hospitality as would have satisfied the demands of the code of Eastern ethics? or had he, as the prophet rightly suspected, done more than that, in his vain-glorious hope of figuring among the “great powers” of the East? On the minds of the ambassadors, we may well believe the impression left was like that made on Blucher as he passed through London: that it would be “a grand city to... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:6-7

(6, 7) Behold, the days come . . .—The words, it may be noted, received a two-fold fulfilment, under widely different conditions. Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, at the time when Isaiah spoke unborn, was carried as a prisoner to Babylon by Esar-haddon, king of Assyria (2 Chronicles 33:11). The last lineal heir of the house of David, Jehoiachin, died there after long years of imprisonment (2 Kings 25:27). Daniel and his three companions were “of the king’s seed and of the princes,” and were, probably,... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:8

(8) Good is the word of the Lord . . .—The words have the appearance of a pious resignation, but we feel that they are less true and noble than those of David on a like occasion: “I have sinned and done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house” (2 Samuel 24:17). Hezekiah’s thanksgiving reminds us a little too much of “Après moi ledeluge.”Peace and truth.—The latter word is used in the sense of “stability” (so Psalms... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Isaiah 39:1-8

2CHAPTER XXVIHAD ISAIAH A GOSPEL FOR THE INDIVIDUAL?THE two narratives, in which Isaiah’s career culminates-that of the Deliverance of Jerusalem {Isaiah 36:1-22; Isaiah 37:1-38} and that of the Recovery of Hezekiah {Isaiah 38:1-22; Isaiah 39:1-8}-cannot fail, coming together as they do, to suggest to thoughtful readers a striking contrast between Isaiah’s treatment of the community and his treatment of the individual, between his treatment of the Church and his treatment of single members. For... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Isaiah 39:1-8

CHAPTER 39 Hezekiah’s Self-Exaltation 1. The ambassadors of Merodach-baladan (Isaiah 39:1 ) 2. Hezekiah’s boasting (Isaiah 39:2 ) 3. Isaiah’s inquiry (Isaiah 39:3-4 ) 4. The Babylonian captivity announced (Isaiah 39:5-7 ) 5. Hezekiah’s submission and comfort (Isaiah 39:8 ) The prediction of Isaiah of the Babylonian captivity, fulfilled through King Nebuchadnezzar about 100 years after these words were spoken, is startling. The reader will bear in mind that the Assyrian was not yet... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Isaiah 39:1

39:1 At that time {a} Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent {b} letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and had recovered.(a) This was the first king of Babylon, who overcame the Assyrians in the tenth year of his reign. read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Isaiah 39:2

39:2 And Hezekiah was {c} glad of them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasuries: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show them.(c) Read 2 Kings 20:13, 2 Chronicles 32:25; 2 Chronicles 32:31 . read more

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:1

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:2

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:3

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:4

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:6-7

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 39:8

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Isaiah 39:1-8

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Isaiah 39:1-8

Geneva Study Bible - Isaiah 39:1

Geneva Study Bible - Isaiah 39:2

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