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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 38:1-5

We may hence observe, among others, these good lessons:?1. That neither men's greatness nor their goodness will exempt them from the arrests of sickness and death. Hezekiah, a mighty potentate on earth and a mighty favourite of Heaven, is struck with a disease, which, without a miracle, will certainly be mortal; and this in the midst of his days, his comforts, and usefulness. Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. It should seem, this sickness seized him when he was in the midst of his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 38:1

In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death ,.... This was about the time that Sennacherib invaded Judea, threatened Jerusalem with a siege, and his army was destroyed by an angel from heaven; but, whether it was before or after the destruction of his army, interpreters are not agreed. Some of the Jewish writers, as Jarchi upon the place, and others F1 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 23. p. 65. , say, it was three days before the ruin of Sennacherib's army; and that it was on the third day that... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 38:1

In those days - The reader is requested to consult the notes on 2 Kings 20 in reference to the principal parts of this chapter. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:1

In those days . The illness of Hezekiah is fixed by Isaiah 38:5 (and 2 Kings 20:6 ) to the fourteenth year of his reign, or b.c. 714. The entire narrative of this chapter and the next is therefore thirteen or fourteen years earlier than that of Isaiah 36:1-22 ; Isaiah 37:1-38 ; which belongs to Hezekiah's closing years, b.c. 701-698 (see the comment on Isaiah 26:1 , Isaiah 26:2 ). Sick unto death ; i.e. attacked by a malady which, if it had run its natural course, would have... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:1

The duty of men, in view of death, to set their house in order. Nothing is more manifest than the duty of all men, in view of that departure which they know to impend over them as an absolute certainty, only doubtful in respect of its date, to arrange their worldly affairs as prudence requires, and not leave them in confusion. In complicated societies, and in states where civilization is advanced, the duty presses more especially, since the greatest care constantly requires to be taken lest,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:1

The strain of notice to die. Satan is represented in the Book of Job as poetically describing man's clinging to life thus: "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life." Usually death creeps on us with so slow and silent a tread that we grow familiar with it; our powers fade, and passing becomes easy. But sometimes the arrest comes in the very midst of life, when hope smiles, when the future makes large promises, and the claims upon us seem so great that we cannot be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:1-3

A vision of death. The scene is one of true pathos; it is one of those touches of nature which" make the whole world kin." We have— I. DEATH SUDDENLY PRESENTING ITSELF TO MAN IN HIS PRIME . ( Isaiah 38:1 .) Death is very common in infancy; it must be near in old age. It occasions no surprise, and brings comparatively little pain or grief when it occurs at either of these extremes. Infancy does not understand it, and age accepts or even welcomes it. But occasionally,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:1-8

Sickness and recovery of Hezekiah. All pathos ultimately turns upon contrast, and the greatest of all contrasts is that between death and life. All who have passed through a dangerous illness, and have been brought nigh unto the gates of death, will feel touched by this narrative, which hints meanings that lie below the surface. I. THE WARNING . The king falls into deadly sickness; and the prophet's voice assures him that his days are numbered. "Thou shalt die, and not live." The... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:1-22

SECTION II .— HEZEKIAH 'S ILLNESS , AND THE EMBASSY OF MERODACH - BALADAN ( Isaiah 38:1-22 ; Isaiah 39:1-8 .). read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 38:1

In those days - That is, his sickness commenced about the period in which the army of Sennacherib was destroyed. It has been made a question whether the sickness of Hezekiah was before or after the invasion of Sennacherib. The most natural interpretation certainly is, that it occurred after that invasion, and probably at no distant period. The only objection to this view is the statement in Isaiah 38:6, that God would deliver him out of the hand of the king of Assyria, which has been understood... read more

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