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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 38:9-22

We have here Hezekiah's thanksgiving-song, which he penned, by divine direction, after his recovery. He might have taken some of the psalms of his father David, and made use of them for his purpose; he might have found many very pertinent ones. He appointed the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David, 2 Chron. 29:30. But the occasion here was extraordinary, and, his heart being full of devout affections, he would not confine himself to the compositions he had, though of divine... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 38:19

The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day ,.... Every one of the living, or such who are both corporeally and spiritually alive; and therefore the word is repeated; none but such who are alive in a corporeal sense can praise the Lord in this world; and none but such who are spiritually alive can praise him aright, and such do under a true sense of the greatness of his mercies, and of their own unworthiness; and such a one was Hezekiah; for the words may be rendered, "as... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 38:19

Thy truth - אמתך אל el amittecha . A MS. omits אל el ; and instead of אל el , an ancient MS. and one edition read את eth . The same mistake as in Psalm 2:7 . 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

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 38:11-19

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 38:19

The living . Those who still enjoy the light of day. The repetition is emphatic, and has the force of "the living, and the living only. " The father to the children . Hezekiah may, or may not, have had children himself at the time. Manasseh was not born; but he may have had daughters, or even other sons, who did not survive him. He is not, however, perhaps, thinking of his own ease. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:19

Parental obligation. "The father to the children shall make known thy truth." I. THAT TRUTH IS THE COMMON HERITAGE OF THE RACE . Of all open and common things truth is that to which our right is most indisputable. The air, the light, the sea, the sky, the beauty of the landscape, etc; are open to us all; but truth, above all these things, is common property. II. THAT REVEALED TRUTH IS PECULIARLY PRECIOUS TO MANKIND . All truth may be said to be... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 38:19

The living, the living - An emphatic or intensive form of expression, as in Isaiah 38:11, Isaiah 38:17. Nothing would express his idea but a repetition of the word, as if the heart was full of it.The father to the children - One generation of the living to another. The father shall have so deep a sense of the goodness of God that he shall desire to make it known to his children, and to perpetuate the memory of it in the earth. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 38:18-20

Isaiah 38:18-20 . For the grave cannot praise thee The dead cannot be instruments of promoting thy glory among men upon earth, or of making thy goodness known to others, which I desire and determine to do. They cannot hope for thy truth Cannot expect nor receive the accomplishment of thy promised goodness in this world. The living, &c., shall praise thee They are especially obliged to do it, and they only have the privilege of doing it among men on earth. The father to the... read more

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