Isaiah 38:21

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 38:9-22

Hezekiah’s record of his crisis 38:9-22The bulk of this section is a psalm of lamentation and thanksgiving that Hezekiah composed after his recovery (Isaiah 38:10-20). It is the only extant narrative in the Old Testament written by a king of Judah after the time of Solomon. [Note: The New Scofield . . ., p. 744. ] Compare King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon’s similar testimony of praise, after God delivered him from insanity (Daniel 4:34-35). This psalm is also chiastic in structure. It begins with... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 38:21

The poem having ended, Isaiah now added a postscript giving more detail about Hezekiah’s recovery. Isaiah 38:21-22 are more smoothly integrated into the story of Hezekiah’s recovery in 2 Kings 20 than they are here. This fact has led scholars to speculate about which account was first, which was second, or did both draw from a common source? There is no way to answer this question for sure. Hezekiah had evidently suffered from a boil, but the boil was probably only a symptom of a more serious... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 38:1-22

Sickness and Recovery of HezekiahContinuation of the historical appendix to Isaiah’s prophecies. The chapter is parallel to 2 Kings 20:1-11 (where see notes), but contains a considerable addition in the shape of Hezekiah’s song of thanks-giving upon his recovery. Chronologically this chapter precedes 36 and 37: see on Isaiah 36:1.1-8. To Hezekiah in his sickness Isaiah promises 15 more years of life, and confirms the promise by a sign. 9-20. Hezekiah’s song of thanksgiving. 21, 22. The remedy... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Isaiah 38:21

(21) For Isaiah had said . . .—The direction implies some medical training on the part of Isaiah (see Note on Isaiah 1:6, and Introduction), such as entered naturally into the education of the prophet-priests. They were to Israel, especially in the case of leprosy and other kindred diseases, what the priests of Asclepios were to Greece. The Divine promise guaranteed success to the use of natural remedies, but did not dispense with them, and they, like the spittle laid on the eyes of the blind... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Isaiah 38:1-22

Added Years Isaiah 38:5 I. God adds Years to Many Men's Lives. For example: a. In recovery from sickness. The sickness seems unto death. Hope is gone, or wellnigh gone. But a 'favourable turn,' as we say, is taken, and another course of years is added unto the man's days. b. In the gradual strengthening of the constitution. A new and deeper spring seems to be found in the blood, which has 'earnest in it of far springs to be'. The delicate youth becomes a strong man. c. In escape from... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Isaiah 38:1-22

CHAPTER 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 38:1-22

CHAPTER 38 Hezekiah’s Sickness and Healing 1. Isaiah’s startling message (Isaiah 38:1 ) 2. Hezekiah’s prayer (Isaiah 38:2-3 ) 3. The prayer heard and the sign (Isaiah 38:4-8 ) 4. The king’s sorrow and joy, a psalm of praise (Isaiah 38:9-20 ) 5. The remedy for the recovery (Isaiah 38:21-22 ) The message of approaching death startled the king because at that time he had no son. If he had died what then would have become of the Messianic hope through the house of David? Beautiful it is... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Isaiah 38:21

38:21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and {z} lay [it] for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.(z) Read 2 Kings 20:7 . read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Isaiah 38:1-22

HISTORICAL PARENTHESIS These chapters are a dividing line between what may be called Parts 1 and 2 of this book. They deal with Hezekiah’s reign whose history has been considered in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. The chapters are not arranged chronologically, as the event of chapter 38, Hezekiah’s sickness and recovery, occurred prior to the siege of Sennacherib (chaps. 36-37). The prophecies preceding these chapters predict the rise of the Assyrian power as the enemy of Judah and God’s rod of... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Isaiah 38:1-22

Hezekiah Warned Isaiah 38:0 Everything depends upon when that notice comes. Often the tenant of the body has been known to long for the termination of his lease. Hezekiah was not in that position, and he had no right to be in it. To have cut him off then would certainly have been to deprive him of the residue of his years, as he himself complains. Here is a man who was warned of his approaching death. Is there any peculiar significance in the announcement? There ought not to be. All life is a... read more

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