Isaiah 38:1-22

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

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 38:1

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 38:2

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall ,.... Not figuratively to the wall of his heart, as Jerom; but literally, either to the wall of his bedchamber where he lay sick, that his tears might not be seen, and his prayers interrupted, and that he might deliver them with more privacy, freedom, and fervency; or else to the wall of the temple, as the Targum, towards which good men used to look when they prayed, 1 Kings 8:38 , which was a type of Christ, to whom we should have respect in all... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 38:3

And said, remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee ,.... He puts the Lord in mind of his good walk and works, which are never forgotten by him, though they may seem to be: and this he the rather did, because it might be thought that he had been guilty of some very enormous crime, which he was not conscious to himself he had; it being unusual to cut men off in the prime of their days, but in such a case: how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart ; or rather, "that I... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 38:4

Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah ,.... Before he had got out into the middle court, 2 Kings 20:4 , saying , as follows: read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 38:5

Go and say to Hezekiah ,.... Turn again, and tell him, 2 Kings 20:5 , thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father ; this is said, to show that he remembered the covenant he made with David his father, concerning the kingdom, and the succession of his children in it; and that he had a regard to him, as walking in his steps: I have heard thy prayer ; and therefore was not surely a foolish one, as Luther somewhere calls it, since it was heard and answered so quickly: I have... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 38:6

And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria ,.... So that it seems that Hezekiah's sickness was while the king of Assyria was near the city of Jerusalem, and about to besiege it, and before the destruction of the Assyrian army; unless this is said to secure Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from all fears of a return of that king, to give them fresh trouble: and I will defend this city ; from the present siege laid to it, ruin threatened it, or... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 38:7

And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord ,.... And which it seems Hezekiah asked, and it was put to him which he would choose, whether the shadow on the sundial should go forward or backward ten degrees, and he chose the latter, 2 Kings 20:8 , which was a token confirming and assuring that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken ; recover Hezekiah from his sickness, so that on the third day he should go up to the temple; have fifteen years added to his days; and the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 38:8

Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees ,.... Or lines made on a dial plate, to show the progress of the sun, and what time of day it was. Some think only the shadow was brought back by the power of God, the sun keeping its course as usual; but in the next clause the sun is expressly said to return ten degrees: besides, it is not easy to conceive how the shadow of the sun should go back, unless the sun itself did; if it had been only the shadow of it on Ahaz's dial, it would not... read more

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