Isaiah 38

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Isaiah 38

1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.

2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord,

3 And said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

4 Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying,

5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.

7 And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken;

8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:

10 I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

11 I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

16 O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

20 The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.

21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.

22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?

Notes

Cross Reference

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

<html>In those days Three days before Sennacherib’s downfall, Hezekiah became ill, and the third day, when he went up to the house of the Lord, was the day of Sennacherib’s downfall, and it was the first festive day of Passover. for you are going to die and you shall not live You are going to die in this world, and you shall not live in the world to come, for you have not married, as it is stated in Berachoth 10b.</html>

Verse 3

<html>Please, O Lord (אָנָּה) Where is Your mercy?</html>

Verse 5

<html>Behold I will add (יוֹסִיף, lit., he will add.) Behold I am He Who will add to your life.</html>

Verse 6

<html>And from the hand of the king of Assyria will I save you We deduce that he became ill before the downfall of Sennacherib.</html>

Verse 7

<html>And this is your sign That you shall be cured, and that your days shall be increased, as is explained below (v. 22), and in Kings (2 20:8) he asked, “What is the sign that I will go up?”</html>

Verse 8

<html>Behold I return the shade backwards ten steps which it went down. the shade of the steps A sort of steps made opposite the sun to determine the hours of the day, like the clocks (horloge in French) that craftsmen make (sectarians make [Parshandatha]). that it went down It hastened to go down, and the day was shortened by ten hours on the day Ahaz died, in order that they should not eulogize him, and now they went backwards on the day Hezekiah recovered, and ten hours were added to the day.</html>

Verse 9

<html>The writing of Hezekiah Jonathan paraphrases: A writing of thanksgiving for the miracle performed for Hezekiah.</html>

Verse 10

<html>I said, In the desolation of my days (בִּדְמִי) When I saw my days בִּדְמִי, in desolation and in silence. Comp. (Zeph. 1:11) “For the entire people of Canaan has been silenced (נִדְמָה).” That is to say that when I became ill, I said, “I will go into the gates of the grave.” Now I will die, since, until that day, no sick person had recovered. I am deprived of the rest of my years (פֻּקַּדְתִּי) Comp. “(Num. 31:49) No man was missing (נִפְקַד) of us.” I am missing the rest of my years. Jonathan, however, renders: My remembrance has entered for good; years have been added to my years. I have been visited (נִפְקַדְתִּי) for good, and my years have been increased.</html>

Verse 11

<html>

[Addendum: I will not see the Eternal (יָהּ) I will no longer use the name יָהּ. in the land of the living The living use it, but the dead are not permitted, as it is said (Ps. 115:17): “The dead shall not praise the Eternal (יָהּ).” It is a rule for the dead that they may never mention the Name consisting of two letters.] in the land of the living in the Temple. I will no longer look upon man (I.e., I will) no longer (look upon) a living (man). with those who dwell in withdrawal (חָדֶל) For I will be with the dead, who dwell in a land withdrawn and withheld from the living.</html>

Verse 12

<html>My generation was removed and exiled from me The people of my generation were removed from me. was removed (נִסַּע) synonymous with נִסְּחוּ. Comp. (supra 33:20) “whose pegs shall never be moved (יִסַּע).” like a shepherd’s tent Like the tent of one who tends animals, which he moves from here and sets up in another pasture when this pasture is depleted. I severed (קִפַּדְתִּי) I severed my life quickly, like a weaver who hastens to weave. All this I thought. Jonathan renders: Like a stream with banks, like a stream that flows between high banks, which does not spread out, and consequently, its water flows swiftly. And I say that it is a swift stream named Oreg, and this is what Job (7:6) said, “My days are lighter than Areg,” also (ibid. 9:26), “They passed with the ships of Ebeh.” from glory He shall deprive me (מִדַּלֶּה יְבַצְּעֵנִי). Jonathan renders: From the glory of my kingdom I am exiled. I thought that now He would deprive me of all my glory. The word דַלָּה is an expression of height. Comp. (Song 7:5) “And the braid (וְדַלַּת) of your head.” from day and night You shall finish me (lit., from day to night.) Comp. (Num. 5:3) “Both male and female,” (lit., from male to female.) That is to say, from days and nights you shall finish me, and so did Jonathan render: My days and my nights are over.</html>

Verse 13

<html>I made [myself] myself all night to suffer the tortures of the illness, and I strengthened myself like a lion to suffer. so it would break my bones Comp. (Ex. 1:12) “So they would multiply and so they would spread.” The more I would strengthen myself, so the illness would overpower me to break all my bones.</html>

Verse 14

<html>like a crane (סוּס) same as (Jer. 8:7), סִיס, and that is the name of a bird. like a crane, a swallow like a crane and a swallow. (Alternatively,) like this bird, seized by the neck, and it screeches. So did Jonathan render: Like a crane that is caught and screeches. Rob me (עָשְׁקָה), like עֲשֹׁק. Rob me, take me out of the hand of the angel of death, and pledge Yourself to save me. This (עָרְבֵנִי) is an expression of surety (garantieh in O.F.). Comp. (Ps. 119) “Pledge Yourself (עֲרוֹב) to Your servant for good.” Rob me (לִי) Rob me from his hand. Comp. (Num. 12:13) “Please cure her (לָהּ),” like, cure her (אוֹתָהּ).</html>

Verse 15

<html>What shall I speak praise and adoration before Him? Behold He promised me consolations, and He fulfilled them. I will cause all my sleep to flee Comp. (Gen. 31:40) “And my sleep fled.” Jonathan renders שְׁנוֹתַי as an expression of years. concerning the bitterness of my soul which was bitter, and You consoled me.</html>

Verse 16

<html>O Lord! Concerning them, [You said] they shall live Jonathan renders: O Lord! Concerning all the dead, You said to resurrect. and before all of them the life of my spirit And before all of them He resurrected the life of my spirit. But I say according to the simple meaning: The Lord is upon them, upon ‘my years’ mentioned above. ‘How can I serve Him and repay Him for all the years,’ He caused His Shechinah and His kindness to rest upon them and said to me through His prophets, that they shall live. and to all upon which the life of my soul depends And to everything upon which the life of my soul depends, the Lord said concerning them and they shall live. and You shall make me well From now on, I know that you shall make me well and give me life. You shall make me well (תַּחְלִימֵנִי) You shall make me well and strengthen me. Comp. (Job 39:4) “Their children shall become strong (יַחְלְמוּ).”</html>

Verse 17

<html>Behold for peace, it is bitter for me, yea it is bitter When I was notified of the tidings of peace, even that was bitter for me, for my recovery was dependent upon the merit of others (v. 5): “So has the Lord God of your father David said…”; (supra 37:35) “For My sake and for the sake of David your father.” Here You let me know that I am a sinner (See Ber. 10b). (So did the Sages explain it, but in order to reconcile the verse, it appears to mean: Behold for peace, it was bitter for me, yea it was bitter - When I was given the news by You that You would save me from the hand of Sennacherib, it was bitter for me, yea it was bitter because of my illness, that I was close to death, and I did not rejoice with the news.) But You desired my soul, that it descend not to the grave.</html>

Verse 18

<html>

[For the grave shall not thank You Had I died, I would not thank You for the miracle of the downfall of Sennacherib, and I would not hope for the realization of Your promise that You promised me concerning him.]</html>

Verse 19

<html>The living, the living This is an expression denoting living people; i.e., when they are living people in the world, this one is living and this one is living, thanksgiving emanates from between them. [Other editions: A living one to a living one You are living, and it is proper to give thanksgiving to a living one.] inform enseigner in French, to teach. of Your truth (lit., to your truth.) The father informs and directs his son’s thoughts to Your truth, to believe in You.</html>

Verse 21

<html>a cake of pressed figs (דְּבֶלֶת) A pressed cake made from figs. When they are fresh, they are called תְּאֵנִים, and when they are pressed into a circular cake, they are called דְּבֵלָה. and lay it for a plaster And they shall smooth it out to cause it to adhere to the boil, and this was a miracle within a miracle, for, even healthy flesh, upon which pressed figs are placed, decays. But the Holy One, blessed be He, places an injurious substance upon vulnerable tissue, and it heals.</html>

Verse 22

<html>What a sign How good and how beautiful is this sign which is given to me that I will go up to the house of the Lord!</html>

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Table of Contents

Isaiah 38

Isaiah 38

Notes

Cross Reference

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

Verse 3

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 21

Verse 22