Isaiah 38:9-20
New English Translation
Hezekiah’s Song of Thanks
9 This is the prayer of King Hezekiah of Judah when he was sick and then recovered from his illness:
10 “I thought,[a]
‘In the middle of my life[b] I must walk through the gates of Sheol,
I am deprived[c] of the rest of my years.’
11 “I thought,
‘I will no longer see the Lord[d] in the land of the living,
I will no longer look on humankind with the inhabitants of the world.[e]
12 My dwelling place[f] is removed and taken away[g] from me
as a shepherd’s tent.
I rolled up my life like a weaver rolls cloth;[h]
from the loom he cuts me off.[i]
You turn day into night and end my life.[j]
13 I cry out[k] until morning;
like a lion he shatters all my bones;
you turn day into night and end my life.[l]
14 Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp,
I coo[m] like a dove;
my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky.[n]
O Lord,[o] I am oppressed;
help me![p]
15 What can I say?
He has decreed and acted.[q]
I will walk slowly all my years because I am overcome with grief.[r]
16 O Lord, your decrees can give men life;
may years of life be restored to me.[s]
Restore my health[t] and preserve my life.’
17 “Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit.[u]
You delivered me[v] from the Pit of oblivion.[w]
For you removed all my sins from your sight.[x]
18 Indeed[y] Sheol does not give you thanks;
death does not[z] praise you.
Those who descend into the Pit do not anticipate your faithfulness.
19 The living person, the living person, he gives you thanks,
as I do today.
A father tells his sons about your faithfulness.
20 The Lord is about to deliver me,[aa]
and we will celebrate with music[ab]
for the rest of our lives in the Lord’s temple.”[ac]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 38:10 tn Or “I said” (KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
- Isaiah 38:10 tn The precise meaning of the phrase בִּדְמִי יָמַי (bidmi yamay, “in the [?] of my days”) is uncertain. According to HALOT 226 s.v. דְּמִי this word is a hapax legomenon meaning “half.” Others derive the form from דַּמִי (dami, “quiet, rest, peacefulness”).
- Isaiah 38:10 tn The precise meaning of the verb is uncertain. The Pual of of פָּקַד (paqad) occurs only here and in Exod 38:21, where it appears to mean “passed in review” or “mustered.” Perhaps the idea is, “I have been called away for the remainder of my years.” To bring out the sense more clearly, one can translate, “I am deprived of the rest of my years.”
- Isaiah 38:11 tn The Hebrew text has יָהּ יָהּ (yah yah, the abbreviated form of יְהוָה [yehvah] repeated), but this probably should be emended to יְהוָה.
- Isaiah 38:11 tc The Hebrew text has חָדֶל (khadel), which appears to be derived from a verbal root meaning “to cease, refrain.” But the form has probably suffered an error of transmission; the original form (attested in a few medieval Hebrew mss) was likely חֶלֶד (kheled, “world”).
- Isaiah 38:12 tn According to HALOT 217 s.v. דּוֹר this noun is a hapax legomenon meaning “dwelling place,” derived from a verbal root meaning “live” (see Ps 84:10). For an interpretation that understands the form as the well-attested noun meaning “generation,” see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:679, n. 4.
- Isaiah 38:12 tn The verb form appears to be a Niphal from גָּלָה (galah), which normally means “uncovered, revealed” in the Niphal. Because of the following reference to a shepherd’s tent, some prefer to emend the form to וְנָגַל, a Niphal from גָלָל (galal, “roll”) and translate “is rolled [or “folded”] up.”
- Isaiah 38:12 tn Heb “I rolled up, like a weaver, my life” (so ASV).
- Isaiah 38:12 sn For a discussion of the imagery employed here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:684.
- Isaiah 38:12 tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”
- Isaiah 38:13 tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Piel from שָׁוַה (shavah). There are two homonyms שָׁוַה, one meaning in the Piel “level, smooth out,” the other “set, place.” Neither fits in v. 13. It is likely that the original reading was שִׁוַּעְתִּי (shivvaʿti, “I cry out”) from the verbal root שָׁוַע (shavaʿ), which occurs exclusively in the Piel.
- Isaiah 38:13 tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”
- Isaiah 38:14 tn Or “moan” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); KJV, CEV “mourn.”
- Isaiah 38:14 tn Heb “my eyes become weak, toward the height.”
- Isaiah 38:14 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in v. 16 is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
- Isaiah 38:14 tn Heb “stand surety for me.” Hezekiah seems to be picturing himself as a debtor who is being exploited; he asks that the Lord might relieve his debt and deliver him from the oppressive creditor.
- Isaiah 38:15 tn Heb “and he has spoken and he has acted.”
- Isaiah 38:15 tn Heb “because of the bitterness of my soul.”
- Isaiah 38:16 tn The translation offered here is purely speculative. The text as it stands is difficult and obscure. It reads literally, “O Lord, on account of them [the suffix is masculine plural], they live, and to all in them [the suffix is feminine plural], life of my spirit.”
- Isaiah 38:16 tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as indicative, “you restore my health,” but the following imperatival form suggests it be understood as an imperfect of request.
- Isaiah 38:17 tn Heb “Look, for peace bitterness was to me bitter”; NAB “thus is my bitterness transformed into peace.”
- Isaiah 38:17 tc The Hebrew text reads, “you loved my soul,” but this does not fit syntactically with the following prepositional phrase. חָשַׁקְתָּ (khashaqta, “you loved”), may reflect an aural error; most emend the form to חָשַׂכְת, (khasakht, “you held back”).
- Isaiah 38:17 tn בְּלִי (beli) most often appears as a negation, meaning “without,” suggesting the meaning “nothingness, oblivion,” here. Some translate “decay” or “destruction.”
- Isaiah 38:17 tn Heb “for you threw behind your back all my sins.”
- Isaiah 38:18 tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
- Isaiah 38:18 tn The negative particle is understood by ellipsis in this line. See GKC 483 §152.z.
- Isaiah 38:20 tn The infinitive construct is used here to indicate that an action is imminent. See GKC 348-49 §114.i, and IBHS 610 §36.2.3g.
- Isaiah 38:20 tn Heb “and music [or perhaps, “stringed instruments”] we will play.”
- Isaiah 38:20 tn Heb “all the days of our lives in the house of the Lord.”sn Note that vv. 21-22 have been placed between vv. 6-7, where they logically belong. See 2 Kgs 20:7-8.
Isaiah 38:9-20
International Standard Version
Hezekiah’s Prayer
9 A composition by King Hezekiah of Judah, following his illness and recovery:
10 I said, “Must I leave in the prime of my life?
Must I be consigned to the control[a] of Sheol?[b]
Bitter are[c] my years!”
11 I said, “I won’t see the Lord[d] in the land of the living;
and[e] I’ll no longer observe human beings
among the denizens of the grave.[f]
12 My house has been plucked up and vanishes[g] from me
like a shepherd’s tent;
like a weaver, I’ve taken account of[h] my life,
and he cuts me off from the loom—
day and night you make an end of me.
13 I’ve been swept bare[i] until morning;
just like a lion, he breaks all my bones—
day and night you make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow or a crane I chirp,
I moan like a dove.
My eyes look weakly upward.
O Lord,[j] I am oppressed, so[k] stand up for me!
15 What can I say, so I tell myself,[l]
since he has done this to me?[m]
I will walk slowly all my years
because of my soul’s anguish.
16 “My Lord is against them, yet they live,
and among all of them who live is his spirit.[n]
Now you have restored me to health,
so let me live!
17 Yes, it was for my own good
that I suffered extreme anguish.[o]
But in love you have held back[p] my life
from the Pit[q] in which it has been confined;[r]
you have tossed all my sins
behind your back.
18 For Sheol[s] cannot thank you,
death cannot[t] sing your praise;
and[u] those who go down to the Pit[v] cannot hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living—yes the living—they thank you,
just as I am doing today;
fathers will tell their children
about your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,[w]
and we will play my music on strings
all the days of our lives
in the Lord’s Temple.[x]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 38:10 Lit. gates; i.e. the place where legal cases were adjudicated
- Isaiah 38:10 I.e. the realm of the afterlife
- Isaiah 38:10 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read the rest of
- Isaiah 38:11 Lit. Yah; So 1QIsaa; MT reads Yah Yah; MTmss read Lord
- Isaiah 38:11 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
- Isaiah 38:11 Lit. cessation; or the end; So 1QIsaa MT; MTmss read the world
- Isaiah 38:12 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT read and has been taken away
- Isaiah 38:12 So 1QIsaa; MT reads have rolled up
- Isaiah 38:13 So 1QIsaa; or I cried for help; MT reads I was composed; cf. Targ
- Isaiah 38:14 So 1QIsaa MT; 1QIsab reads Lord
- Isaiah 38:14 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks so
- Isaiah 38:15 So 1QIsaa; MT reads for he has spoken to me
- Isaiah 38:15 So 1QIsaa; MT reads and it is he who has done it
- Isaiah 38:16 So 1QIsaa; MT reads is the life of my spirit
- Isaiah 38:17 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT read bitter, bitter
- Isaiah 38:17 So 1QIsaa; cf. LXX; MT reads you have loved
- Isaiah 38:17 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Isaiah 38:17 So 1QIsaa; MT reads pit of destruction
- Isaiah 38:18 I.e. the realm of the afterlife
- Isaiah 38:18 So 1QIsaa LXX; implied in 1QIsab MT
- Isaiah 38:18 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks and
- Isaiah 38:18 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Isaiah 38:20 At this point a later scribe inserted into 1QIsaa a repetition of v. 19 and the beginning of v. 20, but with some different spellings and a word missing.
- Isaiah 38:20 The same second scribe continued with the rest of this verse; not originally in 1QIsaa.
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