Behold, for peace I had great bitterness,.... Meaning not that instead of peace and prosperity, which he expected would ensue upon the destruction of Sennacherib's army, came a bitter affliction upon him; for he is not now dwelling on that melancholy subject; but rather the sense is, that he now enjoyed great peace and happiness, though he had been in great bitterness; for the words may be rendered, "behold, I am in peace, I had great bitterness"; or thus, "behold my great bitterness is unto peace": or, "he has turned it into peace" ; it has issued in it, and this is my present comfortable situation: "but", or rather,and thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: the grave, where bodies rot and corrupt, and are quite abolished, as the word signifies; see Ps 30:3 or "thou hast embraced my soul from the pit of corruption "; it seems to be an allusion to a tender parent, seeing his child sinking in a pit, runs with open arms to him, and embraces him, and takes him out.
Bible Commentary
Isaiah 38:17
Isaiah 38:17
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain
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Isaiah 38 — OverviewIsaiah 38 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleThis chapter proceeds in the history of Hezekiah. Here is, I. His
sickness, and the sentence of death he received within himself, ver. 1.
II. His prayer in his sickness, ver. 2, 3. III. The answer of peace…Isaiah 38 — OverviewIsaiah 38 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeIsaiah 38:1, Hezekiah, having received a message of death, by prayer has his life lengthened; Isaiah 38:8, The sun goes ten degrees backward, for a sign of that promise; Isaiah 38:9, His song of thanksgiving.Isaiah 38 — OverviewIsaiah 38 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleThis chapter gives an account of Hezekiah's sickness, recovery, and thanksgiving on that account. His sickness, and the nature of it, and his preparation for it, as directed to by the prophet, Isa 38:1, his prayer to…Isaiah 38:1-22Isaiah 38:1-22 · The Pulpit CommentarySECTION II.—HEZEKIAH'S ILLNESS, AND THE EMBASSY OF MERODACH-BALADAN (Isaiah 38:1-22; Isaiah 39:1-8.).
EXPOSITION
The present chapter is parallel with 2 Kings 20:1-11, but contains some marked differences from that…Isaiah 38:9-22Isaiah 38:9-22 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleWe 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…Isaiah 38:9-22Isaiah 38:9-22 · The Pulpit CommentaryThe 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.…
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