Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 38

Verses 1-8

Isa 38:1-8

Isaiah 38:1

This chapter has the account of the fatal illness survived by Hezekiah and of God’s 15-year extension of his life, and also the record of the Psalm which Hezekiah wrote in commemoration and thanksgiving for the event.

Isaiah 38:1

"In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said unto him; set thy house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live."

"In those days" (Isaiah 38:1) does not fix the date of Hezekiah’s illness; and, consequently, there are diverse opinions as to when this event occurred. Kelley pointed out that it "is very difficult” to fix the date, but thought it might be around 705 B.C. Hailey gave the date as "701 B.C.” Rawlinson noted that, "The illness of Hezekiah is fixed by Isaiah 38:5 here and 2 Kings 20:6 to the fourteenth year of his reign, or B.C. 714.” Adam Clarke listed 713 B.C. in the margin of his commentary on this verse; and Cheyne wrote that, "Since, according to 2 Kings 18:2, Hezekiah reigned 29 years, his illness must have occurred in his fourteenth year, and must have synchronized, or nearly so, with the invasion of Sargon.”

There is too much uncertainty as to when the beginning and ending of the reigns were calculated for some of the kings mentioned in Isaiah to allow dogmatic conclusions to carry very much weight. There is also the possibility mentioned by several that God actually extended Hezekiah’s life somewhat longer than the fifteen years promised here. There is also the question of the overlapping of reigns in certain cases. See the Introduction. Another possibility, already mentioned earlier is that Hezekiah calculated the latter part of his reign, after the extension of his life, as a "Second Reign." We do not pretend to have an adequate solution of this problem.

Isaiah 38:2-3

"Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah, 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."

Hezekiah’s turning his face to the wall, "Resembles that of Ahab (1 Kings 21:4); but the spirit is wholly different.” Ahab turned away to the wall for a sullen pout; but Hezekiah did it for privacy and to collect his thoughts for the prayer.

Josephus tells us that the reason for Hezekiah’s bitter weeping was due to the "Knowledge that he was childless and the thought of his leaving the kingdom without a son to succeed him. So the king was in great dread, and in terrible agony at this calamity.”

Jamieson commented, "How often do our wishes when gratified prove curses"! Hezekiah lived to have a son, Manasseh, (2 Kings 21:1), by all standards the most wicked and evil of all the kings of Judah, whose reign ended with the overthrow of the kingdom and the deportation of the people to Babylon.

Isaiah 38:4-6

"Then came the word of Jehovah unto Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, 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. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city."

The parallel account in 2 Kings 20:4 reveals that Isaiah left Hezekiah and was on the way to departing from the palace, being as far as the middle court, when the Word of God came to Isaiah again, instructing him to reveal that the Lord had heard his prayers and was extending his life by some fifteen years. "So swiftly does God answer the prayer of faith!” From this we may conclude that God approves of our prayers for health, for life and for strength.

As Douglas commented, this great prayer of Isaiah, "May be ranked with Abraham’s intercession for Sodom, with Elijah’s prayer for rain, and with the Syrophoenician’s pleading with the Saviour for her daughter.”

Notice that the disease that threatened Hezekiah was a fatal malady; yet Hezekiah did not fail to pray. We believe that Christians today, due to the increase of knowledge, appear to settle such matters without regard to God, much in the same manner that a deacon in Bakersfield, California, once prayed for a patient diagnosed as being terminally with cancer, praying, in substance, as follows: "God, we know there’s nothing you can do for him, but if possible help him to be easy in his last days!" To us, such a prayer approaches blasphemy. This writer has definite knowledge of a man from Moundsville, West Virginia, who was diagnosed as having "inoperable cancer of the trachea" by seven of the leading surgeons in Washington, D.C., whose principal physician was Dr. James Jerry McFarland, a noted surgeon in that city. That man was given a maximum life expectancy of six months, but eight years later he walked into Dr. McFarland’s office completely whole. He said that God healed him. This report, incidentally was reported in the American Medical Journal (approximately 1955).

As Jamieson correctly commented: "At this point, Isaiah 38:21-22 would normally have appeared in the narrative; but Isaiah placed them later in order not to interrupt the message of God.”

Isaiah 38:7-8

"And this shall be the sign unto thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do this thing that he hath spoken: behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down on the dial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the dial whereon it was gone down."

The account in 2Kings mentions that it was by the specific request of Hezekiah that this sign was given in preference to a sign in which the shadow on the dial would have advanced ten steps. We receive this as an astounding miracle, wrought by the power of God himself, a miracle that is in every sense equal to that of Beth-horon (Joshua 10:12-15). All that we wrote in connection with that miracle is also applicable here.

We are not interested in the learned dissertations by men explaining `why they cannot believe this.’ Since when did unbelief ever need an explanation? Christ has already explained it. "Men have loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil" (John 3:19). As to `how’ God performed this wonder, no man may claim to know. Given the fact that it was God who intervened here, where is there any problem? Is anything too hard for God?

We fully agree with Douglas on this. He said, "The attempts to explain the going back of the shadow by a parhelion (mock sun), or by an eclipse, or refraction have been utterly unsuccessful. Those who do not reject the narrative as a falsehood, nor explain it as a conjurer’s trick, must accept it as a miracle.”

REPINING: Isaiah 38:1-3. Hezekiah died in 695 B.C. The phrase “In those days,” of Isaiah 38:1 must refer to a time at least 15 years prior to 695 B.C. or somewhere near 710 B.C. Hezekiah was “sick unto death” at least nine or ten years prior to the confrontation at Jerusalem recorded in chapters 36–37 (Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah in 701 B.C.) Therefore, Isaiah, chapter 38, is chronologically out of order. That is no problem. The historical data of chapter 38 is accurate, and that is what is important. The Hebrews were not as concerned with chronology as they were with the events and their meanings. Matthew’s gospel is a prime example of a Hebrew man writing as an eyewitness what he saw accurately, but recording it out of chronological order. The proper order of these chapters in Isaiah might be as follows: 38, 39, 36, 37.

Isaiah came to the king with this message from the Lord: “Order your house, for die you shall, and not live” (literally from the Hebrew). With the Hebrew language, the verb is usually first in the sentence because the action being done or to be done is more important than the actor. The Hebrews were not as egotistical as Westerners. Leupold translates it, “Give your last orders, for you shall die and not recover.” Isaiah’s message is very blunt. We do not know what the king’s sickness was. There were evidently boils associated with it. Lange has suggested the Hebrew word shehiyn translated in Isaiah 38:21 boil “stands not only for the plague boil, but also for other burning ulcers, as it occurs in reference to leprosy (Leviticus 13:18 ff) and other inflammable cutaneous diseases (Exodus 9:9; Deuteronomy 28:27; Deuteronomy 28:35; Job 2:7).”

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall to pray not that there was any special efficacy in facing the wall but probably as an instinctive reaction to hide his countenance from others standing near. It may be he did it to gain what little privacy he could obtain. Hezekiah appeals to God on the basis of Old Testament standards (see Psalms 15). Hezekiah surely does not claim for himself sinlessness. His claim is that of a life based upon the truth as he knew it from God and a complete (perfect) heart’s motivation to do what was good in God’s sight. It was a prayer of faith, trusting God to fulfill His will in Hezekiah’s life. “Wept sore” would better be translated “wept greatly.” The Hebrew bechiy gadol might well be translated, as the RSV does, “wept bitterly.”

But why did not Hezekiah resign himself to what apparently was God’s will—his immediate death? Hezekiah was only 39 or 40 years old when this terminal illness struck him. Manasseh was not to be born for three more years (Mannaseh was 12 years old when Hezekiah died at the age of 54; see 2 Kings 21:1; 2 Chronicles 33:1). It was contrary to all Hezekiah believed concerning the perpetuation of the dynasty of David (which God had certainly promised) that he should die without a successor to the throne of David! It was also considered by any Jewish male to be a sign of Divine disfavor to be cut off in the midst of one’s life without a male child to carry on the family name (Job 15:32; Job 22:15-16; Psalms 55:23; Proverbs 10:27; Ecclesiastes 7:17). As much as anything else, Hezekiah was questioning whether, in view of his godly life, he deserved such an untimely death or not. Death with such suddenness and in the prime of life has a sobering effect—a humbling effect.

Isaiah 38:4-8 REPRIEVE: While Isaiah was walking “in the middle court” (2 Kings 20:4) the word of Jehovah came to him. He was to go back and tell Hezekiah that his prayer was heard. Note, it does not say answered. God answered Hezekiah with His own answer. God hears our prayers and He cares about our difficulties. He is sad that we have to suffer. He is hurt by our disobedience. He is gladdened by our praise and supplications. But, He is not convinced, argued into, worn down by persistence, God’s mind is not changed by the perfect logic, massive amount or unending persistence of our prayers. He knows what is best for us and always answers according to His will. He insists that we pray in order that we may put ourselves in the proper attitude of faith, humility and dependence to receive what He wills—whether it be weal or woe. The apostle Paul did not want a thorn in the flesh, and, in fact, prayed three times that it be removed. God’s answer was, every time, No! So here, Hezekiah did not change the mind of God, but by his prayer of faith, humility and dependence upon God put himself in the proper condition to be the agent through whom God could continue His work of perpetuating the throne of David. God added to Hezekiah’s life 15 years—time to produce an heir and prepare him for the throne of David. The very fact that Jehovah said, “the God of David thy father,” indicates God was answering according to His own purposes and not simply to satisfy Hezekiah’s desire for more years of life. And it is not just Hezekiah’s life that is to be spared—the city of David and its inhabitants are also to be protected from annihilation. God will continue His program of redemption through Hezekiah and his countrymen in spite of all the threats of the Assyrians.

In 2 Kings 20:8-11 and Isaiah 38:22 we are informed that Hezekiah asked for a sign. To Ahaz God had offered a sign (Isaiah 7) but Ahaz did not want a sign for he was depending upon help from Assyria. Hezekiah, realizing the severity of his situation, asks for a sign to strengthen him for the great task of leading his nation to trust Jehovah for deliverance.

The Hebrew word ma’eloth may be translated dials, degrees or steps, (cf. Exodus 20:26; 1 Kings 10:19; 2 Kings 20:9-11). “In the absence of any materials for determining the shape and structure of the . . . instrument . . . the best course is to follow the most strictly natural meaning of the word, and to consider that the dial was really stairs, and that the shadow (perhaps of some column or obelisk on the top) fell on a greater or smaller number of them according as the sun was low or high. The terrace of a palace might easily be thus ornamented. Ahaz’s tastes seem to have led him in pursuit of foreign curiosities (2 Kings 6:10), and his intimacy with Tiglath-pileser gave him probably an opportunity of procuring from Assyria the pattern of some such structure.”

When Hezekiah asked for a sign, Isaiah said, “. . . shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” Hezekiah replied that it was easier for the shadow to lengthen than go back, so he asked that the shadow go back ten steps. (2 Kings 20:8-11) Isaiah says the sun returned ten steps while 2 Kings 20:11 says the Lord brought the shadow back ten steps. The Lord used the sun to produce the moving of the shadow backward. Whatever the method, whether by refraction of light or by suspending or reversing the laws governing the orbit of the earth around the sun, it was an act performed by the supernatural power of God at work upon the natural world and provided a sign of supernatural verification to Hezekiah.

Alas, Hezekiah was still a man with weaknesses. He was like many men (even the apostle Paul, Romans 7:13-25) whose intentions are higher than their deeds. After his recovery, Hezekiah “did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud,” (2 Chronicles 32:24-25), when the envoys of Merodachbaladan came (Isaiah 39:1 ff). On the other hand, when Hezekiah’s ideals and deeds are compared with some of his ungodly predecessors and successors he was, like his ancestor David, “a man after God’s own heart.” His faith, humility and trust in God saved the nation and preserved a remnant through which redemption came to all men.

Let every reader be here reminded of the uncertainty of this life and the imperative need to “set your house in order.” As a poet once wailed, too commonly “at the mercy of a moment are left the vast concerns of an eternal scene.” Too often men and women procrastinate setting themselves in order with God until there is no more time or they are incapable. Now is the time; Today is the day of salvation!

Verses 9-20

Isa 38:9-20

Isaiah 38:9

"The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered from his sickness."

As Cheyne said, "There is nothing to deny the authenicity of this psalm of Hezekiah, as Dillman and Delitzsch, among our latest great critics, agree.” The same author also called the psalm recorded here, "a peculiarly sweet and plaintive specimen of Hebrew psalmody."

After recovering from his sickness, Hezekiah remembered his emotions and feelings as he lay upon what he believed would be his death-bed and incorporated them into the following song.

Isaiah 38:10-12

"I said, In the noontide of my days, I shall go into the gates of Sheol; I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall not see Jehovah, even Jehovah in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd’s tent; I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life; he will cut me off from the loom: From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me."

This is the first of four stanzas that are thought to be discernible in this little psalm. "In the first two, the king is looking forward to death, and the thought is mournful; but in the last two he has received the promise of recovery, and he pours out his thanksgiving.” It is of interest that the metaphors used here, namely, that of the removal of a shepherd’s tent, and that of being cut out of the loom and folded up, both carry the thought that death is not the end of everything. "The idea here is that his dwelling would be transferred from one place to another. He would continue to exist, but in another place, just as the shepherd would remove his tent from one place to another, but still live in it.”

Isaiah 38:13-14

"I quieted myself until morning; as a lion, so he breaketh all my bones: From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. Like a swallow or a crane, so did I chatter; I did moan as a dove; mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed, be thou my surety?"

The big thing here is that even in the gates of death, Hezekiah asked that God would be his surety. The chattering and the moaning may refer to the incoherent speech of those who are delirious and the groans of those violently :

Isaiah 38:9-14 TURMOIL: The first five verses of Hezekiah’s psalm record his grief and distress (“bitterness”) when first he was told by Isaiah he would die from his illness. The last six verses of the psalm express the king’s gratitude for his miraculous healing. The psalm is interesting for its frankness and its pathos. Hezekiah has suffered the most extreme experience a man can suffer—he has faced death in the very prime of his life. It is totally unexpected in the life of a man 39 years of age. Then, almost as completely unexpected, he receives a reprieve from death. This experience reaches into the deepest recesses of a man’s soul. Out of this experience Hezekiah wishes to permanently record his testimony of praise.

What distressed Hezekiah most was it appeared he would die at the zenith of his life. His great religious reform was just getting under way. There were political problems and foreign policies that needed his attention. There were great public works around the city of Jerusalem to be accomplished. But most important, he had no son, no heir to the throne of David. If, in the “noontide” of his days, he should go to Sheol he would suffer the frustration of leaving all this unfulfilled. Sheol, though a few times used to designate the place of punishment after this life, is most often used in the Old Testament to designate simply the place of disembodied spirits of the dead. The KJV rendering “Hell” is not a good translation. Sheol corresponds better to the New Testament word Hades.

The Hebrew word phukadetiy (“deprived”) might better be translated appointed, ordered, consigned, and is so translated in the Paraphrase of this section. The idea is that Jehovah has ordered an end to Hezekiah’s life on earth.

Hezekiah’s concept of Sheol raises the problem as to the Old Testament believer’s view of life after death. It is clear that O.T. saints had a very dim and shadowy concept of life after death. Part of the confusion of thought concerning Sheol arises from the invisibility of the soul. The O.T. teaches immortality, but not with the clarity of the N.T., chiefly because God’s revelation in Scripture is progressive and gradually increases in clearness. It was not until “the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death” that “life and immortality was brought to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). But there is definitely a doctrine of a future life taught in the Old Testament (see Special Study, The Future Life, by R. C. Foster, p. 287).

It is a mark of the godliness of Hezekiah that one of his main concerns in having to depart this life was his concern that he would apparently not be able to do two of the things most dear to him—worship the Lord and join in companionship with his friends. These, of all our human experiences, enrich this life the most.

In Isaiah 38:12, the grieving king uses figures of speech to describe his feelings which would be graphically arresting to the Palestinian herdsmen and weavers. The desolation and unfulfillment he feels is likened to the desolation of a spot where the tent of a shepherd had once been staked and made home, but has been pulled up and moved away. Abruptly, there is nothing left! The second figure is his life likened to a piece of cloth or carpet finished on the loom and clipped off without anything to follow. “From day even to night . . .” emphasizes the abruptness of Hezekiah’s death. It probably is a proverbial form meaning that in the morning a man wakes up not expecting any great crisis and by evening catastrophe has fallen upon him. It could have reference to how swiftly day passes into night; just as swiftly was the king’s life to be over! The phrase is used again in Isaiah 38:13 showing the intense feeling of the king about the shortness of his life. Evidently, after the first shock of Isaiah’s announcement of his imminent death, Hezekiah composed himself temporarily; then the depression came upon him again tearing him to pieces psychologically, like a lion tears a carcass apart. The Hebrew word shiuiythiy is a form of the word meaning equal or even and is translated in Isaiah 38:13 quieted. Hezekiah apparently struggled long and hard in his soul until he got himself back on even keel. Then he was in some way reminded of his impending death and he began to “come apart” all over again. He began talking and chattering, like a bird, to himself or anyone else who would listen. Occasionally a long, low moan would interrupt the chattering. He has worn himself out crying unto the Lord and is so weak he can hardly lift his eyes in prayer once more. Yet, the Lord is his only hope. He is oppressed. The Hebrew word ‘ashak literally means extort, indicating the intense oppression Hezekiah feels. He asks the Lord to be his ‘arebeniy (pledge, surety). In effect he is asking the Lord “to bail him out.”

Isaiah 38:15-17

"What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, by these things do men live; And wholly therein is the life of my spirit: Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live. Behold, it was for my peace that 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."

The thought here is not too clear, other than the change of attitude. God has now assured Hezekiah of extended life, and in gratitude, and penitence he confesses his sins and acknowledges that God "in love" has rescued him. Kidner notes that, "The awkwardness of the Hebrew here suggests a damaged text, on which the ancient versions and the scrolls have no unanimity.”

The mention of God’s putting Hezekiah’s sins behind his back, does not mean that God forgave them, but that for the time present he was "passing over" them as in Romans 3:25.

Isaiah 38:18-20

"For Sheol cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: The father to the children shall make known thy truth. Jehovah is ready to save me. Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of Jehovah."

The theme here is rejoicing over the recovery which came from the special blessing of the Lord. The language used in portions of this little hymn suggests that it was used in the temple services, or at least, that Hezekiah might have composed it with such a usage in view.

The final two verses here have the same information that appears in the narrative in 2Kings, only there, it appears in a different sequence. We have already noted that Isaiah’s probable reason for this different arrangement was that of avoiding an interruption of the message of God. We like Douglas’ comment on this. he wrote:

"Ingenious scholars, whose aim is to present us with the text as they think Isaiah should have written it, are pretty well agreed that there is a dislocation here, and that these last two verses ought to have come earlier, perhaps between Isaiah 38:6-7; and they compare the order in the book of Kings.”

It has been almost a century since Douglas wrote this; but he here pointed squarely to the great passion of countless critical commentators of our own times, whose comments are much preoccupied with telling us what they believe the prophet thought, or what he meant. We care absolutely nothing for any of that kind of "guessing" on the part of men who have absolutely nothing on earth to go by except their own imaginations. The text is what God has given us; if we learn anything at all from the Bible, it must be found in the text, not in the imaginations of men who, at their very best are ignorant, and who at the worst are servants of Satan himself.

There is no reason whatever for denying that Isaiah wrote both accounts, the one in 2Kings, and the one here. Why should Isaiah have consulted any other person, or writing, except himself and his own notes on what happened. Was he not the one who prescribed the poultice of figs?

Isaiah 38:15-20 THANKSGIVING: Isaiah 38:15 seems to form a new division in the king’s hymn of praise. It is as if he says, “What else can I say about this whole experience of mine? After the vexation of my soul and the wonderful deed of the Lord in restoring my life, what else am I to conclude but that the Lord has done it for my good?” It is to Hezekiah’s great credit that he learned the way of the Lord from his traumatic confrontation of death. He learned that the way of the Lord was discipline. The Hebrew word edadeh, translated softly, really means submissively. The king is acknowledging that the stressful experiences he has just gone through have taught him humility. He vows to live the remainder of his life in submission to God’s discipline. He has learned through his “valley of the shadow of death” that troubles are oftentimes the doors to hope. Crises and severities are the stuff of which character is formed. Ease and luxury debilitate character. King Hezekiah learned that it was by the tests and trials of men’s lives that they “lived.” All the great men of God who have contributed anything at all to the salvation of the human race have been purified and refined by their trials. The very wellsprings of purposeful living are trials (2 Corinthians 1:3-11; James 1:2-4; etc.).

At first, says the king in Isaiah 38:17, he was distressed for selfish reasons. His major concern in sickness was that his personal comfort had been taken away. But after prayer and the word of Isaiah concerning his recovery, he realized that the real blessing in restoration to physical health was not personal comfort but the confirmation it gave him that he was in right relationship to God and that God had pardoned him from his sin. This is another concept of the Old Testament that, though true in a sense, was qualified in the New Testament. It is true, as the Mosaic law teaches, health and long life will be granted by God to those who keep His commandments and do not sin against them. It is also true that death, disease and ill-health are often the direct result of disobeying the commandments of God. But it is also true that not all disease, ill-health and tribulation are a consequence of the particular sins of a particular person. So that good health does not always mean a person is not a sinner any more than ill-health always means a person is a sinner. Hezekiah was correct in assuming that God’s extension of his life showed that God was pleased with Hezekiah’s humility and submission to His discipline. God’s forgiveness is by grace to all men. Men are obligated to surrender to God’s covenant program in order to receive that grace.

The king rejoiced not only in the evidence of forgiveness he experienced by his extended life, but also in the opportunity to worship God. His concept of Sheol (state of disembodied spirits of men) did not include worshipping God as the N.T. book of Revelation does. Worshipping at the feast days—partaking of God’s truth—none of this was for the dead. The Hebrew word hay hay, the living one, the living one, emphasizes Hezekiah’s joy that he has been granted an extension of life. The phrase, “even as I do this day,” makes it intensely personal. His joy at being allowed to live and praise God was nearly overwhelming. The father making known God’s truth to his children was another joyful experience Hezekiah hoped would result from his extension of life. He had no son yet, so he is wistfully hoping God will provide that joy for him also.

The Hebrew word lehoshiy’eniy is composed of prepositional and infinitive prefixes attached to the verb and probably expresses an aim, tendency, or direction. Thus Leupold translates, “The Lord is minded to deliver me.” Because the Lord has made it His purpose to deliver Hezekiah from an untimely death, he is moved to express the deep, heartfelt gratitude of his soul in songs accompanied by stringed instruments. It will not be a “spur-of-the-moment” praise—but deliberate, planned, arranged, scored musical production. Hezekiah’s praise will be set to musical composition and lyric in order that others may share with him in praising the Lord. The great Christian hymn writers have left us a heritage of their personal praise in lyric and tune so that we may share in their experiences. Their experiences and expressions of praise are so nearly our own that we can sing their songs as expressions of our hearts to God also. Such personal expressions become monuments and sacrifices offered to the honor of God. Hezekiah was such a man. How sad, how utterly sad, that Judah did not have a man like Hezekiah to succeed him on the throne.

Verses 21-22

Isa 38:21-22

Isaiah 38:21-22

"Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover. Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Jehovah?"

This injection of some pertinent fact into a narrative subsequently to its actual chronological occurrence is a typical feature of the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation. As an example, in Jonah, after the men cast lots and charged him with being the cause of the danger they were in, learned that Jonah was a follower of Jehovah; "Then, the men were exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, What is this that thou hast done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from Jehovah, because he had told them" (Jonah 1:10). Thus there appears here a fact that the mariners had learned at the time of Jonah’s taking passage on the ship of Tarshish.

The fact that dried figs were used in the medical practice of the ancients is confirmed by both Roman historians, Pliny, and Celsus. The significance is that natural means were frequently utilized by the Lord in the performance of those wonders with which the Bible is filled.

The additional information provided in these last two verses was summarized thus by Dummelow: "The remedy for the king’s disease was suggested by Isaiah, and the sign was given at the king’s request.”

In this connection, even during the charismatic age of the church when elders endowed with the gift of healing, prayed for the sick, they also anointed the sufferer with oil, as in James 5:13-15.

Isaiah 38:21 OINTMENT: The Hebrew word marahk, translated plaster, means literally, rub, bruise, crush. Isaiah’s instructions evidently were to crush some figs into a soft, fluid ointment that could be rubbed on the boil. If the reader will compare the parallel account of Hezekiah’s illness in 2 Kings 20:1-11 he will find the psalm of thanksgiving omitted. The account in II Kings ends with the medicinal ointment and the omen. Isaiah 38:21-22 are not out of order here. The psalm of thanksgiving is simply inserted in Isaiah’s account and omitted in the Kings account. The Ras Shamra (Ugaritic) literature indicates that figs and their juices were used by the ancients for healing purposes. However, it would seem here the fig ointment was used more as a symbolic agent rather than an actual medicinal cure. Hezekiah’s illness was terminal! Hezekiah’s healing was miraculous. The fig ointment was commanded of God as a test of Hezekiah’s faith. It is the same principle with our “eating the flesh of the Son of man and drinking His blood.” The emblems are symbolic, not the actual flesh and blood of the physical body of Jesus. Partaking of the emblems serves as a means of proving our faith. They serve as a test of our obedience. What the shehkiyn (boil) was is difficult to know. The word may mean hot or inflammed or ulcerated. It would bring death in Hezekiah’s case.

Isaiah 38:22 OMEN: The Hebrew word aoth is translated sign and also may be translated token, or type. One of the great differences between Ahaz, the king who displeased God in his leadership of the nation of Judah, and Hezekiah who pleased God in his leadership, was that Ahaz refused to seek God’s sign of divine guidance while Hezekiah sought a sign from God of His divine help. When an abundance of divine signs have been demonstrated it is displeasing to God to seek after more signs (cf. Matthew 12:38-42). It would not honor God for men and women today to seek signs from God. He has given His greatest miraculous sign, once and for all, Jesus Christ, God Incarnate! (cf. Hebrews 1:1). Many eyewitnesses have left us a record of God’s complete and final supernatural revelation—the New Testament. But Hezekiah did not have such an abundance of confirmation, He was not wrong in asking for a sign.