Bible Study Isaiah 38
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Isaiah 38 · WEB

Hezekiah's Illness, Prayer, and Song of Thanksgiving

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In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Set your house in order, for you will die, and not live.'"
2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh,
3and said, "Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight." Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4Then Yahweh's word came to Isaiah, saying,
5"Go and tell Hezekiah, 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
6I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.
7This will be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this thing that he has spoken:
8Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz, to return backward ten steps."'" So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down.
9The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness.
10I said, "In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the remainder of my years."
11I said, "I won't see Yah, Yah in the land of the living. I will see man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12My dwelling is removed and carried away from me like a shepherd's tent. I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life. He will cut me off from the loom. From day to night you will make an end of me.
13I waited patiently until morning. He broke all my bones like a lion. From day to night you will make an end of me.
14I chattered like a swallow or a crane. I moaned like a dove. My eyes weaken looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed. Be my security."
15What will I say? He has both spoken to me, and himself has done it. I will walk carefully all my years because of the anguish of my soul.
16Lord, men live by these things; and my spirit finds life in all of them: you restore me, and cause me to live.
17Behold, for peace I had great anguish. But you have, in love to my soul, delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
18For Sheol can't praise you. Death can't celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can't hope for your truth.
19The living, the living shall praise you, as I do today. The father shall make known your truth to the children.
20Yahweh will save me. Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in Yahweh's house.
21Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover."
22Hezekiah also had said, "What is the sign that I will go up to Yahweh's house?"
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Summary

King Hezekiah falls gravely ill and is told by the prophet Isaiah that he will die. Hezekiah prays to God with tears, appealing to his faithful life, and God responds with a remarkable promise: fifteen additional years of life, deliverance from Assyria, and the miraculous sign of the sun's shadow moving backward ten steps on the sundial of Ahaz. The chapter concludes with Hezekiah's written psalm — a moving meditation on his brush with death, his despair in facing Sheol, and his heartfelt praise and gratitude to God for healing and forgiveness.

Themes

  • God's responsiveness to prayer and tears
  • The reversal of death and the gift of extended life
  • Lament, despair, and restoration — the journey from the edge of Sheol to praise
  • Praise as the proper response to divine deliverance
  • The role of signs and miracles in confirming God's word
  • Mortality and the urgency of living faithfully before God

Key verses

  • Isa 38:17 — “Behold, for peace I had great anguish. But you have, in love to my soul, delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.”
  • Isa 38:19 — “The living, the living shall praise you, as I do today. The father shall make known your truth to the children.”
  • Isa 38:3 — “Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.”
  • Isa 38:5 — “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.”

Context & background

Isaiah 38 is set in Jerusalem (modern Israel) during the reign of Hezekiah (approximately 715–686 BC), likely occurring around 701 BC — the same period as the Assyrian siege under Sennacherib recorded in Isaiah 36–37. The parallel account appears in 2 Kings 20:1–11, where the narrative details are slightly rearranged. The "sundial of Ahaz" was likely a stepped structure or staircase that cast a measurable shadow, used to track time — the miraculous reversal of its shadow served as God's confirming sign. The cake of figs prescribed as a poultice (v. 21) reflects ancient Near Eastern medicinal practice, combining divine healing with practical remedy. Hezekiah's written psalm in verses 10–20 stands as a rare royal personal lament in the prophetic literature, comparable in form to the individual laments found in the Psalms.

Cross-references

  • 2 Kgs 20:1–11 — The parallel account of Hezekiah's illness and healing, including the sundial sign
  • Isa 36–37 — The Assyrian crisis immediately preceding this chapter, providing the historical backdrop for God's promise to defend Jerusalem
  • Jon 2:1–9 — Jonah's prayer from the fish's belly echoes Hezekiah's language of crying from the depths and deliverance from the pit
  • Ps 116:1–9 — "The cords of death surrounded me" — a similar lament-to-thanksgiving journey after near-death experience
  • Ps 30 — A psalm of thanksgiving for recovery from illness, sharing Hezekiah's themes of descent toward Sheol and praise for deliverance

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  1. Observe

    What did God promise Hezekiah after hearing his prayer?

  2. Observe

    What practical remedy did Isaiah prescribe for Hezekiah's boil?

  3. Interpret

    What does Hezekiah's psalm reveal about his understanding of death and life?

  4. Interpret

    What does God's response to Hezekiah's tears reveal about his character?

  5. Apply

    How should a brush with mortality reshape daily practice?

  6. Apply

    How should one bring urgent needs before God?

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