Isaiah 38:18

Isaiah 38:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
• New International Version (NIV)For the grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth.

Context of Isaiah 38:18

16O Lord, by such things men live, and in all of them my spirit finds life. You have restored me to health and have let me live. 17Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back. For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness. 19The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness. 20The LORD will save me; we will play songs on stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the LORD.

Isaiah 38:18 word by word

כִּ֣י לֹ֥א שְׁא֛וֹל תּוֹדֶ֖ךָּ מָ֣וֶת יְהַלְלֶ֑ךָּ לֹֽא־יְשַׂבְּר֥וּ יֽוֹרְדֵי־ב֖וֹר אֶל־אֲמִתֶּֽךָ׃Read the interlinear

• Forכִּיkîy · forH3588
• Sheolשְׁאוֹלshe'ôl she'ôl · hell: SheolH7585
• cannotלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• thank Youיָדָהyâdâh · to give thanksH3034
• Deathמָ֫וֶתmâveth · deathH4194
• cannot praise Youהָלַלhâlal · to boast: praiseH1984
• Those who descendיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381
• to the Pitבּוֹרbôr · pitH953
• hopeשָׂבַרώâbar shâbar · to awaitH7663
• forאֶל'êl 'el · to(wards)H413
• Your faithfulnessאֱמֶת'emeth · truth: faithfulH571

Cross-references for Isaiah 38:18

• Psalms 6:5For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
• Psalms 30:9“What gain is there in my bloodshed, in my descent to the Pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it proclaim Your faithfulness?
• Psalms 88:11Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon?
• Psalms 115:17It is not the dead who praise the LORD, nor any who descend into silence.
• Ecclesiastes 9:10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
• Numbers 16:33They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.
• Proverbs 14:32The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.
• Matthew 8:12But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
• Matthew 25:46And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
• Luke 16:26And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’

Commentaries on Isaiah 38:18

• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-22Verses 9-22 We have here Hezekiah's thanksgiving. It is well for us to remember the mercies we receive in sickness. Hezekiah records the condition he was in. He dwells upon this; I shall no more see the Lord. A good man wishes not to live for any other end than that he may serve God, and have communion with him. Our present residence is like that of a shepherd in his hut, a poor, mean, and cold lodging, and with a trust committed to our charge, as the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9-20Hezekiah’s poem includes both lament (Isaiah 38:9–14) and praise (38:15–20). The praise remains restrained until the final verse.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 9-209-20. The prayer and thanksgiving song of Hezekiah is only given here, not in the parallel passages of Second Kings and Second Chronicles. Is 38:9 is the heading or inscription.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 38:18

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Death
• Hezekiah
• Hope
• Immortality
• Life
• Murmuring
• Praise
• Psalms

In the dictionaries

• Celebrate
• Hezekiah
• Poetry
• Reckon
• Undertake
• Chronicles, Books of
• Death
• Decease, in the Old Testament and Apocyphra
• Hezekiah (2)
• Isaiah

Commentaries on Isaiah 38

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings