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

16Lord, by such things people live, and in every one of them my spirit finds life; you have restored me to health and let me live. 17Indeed, it was for my own well-being that I had such intense bitterness; but your love has delivered me from the Pit of destruction, for you have thrown all my sins behind your back. For Sheol cannot thank you; Death cannot praise you. Those who go down to the Pit cannot hope for your faithfulness. 19The living, only the living can thank you, as I do today; a father will make your faithfulness known to children. 20The Lord is ready to save me; we will play stringed instruments all the days of our lives at 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

Words taken from the KJV.

• For the graveשְׁאוֹלshe'ôl she'ôl · hell: SheolH7585
• cannot praiseיָדָהyâdâh · to give thanksH3034
• thee, deathמָ֫וֶתmâveth · deathH4194
• celebrateהָלַלhâlal · to boast: praiseH1984
• thee: they that go downיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381
• into the pitבּוֹרbôr · pitH953
• cannot hopeשָׂבַרώâbar shâbar · to awaitH7663
• for thy truthאֱמֶת'emeth · truth: faithfulH571

Cross-references for Isaiah 38:18

• Psalms 6:5For there is no remembrance of you in death; who can thank you in Sheol?
• Psalms 30:9“What gain is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your truth?
• Psalms 88:11Will your faithful love be declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Abaddon?
• Psalms 115:17It is not the dead who praise the Lord, nor any of those descending into the silence of death.
• Ecclesiastes 9:10Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
• Numbers 16:33They went down alive into Sheol with all that belonged to them. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.
• Proverbs 14:32The wicked one is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous one has a refuge in his 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 25:46“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
• Luke 16:26Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you cannot; neither can those from there cross over 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