English Standard Version
Isaiah 38:17
17Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
Isaiah 38:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold, for peace 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.
- New International Version (NIV)Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Indeed it was for my own peace That I had great bitterness; But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Yes, this anguish was good for me, for you have rescued me from death and forgiven all my sins.
Context of Isaiah 38:17
15What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul. 16O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh restore me to health and make me live! Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back. 18For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness. 19The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness.
Read all of Isaiah 38Isaiah 38:17 word by word
הִנֵּ֥ה לְשָׁל֖וֹם מַר־לִ֣י מָ֑ר וְאַתָּ֞ה חָשַׁ֤קְתָּ נַפְשִׁי֙ מִשַּׁ֣חַת בְּלִ֔י כִּ֥י הִשְׁלַ֛כְתָּ אַחֲרֵ֥י גֵוְךָ֖ כָּל־חֲטָאָֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Behold, for peaceשָׁלוֹםshâlôm shâlôm · peace: well-beingH7965
- I had great bitternessמָרַרmârar · to provokeH4843
- I had great bitternessמַרmar mârâh · bitterH4751
- but thou hast in loveחָשַׁקchâshaq · to desireH2836
- to my soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315
- from the pitשַׁ֫חַתshachath · Pit: hellH7845
- of corruptionבְּלִיbelîy · withoutH1097
- for thou hast castשָׁלַךְshâlak · to throwH7993
- all my sinsחֵטְאchêţ' · sinH2399
- behindאַחַר'achar · afterH310
- thy backגֵּוgêv · backH1460
Cross-references for Isaiah 38:17
- Job 3:25For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.
- Job 29:18Then I thought, 'I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand,
- Psalms 30:6As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved."
- Psalms 30:3O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.
- Psalms 40:2He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
- Psalms 86:13For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
- Psalms 88:4I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength,
- Jonah 2:6at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
- Isaiah 43:25"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
- Psalms 10:2In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
- Psalms 85:2You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. Selah
- Jeremiah 31:34And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
- Micah 7:18Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.
Commentaries on Isaiah 38:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17For peace I had great bitterness "My anguish is changed into ease" - מר לי מר mar li mar, "mutata mthi est amaritudo." Paronomasia; a figure which the prophet frequently admits. I do not always note it, because it cannot ever be preserved in the translation, and the sense seldom depends upon it. But here it perfectly clears up the great obscurity of the passage. See Lowth on the place. Thou hast rescued - חשכת chashachta, with כ caph, instead of ק koph…Read the comment
- 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 38:17
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries