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 these things people live, And in all these is the life of my spirit; Restore me to health and let me live! 17Behold, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; But You have kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have hurled 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. 19It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today; A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness. 20The Lord is certain to save me; So we will play my songs on stringed instruments All the days of our life 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

• Sheolשְׁאוֹלshe'ôl she'ôl · hell: SheolH7585
• cannotלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• thankיָדָהyâdâh · to give thanksH3034
• Deathמָ֫וֶתmâveth · deathH4194
• cannot praiseהָלַלhâlal · to boast: praiseH1984
• Those who goיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381
• to the pitבּוֹרbôr · pitH953
• hopeשָׂבַרώâbar shâbar · to awaitH7663
• for Your faithfulnessאֱמֶת'emeth · truth: faithfulH571

Cross-references for Isaiah 38:18

• Psalms 6:5For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol, who will praise You?
• Psalms 30:9“What gain is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?
• Psalms 88:11Will Your graciousness be declared in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon?
• Psalms 115:17The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor do any who go down into silence;
• Ecclesiastes 9:10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
• Numbers 16:33So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
• Proverbs 14:32The wicked is thrust down by his own wrongdoing, But the righteous has a refuge when he dies.
• Matthew 8:12but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
• Matthew 25:46These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
• Luke 16:26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set, so that those who want to go over from here to you will not be able, nor will any people cross over 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