New International Version
Isaiah 38:17
17Surely 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.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)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.
- 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
15But what can I say? He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this. I will walk humbly all my years because of this anguish of my soul. 16Lord, by such things people live; and my spirit finds life in them too. You restored me to health and let me live. 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. 18For the grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness. 19The living, the living—they praise you, as I am doing today; parents tell their children about 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 3:25What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.
- Job 29:18“I thought, ‘I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
- Psalms 30:6When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.”
- Psalms 30:3You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit.
- Psalms 40:2He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
- Psalms 86:13For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.
- Psalms 88:4I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength.
- Jonah 2:6To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.
- Isaiah 43:25“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
- Psalms 10:2In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises.
- Psalms 85:2You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins.
- Jeremiah 31:34No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
- Micah 7:18Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
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
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