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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)For the dead cannot praise you; they cannot raise their voices in praise. Those who go down to the grave can no longer hope in your faithfulness.

Context of Isaiah 38:18

16Lord, by such things people live; and my spirit finds life in them too. You restored me to health and let me live. 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. For 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. 20The Lord will save me, and we will sing with stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the temple 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 6:5Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave?
• Psalms 30:9“What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
• Psalms 88:11Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction?
• Psalms 115:17It is not the dead who praise the Lord, those who go down to the place of silence;
• Ecclesiastes 9:10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
• Numbers 16:33They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.
• Proverbs 14:32When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous seek refuge in God.
• Matthew 8:12But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
• Matthew 25:46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
• Luke 16:26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone 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