My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver. He will cut me off from the loom. From day even to night you will make an end of me.
Parallel Translations
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My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver. He will cut me off from the loom. From day even to night you will make an end of me.
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Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
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My habitation is plucked up and carried away from me as a shepherd's tent; I have rolled up like a weaver my life; He will cut me off from the thrum; from day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Isaiah 38:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 73:14 For all day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.
- Hebrews 1:12 You will roll them up like a mantle, and they will be changed; but you are the same. Your years won’t fail.”
- Job 4:20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish forever without any regarding it.
- Job 6:9 even that it would please God to crush me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
- Job 7:3-7 so am I made to possess months of misery, wearisome nights are appointed to me. When I lie down, I say, ‘When will I arise, and the night be gone?’ I toss and turn until the dawning of the day. My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope. Oh remember that my life is a breath. My eye will no more see good.
- Job 9:25-26 “Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away. They see no good. They have passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that swoops on the prey.
- Job 14:2 He grows up like a flower, and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn’t continue.
- Job 17:1 “My spirit is consumed. My days are extinct, and the grave is ready for me.
- Psalms 31:22 As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.” Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.
- Psalms 89:45-47 You have shortened the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame. How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire? Remember how short my time is, for what vanity you have created all the children of men!
- Psalms 102:11 My days are like a long shadow. I have withered like grass.
- Psalms 102:23-24 He weakened my strength along the course. He shortened my days. I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the middle of my days. Your years are throughout all generations.
- Psalms 119:23 Though princes sit and slander me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
- Isaiah 1:8 The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a field of melons, like a besieged city.
- Isaiah 13:20 It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.
- 2 Corinthians 5:4 For indeed we who are in this tent do groan, being burdened, not that we desire to be unclothed, but that we desire to be clothed, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
- James 4:14 Whereas you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.
- 2 Peter 1:13-14 I think it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, in one day, or shortly.
That is, in one day, or shortly.
By my sin I have provoked God to take my life from me.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 38:12 Mine age is departed, and is removed…
Isa 38:12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day [even] to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Ver. 12. Mine age is departed.] Or, My generation, or my habitation: here I have no settled abode, no continuing city, but am flitting, as a shepherd’s shed.
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I have cut off like a weaver my life.] By my sins I have shortened my days. {as Gen 38:7; Gen 38:10} Or rather, God as a weaver that hath finished his web, cutteth me out of the loom of life. We know what the poets fain of the fates,
“ Clotho colum baiulat, Lachesis trahit, Atropos occat. ”
He will cut me off with pining sickness.] Or, From the thrum, for the same Hebrew word signifieth both, because of the thinness and weakness of it.
From day even to night.] So that by night I shall be dead, as they story of the Ephemerobii and as Aristotle writes that the river Hypanis in Thracia every day bringeth forth little bladders out of which come certain flies, which are thus bred in the morning, fledged at noon, and dead at night.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Mine age is departed; the time of my life…
Mine age is departed; the time of my life is expired.
As a shepherd’s tent, which is easily and speedily removed.
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I have cut off, to wit, by my sins, provoking God to do it. Or, I do declare, and have concluded, that my life is or will be suddenly cut off; for men are oft said in Scripture to do those things which they only declare and pronounce to be done; as men are said to pollute, and to remit and retain sins, and the like, when they only declare men and things to be polluted, and sins to be remitted or retained by God.
Like a weaver, who cutteth off the web from the loom, either when it is finished, or before, according to his pleasure.
He; the Lord, who pronounced this sentence against him.
With pining sickness; with a consuming disease, wasting my spirits and life. Some render this word, from the thrum; from those threads at the end of the web, which are fastened to the beam. So the similitude of a weaver is continued.
From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me: the sense is either,
1. This sickness will kill me in the space of one day. Or rather,
2. Thou dost pursue me night and day with continual pains, and wilt not desist till thou hast made a full end of me; so that I expect that every day will be my last day.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain I reckoned till morning,.... Or, "I set my time…
I reckoned till morning,.... Or, "I set my time till the morning (m)"; he fixed and settled it in his mind that he could live no longer than to the morning, if he lived so long; he thought he should have died before the night came on, and, now it was come, the utmost he could propose to himself was to live till morning; that was the longest time he could reckon of. According to the accents, it should be rendered, "I reckoned till morning as a lion"; or "I am like until the morning as a lion"; or, "I likened until the morning (God) as a lion"; I compared him to one; which agrees with what follows. The Targum is,
"I roared until morning, as a lion roars;''
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through the force of the disease, and the pain he was in: or rather,
"I laid my bones together until the morning as a lion; "so indeed as a lion God" hath broken all my bones (n):''
so will he break all my bones; or, "it will break"; that is, the sickness, as Kimchi and Jarchi; it lay in his bones, and so violent was the pain, that he thought all his bones were breaking in pieces; such is the case in burning fevers, as Jerom observes; so Kimchi interprets it of a burning fever, which is like a fire in the bones. Some understand this of God himself, to which our version directs, who may be said to do this by the disease: compare with this Job 16:14 and to this sense the following clause inclines:
from day even tonight wilt thou make an end of me; he lived till morning, which was more than he expected, and was the longest time he could set himself; and now be reckoned that before night it would be all over with him as to this world. This was the second day of his illness; and the third day he recovered, and went to the temple with his song of praise.
(m) "statui, vel posui usque ad mane", Pagninus, Montanus; "constitui rursum terminum usque mane", Vatablus. (n) Reinbeck de Accent Heb. p. 411.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. Mine age - is removed from me…
Verse 12. Mine age - is removed from me as a shepherd's tent] רעי roi is put for רעה roeh, say the rabbis (Sal. ben Melec on the place;) but much more probably is written imperfectly for רעים roim, shepherds. See Clarke on Isa 5:1.
I shall be removed from this state to another, as a shepherd removes his tent from one place to another for the sake of his flock. Is not this a strong intimation of his belief in a future state?
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I have cut off like a weaver my life - "My life is cut off as by the weaver"] קפדתי kippadti. This verb is rendered passively, and in the third person, by the Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 38:12. Mine age is departed — The time…
Isa 38:12. Mine age is departed — The time of my life is expired; and is removed as a shepherd’s tent — Which is easily and speedily removed: I have cut off — Namely, by my sins, provoking God to do it; or, I have concluded, and declare that my life is, or will be, soon cut off: for men are often said, in the Scriptures, to do those things that they only declare and pronounce to be done; like a weaver my life — Who cutteth off the web from the loom, either when it is finished, or before, according to his pleasure. He — God; will cut me off with pining sickness — With a consuming disease, wasting my spirits and life; from day, even till night, wilt thou make an end of me — That is, either, 1st, This sickness will kill me in the space of one day; or, 2d, Thou dost pursue me night and day with continual pains, and wilt not cease till thou hast made a full end of me; so that I expect every day will be my last day. Bishop Lowth translates this verse: “My habitation is taken away, and is removed from me, like a shepherd’s tent: my life is cut off, as by the weaver; he will sever me from the loom; in the course of the day thou wilt finish my web.” Vitringa and Dr. Waterland read the verse nearly in the same manner, considering the similitude of the weaver as being continued to the end of it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Mine age - The word which is used here…
Mine age - The word which is used here (דור dôr) means properly the revolving period or circle of human life. The parallelism seems to demand, however, that it should be used in the sense of dwelling or habitation, so as to correspond with the ‘shepherd’s tent.’ Accordingly, Lowth and Noyes render it, ‘Habitation.’ So also do Gesenius and Rosenmuller. The Arabic word has this signification; and the Hebrew verb דור dûr also means “to dwell, to remain,” as in the Chaldee. Here the word means a dwelling, or habitation; that is, a tent, as the habitations of the Orientals were mostly tents.
Is departed - (נסע nı̂ssa‛). The idea here is, that his dwelling was to be transferred from one place to another, as when a tent or encampment was broken up; that is, he was about to cease to dwell on the earth, and to dwell in the land of silence, or among the dead.
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From me as a shepherd’s tent - As suddenly as the tent of a shepherd is taken down, folded up, and transferred to another place. There is doubtless the idea here that he would continue to exist, but in another place, as the shepherd would pitch his tent or dwell in another place. He was to be cut off from the earth, but he expected to dwell among the dead. The whole passage conveys the idea that he expected to dwell in another state - as the shepherd dwells in another place when he strikes his tent, and it is removed.
I have cut off like a weaver my life - This is another image designed to express substantially the same idea. The sense is, as a weaver takes his web from the loom by cutting the warp, or the threads which bind it to the beam, and thus loosens it and takes it away, so his life was to be cut off. When it is said, ‘I cut off’ (קפדתי qipadetiy), the idea is, doubtless, I AM cut off; or my life is cut off. Hezekiah here speaks of himself as the agent, because he might have felt that his sins and unworthiness were the cause. Life is often spoken of as a web that is woven, because an advance is constantly made in filling up the web, and because it is soon finished, and is then cut off.
He will cut me off - God was about to cut me off.
With pining sickness - Margin, ‘From the thrum.’ Lowth, ‘From the loom.’ The word דלה dalâh means properly something hanging down or pendulous; anything pliant or slender. Hence, it denotes hair or locks Son 7:6. Here it seems to denote the threads or thrums which tied the web to the weaver’s beam. The image here denotes the cutting off of life as the weaver cuts his web out of the loom, or as he cuts off thrums. The word never means sickness.
From day even to night - That is, in the space of a single day, or between morning and night - as a weaver with a short web accomplishes it in a single day. The disease of Hezekiah was doubtless the pestilence; and the idea is, that God would cut him off speedily, as it were in a single day.
Wilt thou make an end of me - Hebrew, ‘Wilt thou perfect’ or ‘finish’ me; that is, wilt thou take my life.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain age--rather, as the parallel "shepherd's tent" requires habitation, so…
age--rather, as the parallel "shepherd's tent" requires habitation, so the Arabic [GESENIUS].
departed--is broken up, or shifted, as a tent to a different locality. The same image occurs (Co2 5:1; Pe2 1:12-13). He plainly expects to exist, and not cease to be in another state; as the shepherd still lives, after he has struck his tent and removed elsewhere.
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I have cut off--He attributes to himself that which is God's will with respect to him; because he declares that will. So Jeremiah is said to "root out" kingdoms, because he declares God's purpose of doing so (Jer 1:10). The weaver cuts off his web from the loom when completed. Job 7:6 has a like image. The Greeks represented the Fates as spinning and cutting off the threads of each man's life.
he--God.
with pining sickness--rather, "from the thrum," or thread, which tied the loom to the weaver's beam.
from day . . . to night--that is, in the space of a single day between morning and night (Job 4:20).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 12. Mine age is departed — “Age,” from דור,…
12. Mine age is departed — “Age,” from דור, (dor,) which, besides meaning a period, a generation, also means a dwelling; so here body, the dwelling of the soul. It has this meaning from being round, like a nomad tent. Thus the parallel with next phrase is complete.
Is removed… as a shepherd’s tent — The same idea runs in the words, I have cut off… cut me off, etc., as a weaver cuts his threads of warp when he has finished his cloth — has cut the web which fastens to the loom.
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From day even to night — During all the day, life seemed to wane.
Make an end of me — Finish me, cut off existence; as the weaver loosens the cloth from the loom when it is fully woven.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. Figures setting forth the utter frustration of his…
12. Figures setting forth the utter frustration of his hope of life. The first is that of a nomad’s tent, easily pitched and soon removed.
Mine age is departed] Render: My habitation is plucked up (Cheyne). The sense “habitation” is Aramaic and Arabic, and does not occur again in the Bible (but see on ch. Isa_53:8). Elsewhere the word means “generation,” in the sense of “contemporaries,” which is obviously unsuitable here. Then follow two figures from weaving.
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I have cut off] Rather: I have rolled up (R.V.) as the weaver does the finished web. with pining sickness] should be (as in R.V. marg.) from the thrum, the threads by which the web is attached to the loom.
from day even to night] i.e. apparently “within twenty-four hours.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) Mine age is departed . . .—Better, my…
(12) Mine age is departed . . .—Better, my home, or habitation . . . as in Psa_49:19, and thus fitting in better with the similitude that follows. The “home” is, of course, the body, as the dwelling-place of the spirit. (Comp. Psa_52:5, “hurl thee away tentless,” Heb., and Job_21:28, “Is not their tent-cord torn away?” Heb.) The “shepherd’s tent” is the type of a transitory home (2Co_5:1-4).
I have cut off like a weaver my life . . .—The words express the feeling of one who had been weaving the web of his life with varied plans and counsels (comp. Isa_30:1), and now had to roll it up, as finished before its time, because Jehovah had taken up the “abhorred shears” to cut it from the thrum, which takes the place of “with pining sickness.” There is, perhaps, a tone of reverence in the impersonal form of the statement. The sufferer will not name Jehovah as the author of his trouble.
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From day even to night.—The words speak of the rapidity rather than of the prolongation of suffering. The sick man expects that death will come before the morrow’s dawn.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Mine age is departed; rather, my dwelling is plucked…
Mine age is departed; rather, my dwelling is plucked up. The body seems to be viewed as the dwelling-place of the soul. Hezekiah"s is to be taken from him, and carried far away, like a shepherd"s tent, while he, his true self, i.e. his soul, is left bare and naked. (comp. 2Co_5:1-4) I have cut off like a weaver my life; rather, I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life. The careful weaver rolls up the web, as it advances, to keep it clean and free from dust. Hezekiah had been equally careful of his life; he had about half finished it, when lo! "Jehovah takes up the fatal scissors" (Cheyne), and severs the unfinished cloth from the loom (compare the Greek myth of Clotho, Laehesis, and Atropos). With pining sickness; rather, as in the margin, from the thrum. The "thrum" is the portion of the warp which adjoins the upper bar of the loom.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain As a shepherds tent
Isa_38:12
As a shepherds tent
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The inconstancy of earthly life
He saith a shepherds tent, because that represents the inconstancy and uncertainty of our life, more than any other tent.
The soldiers tent may stand pitched long in a place, as in sieges and the like; but shepherds change the place of their tent every day, because of the opportunity of fresh pasture for their cattle. (W. Day, M. A.)
As a shepherd s tent
I. MANS LOT HAS NO PERMANENCE.
II. IT IS EASILY REMOVED.
III. IT MAY BE SPEEDILY REMOVED.
IV. IT IS OFTEN REMOVED SUDDENLY.
V. IT IS REMOVED TO ANOTHER PLACE. (W. O. Lilley.)
I have out off like a weaver my life
The art of weaving
The art of weaving seems to have been coeval with the first dawn of civilisation. We do not know where or at what time it was invented; but we find that at an early age in the worlds history the Egyptians manifested great skill in it. The vestures of fine linen such as Joseph wore were the product of Egyptian looms, and the existing specimens of the mummy cloth of Egypt are said to compare favourably with the finest cambric of modern times. There are various incidental references to this art in the Scriptures. We are told that the staff of Goliaths spear was like a weavers beam. Job says that his days are swifter than a weavers shuttle. And among the experiments which Delilah tried in ascertaining the secret of Samsons strength, we find one that consisted in weaving the seven locks of his hair with the web of her loom. She fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson; and he awaked out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web. Here we have references to some of the parts of the loom as it exists in the present day, the beam, the shuttle, the pin to which the web was attached. Indeed, we learn on reliable authority that though the introduction of machinery has made some important changes in the loom as used by the ancients, yet the essential features of it remain unaltered. (W. V. Robinson, B. A.)
Man as a weaver
We need, therefore, but a slight acquaintance with the art of weaving in its present state to enable us to understand the meaning of our text. Let us suppose that a man is standing before his loom. The warp has been supplied to him by his master, and fixed to the weavers beam. The threads pass over the loom, and the weft is shot through by means of the shuttle. The web is then complete, and is rolled on to another beam. When the required length of cloth has been woven, the threads of the warp are cut, and if the master has no more work for the weaver, he is dismissed from his employ. (W. V. Robinson, B. A.)
The web of life
Life is like a web of which man is the weaver, and the threads may at any moment be cut by the master, and the weaver dismissed from the loom.
I. LIFE IS LIKE A WEB, OF WHICH GOD SUPPLIES THE MATERIALS, AND OF WHICH MAN IS THE WEAVER.
1. God supplies the warp of life.
(1) This consists partly of a mans capacities and partly of a mans circumstances. It is different in almost every case; but in each case it forms the material which lies at the basis of a mans life. No two men are exactly alike. One man enters life with a strong physical constitution. Another, perhaps his brother, enters into life a cripple. One man inherits a strong intellect, which in his boyhood puts him at the top of his school, and in his later years makes him the leader of his fellows. Another is born with a slow, dull comprehension. One man is born with tastes and tendencies which will make him an artist or a poet; another with passions which will sink him into the criminal class if they are allowed to develop. One man is weak in character, veering like the weather-cock with every breath of public opinion. Another has a strong character. He is firm and persistent, and allows no difficulty to discourage or distress him. How very different is the warp of life in these cases!
(2) The warp of life comprises, moreover, a mans early surroundings his parentage, his social position, his early education, his religious training. One men is born with a silver spoon in his mouth, another has the fiery liquid poured down his throat before he is many weeks old. One is surrounded by the sunshine of love and affluence; another enters life in the cold winds of adversity and cruel oppression. One man is born in a country village, and his early life is full of experiences of the external world in all its purity and beauty; another is born in a large town, amid the roar of traffic and the bustling excitement of city life. One is born in a land where the air is heavy with idolatry; another is surrounded with Christian influences. How different is the warp of life in all such cases! Now God supplies this; and it is not for any one of us to murmur at His arrangements. For this, at least, we know, that God requires of a man no more than he possesses.
2. The weft of life, as we conceive of it, consists of the desires and purposes and resolutions that we bring to bear upon our capacities and circumstances. There are some who weave with the coarse yarn of selfishness, who use their strong physical natures for the gratification of their bodily appetites, who allow their strong reasoning powers to lift them up in rebellion against God, who oppress and crush their weaker brethren with their firm wills and imperious natures. When a coarse thread is woven into a fine warp, the cloth is not good. Neither can that life be good which has a selfish purpose woven into the Divine plan. But there are others who weave with the fine yarn of Christian consecration, and the web of their lives cannot but be well pleasing in the sight of God. It is true that the weft of life is supplied to us as well as the warp, and yet each man possesses the power to choose the thread that he will weave into his life. It is ours to choose either the selfish purpose or the Christ-like purpose. Any weaver may lay aside the yarn that his master has supplied to him, and substitute for it an inferior yarn and work with that. And that is exactly what many are actually doing. On the one side, the Divine Spirit is prompting him to all that is noble and good; and on the other side are the spirits of darkness, who cannot compel one single man to choose the wrong, but who can, and do tempt him to it; and if a man, either through indifference or presumption, allows himself to be influenced by that which is evil, for the life that is thus marred he is accountable to God.
II. GOD KNOWS BEST OF ALL WHEN THE WEB OF LIFE IS REALLY FINISHED. The Greeks believed that the fates were spinning the web of human life, and that they determined when it should be cut off from the loom. Ours is a truer and a more comforting creed. It is no cruel fate but a loving Father that determines for us the length of lifes fabric.
1. We sometimes think that some lives are ended before they are completed. What means the broken column, so frequently to be seen in our cemeteries, but that some mourning friend thinks that one life, perhaps dearer than any other life, has been cut off before it is completed. But God knows best when a life is really finished. Every life is finished when Gods purpose in that life has been fulfilled. The life of Jesus only reached over thirty-three short years; but no one thinks of suggesting that it would have been better if He had lived to be sixty. His work was finished.
2. Again, are there not many who seem to us to have lived long after their work on earth was over? It may be that in the patient waiting of their lives, in the dim glory of their eventide, He has some threads for them to weave into the warp that He has supplied.
3. But after the fabric has been rolled up, it must be unrolled again. How few are there who can, without emotion, take a retrospect of their past life! To some it is a punishment greater than they can bear! And is there any man, however good, who can think of the past without regret? The memory of Gods goodness, indeed, may fill him with gratitude, and joy, and wonder; but the recollection of his share in lifes fabric must fill him with grief and shame. And this life must be Unrolled before the searching eye of the Great Master, in the fierce light that beats about His throne. For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ. How can we bear to present such imperfect and sin-stained lives to God? Let us take courage. For are there not some standing before the throne whose lives were no better than ours? How can they stand there? They have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And we, too, can receive forgiveness and cleansing where they received it. The Great Master might well say that such clumsy and faithless weavers as we are should have no place in His service and in His home. But He will receive us for the sake of His dear Son. (W. V. Robinson, D. D.)
Two typical cases: Judas Iscariot and Paul
Judas Iscariot was a man of whose capacities we know little. We may infer, however, that he possessed some valuable gifts, or his brethren in the apostolate would never have assigned to him the important office of purse-bearer and almoner to the little band. His circumstances, we know, were unusually good. He was drawn, with the other apostles, to the feet of Jesus by the gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth. For three years he accompanied our Lord in His journeys. He heard the discourses to which He gave utterance, and he lived under the influence of His character. This was the warp of his life. But what does he weave into it? Is it avarice, or is it vindictiveness, or is it a conceited idea that he can force the triumph of his Master, or is it bitter disappointment at the spiritual character of Christs kingdom, that forms the weft of his life? Whatever it is, it is a dark, coarse thread. Satan enters into him. He betrays his Master even with the kiss of loyalty and affection. And when he comes to look at the web that he has woven, he himself is so overwhelmed with grief and remorse, that he cuts himself off from the loom. He went, and departed, and hanged himself. Saul of Tarsus was a very different man; a man of weak physical constitution, but of strong intellect; a man of deep conscientiousness and rousing enthusiasm. Drought up in a comfortable home and trained in the Pharisaism of his day, he weaves into his early life a simply lurid thread of persecution of the Christians. Jesus meets him on the way to Damascus, and he gives himself up completely to the influences that are brought to bear upon him. How changed his life is! He has severe physical sufferings to endure; he has persecutions innumerable to face; but inwoven into all the threads of the Divine providence is the grand purpose of consecration to Christs service. Henceforth the motto of his life is, To me to live is Christ. Christ is the aim of all his labours, of all Iris sufferings, of all his successes. And now that that life is unrolled for us in the Scriptures it is acknowledged to be one of the noblest and best ever lived upon earth. (W. V. Robinson, D. D.)
The life of Jesus
But even that life pales before the resplendent glory that streams forth from the one perfect life upon earth, the life of Him who was at once the Son of Mary and the Son of God. Born in the stable of the inn at Bethlehem, bred in the humble home of Nazareth, pursuing the calling of a carpenter, He possessed little that men would covet. But that life was glorious, not because of its circumstances, but because of its high and holy purpose. My Fathers business, that was the aim that He set before Himself from the beginning; and that was the aim that He pursued to the close of His career. When at last the supreme moment has come, He can shout triumphantly, It is finished. He has glorified God on the earth, He has finished the work that was given Him to do. Like His own seamless robe, His life was of one piece throughout. And He lived for us, He died for us. Trusting in Him, following in His footsteps, our lives may, in some measure, be like His. Humbler they can scarcely be; but are there any that are so full of glory? (W. V. Robinson, D. D.)
Human life a weaving
I. IT IS WORTH WHILE LOOKING AT THE WORK ITSELF. Now what is this? The formation of personal character. There are two great elements which might well correspond with the weavers warp and woof. The first may represent the principles of scriptural trust in God; pardon, providence, hope, &c. These, like the weavers warp, are strong and firmly fixed. The second are our own dally deeds. Each is a thread, woven into the character; both are necessary in cloth making: so are faith and works, in character weaving. Now observe about this work what it is.
1. The weavers own. I do not mean that the materials, either before or after they are made up, belong to him, but the work itself. A thousand weavers may use the same wool in common, while the work of each will be the product of each individual workman. Now this is a solemn fact in character weaving. Every man is making, and must make, his own; nobody can make it for him, nor can God give it him.
2. It is a work of increasing progress. We have to choose, not whether the work shall go on, but only whether the work shall be good or bad.
3. It is a work of growing ease. It is difficult at first, but soon, and in proportion to the weavers assiduity, he becomes dexterous, and may sing all day at his loom; ay, he shall have plenty to sing about too! So it is with character weaving.
4. It is a work of changeful feeling. We may be full of joy or grief, gaiety or gloom, only let the work go on. The finest cloth is often woven while we Job_7:6). Poor Job! You little thought what was in your loom then! Every age admires that work of yours! Christian weaver, do not think too much of your frames and feelings.
II. IT IS WORTH WHILE LOOKING AT THE MATERIALS. These are the doctrines of truth, all the agencies of the Spirit, and particularly all the events of life, all the calls to self-denial, duty, trust and righteousness which our lot furnishes. Observe of them--
1. They are like the weavers wool, all supplied by the Master. And the Master gives that material which best suits the workman.
2. They are only materials after all. They are valuable for the cloths sake, rather than for themselves. The man that works the worst material best, shall have the best pay and praise, and vice versa. Always remember that the part you play in lifes drama is the choice of God, the manner of playing it alone is yours. These materials are abundant. The master never lacks them so that work should be short. Every workman has his hands full.
III. IT IS WORTH WHILE LOOKING AT THE END. I have cut off, &c. Observe--
1. The fabric lasts for ever. Cloth wears out, character does not.
2. The work is over at death. The loom must then stop for ever. No unpicking bad work, finished or unfinished, bad or good. The shuttle is still, and the shears cut off the cloth, and it is delivered up.
3. The Master inspects it. Here, reputation will be nothing; character, all. It will be held up to the sun, ἐιλικρίνεια.
4. The Master disposes of it according to its worth. In reviewing all this, think--
(1) What a mercy it is we are spared and furnished for this work!
(2) What a motive to begin the work early!
(3) How soon shall we have nothing but our work left! Wealth, poverty, health, sickness, &c., all will be left behind! (W. Wheeler.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Hezekiah continues his written prayer.
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My life is removed and carried away from me like a shepherd's tent
This speaks of how Yahweh is ending Hezekiah's life quickly by comparing it to how a shepherd removes his tent from the ground. AT: "Yahweh has taken my life away from me quickly like a shepherd packs up his tent and carries it away" (See: Simile)
My life is removed
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Yahweh has taken my life" (See: Active or Passive)
I have rolled up my life like a weaver; you are cutting me off from the loom
This speaks of Yahweh quickly ending Hezekiah's life by comparing it to how a weaver cuts his cloth from the loom and rolls it up. AT: "you are ending my life quickly, like a weaver cuts his cloth from the loom when it is finished" (See: Simile)
you are cutting
Here "you" is singular and refers to God. (See: Forms of You)
loom
a device used to weave thread together to make cloth
like a lion he breaks all my bones
Hezekiah speaks of how he is in extreme pain by comparing it to having his body torn apart by lions. AT: "my pain was as though I were being torn apart by lions" (See: Simile)
translationWords
life
shepherd
lions
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 38:12 These images depicted the brevity of life (cp.…
38:12 These images depicted the brevity of life (cp. 2 Cor 5:1).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.