“Go, and tell Hezekiah, ‘Yahweh, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
Parallel Translations
-
“Go, and tell Hezekiah, ‘Yahweh, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
-
Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
-
'Go, and say to Hezekiah: Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (24)
Passages linked to Isaiah 38:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 34:5-6 They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame. This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
- 1 John 5:14-15 This is the boldness which we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. And if we know that he listens to us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him.
- Revelation 7:17 for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
- Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
- Psalms 147:3 He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.
- Psalms 56:8 You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren’t they in your book?
- 2 Kings 19:20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says ‘You have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, and I have heard you.
- Psalms 116:15 Precious in Yahweh’s sight is the death of his saints.
- Matthew 22:32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
- 2 Corinthians 7:6 Nevertheless, he who comforts the lowly, God, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
- Psalms 89:3-4 “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant, ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build up your throne to all generations.’ ”
- Isaiah 7:13-14 He said, “Listen now, house of David. Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
- 1 Kings 9:4-5 As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances; then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised to David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man on the throne of Israel.’
- 2 Samuel 7:3-5 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart; for Yahweh is with you.” That same night, Yahweh’s word came to Nathan, saying, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Yahweh says, “Should you build me a house for me to dwell in?
- 1 Kings 8:25 Now therefore, may Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with your servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail from you a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’
- 1 Kings 11:12-13 Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for David your father’s sake; but I will tear it out of your son’s hand. However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.”
- 1 Kings 15:4 Nevertheless for David’s sake, Yahweh his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem;
- 2 Kings 18:2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
- Acts 27:24 saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’
- 2 Kings 18:13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.
- 1 Chronicles 17:2-4 Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you.” That same night, the word of God came to Nathan, saying, “Go and tell David my servant, ‘Yahweh says, “You shall not build me a house to dwell in;
- 2 Chronicles 34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the Asherah poles, the engraved images, and the molten images.
- Job 14:5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he can’t pass;
- Psalms 39:12 “Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and give ear to my cry. Don’t be silent at my tears. For I am a stranger with you, a foreigner, as all my fathers were.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 38:5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith…
Isa 38:5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
Ver. 5. See 2Ki 20:5 {See Trapp on "2Ki 20:5"}
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And I will deliver thee and this city out…
And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria,.... So that it seems that Hezekiah's sickness was while the king of Assyria was near the city of Jerusalem, and about to besiege it, and before the destruction of the Assyrian army; unless this is said to secure Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from all fears of a return of that king, to give them fresh trouble:
and I will defend this city; from the present siege laid to it, ruin threatened it, or from any attack upon it, by the Assyrian monarch.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The God of David thy father - David is…
The God of David thy father - David is mentioned here, probably, because Hezekiah had a strong resemblance to him 2Ki 18:3, and because a long and happy reign had been granted to David; and also because the promise had been made to David that there should not fail a man to sit on his throne (see the note at Isa 37:35). As Hezekiah resembled David, God promised that his reign should be lengthened out; and as he perhaps was then without a son and successor, God promised him a longer life, with the prospect that he might have an heir who should succeed him on the throne.
Behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years - This is perhaps the only instance in which any man has been told exactly how long he would live. Why God specified the time cannot now be known. It was, however, a full answer to the prayer of Hezekiah, and the promise is a full demonstration that God is the hearer of prayer, and that he can answer it at once. We learn here, that it is right for a friend of God to pray for life. In times of sickness, and even when there are indications of a fatal disease, it is not improper to pray that the disease may be removed, and the life prolonged. If the desire be to do good; to advance the kingdom of God; to benefit others; or to perfect some plan of benevolence which is begun, it is not improper to pray that God would prolong the life. Who can tell but that he often thus spares useful lives when worn down with toil, and when the frame is apparently sinking to the grave, in answer to prayer? He does not indeed work miracles as he did in the case of Hezekiah, but he may direct to remedies which had not before occurred; or he may himself give a sudden and unlooked-for turn to the disease, and restore the sufferer again to health.
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 God of David thy father--God remembers the covenant with…
God of David thy father--God remembers the covenant with the father to the children (Exo 20:5; Psa 89:28-29).
tears-- (Psa 56:8).
Read full note →
days . . . years--Man's years, however many, are but as so many days (Gen 5:27).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. The verse is greatly abbreviated from 2Ki_20:5. After…
5. The verse is greatly abbreviated from 2Ki_20:5. After Hezekiah the words “the captain of my people” are omitted; and also the sentence “I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord,” which follows the word behold. It cannot be doubted that the historical book here preserves the original text.
the God of David thy father] for whose sake this special mercy is vouchsafed to the king (cf. ch. Isa_37:35; 2Ki_20:6).
Read full note →
fifteen years] That the number was arrived at by calculation on the part of the historian is not to be believed. If there be calculation in the case at all, it is in the date of ch. Isa_36:1, which may very possibly be an inference from this prediction combined with the statement of 2Ki_18:2. (See on ch. Isa_36:1) In any case the assumption that the prophecy was exactly fulfilled is a legitimate one, and the fourteenth year of Hezekiah must be accepted as the true date of this sickness. The only question is whether the writer of ch. Isa_36:1 may not have fallen into error by supposing that the date of Hezekiah’s sickness fixed the time of Sennacherib’s invasion. On that point see the Chronological Note, pp. lxxvi f. Since the king began to reign in his twenty-fifth year, it is after all not a long life that is here promised to him. His reign was to be doubled.
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 (5) Fifteen years.—The words fix the date of the…
(5) Fifteen years.—The words fix the date of the illness, taking the received chronology, as B.C. 713. The next verse shows that there was danger at the time to be apprehended from Assyria, but does not necessarily refer to Sennacherib’s invasion. Sargon’s attack (Isa_20:1) may have caused a general alarm.
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 Thus saith the Lord,... I have heard thy prayer.…
Thus saith the Lord,... I have heard thy prayer. According to the author of Kings, the full message sent to Hezekiah was, "I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto thy clays fifteen years; and I will deliver time and this city out of the hand of the King of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant Davids sake". (2Ki_20:5, 2Ki_20:6) The words in italics are additional to those here reported by Isaiah. Fifteen years. This was doubling, or rather more than doubling, the length of Hezekiah"s reign, and allowing him a length of life exceeding that of the great majority of the kings of Judah, who seldom attained the age of fifty. Hezekiah lived to be fifty-four.
HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM Ver. 5. Hezekiah"s prayer heard.
Read full note →
"Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears." These words were spoken to a heart riven with grief, and a life seemingly "sick unto death." At such times this man wants, above all else, to feel that he has been sincere. He says, not boastingly at all, but with real humility, "Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight." Words must be judged by the circumstances of the life. There is no self righteousness in them, but simple, guileless heart-speech.
I GOD"S SPEEDY CONSOLATION. "Go, and say to Hezekiah." For the Divine heart meets the human heart according to its moods. And there was no need to intensify Hezekiah"s sorrow or to test its sincerity. Just as our Saviour, remembering Peter"s fears after his denial, and knowing that the memory of his unfaithfulness and falsehood was a burning shame in his heart, said immediately after his resurrection, by the mouth of the angel, "Go your way, tell his disciples, and Peter", (Mar_16:7) that Peter might know that the "look" which struck out the fountain of tears, was turned into the look of forgiving grace and mercy. So here God would comfort Hezekiah at once in his true-hearted contrition.
II GOD"S TENDER REMEMBRANCE. "Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father." What music is that! Then there is something in a pious ancestry more than we think of at times. Your father was a man of God, perhaps. Then there are prayers treasured up for you in the greater Father"s memory. When we think of our Saviour, we "member his own words," For my sake." So God remembers also the sake of others: "For Zion"s sake;" "For Jerusalem"s sake." And as concerning Solomon God says, "Notwithstanding in thy days I will not rend the kingdom from thee, for David thy father"s sake." We read also in Genesis, "The Lord blessed the Egyptian"s house for Joseph"s sake." This is as touching as it is comforting. "The God of David thy father.
III GOD"S GRACIOUS SPEECH. "I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears." The prayer that is heard is the prayer that is heartfelt. None need be ashamed of tears. They are not unmanly. "Jesus wept" When a man weeps we are accustomed to wonder, nay, sometimes to scorn. The world prefers the sternness of endurance and the courage of despair. God hears heavenly eloquence in sighs, and beautiful liturgies in tears. "A broken and a contrite heart, O Go!, thou wilt not despise." And the answer came: "I will add unto thy days fifteen years I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the King of Assyria." So God will save nations because of righteous souls, and will deliver us from worse Assyrians than those that imperilled Israel. W.M.S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 38:5 the God of your ancestor David: Hezekiah faithfully…
38:5 the God of your ancestor David: Hezekiah faithfully walked in David’s footsteps (see 37:35; 38:1-22).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.