What does Isaiah mean by these
things in Isaiah
38:16?by
Jack
Kettler
In
this
study, the meaning of “these things men shall live”
will be considered.
“O
Lord, by these thingsmen live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so,
wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.” (Isaiah
38:16)
The
reader
will notice that the words things
and men
are italicized, meaning that the
two are not in the Hebrew text.
Consulting the Strong’s Lexicon:
“by
[such things]
עֲלֵיהֶ֣ם(‘ă·lê·hem)
Preposition
|
third person masculine plural
Strong's
Hebrew
5921: prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to,
on account of, on behalf
of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together
with, beyond, above, over, by,
on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground
of, on the basis of, on
account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for
the sake of, for, with, in
spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter
of, as regards 1b) above,
beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of
elevation or pre-eminence) 1d)
upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together
with, with (of addition) 1e)
over (of suspension or extension) 1f) by, adjoining,
next, at, over, around (of
contiguity or proximity) 1g) down upon, upon, on,
from, up upon, up to,
towards, over towards, to, against (with verbs of
motion) 1h) to (as a dative)
conj 2) because that, because, notwithstanding,
although”
The Strong's
Concordance:
“[men]
chayah:
live
Original
Word: חָיָה
Part
of Speech:
Verb
Transliteration:
chayah
Phonetic
Spelling:
(khaw-yaw')
Definition:
to
live”
While
not
in the original, things
and men
are certainly implied in the Hebrew
text.
Since
these
two words are implied, consider how the English
Standard Version (ESV)
renders the text in Isaiah 38:16:
“O
Lord, by these
things men live, and in all these is the life of my
spirit. Oh, restore me to
health and make me live!” (ESV)
How does one understand the
context of Isaiah
38:16?
The context is addressed in Matthew
Henry's Concise Commentary:
“38:9-22
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 shepherd has. Our
days are compared to the weaver's shuttle, Job 7:6,
passing and repassing very
swiftly, every throw leaving a thread behind it; and
when finished, the piece
is cut off, taken out of the loom, and showed to our
Master to be judged of. A
good man, when his life is cut off, his cares and
fatigues are cut off with it,
and he rests from his labours. But our times are in
God's hand; he has
appointed what shall be the length of the piece.
When sick, we are very apt to
calculate our time, but are still at uncertainty. It
should be more our care
how we shall get safe to another world. And the more
we taste of the
loving-kindness of God, the more will our hearts
love him, and live to him. It
was in love to our poor perishing souls that Christ
delivered them. The pardon
does not make the sin not to have been sin, but not
to be punished as it
deserves. It is pleasant to think of our recoveries
from sickness, when we see
them flowing from the pardon of sin. Hezekiah's
opportunity to glorify God in
this world, he made the business, and pleasure, and
end of life. Being
recovered, he resolves to abound in praising and
serving God. God's promises
are not to do away, but to quicken and encourage the
use of means. Life and
health are given that we may glorify God and do
good.” (1)
From
Matthew
Henry, one learns about King Hezekiah’s sickness and
recovery and his
praise to God.
The
following
commentary entry provides a short synopsis of the
passage from
Isaiah.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Bible
Commentary
on Isaiah 38:16:
“16.
by
these—namely, by God's benefits, which are implied
in the context (Isa 38:15, “He
hath Himself done it” “unto me”). All “men live by
these” benefits (Ps
104:27-30), “and in all these is the life of my
spirit,” that is, I also live
by them (De 8:3).
and
(wilt) make me
to live—The Hebrew is imperative, “make me to live.”
In this view, he adds a
prayer to the confident hope founded on his
comparative convalescence, which he
expressed, “Thou wilt recover me” [Maurer].” (2)
In closing:
Answering
the
starting question, Isaiah, when saying by these
things, was referring to
God’s gracious benefits. So, like Hezekiah, the
believer prays that God is
praised for His daily benefits that are the result
of divine providential care.
“Study
to
shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy
2:15)
Notes:
1.Matthew
Henry,
Concise Commentary, Psalms, (Nashville, Tennessee,
Thomas Nelson), p.
1164.
2.Jamieson,
Fausset
and Brown, Commentary on the Whole Bible, (Grand
Rapids, Michigan,
Zondervan, 1977) p. 556.
Mr.
Kettler
has previously published articles in the Chalcedon
Report and Contra
Mundum. He and his wife Marea attend the
Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church. Mr.
Kettler is the author of books defending the
Reformed Faith. Books can be
ordered online at www. JackKettler .com