John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 5. Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people , etc.] The king of them, as the Targum: thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears ; (see Gill on “ Isaiah 38:5”) behold, I will heal thee ; instantly, miraculously; and none but God could heal him, his disease being in its kind mortal, and he had been told from the Lord that he should die: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord : the temple, to give thanks for his recovery; and this he should do on the third day from thence; so soon should he be well, which would show the cure to be miraculous.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-11 - Hezekiah was sick unto death, in the same year in which the king of Assyria besieged Jerusalem. A warning to prepare for death was brough to Hezekiah by Isaiah. Prayer is one of the best preparations for death, because by it we fetch in strength and grace from God, to enabl us to finish well. He wept sorely: some gather from hence that he wa unwilling to die; it is in the nature of man to dread the separation of soul and body. There was also something peculiar in Hezekiah's case; he was now in the midst of his usefulness. Let Hezekiah's prayer, see Is 38. interpret his tears; in that is nothing which is like his havin been under that fear of death, which has bondage or torment. Hezekiah' piety made his sick-bed easy. "O Lord, remember now;" he does not spea as if God needed to be put in mind of any thing by us; nor, as if the reward might be demanded as due; it is Christ's righteousness only tha is the purchase of mercy and grace. Hezekiah does not pray, Lord, spar me; but, Lord, remember me; whether I live or die, let me be thine. God always hears the prayers of the broken in heart, and will give health length of days, and temporal deliverances, as much and as long as it is truly good for them. Means were to be used for Hezekiah's recovery yet, considering to what a height the disease was come, and ho suddenly it was checked, the cure was miraculous. It is our duty, when sick, to use such means as are proper to help nature, else we do no trust God, but tempt him. For the confirmation of his faith, the shado of the sun was carried back, and the light was continued longer tha usual, in a miraculous manner. This work of wonder shows the power of God in heaven as well as on earth, the great notice he takes of prayer and the great favour he bears to his chosen.
Original Hebrew שׁוב7725 ואמרת559 אל413 חזקיהו2396 נגיד5057 עמי5971 כה3541 אמר559 יהוה3068 אלהי430 דוד1732 אביך1 שׁמעתי8085 את853 תפלתך8605 ראיתי7200 את853 דמעתך1832 הנני2005 רפא7495 לך ביום3117 השׁלישׁי7992 תעלה5927 בית1004 יהוה׃3068
