Isaiah 38:16
in Isaiah 38O Lord, by such things men live, and in all of them my spirit finds life. You have restored me to health and have let me live.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
O Lord, by these things men live; And wholly therein is the life of my spirit: Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live.
KJV
O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
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This verse in Isaiah 38
Commentary
13 notes on this verseBy these things men live “For this cause shall it be declared” - Περι αυτης γαρ ανηγγελη σοι, και εξηγειρας μου την πνοην, Sept. They read in their copies עליה יחוו לך ותחיי רוחי not very different from the present text, from which all the ancient Versions vary. They entirely omit two words, ולכל בהן ulecol bahen; as to which there is some variation in the MSS. One MS. has ובכל ubechol, and in all; two others וכל vechol, and all, and ten MSS. have בהם bahem, in them, in the masculine gender.
This site's exposition
I will walk slowly all my years
on Isaiah 38:15-16
The turn comes without transition: He Himself has done this, the God who sent the sentence now credited with the recovery. The king resolves: I will walk slowly all my years. The next verse names the bitterness as part of what taught him, by such things men live.
This site's exposition
by such things men live
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that let me live is an imperative in Hebrew, a prayer added to the thanks for health restored. Men live by the gifts of God, as Deuteronomy 8:3 says of every word from his mouth. The king asks to keep living by them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 16) I will consider all my years in the bitterness of my soul. Lord, if this is how one lives, and in such a life of my spirit, you will correct me and give me life. Nothing of the long things of mortals lasts, and all the happiness of the world, while it is held, is lost. For when the time of tribulation comes, everything that is past does not help the one who endures. Hence, the foolish sentiment of Epicurus is, who claims that the remembrance of past good things mitigates present misfortunes.
The Medieval Church1 voice
777. O Lord, if man's life be such. Here he recalls the benefit which he has received; and first, correction: if man's life be such, that is, if the life of men is so miserable, or if life is acquired through tribulation: reproofs of instruction …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): " Thou wilt restore me, and make me to live; not only restore me from this illness, but make me to live through the years assigned me." And, having this hope, 1. He promises himself always to retain the impressions of his affliction (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
): " By these things which thou hast done for me they live, the kingdom lives" (for the life of such a king was the life of the kingdom); "all that hear of it shall live and be comforted; by the same power and goodness that have restored me all men have their souls held in life, and they ought to acknowledge it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
By these - By thy promises, and thy performance of them; therefore it is not strange, that one word of God hath brought me back from the jaws of death.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
O Lord, by these things men live,....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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].
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The prayer and thanksgiving song of Hezekiah is only given here, not in the parallel passages of Second Kings and Second Chronicles. Isa 38:9 is the heading or inscription.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The second part of the song passes from prayer to thanksgiving at the prayer being heard. What shall I say?--the language of one at a loss for words to express his sense of the unexpected deliverance. both spoken . . . and . . . done it-- (Nu 23:19). Both promised and performed (1Th 5:24;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
O Lord, by these things men live - The design of this and the following verses is evidently to set forth the goodness of God, and to celebrate his praise for what he had done. The phrase ‘these things,’ refers evidently to the promises of God and their fulfillment; and the idea is, that people are sustained in the land of the living only by such gracious interpositions as he had experienced. It was not because people had any power of preserving their own lives, but because God interposed in time of trouble, and restored to health when there was no human prospect that they could recover. And in all these things - In these promises, and in the divine interposition. Is the life of my spirit - I am alive in virtue only of these things. So wilt thou recover me - Or so hast thou recovered me; that is, thou hast restored me to health.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲדֹנָ֖י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֣ם | ʾaleihem | on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יִֽחְי֑וּ | yichyu | people live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| וּלְכָל־ | ulekhol- | and to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בָּהֶן֙ | bahen | in them | ||
| חַיֵּ֣י | chaiyei | [the] life of | H2416 → | 498 times |
| רוּחִ֔י | ruchi | spirit my | H7307 → | 378 times |
| וְתַחֲלִימֵ֖נִי | vetachalimeni | and may you restore to health me | H2492 → | 29 times |
| וְהַחֲיֵֽנִי׃ | vehachayeni | and preserve alive me | H2421 → | 282 times |
אֲדֹנָ֖יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
עֲלֵיהֶ֣םon them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
יִֽחְי֑וּpeople live
yichyuH2421 →282 times
וּלְכָל־and to all
ulekhol-H3605 →5413 times
בָּהֶן֙in them
bahen
חַיֵּ֣י[the] life of
chaiyeiH2416 →498 times
רוּחִ֔יspirit my
ruchiH7307 →378 times
וְתַחֲלִימֵ֖נִיand may you restore to health me
vetachalimeniH2492 →29 times
וְהַחֲיֵֽנִי׃and preserve alive me
vehachayeniH2421 →282 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 4:4But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 8:3
He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone,…
- Luke 4:4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 6:63
The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
- John 6:31–59
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
- Romans 15:4
For everything that was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope.
- Deuteronomy 8:3
Through
Deuteronomy 8:3He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone,…
it leads to
- Matthew 4:4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
- Hebrews 13:5–6
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
- 1 Corinthians 10:3
They all ate the same spiritual food
- Matthew 4:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.