Isaiah 38:18
in Isaiah 38For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For Sheol cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
KJV
For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
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This verse in Isaiah 38
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For the grave cannot praise thee - The Hebrew word here is sheol. It is put by metonymy here for those who are in the grave, that is, for the dead. The word ‘praise’ here refers evidently to the public and solemn celebration of the goodness of God. It is clear, I think, that Hezekiah had a belief in a future state, or that he expected to dwell with ‘the inhabitants of the land of silence’ Isa 38:11 when he died. But he did not regard that state as one adapted to the celebration of the public praises of God.
This site's exposition
For Sheol cannot thank You
on Isaiah 38:18-19
The writing states its view of the dead plainly: Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You, and those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness. Against that silence stands the line, The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today. Praise belongs to the living and is handed down, for fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
[Those who live in a godly manner] and participate in such goodness are the only ones able to give glory to God, and that is what really constitutes a feast and a holy day. For the feast is not indulging in a lot of food or dressing up in lovely clothes. It is not enjoying days of leisure. It is acknowledging God and offering thanksgiving and songs of praise to him.
(Verse 18) For neither the underworld will confess to you, nor death praise you: those who descend into the pit will not await your truth. For hell and death will not confess or praise you, according to what is written: For in death there is no remembrance of you (Psalm 6:5). And here confession is understood not for repentance, but for glory and praise, as we also read in the Gospel, I confess to you, O Lord, Father of heaven and earth (Matthew 11:25). Those who descend into the pit will not expect your truth, he says, but rather your mercy, better than in the Septuagint. For he who is in hell does not expect the truth of judgment, but the mercy of God, especially when the Savior descended into hell to free the captives from the depths. They transferred the dead to the same place more clearly.
For they that are in the grave cannot praise thee, nor can the dead celebrate thee; nor can they that are in the grave hope for thy mercy. The living shall praise thee, even as I also do; meaning: For if Thou hadst not granted …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he assigns the reason for his liberation, and first, as to the uselessness of death: for hell, that is, the damned, or the grave; death, the devil, or the dead; your truth, the truth of his promises, or the Son: for there is no …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Those that lie rotting in the grave, as they are not capable of receiving any further mercy from God, so neither are they capable of offering any more praises to him, till they shall be raised at the last day, and then they shall both receive and give glory. [2.] Having recovered from it, he resolves not only to proceed, but to abound, in praising and serving God (
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5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Praise - The dead are not capable of glorifying thy name among men upon earth. They cannot expect nor receive the accomplishment of thy promised goodness in the land of the living.
For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Their probation is at an end. They can no longer exercise faith and hope in regard to Thy faithfulness to Thy promises, which are limited to the present state. For "hope" ceases (even in the case of the godly) when sight begins (Ro 8:24, 25); the ungodly have "no hope" (1Th 4:13).
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;
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The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שְׁא֛וֹל | sheol | Sheol | H7585 → | 66 times |
| תּוֹדֶ֖ךָּ | todeka | it gives thanks to you | H3034 → | 114 times |
| מָ֣וֶת | mavet | death | H4194 → | 156 times |
| יְהַלְלֶ֑ךָּ | yehaleka | it praises you | H1984 → | 165 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יְשַׂבְּר֥וּ | yesaberu | they hope | H7663 → | |
| יֽוֹרְדֵי־ | yordei- | [those who] go down of | H3381 → | 381 times |
| ב֖וֹר | vor | [the] pit | H953 → | 66 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֲמִתֶּֽךָ׃ | ʾamitekha | faithfulness your | H571 → | 127 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
שְׁא֛וֹלSheol
sheolH7585 →66 times
תּוֹדֶ֖ךָּit gives thanks to you
todekaH3034 →114 times
מָ֣וֶתdeath
mavetH4194 →156 times
יְהַלְלֶ֑ךָּit praises you
yehalekaH1984 →165 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יְשַׂבְּר֥וּthey hope
yesaberuH7663 →
יֽוֹרְדֵי־[those who] go down of
yordei-H3381 →381 times
ב֖וֹר[the] pit
vorH953 →66 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֲמִתֶּֽךָ׃faithfulness your
ʾamitekhaH571 →127 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
Ecclesiastes 9:10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
it leads to
- Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,
- Psalms 6:5
For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 5:16
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
- Romans 12:11
Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
- Ecclesiastes 11:6
Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.
- Colossians 3:23
Through
Psalms 6:5For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
it leads to
- Psalms 88:10–12
Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You? Selah
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 115:17
It is not the dead who praise the LORD, nor any who descend into silence.
- Psalms 88:10–12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Athanasius of Alexandria, FESTAL LETTER 7:3; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.