Isaiah 38:20
in Isaiah 38The LORD will save me; we will play songs on stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah is ready to save me: Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of Jehovah.
KJV
The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.
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This verse in Isaiah 38
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAt no time should one freely praise God more than when one has passed through afflictions. Nor again should one at any time give thanks more than when he finds rest from toil and temptations. As Hezekiah, when the Assyrians perished, praised the Lord and gave thanks, saying, "The Lord is my salvation, and I will not cease to bless you with harp all the days of my life, before the house of the Lord."
This site's exposition
The LORD will save me
The writing closes on song: The LORD will save me, and we will play songs on stringed instruments in the house of the LORD. The praise is set in the temple. The verse turns the whole writing from complaint into song, closing the arc from the pit to praise.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 20) Lord, save me, and we will sing our songs all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. Therefore save me, O Lord; and all who believe in you and are delivered by your help, may we sing to you in the Temple all the days of our life.
The Medieval Church1 voice
778. O Lord, save me. Here he asks that the promise be fulfilled: save me, from the Assyrians, and from infirmity: I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be always in my mouth (Ps 34:1).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The Lord was ready to save me,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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)
"Jehovah was for my salvation," that is, saved me (compare Isa 12:2). we--I and my people. in the house of the Lord--This song was designed, as many of the other Psalms, as a form to be used in public worship at stated times, perhaps on every anniversary of his recovery; hence "all the days of our life." lump of figs--a round cake of figs pressed into a mass (1Sa 25:18).
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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
The Lord was ready to save me - He was prompt, quick to save me. He did not hesitate or delay. Therefore we will sing my songs - That is, my family and nation. The song of Hezekiah was designed evidently not as a mere record, but to be used in celebrating the praises of God, and probably in a public manner in the temple.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְהוֹשִׁיעֵ֑נִי | lehoshieni | [is] to save me | H3467 → | 206 times |
| וּנְגִנוֹתַ֧י | uneginotai | and songs my | H5058 → | |
| נְנַגֵּ֛ן | nenagen | we will play | H5059 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יְמֵ֥י | yemei | [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| חַיֵּ֖ינוּ | chaiyeinu | lives our | H2416 → | 498 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | at | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְהוֹשִׁיעֵ֑נִי[is] to save me
lehoshieniH3467 →206 times
וּנְגִנוֹתַ֧יand songs my
uneginotaiH5058 →
נְנַגֵּ֛ןwe will play
nenagenH5059 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יְמֵ֥י[the] days of
yemeiH3117 →2304 times
חַיֵּ֖ינוּlives our
chaiyeinuH2416 →498 times
עַל־at
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בֵּ֥ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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
Psalms 150:4Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flute.
it leads to
- Exodus 15:20
Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 149:3
Let them praise His name with dancing, and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.
- Exodus 15:20
Through
Psalms 116:2Because He has inclined His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.
it leads to
- Psalms 145:18–19
The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
- Psalms 40:1
I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry.
- Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Psalms 55:16–17
But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.
- Psalms 31:2
Incline Your ear to me; come quickly to my rescue. Be my rock of refuge, the stronghold of my deliverance.
- Psalms 145:18–19
Through
Psalms 68:25The singers lead the way, the musicians follow after, among the maidens playing tambourines.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 13:8
David and all the Israelites were celebrating before God with all their might, with songs and on harps and lyres, with tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
- 1 Chronicles 13:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Athanasius of Alexandria, Letter 10.3; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.