Isaiah 38:19
in Isaiah 38The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: The father to the children shall make known thy truth.
KJV
The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 38
Commentary
14 notes on this verse(Verse 19) Living, the living himself will confess to you, as I do today. The father will make your truth known to the children. The living, the living themselves will confess to you, just as I do today. And this confession is set forth for praise. For he does not confess his own crimes, but gives thanks to God; and there is no beautiful praise on the mouth of a sinner (Sirach 15). And when Hell and death do not confess or praise God, on the contrary, life and the living glorify the Lord.
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, 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. Praise belongs to the living and is handed down.
This site's exposition
fathers will tell their children
Fathers will tell their children carried a personal hope for Hezekiah. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read his wish to live until he had a son, an heir to receive the memory of the faithfulness of God. His praise looks to the next generation.
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.
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 …
"For from this day I shall beget children who will announce your righteousness." Some say that he promises to institute a choir [chorostasia] and to appoint chanters of psalms with good voices in the temple. Others, who pay attention to more esoteric things, say that Hezekiah, since he thought on a high plane, was of the opinion that he would have a kingdom without end and unceasing life. For he was persuaded that the writings concerning the son of David destined to be the Christ were said about himself. Hence they say, although he was in the fifteenth year of his reign he does not seem to have procreated children. Accordingly, on learning that his end was near, he pays attention to the question of his successors and adds with reference to his children that they will announce the righteousness of the Lord. However, this statement was not verified since. Manasseh was wicked and impious.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, as to the praise of the living: the living, the living, repeated for greater affirmation, or because of the twofold life: we that live bless the Lord (Ps 115:18). Third, as to the propagation of divine praise: the father shall make the truth known …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day,....
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
That God's promises are intended not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage, the use of means. Hezekiah is sure to recover, and yet he must take a lump of figs and lay it on the boil,
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The living, the living - An emphatic or intensive form of expression, as in Isa 38:11, Isa 38:17. Nothing would express his idea but a repetition of the word, as if the heart was full of it. The father to the children - One generation of the living to another. The father shall have so deep a sense of the goodness of God that he shall desire to make it known to his children, and to perpetuate the memory of it in the earth.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
He probably, also, hints at his own desire to live until he should have a child, the successor to his throne, to whom he might make known and so perpetuate the memory of God's truth. truth--faithfulness to His promises; especially in Hezekiah's case, His promise of hearing prayer.
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
Thy truth - אל אמתך el amittecha. A MS. omits אל el; and instead of אל el, an ancient MS. and one edition read את eth. The same mistake as in Psa 2:7.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חַ֥י | chai | [the] living | H2416 → | 498 times |
| חַ֛י | chai | [the] living | H2416 → | 498 times |
| ה֥וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יוֹדֶ֖ךָ | yodekha | he gives thanks to you | H3034 → | 114 times |
| כָּמ֣וֹנִי | kamoni | as I | H3644 → | 143 times |
| הַיּ֑וֹם | haiyom | this day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אָ֣ב | ʾav | a father | H1 → | 1212 times |
| לְבָנִ֔ים | levanim | to children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יוֹדִ֖יעַ | yodia' | he makes known | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | concerning | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֲמִתֶּֽךָ׃ | ʾamitekha | faithfulness your | H571 → | 127 times |
חַ֥י[the] living
chaiH2416 →498 times
חַ֛י[the] living
chaiH2416 →498 times
ה֥וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
יוֹדֶ֖ךָhe gives thanks to you
yodekhaH3034 →114 times
כָּמ֣וֹנִיas I
kamoniH3644 →143 times
הַיּ֑וֹםthis day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
אָ֣בa father
ʾavH1 →1212 times
לְבָנִ֔יםto children
levanimH1121 →4930 times
יוֹדִ֖יעַhe makes known
yodia'H3045 →945 times
אֶל־concerning
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
Deuteronomy 4:9Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 11:19
Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 6:7
And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- Psalms 78:3–8
that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
- Genesis 18:19
For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that…
- Deuteronomy 32:46
he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I testify among you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.
- Deuteronomy 11:19
Through
Deuteronomy 6:7And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
it leads to
- Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 6:4
Through
Genesis 18:19For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:9–10
Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Timothy 3:4–5
An overseer must manage his own household well and keep his children under control, with complete dignity.
- Deuteronomy 4:9–10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Athanasius of Alexandria, FESTAL LETTER 7:3; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 8; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 3:4.38; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.