Isaiah 38:13

13 ¹I calmed myself^[a] until morning; like a lion ²he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to an end.

Isaiah 38:13 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 38:13

I reckoned till morning
Or, "I set my time till the morning ^F13"; he fixed and settled it in his mind that he could live no longer than to the morning, if he lived so long; he thought he should have died before the night came on, and, now it was come, the utmost he could propose to himself was to live till morning; that was the longest time he could reckon of. According to the accents, it should be rendered, "I reckoned till morning as a lion"; or "I am like until the morning as a lion"; or, "I likened until the morning (God) as a lion"; I compared him to one; which agrees with what follows. The Targum is,

``I roared until morning, as a lion roars;''

through the force of the disease, and the pain he was in: or rather,

``I laid my bones together until the morning as a lion; "so indeed as a lion God" hath broken all my bones ^F14:''

so will he break all my bones;
or, "it will break"; that is, the sickness, as Kimchi and Jarchi; it lay in his bones, and so violent was the pain, that he thought all his bones were breaking in pieces; such is the case in burning fevers, as Jerom observes; so Kimchi interprets it of a burning fever, which is like a fire in the bones. Some understand this of God himself, to which our version directs, who may be said to do this by the disease: compare with this ( Job 16:14 ) and to this sense the following clause inclines: from day even tonight wilt thou make an end of me;
he lived till morning, which was more than he expected, and was the longest time he could set himself; and now be reckoned that before night it would be all over with him as to this world. This was the second day of his illness; and the third day he recovered, and went to the temple with his song of praise.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F13 (rqb de ytywv) "statui, [vel] posui usque ad mane", Pagninus, Montanus; "constitui [rursum terminum] usque mane", Vatablus.
F14 Reinbeck de Accent Heb. p. 411.

Isaiah 38:13 In-Context

11 I said, I shall not see the Lord, the Lord in the land of the living; I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.

12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent; like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end;

13 I calmed myself until morning; like a lion he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to an end.

14 Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!

15 What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.

Cross References

• 1. 38:13 [Ps. 30:5]
• 2. 38:13 [Ps. 38:3]

Footnotes

• [a] 38:13 Or (with Targum) 'I cried for help'