Isaiah 38:5

5 to go back to Hezekiah and say to him, "I, the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will let you live fifteen years longer.

Isaiah 38:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 38:5

Go and say to Hezekiah
Turn again, and tell him, ( 2 Kings 20:5 ) : thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father;
this is said, to show that he remembered the covenant he made with David his father, concerning the kingdom, and the succession of his children in it; and that he had a regard to him, as walking in his steps: I have heard thy prayer;
and therefore was not surely a foolish one, as Luther somewhere calls it, since it was heard and answered so quickly: I have seen thy tears;
which he shed in prayer, and so studiously concealed from others, when he turned his face to the wall: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years;
that is, to the days he had lived already, and beyond which it was not probable, according to the nature of his disease, he could live; and besides, he had the sentence of death pronounced on him, and had it within himself, nor did he pray for his life; so that these fifteen years were over and above what he could or did expect to live; and because it was unusual in such a case, and after such a declaration made, that a man should live, and especially so long a time after, it is ushered in with a "behold", as a note of admiration; it being a thing unheard of, and unprecedented, and entirely the Lord's doing, and which, no doubt, was marvellous in the eyes of the king.

Isaiah 38:5 In-Context

3 "Remember, Lord, that I have served you faithfully and loyally, and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to." And he began to cry bitterly.

4 Then the Lord commanded Isaiah

5 to go back to Hezekiah and say to him, "I, the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will let you live fifteen years longer.

6 I will rescue you and this city of Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria, and I will continue to protect the city."

7 Isaiah replied, "The Lord will give you a sign to prove that he will keep his promise.