Isaiah 38 · Verse 17

Isaiah 38:17

Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
Isaiah 38:17, King James Version

Isaiah 38:17 in other translations

BSBSurely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
WEBBehold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
ASVBehold, it was for my peace that I had great bitterness: But thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
YLTLo, to peace He changed for me bitterness, And Thou hast delighted in my soul without corruption, For Thou hast cast behind Thy back all my sins.
DARBYBehold, instead of peace I had bitterness upon bitterness; but thou hast in love delivered my soul from the pit of destruction; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
BBESee, in place of peace my soul had bitter sorrow. but you have kept back my soul from the underworld; for you have put all my sins out of your memory.
WebsterBehold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

What does Isaiah 38:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 38:9-20

9-20. The prayer and thanksgiving song of Hezekiah is only given here, not in the parallel passages of Second Kings and Second Chronicles. Is 38:9 is the heading or inscription.

Read the full comment on Isaiah 38:9-20 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 17 For peace I had great bitterness "My anguish is changed into ease" - מר לי מר mar li mar, "mutata mthi est amaritudo." Paronomasia; a figure which the prophet frequently admits. I do not always note it, because it cannot ever be preserved in the translation, and the sense seldom depends upon it. But here it perfectly clears up the great obscurity of the passage. See Lowth on the place. Thou hast rescued - חשכת chashachta, with כ caph, instead of ק koph; so the Septuagint and Vulgate; Houbigant. See Chappelow on Job 33:18. From perdition - משחת בלי mishshachath beli, ἱνα μη αποληται, Sept. ut non periret, "that it may not perish." Vulg. Perhaps inverting the order of the words. See Houbigant. Thou hast in love to my soul - חשקת chashakta, "thou hast lovingly embraced" or kissed "my soul out of the pit of corruption."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 38:9-22

We have here Hezekiah's thanksgiving. It is well for us to remember the mercies we receive in sickness. Hezekiah records the condition he was in. He dwells upon this; I shall no more see the Lord. A good man wishes not to live for any other end than that he may serve God, and have communion with him. Our present residence is like that of a shepherd in his hut, a poor, mean, and cold lodging, and with a trust…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 38:9-22 →

Isaiah 38:17 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

הִנֵּ֥הhi.Nehhere!H2009
לְשָׁל֖וֹםle.sha.Lomfor welfareH7965
מַר\־mar-it was bitterH4843
לִ֣יlito me
מָ֑רMarbitterlyH4751
וְאַתָּ֞הve.'a.Tahand youH859
חָשַׁ֤קְתָּcha.Shak.tayou lovedH2836
נַפְשִׁי֙naf.Shilife myH5315
מִשַּׁ֣חַתmi.Sha.chatfrom [the] pit ofH7845
בְּלִ֔יbe.LidestructionH1097
כִּ֥יkiforH3588
הִשְׁלַ֛כְתָּhish.Lakh.tayou threw awayH7993
אַחֲרֵ֥י'a.cha.ReibehindH310
גֵוְךָ֖ge.ve.Khaback yourH1460
כָּל\־kol-allH3605
חֲטָאָֽי\׃cha.ta.'Aisins myH2399

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 38:17

  • Isaiah 43:25

    I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

  • Micah 7:18-19

    Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

  • Jonah 2:6

    I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.

  • Psalms 30:3

    O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

  • Jeremiah 31:34

    And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

  • Psalms 86:13

    For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

  • Job 3:25-26

    For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

  • Psalms 30:6-7

    And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

  • Psalms 40:2

    He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

  • Psalms 85:2

    Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.

  • Job 29:18

    Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.

  • Psalms 88:4-6

    I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
for peace I had great bitterness. or, on my peace came greatbitterness.
Job 3:25,26; 29:18; Ps 30:6,7
in love to my soul delivered it from the pit. Heb. loved mysoul from the pit.
Ps 30:3; 40:2; 86:13; 88:4-6; Jon 2:6
thou hast cast.
43:25; Ps 10:2; 85:2; Jer 31:34; Mic 7:18,19

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 38:16

    O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

  • Isaiah 38:17

    Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

  • Isaiah 38:18

    For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

Read all of Isaiah 38

Isaiah 38:17 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		He aquí amargura grande me sobrevino en la paz: mas á ti plugo librar mi vida del hoyo de corrupción: porque echaste tras tus espaldas todos mis pecados.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Voici, au lieu de la paix j’avais amertume sur amertume; mais toi, tu as aimé mon âme, la retirant de la fosse de destruction, car tu as jeté tous mes péchés derrière ton dos.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Siehe, zum Heile ward mir bitteres Leid: Du, du zogest liebevoll meine Seele aus der Vernichtung Grube; denn alle meine Sünden hast du hinter deinen Rücken geworfen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Ecce in pace amaritudo mea amarissima. Tu autem eruisti animam meam ut non periret; projecisti post tergum tuum omnia peccata mea.