John Calvin on Isaiah 37:38

38. While he was worshipping. Here the Jews allow themselves that liberty of conjecture in which they are always accustomed to indulge. They contrive a stow, that Sennacherib consulted an oracle, and asked why he could not conquer the Jews; that the answer was, that Abraham wished to sacrifice his son to God; that the tyrant, following that example, then determined to slay his son, in order to appease his god; and that his sons, enraged at the cruel design of their father, slew him in the temple of his idol. But it is unnecessary to spend time in such conjectures, in which the Jews display excessive impudence.

Here it is highly important to behold, as in a picture, the unhappy death of tyrants, whom the Lord destroys without the agency of men, when everything appears about to be overthrown by their violence, and whom he exposes with all their power to universal scorn. Sennacherib, who had come into Judea with a vast army, returns home with few soldiers, and is led in triumph, as it were, by God as a conqueror. But the matter does riot end here; for in the very heart of his empire, in the metropolis, in the temple itself, the reverence for which defended the meanest persons from the mob, he is slain, not by a foreign enemy, not by a people in a state of sedition, not by traitors, and in a word, not by servants, but by his own sons, that the murder may be more disgraceful. It ought to be observed, that those insatiable gluttons, who freely wallow in the blood of others, are slain by their own followers, and are punished by those from whom above all others they ought to have been safe. This is more shocking than if they had been put to death by strangers; but God thus punishes the cruelty of those who, in their eagerness to enjoy power, did not even spare the innocent. Even in profane historians we find various examples of this kind, in which we may easily behold the judgments of the Lord.

Besides, the insatiable ambition of Sennacherib receives its just reward, because, while he is intent on the wide extension of his territories, he cannot secure the peace of his own family, by leading his children to live at peace; for out of his neglect of some, and undue attachment to others, the conspiracy arose. And not only was this tyrant slain, but his kingdom also was soon afterwards overthrown, as we have already said; and, in the meantime, that his successor might not dare to make any attempt against the Jews, God kept him also within the country by internal broils.

CHAPTER 38

Isaiah 38:1-22

1. In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.

1. In diebus illis aegrotavit Ezechias usque ad mortem. Et vemt ad eum Isaias filius Amoz Propheta, dixitque illi: Sic dicit Iehova, Praeeipe quoad domum tuam; (vel, domui tuoe;) quia tu morieris, et non rives.

2. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,

2. Tunc vertit Ezechias faciem suam ad parietem, oravitque Iehovam.

3. And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

3. Ac dixit: Obsecro, Iehova, recordare nunc quod ambulaverim coram to in veritate, in corde perfecto, et recte fecerim in oculis tuis. Flevitque Ezechias fletu magno.

4. Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,

4. Tunc factum fuit verbum Iehovae ad Isaiam, dicendo:

5. Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

5. Vade, et dic Ezechiae: Sic dicit Iehova Deus David patris tui: Audivi orationem tuam, et vidi lachrymas tuas: Ecce ego adjicio ad dies tuos annos quindecim.

6. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.

6. Et eruam to de manu regis Assur, atque urbem hane; et protector ero huic urbi.

7. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;

7. Erit autem hoc tibi signum ab Iehova, quod Iehova hanc rem facturus sit, de qua loquutus est:

8. Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

8. Ecce ego reduco umbram graduum, quibus descendit in horologio Achaz per solem decem gradibus; et reversus est sol decem gradibus in horologio, quibus jam descenderat.

9. The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:

9. Scriptum Ezechiae regis Iuda, cum aegrotasset, ac convaluisset a morbo Suo.

10. I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

10. Ego dixi in successione dierum meorum, vadam ad portas sepulchri; privatus sum residuo annorum meorum.

11. I said, I shall net see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

11. Dixi, Non videbo Deum, Deum in terra viventium; non aspiciam hominem ultra cum incolis seculi.

12. Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

12. Habitatio mea discessit, et convoluta est a me, quasi tabernaculum pastoris; succidi quasi textor vitam meam; ab elevatione (vel macie ant morbo) succidet me; a die usque ad noctem conficies me.

13. I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

13. Supputabam ad auroram; sicut leo, its contrivit ossa mea; ab aurora ad noctem conficies me.

14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

14. Sicut grus aut hitundo garriebam, gemeban, quasi columba. Elevabantur ocnli mei in sublime, Domine, vim fecit mihi, recrea me.

15. What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

15. Quid loqusr? Qui dixit mihi, ipse fecit: Movebor (vel, trepidus incedam) omnibus diebus vitae meae in amaritudine animae meae.

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

16. Domine, etiam omnibus qui ultra eos vivent, vita spiritus mei in illis (nota erit,) et me quod dormire feceris, et vivificaveris me.

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.

17. Ecce in pace amaritudo mihi amara, et tibi placuit animam meam (eruere) a fovea; (vel, amasti animam meam a fovea interitns;) quia projecisti post tergum omnia peccata mea.

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

18. Quoniam non infernus confitebitur tibi neque mors laudabit to; nec expectabunt qui in foveam descendunt veritatem tuam.

19. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

19. Vivens, vivens, ipse confitebitur tibi; sicur ego hodie. Pater filiis notam faciet veritatem tuam.

20. 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.

20. Iehova ad me servandum; et cantica nostra cantabimus omnibus diebus vitae nostrae in domo Iehovae.

21. For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.

21. Dixit autem Isaias, Accipient massam ficuum, et adhibebunt ulceri, et vivet.

22. Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

22. Dixerat enim (vel, autem) Ezechias, Quod signum, quod ascensurus sim in domum Iehovae?