Isaiah 38:12 kjv
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.
Isaiah 38:12 nkjv
My life span is gone, Taken from me like a shepherd's tent; I have cut off my life like a weaver. He cuts me off from the loom; From day until night You make an end of me.
Isaiah 38:12 niv
Like a shepherd's tent my house has been pulled down and taken from me. Like a weaver I have rolled up my life, and he has cut me off from the loom; day and night you made an end of me.
Isaiah 38:12 esv
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;
Isaiah 38:12 nlt
My life has been blown away
like a shepherd's tent in a storm.
It has been cut short,
as when a weaver cuts cloth from a loom.
Suddenly, my life was over.
Isaiah 38 12 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Isaiah 38:12 | I have finished my time, like a shepherd cutting off his life's thread. | Metaphor for ending life |
| Psalm 39:4-5 | "O LORD, make me know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, you have made my days like inches, and the duration of my life is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as nothing." | Reflection on the brevity of life |
| Psalm 90:10 | The days of our years are threescore years and ten; or if by reason of strength, fourscore years, yet their length is labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. | Brevity of life |
| Job 7:6-7 | "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. Oh, remember that my life is wind; my eye will never again see good." | Similar imagery of swift life |
| Job 14:1-2 | "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower, and withers; he flees like a shadow, and continues not." | Transience of human life |
| Ecclesiastes 3:2 | "A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;" | Life and death as divine ordainment |
| Ecclesiastes 12:6 | "Before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel is broken at the cistern," | Metaphor for the breaking of life |
| 2 Samuel 12:14 | "Howbeit, because that by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die." | Consequences of sin impacting life |
| Jeremiah 17:18 | "Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and with the double destruction destroy them." | Appeal for divine deliverance |
| 2 Corinthians 5:1 | "For we know that if the earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." | Contrast of earthly vs. eternal life |
| Philippians 1:21 | "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." | Death as a gain in Christ |
| John 11:25 | "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:" | Resurrection and life in Christ |
| Revelation 21:4 | "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." | Absence of death in eternity |
| Genesis 1:27-28 | "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it:" | Creation of humankind and purpose |
| Genesis 6:3 | "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." | Divine limit on human lifespan |
| Numbers 14:33 | "And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be consumed in the wilderness." | Consequences of disobedience affecting life |
| Deuteronomy 32:39 | "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand." | God's sovereign power over life and death |
| Psalm 49:15 | "But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah." | Divine redemption from death |
| Psalm 104:29 | "You hide your face, they are dismayed; you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust." | Breath as life from God |
| Acts 17:25 | "Neither is he worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;" | God as the giver of life and breath |
Isaiah 38 verses
Isaiah 38 12 Meaning
The verse describes the cessation of life-breath, likening it to folding a weaver's cloth. Hezekiah, facing imminent death, perceives his life being swiftly and definitively concluded, like a completed piece of work.
Isaiah 38 12 Context
Isaiah chapter 38 records King Hezekiah's illness and miraculous recovery, a pivotal moment of divine intervention. Following Isaiah's prophecy of impending death, Hezekiah prays earnestly for more time. God grants him an additional fifteen years. This verse appears within Hezekiah's lament and thanksgiving for his reprieve. The historical context is the impending Assyrian threat, and Hezekiah's reign is marked by his reliance on God amidst political instability. For the original audience, this passage would have reinforced the belief in God's power over life and death, encouraging trust during times of national crisis.
Isaiah 38 12 Word Analysis
- עָצַרְתִּי (atzarti): "I have shut up," "I have closed," "I have finished." This Hebrew word denotes the cessation or confinement. Here, it signifies the ending of his allotted time on earth.
- קְצַר־ (ketzar): "a shortness," "a lessening." Refers to a period or portion of time, implying it is brief.
- חַיַּי (chayyay): "my days," "my life." The plural form emphasizes the continuation and experience of life.
- כְּ־ (ke-): "as," "like." A preposition of comparison.
- חֶבֶל (chebel): "a rope," "a cord," "a measuring line," "a shepherd's staff," or "a measuring out of a flock." This is the key metaphor. In the context of time, it likely refers to a cord or thread that is cut, or a measuring line by which life's span was determined and is now completed. Some scholars suggest it might also relate to the shepherd's rod or staff, which he uses to count or guide his flock, implying his life, like sheep under a shepherd, is being taken out of this earthly fold.
- מִנֵּעַר (minnear): "from the weaver." The preposition "min" (from) indicates the origin or source from which the cord is removed. The noun "no'ar" can relate to a youth or young man, and in the context of weaving, it likely refers to the weaver or the thread itself being pulled or cut from the loom. It powerfully illustrates that his life, as a woven garment of days, was being meticulously crafted on the loom of time and is now being taken off, completed.
Group Analysis:The phrase "a shortness of my days, like a rope from the weaver" encapsulates the swift and conclusive end Hezekiah perceives for his life. The imagery moves from the personal (his days) to a cosmic perspective (a crafted piece being removed). It highlights the feeling of a task completed, a chapter closed.
Isaiah 38 12 Bonus Section
The specific imagery of the "weaver's rope" or "shepherd's cord" has been interpreted in several ways. One view emphasizes the measured and predetermined nature of life, suggesting God himself is the ultimate "weaver" who sets the length of each life, symbolized by the measuring cord. Another perspective connects "chebel" to a shepherd's staff, suggesting his life is being removed from the shepherdly care of this world. The intensity of his perception of death underscores the human struggle with mortality and the profound comfort found in God’s promises of life and deliverance, as he later experiences through his recovery. This verse highlights the natural human fear of death before divine assurance steps in.
Isaiah 38 12 Commentary
Hezekiah expresses a profound sense of finality and resignation regarding his life being cut short. The metaphor of cutting a cord or a weaver's thread vividly conveys the swift, decisive, and predetermined nature of his imminent death. It’s not a gradual fading but a deliberate termination. This reflects his personal despair at his sickness, but it also taps into the broader biblical understanding of life's brevity and its dependence on God's divine decree. The act of completion, like a weaver finishing a cloth, signifies that his earthly journey, in his perception, was over. His later thanksgiving would demonstrate a shift from this natural despair to divine gratitude for extended life.