Isaiah 38:13 kjv
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.
Isaiah 38:13 nkjv
I have considered until morning? Like a lion, So He breaks all my bones; From day until night You make an end of me.
Isaiah 38:13 niv
I waited patiently till dawn, but like a lion he broke all my bones; day and night you made an end of me.
Isaiah 38:13 esv
I calmed myself until morning; like a lion he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to an end.
Isaiah 38:13 nlt
I waited patiently all night,
but I was torn apart as though by lions.
Suddenly, my life was over.
Isaiah 38 13 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Job 10:16 | If it [my head] lifts itself up, you hunt me like a lion, and again display your wondrous power against me. | God depicted as an aggressive hunter. |
| Ps 22:14 | I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, melted within me. | Severe physical collapse and agony. |
| Ps 31:10 | For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away. | Wasting of bones due to suffering. |
| Ps 32:3 | For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. | Intense suffering affecting bones from lament. |
| Ps 38:8 | I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart. | Extreme weakness and emotional distress. |
| Ps 42:3 | My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" | Continuous weeping and sorrow, day and night. |
| Ps 51:8 | Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. | God breaking bones (causing suffering/discipline). |
| Ps 102:3-5 | For my days pass away like smoke... my bones burn like a furnace... I groan aloud, and my bones cling to my flesh. | Pain and wasting of bones from illness/sorrow. |
| Ps 130:6 | My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. | Waiting eagerly from night till morning. |
| Isa 38:9-12 | The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness... "Like a swift or a swallow I twitter; I moan like a dove." | Hezekiah's lament is part of his post-recovery prayer. |
| Lam 3:10 | He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding. | God as an adversary, using animal imagery. |
| 1 Sam 2:6 | The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. | God's absolute sovereignty over life and death. |
| Deut 32:39 | See now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me. I kill and I make alive. | Yahweh as the sole sovereign of life and death. |
| Job 33:19-22 | Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed, and with constant anguish in his bones... So his soul draws near to the pit, and his life to those who bring death. | Anguish in bones and drawing near to death. |
| Prov 17:22 | A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. | Emotional state impacting the physical body/bones. |
| Hosea 5:14 | For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. | God as a destructive lion against His people. |
| Amos 3:8 | The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy? | Lion's roar signifying powerful divine action. |
| Matt 8:16-17 | He healed all who were sick... This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases." | Jesus' healing ministry addresses sickness. |
| John 11:4 | But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." | Illness having a divine purpose. |
| Heb 12:5-6 | And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord... For the Lord disciplines the one he loves..." | Suffering as divine discipline/chastening. |
Isaiah 38 verses
Isaiah 38 13 Meaning
Isaiah 38:13 expresses King Hezekiah's profound and continuous suffering during his mortal illness. He vividly describes a night of agonizing complaint and the relentless physical devastation he experienced. The king perceives his severe illness as a direct and violent act of God, like a powerful lion crushing his bones, and views it as an inexorable process from dawn to dusk leading to his imminent end orchestrated by God Himself.
Isaiah 38 13 Context
Isaiah 38:13 is part of Hezekiah's personal lament, or "writing" (מִכְתָּב - miktav), recorded after his miraculous recovery from a terminal illness (Isa 38:9). God had answered his fervent prayer by granting him an additional fifteen years of life and delivering Jerusalem from the Assyrians. The preceding verses (38:10-12) describe his initial despair at the prospect of death. This specific verse portrays the sheer depth of his physical agony and mental anguish during the illness, recalling his conviction that God was actively bringing him to an end. It reflects a Psalm-like expression of distress, common in biblical laments, where even intense accusations against God are permitted within a prayerful context, as God is understood to be sovereign over both life and death.
Isaiah 38 13 Word analysis
- I bemoaned myself: (שׁוּאֵרִיתִי / shuarti) The Hebrew verb conveys the sense of lamenting, wailing, or complaining. The reflexive nature ("myself") emphasizes the deeply personal and internal anguish experienced by Hezekiah. It describes a desperate, sustained outcry arising from profound distress, likely throughout the night.
- until morning: (ʿad bōqer) This phrase signifies a prolonged period of suffering through the darkness of night. It highlights wakefulness, unceasing pain, and despair that endures into the first light of day, without respite. In ancient thought, night was often associated with fear, danger, and affliction.
- like a lion: (כָּאַרִי / ka'ari) A powerful simile, describing the nature of the attack on Hezekiah's body. The lion represents an overwhelming, savage, and inescapable force. While not explicitly named, the context attributes this aggressive, destructive action to God Himself or a direct agent of His will, portraying divine power in a terrifying form.
- so He crushed: (כֵּן יְפָרֵק / ken yĕfareq) The verb yĕfareq is intense, meaning to break apart, dislocate, or dismember. It conveys a sense of brutal, internal shattering. The "He" clearly refers to God, indicating Hezekiah's perception that God was the active agent in inflicting this destructive illness upon him.
- all my bones: (kol ʿaẓmōtayi) This emphasizes the totality and deep-seated nature of his suffering. Bones represent the core, structure, and very essence of the body, often used metaphorically for one's entire being. The pain was not superficial but deeply rooted, affecting him physically to his very core.
- from day to night: (miyôm ʿad laylâ) This expression signifies the continuous, relentless, and unceasing nature of the affliction. It indicates a progression through a full day into the darkness of night, implying an ongoing, inescapable deterioration, like an unstoppable process leading inevitably to death.
- You make an end of me: (תַּשְׁלִימֵנִי / tashlimeni) Directly addressed to God, reflecting Hezekiah's conviction that his imminent death was God's direct decree and action. The verb shalam (shalem) can mean "to complete" or "to make whole," but in this context, it implies bringing to a definitive finish, signifying the termination or destruction of life. He sees God actively bringing his life to its conclusion.
- "like a lion, so He crushed all my bones": This phrase creates a vivid and horrifying image of the illness's impact. It’s not just general suffering but a violent, internal attack on his very physical structure, attributed directly to God. The imagery conveys overwhelming power and destruction, far beyond a typical illness, painting God as a fierce assailant.
- "from day to night You make an end of me": This passage conveys a sense of relentless, irreversible decline towards death. It highlights the perceived finality of God's judgment and His constant, day-long involvement in bringing Hezekiah's life to its termination, leaving no room for escape or reversal within his human understanding.
Isaiah 38 13 Bonus section
This vivid expression of suffering by Hezekiah is characteristic of biblical laments found extensively in the Psalms and other prophetic books. It demonstrates that sincere prayer and dialogue with God, even in times of profound crisis, allowed for unvarnished expressions of pain, confusion, and even questioning of God's actions. The King's "writing" here acts like a Miktam (a type of Psalm often associated with David, meaning a "golden" or "engraved" psalm), a confessional reflection of personal crisis and subsequent divine deliverance. This highlights that for biblical figures, illness was not merely a biological event but a profoundly theological one, understood within the framework of God's active involvement in human affairs, whether for discipline, trial, or sovereign purpose. The lasting impact of such suffering means it is recollected in great detail even after relief.
Isaiah 38 13 Commentary
In Isaiah 38:13, Hezekiah lays bare his agonizing experience of a life-threatening illness. It is a raw and personal confession, not of guilt, but of profound physical and spiritual distress, offered after his recovery. He attributes his continuous and total physical breakdown directly to God, portraying Him as a fearsome lion mercilessly crushing his bones. The phrase "from day to night You make an end of me" underscores the relentless progression of his sickness and his deep conviction that God was orchestrating his demise. This lament provides a powerful insight into the biblical understanding of suffering, where even in deep distress and perceived divine judgment, the individual turns to God as the ultimate sovereign over life and death. His honest expression reveals the emotional depth permitted within ancient Hebrew prayer, even when it feels accusatory.