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Isaiah 39: Summary and Commentary

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Isaiah 39 has not been written up in our own words yet. Below are the notes on it from three commentaries — start with Tyndale, which is written in modern English for readers new to the Bible.

What the commentaries say about Isaiah 39

Three commentaries, oldest last. Each is shown in full with its author and licence, and every scripture reference inside them links through to the verse.

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Isaiah 39

Tyndale House Publishers, released openly in 2023

Short, plain-English notes written for people reading the Bible for the first time. They explain what a word meant to its original audience, why a detail is there, and where else in Scripture the same idea shows up. If you only read one set of notes on this page, read this one.

3 notes on Isaiah 39

Verse 1

39:1-8 Hezekiah was exemplary in godliness, prayer, and care for the people of Jerusalem. But he failed the Lord by parading his financial and military strength before the envoys from Babylon.

39:1 Merodach-baladan, the king of Babylon (722–710 and 704–703 BC), planned to rebel against Assyria and sought help from Hezekiah. His envoys visited after Hezekiah had been very sick and had recovered but before Sennacherib’s final attack in 701 BC.

Verse 2

39:2 silver . . . aromatic oils . . . his armory: Showing these treasures demonstrated to Babylon’s envoys that Hezekiah had the resources to be a worthy ally.

Verse 6

39:6-7 carried off to Babylon: This prophecy was given before the prophecy of the rescue of Jerusalem (37:35). Although this pronouncement of judgment and exile comes as a surprise ending to the story of Hezekiah, the exile of both Israel and Judah had been in the background from the beginning (10:3-4, 20-23). The Lord had promised that he would spare Judah and Jerusalem when the Assyrians attacked in 701 BC, but he had clearly revealed to Isaiah that worse things would come if they did not change their ways. God had demonstrated the truth of his sovereignty and trustworthiness in his defeat of the Assyrians, but that did not mean the people had changed. The only way the promises of 2:1-5 and 4:2-6 were going to be realized was through the fires of judgment (4:4). Until the burning coal of exile was applied to the nation’s unclean lips (6:5-7), their mission to the nations would fail.

Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Reformatted for the web by BibleHearth; wording unchanged. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Read the original

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible on Isaiah 39

Matthew Henry, 1706–1714

A pastor writing for his own congregation three hundred years ago. Henry is less interested in historical background than in what a chapter asks of the person reading it, which is why he is still quoted in sermons today. He is warm, direct, and unafraid to apply a text to you.

Before you start: Written in the early 1700s. The sentences are long and some words have shifted meaning since — "conversation" means how a person lives, "want" means to lack something. Read it slowly; it rewards that.

Chapter overview and 2 notes on Isaiah 39

What this chapter is doing

The story of this chapter likewise we had before, Kg2 20:12, etc. It is here repeated, not only as a very memorable and improvable passage, but because it concludes with a prophecy of the captivity in Babylon; and as the former part of the prophecy of this book frequently referred to Sennacherib's invasion and the defeat of that, to which therefore the history of that was very fitly subjoined, so the latter part of this book speaks much of the Jews' captivity in Babylon and their deliverance out of that, to which therefore the first prediction of it, with the occasion thereof, is very fitly prefixed. We have here, I. The pride and folly of Hezekiah, in showing his treasures to the king of Babylon's ambassadors that were sent to congratulate him on his recovery (Isa 39:1, Isa 39:2). II. Isaiah's examination of him concerning it, in God's name, and his confession of it (Isa 39:3, Isa 39:4). III. The sentence passed upon him for it, that all his treasures should, in process of time, be carried to Babylon (Isa 39:5-7). IV. Hezekiah's penitent and patient submission to this sentence (Isa 39:8).

Verse 1

Hence we may learn these lessons: - 1. That humanity and common civility teach us to rejoice with our friends and neighbours when they rejoice, and to congratulate them on their deliverances, and particularly their recoveries from sickness. The king of Babylon, having heard that Hezekiah had been sick, and had recovered, sent to compliment him upon the occasion. If Christians be unneighbourly, heathens will shame them. 2. It becomes us to give honour to those whom our God puts honour upon. The sun was the Babylonians' god; and when they understood that it was with a respect to Hezekiah that the sun, to their great surprise, went back ten degrees, on such a day, they thought themselves obliged to do Hezekiah all the honour they could. Will all people thus walk in the name of their God, and shall not we? 3. Those that do not value good men for their goodness may yet be brought to pay them great respect by other inducements, and for the sake of their secular interests. The king of Babylon made his court to Hezekiah, not because he was pious, but because he was prosperous, as the Philistines coveted an alliance with Isaac because they saw the Lord was with him, Gen 26:28. The king of Babylon was an enemy to the king of Assyria, and therefore was fond of Hezekiah, because the Assyrians were so much weakened by the power of his God. 4. It is a hard matter to keep the spirit low in the midst of great advancements. Hezekiah is an instance of it: he was a wise and good man, but, when one miracle after another was wrought in his favour, he found it hard to keep his heart from being lifted up, nay, a little thing then drew him into the snare of pride. Blessed Paul himself needed a thorn in the flesh, to keep him from being lifted up with the abundance of revelations. 5. We have need to watch over our own spirits when we are showing our friends our possessions, what we have done and what we have got, that we be not proud of them, as if our might or our merit had purchased and procured us this wealth. When we look upon our enjoyments, and have occasion to speak of them, it must be with humble acknowledgements of our own unworthiness and thankful acknowledgements of God's goodness, with a just value for the achievements of others and with an expectation of losses and changes, not dreaming that our mountain stands so strong but that it may soon be moved. 6. It is a great weakness for good men to value themselves much upon the civil respects that are paid them (yea, though there be something particular and uncommon in them) by the children of this world, and to be fond of their acquaintance. What a poor thing was it for Hezekiah, whom God has so dignified, to be thus over proud of the respect paid him by a heathen prince as if that added any thing to him! We ought to return the courtesies of such with interest, but not to be proud of them. 7. We must expect to be called to an account for the workings of our pride, though they are secret, and in such instances as we thought there was no harm in; and therefore we ought to call ourselves to an account for them; and when we have had company with us that have paid us respect, and been pleased with their entertainment, and commended every thing, we ought to be jealous over ourselves with a godly jealousy lest our hearts have been lifted up. As far as we see cause to suspect that this sly and subtle sin of pride has insinuated itself into our breasts, and mingled itself with our conversation, let us be ashamed of it, and, as Hezekiah here, ingenuously confess it and take shame to ourselves for it.

Verse 5

Hence let us observe, 1. That, if God love us, he will humble us, and will find some way or other to pull down our spirits when they are lifted up above measure. A mortifying message is sent to Hezekiah, that he might be humbled for the pride of his heart, and be convinced of the folly of it; for though God may suffer his people to fall into sin, as he did Hezekiah here, to prove him, that he might know all that was in his heart, yet he will not suffer them to lie still in it. 2. It is just with God to take that from us which we make the matter of our pride, and on which we build a carnal confidence. When David was proud of the numbers of his people God took a course to make them fewer; and when Hezekiah boasts of his treasures, and looks upon them with too great a complacency, he is told that he acts like the foolish traveller who shows his money and gold to one that proves a thief and is thereby tempted to rob him. 3. If we could but see things that will be, we should be ashamed of our thoughts of things that are. If Hezekiah had known that the seed and successors of this king of Babylon would hereafter be the ruin of his family and kingdom, he would not have complimented his ambassadors as he did; and, when the prophet told him that it would be so, we may well imagine how he was vexed at himself for what he had done. We cannot certainly foresee what will be, but are told, in general, All is vanity, and therefore it is vanity for us to take complacency and put confidence in any thing that goes under that character. 4. Those that are fond of an acquaintance or alliance with irreligious men will first or last have enough of it, and will have cause to repent it. Hezekiah thought himself very happy in the friendship of Babylon, though it was the mother of harlots and idolatries; but Babylon, who now courted Jerusalem, in process of time conquered her and carried her captive. Leagues with sinners, and leagues with sin too, will end thus; it is therefore our wisdom to keep at a distance from them. 5. Those that truly repent of their sins will take it well to be reproved for them and will be willing to be told of their faults. Hezekiah reckoned that word of the Lord good which discovered sin to him, and made him sensible that he had done amiss, which before he was not aware of. The language of true penitents is, Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness; and the law is therefore good, because, being spiritual, in it sin appears sin, and exceedingly sinful. 6. True penitents will quietly submit, not only to the reproofs of the word, but to the rebukes of Providence for their sins. When Hezekiah was told of the punishment of his iniquity he said, Good is the word of the Lord, not only the mitigation of the sentence, but the sentence itself; he has nothing to object against the equity of it, but says Amen to the threatening. Those that see the evil of sin, and what it deserves, will justify God in all that is brought upon them for it, and own that he punishes them less than their iniquities deserve. 7. Though we must not be regardless of those that come after us, yet we must reckon ourselves well done by if there be peace and truth in our days, and better than we had reason to expect. If a storm be coming, we must reckon it a favour to get into the harbour before it comes, and be gathered to the grave in peace; yet we can never be secure of this, but must prepare for changes in our own time, that we may stand complete in all the will of God, and bid it welcome whatever it is.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (Matthew Henry, 1706–1714). Public domain. Reformatted for the web by BibleHearth; wording unchanged. Public domain · Read the original

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary on Isaiah 39

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, 1871

Three Scottish scholars working phrase by phrase through the whole Bible. Where a translation had to choose one English wording, they tell you what the Hebrew or Greek actually says and what the alternatives were. Useful when you want to know why two Bibles word the same verse differently.

Before you start: Written in 1871 and organised around short quoted phrases followed by a dash, then the explanation. It reads more like reference notes than prose, and it assumes you have the verse in front of you.

Chapter overview and 7 notes on Isaiah 39

What this chapter is doing

HEZEKIAH'S ERROR IN THE DISPLAY OF HIS RICHES TO THE BABYLONIAN AMBASSADOR. (Isa 39:1-8)

Merodach-baladan—For a hundred fifty years before the overthrow of Nineveh by Cyaxares the Mede, a succession of rulers, mostly viceroys of Assyria, ruled Babylon, from the time of Nabonassar, 747 B.C. That date is called "the Era of Nabonassar." Pul or Phallukha was then expelled, and a new dynasty set up at Nineveh, under Tiglath-pileser. Semiramis, Pul's wife, then retired to Babylon, with Nabonassar, her son, whose advent to the throne of Babylon, after the overthrow of the old line at Nineveh, marked a new era. Sometimes the viceroys of Babylon made themselves, for a time, independent of Assyria; thus Merodach-baladan at this time did so, encouraged by the Assyrian disaster in the Jewish campaign. He had done so before, and was defeated in the first year of Sennacherib's reign, as is recorded in cuneiform characters in that monarchs palace of Koyunjik. Nabopolassar was the first who established, permanently, his independence; his son, Nebuchadnezzar, raised Babylon to the position which Nineveh once occupied; but from the want of stone near the Lower Euphrates, the buildings of Babylon, formed of sun-dried brick, have not stood the wear of ages as Nineveh has.

Merodach—an idol, the same as the god of war and planet Mars (Jer 50:2). Often kings took their names from their gods, as if peculiarly under their tutelage. So Belshazzar from Bel.

Baladan—means "Bel is his lord." The chronicle of EUSEBIUS contains a fragment of BEROSUS, stating that Acises, an Assyrian viceroy, usurped the supreme command at Babylon. Merodach- (or Berodach-) baladan murdered him and succeeded to the throne. Sennacherib conquered Merodach-baladan and left Esar-haddon, his son, as governor of Babylon. Merodach-baladan would naturally court the alliance of Hezekiah, who, like himself, had thrown off the yoke of the Assyrian king, and who would be equally glad of the Babylonian alliance against Assyria; hence arose the excessive attention which he paid to the usurper.

sick—An additional reason is given (Ch2 32:31). "The princes of Babylon sent to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land"; namely, the recession of the shadow on Ahaz' sundial; to the Chaldean astronomers, such a fact would be especially interesting, the dial having been invented at Babylon.

Verse 2

glad—It was not the mere act, but the spirit of it, which provoked God (Ch2 32:25), "Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him, for his heart was lifted up"; also compare Ch2 32:31. God "tries" His people at different times by different ways, bringing out "all that is in their heart," to show them its varied corruptions. Compare David in a similar case (Ch1 21:1-8).

precious things—rather, "the house of his (aromatic) spices"; from a Hebrew root, to "break to pieces," as is done to aromatics.

silver . . . gold—partly obtained from the Assyrian camp (Isa 33:4); partly from presents (Ch2 32:23, Ch2 32:27-29).

precious ointment—used for anointing kings and priests.

armour—or else vessels in general; the parallel passage (Ch2 32:27), "treasuries . . . for shields," favors English Version. His arsenal.

Verse 3

What . . . whence—implying that any proposition coming from the idolatrous enemies of God, with whom Israel was forbidden to form alliance, should have been received with anything but gladness. Reliance on Babylon, rather than on God, was a similar sin to the previous reliance on Egypt (Isa. 30:1-31:9).

far country—implying that he had done nothing more than was proper in showing attention to strangers "from a far country."

Verse 4

All—a frank confession of his whole fault; the king submits his conduct to the scrutiny of a subject, because that subject was accredited by God. Contrast Asa (Ch2 16:7-10).

Verse 5

Lord of hosts—who has all thy goods at His disposal.

Verse 6

days come—one hundred twenty years afterwards. This is the first intimation that the Jews would be carried to Babylon—the first designation of their place of punishment. The general prophecy of Moses (Lev 26:33; Deu 28:64); the more particular one of Ahijah in Jeroboam's time (Kg1 14:15), "beyond the river"; and of Amo 5:27, "captivity beyond Damascus"; are now concentrated in this specific one as to "Babylon" (Mic 4:10). It was an exact retribution in kind, that as Babylon had been the instrument of Hezekiah and Judah's sin, so also it should be the instrument of their punishment.

Verse 7

sons . . . from thee—The sons which Hezekiah (as JOSEPHUS tells us) wished to have (see on Isa 28:3, on "wept sore") will be among the foremost in suffering.

eunuchs—fulfilled (Dan 1:2-3, Dan 1:7).

Verse 8

peace . . . in my days—The punishment was not, as in David's case (Sa2 24:13-15), sent in his time. True repentance acquiesces in all God's ways and finds cause of thanksgiving in any mitigation.

The former were local and temporary in their reference. These belong to the distant future, and are world-wide in their interest; the deliverance from Babylon under Cyrus, which he here foretells by prophetic suggestion, carries him on to the greater deliverance under Messiah, the Saviour of Jews and Gentiles in the present eclectic Church, and the restorer of Israel and Head of the world-wide kingdom, literal and spiritual, ultimately. As Assyria was the hostile world power in the former part, which refers to Isaiah's own time, so Babylon is so in the latter part, which refers to a period long subsequent. The connecting link, however, is furnished (Isa 39:6) at the close of the former part. The latter part was written in the old age of Isaiah, as appears from the greater mellowness of style and tone which pervades it; it is less fiery and more tender and gentle than the former part.

Next: Isaiah Chapter 40

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary (Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, 1871). Public domain. Reformatted for the web by BibleHearth; wording unchanged. Public domain · Read the original

Where to go deeper on Isaiah 39

Both of these are free to read and neither can be reproduced here — The Gospel Coalition and BibleProject keep their work under their own copyright. They are worth the click, especially if you are new to reading the Bible.