Passage

Isaiah 38.18

Book: Isaiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"16. O Lord, by these things men live; And wholly therein is the life of my spirit: Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live. 17. Behold, 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."

"18. For Sheol cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth."

"19. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: The father to the children shall make known thy truth. 20. Jehovah is ready to save me: Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of Jehovah." (Isaiah 38:16-20, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"16. Lord, men live by these things; and my spirit finds life in all of them: you restore me, and cause me to live. 17. Behold, 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."

"18. For Sheol can’t praise you. Death can’t celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can’t hope for your truth."

"19. The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do today. The father shall make known your truth to the children. 20. Yahweh will save me. Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in Yahweh’s house." (Isaiah 38:16-20, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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. 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. ^{for peace: or, on my peace came great bitterness} ^{thou hast in: Heb. thou hast loved my soul from the pit}"

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

"19. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth. 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." (Isaiah 38:16-20, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"16. Lord, by these do [men] live, And by all in them [is] the life of my spirit, And Thou savest me, make me also to live, 17. Lo, 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."

"18. For Sheol doth not confess Thee, Death doth not praise Thee, Those going down to the pit hope not for Thy truth."

"19. The living, the living, he doth confess Thee. 20. Like myself to-day, a father to sons Doth make known of Thy faithfulness, O Jehovah, to save me: And my songs we sing all days of our lives In the house of Jehovah.'" (Isaiah 38:16-20, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

H7585 - sheol

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.