Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
Behold, for peace - That is, instead of the health, happiness, and prosperity which I had enjoyed, and which I hope still to enjoy.
I had great bitterness - Hebrew, ' Bitterness to me, bitterness;' an emphatic expression, denoting intense sorrow.
But thou hast in love to my soul - Margin, ' Loved my soul from the pit.' The word which occurs here ( ׁ châshaqtâ ) denotes properly to join or fasten together; then to be attached to anyone; to be united tenderly; to embrace. Here it means that God had loved him, and had thus delivered his soul from death.
Delivered it from the pit of corruption - The word rendered "corruption" ( be lı̂y ), denotes consumption, destruction, perdition. It may be applied to the grave, or to the deep and dark abode of departed spirits; and the phrase here is evidently synonymous with sheol or hades. The grave, or the place for the dead, is often represented as a pit - deep and dark - to which the living descend (Job 17:16; Job 33:18, Job 33:24-25, Job 33:30; Psalms 28:1; Psalms 30:3; Psalms 55:23; Psalms 69:15; Psalms 88:4; compare Isaiah 14:15, note, Isaiah 14:19, note).
For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back - Thou hast forgiven them; hast ceased to punish me on account of them. This shows that Hezekiah, in accordance with the sentiment everywhere felt and expressed in the Bible, regarded his suffering as the fruit of sin.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Isaiah 38:17:
Psalms 16:10
Psalms 102:24
Isaiah 10:25
Isaiah 38:9
Isaiah 38:19
Isaiah 43:25
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