Isaiah 38:10

I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Hezekiah king of Judah records this reflection following his illness and recovery, documenting his spoken words during the crisis.

The words — The phrase demi yamay (half of my days) marks the midpoint of life, and puqadti (I have been caused to miss) literally conveys the abrupt deprivation of remaining years.

The thread — This declaration of premature death runs parallel to the pleas in Psalm 102:24 and Job 7:7, and Paul later cites a comparable near-death conviction in 2 Corinthians 1:9.

Why it lands — The text states that a person in life's prime faces the gates of Sheol and loses the remainder of their years, requiring the reader to acknowledge the fragility of human life before any theological inference about deliverance.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

אֲנִ֣י'a.NiI אָמַ֗רְתִּי'a.Mar.tiI said בִּדְמִ֥יbi/d.Miin/ [the] half of יָמַ֛יya.Ma/idays/ my אֵלֵ֖כָה'e.Le.khahlet me go בְּשַׁעֲרֵ֣יbe./sha.'a.Reiin/ [the] gates of שְׁא֑וֹלshe.'olSheol פֻּקַּ֖דְתִּיpu.Kad.tiI have been caused to miss יֶ֥תֶרYe.ter[the] remainder of שְׁנוֹתָֽי׃she.no.Ta/iyears/ my

King James Version

I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

Cross-references

Psalms 102:24 I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations.
2 Corinthians 1:9 Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.
Job 7:7 Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness.
Psalms 107:18 They loathed all food and drew near to the gates of death.
Job 6:11 What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient?
Job 17:11 My days have passed; my plans are broken off—even the desires of my heart.
Isaiah 38:1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”