Isaiah 38:14

I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Hezekiah speaks to God during a terminal illness, positioned between his lament of being broken like a lion (v. 13) and his vow to walk slowly in anguish (v. 15).

The words — אֲצַפְצֵף ('atzaf.Tzef) translates literally as "I chirp," and אֶהְגֶּה ('eh.Geh) means "I moan," capturing the bird-like sounds of his distress.

The thread — This imagery of vocal anguish echoes in Psalms 69:3, where crying causes the eyes to fail while looking for God, and Isaiah 59:11, which pairs dove-like moaning with a desperate wait for justice.

Why it lands — The text demands honest admission of physical and spiritual exhaustion while directing the plea for protection directly to the Lord.

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

כְּס֤וּסke./Suslike/ a swallow עָגוּר֙'a.Gura crane כֵּ֣ןkenso אֲצַפְצֵ֔ף'a.tzaf.TzefI chirp אֶהְגֶּ֖ה'eh.GehI moan כַּיּוֹנָ֑הka/i.yo.Nahlike <the>/ dove דַּלּ֤וּda.Luthey are cast down עֵינַי֙'ei.Na/ieyes/ my לַמָּר֔וֹםla./ma.Romto the/ height[s]אֲדֹנָ֖י'a.do.NaiO Lord עָֽשְׁקָה־'a.she.kah-oppressionלִּ֥יl/i[belongs] to/ meעָרְבֵֽנִי׃'a.re.Ve./nistand surety for/ me

King James Version

Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

Cross-references

Isaiah 59:11 We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.
Psalms 69:3 I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
Job 30:29 I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
Psalms 119:122 Ensure Your servant’s well-being; do not let the arrogant oppress me.
Psalms 123:1 A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.
Ezekiel 7:16 The survivors will escape and live in the mountains, moaning like doves of the valley, each for his own iniquity.
Nahum 2:7 It is decreed that the city be exiled and carried away; her maidservants moan like doves, and beat upon their breasts.
Job 17:3 Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
Psalms 102:4 My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat my bread.
Psalms 119:82 My eyes fail, looking for Your promise; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”