Isaiah 38:18

For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Hezekiah speaks after surviving a fatal illness, reflecting on the boundary between his restored life and the finality of the grave. The words — The Hebrew לֹא (lōʾ) negates תּוֹדֶךָּ (toddekā, "gives thanks") and יְהַלְלֶךָּ (yehallekā, "praises"), while יְשַׂבְּרוּ (yesabbərû) means "hope." The text explicitly states that Sheol, Death, and those in the Pit are incapable of offering thanksgiving, praise, or hopeful expectation toward God. The thread — This motif of the grave's silence appears in Psalms 6:5 and Psalms 30:9, and aligns with Ecclesiastes 9:10 regarding the cessation of activity in Sheol. Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that worship and hopeful trust in God belong exclusively to the realm of the living, leaving the dead in a state of absolute inactivity.

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

כִּ֣יkifor לֹ֥אlo'not שְׁא֛וֹלshe.'olSheol תּוֹדֶ֖ךָּto.De./kait gives thanks to/ you מָ֣וֶתMa.vetdeath יְהַלְלֶ֑ךָּye.ha.Le./kait praises/ you לֹֽא־lo'-not יְשַׂבְּר֥וּye.sa.be.Ruthey hope יֽוֹרְדֵי־yor.dei-[those who] go down of ב֖וֹרVor[the] pit אֶל־'el-to אֲמִתֶּֽךָ׃'a.mi.Te./khafaithfulness/ your

King James Version

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

Cross-references

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
Psalms 6:5 For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
Psalms 30:9 “What gain is there in my bloodshed, in my descent to the Pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it proclaim Your faithfulness?
Psalms 88:10 Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You? Selah
Psalms 115:17 It is not the dead who praise the LORD, nor any who descend into silence.
Numbers 16:33 They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.
Proverbs 14:32 The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.
Matthew 8:12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 25:46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Luke 16:26 And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’