Verse Lens · Context pointer
Isaiah 38:5 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 5. 5Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The historical narrative or dated oracle states or reports “Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard…” at Isaiah 38:5 as a specific part of “Hezekiah's Illness Receives a Reversed Sign.”
Read It With
- Isaiah 38:1–8
Read Isaiah 38:5 with 38:1–8. By itself, “Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard…” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, historical horizon, poetic movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: A death announcement, the king's prayer and tears, fifteen added years, promised deliverance, and the backward shadow sign form a concentrated healing narrative.
Why It Needs Context
Keep the line with Isaiah 38:1–8. The historical narrative or dated oracle states or reports “Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard…” at Isaiah 38:5 as a specific part of “Hezekiah's Illness Receives a Reversed Sign.” The literary form and this limit govern it: Hezekiah's sign does not guarantee extended life after every prayer, authorize rejecting medical care, or support speculative astronomy.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Isaiah 38:1–8 — Hezekiah's Illness Receives a Reversed SignSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Isaiah 38:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 38:1–8 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Open the fixed Hebrew Isaiah file ↗