Isaiah 38:13I waited patiently until morning. He breaks all my bones like a lion. From day even to night you will make an end of me.
The setting
Jerusalem, ~701 BC. Hezekiah experiences crushing pain through the night, each hour feeling like an eternity. Modern-day Jerusalem, Israel.
The emotion here: exhausted from pain, counting minutes until death
The original word
shābar (שבר) — to break in pieces, shatter completely like pottery
Why it matters
Ancient people believed night hours were when death was most likely to come
Read with care
What most readers miss in Isaiah 38:13
The phrase 'from day even to night' shows he's counting hours, not days - death feels imminent
Common misconceptionPeople think 'waiting patiently' means Hezekiah was calm. The Hebrew shows he was desperately hoping each morning he'd still be alive.
The thread continues
Verses that echo Isaiah 38:13
Bible Genome reading
Isaiah 38:13 — Bible Genome reading
Emotional genome
Isaiah 38:13 comes from the book of Isaiah, written during the Divided Kingdom period. These words are attributed to Hezekiah. The dominant emotion in this verse is anxious, with a comfort power of 20% and a tone that is lamenting. It belongs to the psalm genre of biblical literature. Key themes include physical suffering, divine discipline, pain. Notable phrases: breaks all my bones like a lion; day even to night. This verse is a prayer.
Emotionally similar
Verses that meet the same anxious
“And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light.”
— 2 Corinthians 11:14
“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
— 2 Timothy 3:12
“The evil spirit answered, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?"”
— Acts 19:15
“I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'”
— Acts 22:7
“When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is har…”
— Acts 26:14
Your reflection
What does Isaiah 38:13 mean to you, today?
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