Isa 38:1 – ‘in those days’

The expression ‘in those days’ occurs 31x in the Hebrew Scriptures. Our question is: when are those days? Are they the days that have just been recounted? Are they days coming up about which we are going to be told?

• In Exod 2:11, having been told of Moses’ childhood, we read ‘in those days, when Moses was grown’. The days are ‘the days’ of Moses’ young manhood and not the days of his childhood.
• In the ‘Cities of Refuge’ law, a person could dwell in such a city ‘until the death of the High Priest that shall be in those days’. The days here are those that define the tenure of the High Priest.
• In 1 Sam 3:1 we read that the Word of the Lord was ‘precious in those days’, but these days are those of Eli.
• In Jer 31:29, ‘those days’ are those that pertain to the restoration of the people in the land; it is a prophecy.

From these examples, it is clear that ‘in those days’ is set by the context and our text is ‘In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death’ (2 Kgs 20:1; 2 Chron 32:24; Isa 38:1). The immediately prior verse to 2 Kgs 20:1/Isa 38:1 is Sennacherib’s death and prior to that it is the blockade of Jerusalem and the decimation of the Assyrian army. Obviously, Hezekiah was not sick in the days of Sennacherib’s demise and so it would seem that he was sick in the days of the blockade of Jerusalem. The proof of this is the quotation of Isa 37:35,

For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. Isa 37:35 (KJV)

And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. Isa 38:6 (KJV)

We might ask: when exactly was Hezekiah sick? Before or after God declared that he would defend the city for his own sake and for David’s sake (Isa 37:35)? Either way, the sickness is happening at the time of Assyrian invasion. But what can we say pro and con?

Isa 37:35 is part of God’s response to Hezekiah’s prayer (Isa 37:16-20) and so the question becomes, was Hezekiah sick and recovered before this prayer? Obviously not, because God’s response in Isa 38:1 is that he will save him and defend the city. We can’t have Hezekiah praying for God to defend the city after he has been told by God that He will defend the city. So, it would seem that the assurance of Isa 38:1 can only follow Isa 37:25 as a repetition of that assurance placed alongside the promise of a recovery.[1] In short, Hezekiah’s prayer for his life followed his prayer for the city.

A final thought: we might ask, could God have taken Hezekiah’s life and still kept the Davidic covenant? The short answer is that he could have provided there were minor branches of the royal family with sons (hence, Isa 11:1).