Isaiah 38:10-11

38:10 “I thought, ¹ 

‘In the middle of my life ²  I must walk through the gates of Sheol,

I am deprived ³  of the rest of my years.’

38:11 “I thought,

‘I will no longer see the Lord ⁴  in the land of the living,

I will no longer look on humankind with the inhabitants of the world. ⁵ 

[38:10]  ¹ tn Or “I said” (KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[38:10]  ² tn The precise meaning of the phrase בִּדְמִי יָמַי (bidmi yamay, “in the [?] of my days”) is uncertain. According to HALOT 226 s.v. דְּמִי this word is a hapax legomenon meaning “half.” Others derive the form from דַּמִי (dami, “quiet, rest, peacefulness”).

[38:10]  ³ tn The precise meaning of the verb is uncertain. The Pual of of פָּקַד (paqad) occurs only here and in Exod 38:21, where it appears to mean “passed in review” or “mustered.” Perhaps the idea is, “I have been called away for the remainder of my years.” To bring out the sense more clearly, one can translate, “I am deprived of the rest of my years.”

[38:11]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text has יָהּ יָהּ (yah yah, the abbreviated form of יְהוָה [yÿhvah] repeated), but this is probably a corruption of יְהוָה.

[38:11]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text has חָדֶל (khadel), which appears to be derived from a verbal root meaning “to cease, refrain.” But the form has probably suffered an error of transmission; the original form (attested in a few medieval Hebrew mss) was likely חֶלֶד (kheled, “world”).