My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent; like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end;
English Standard Version (ESV)
The imagery here is so vivid! What’s easy to miss is that Hezekiah isn’t just saying his life is ending, but that he’s actively cutting himself off the loom, like a weaver rolling up his finished work. This isn't just passive suffering; it's his own sense of agency, even in his distress, perhaps acknowledging his own role in bringing about this crisis, before God steps in to finalize the severing.
My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent; like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end;
English Standard Version (ESV)
Hezekiah is facing a life-threatening illness and believes his time is up, lamenting that his life is being abruptly taken away. He uses vivid metaphors of a shepherd's tent being packed up and a weaver cutting a finished or unfinished tapestry from the loom to describe the sudden and complete end he anticipates. Hezekiah sees his life being rolled up and cut short, fearing he will perish within a single day.
Imagine packing up your entire life, everything you know and love, with the ease and speed of a shepherd moving his flock. That's the feeling here – a sudden, unsettling departure.
Hezekiah uses the image of a shepherd's tent to describe the suddenness of his life's end.
A Mobile Home
Shepherds, by necessity, lived a nomadic life. Their tents were easily pitched and just as easily dismantled. This wasn't a permanent, solid structure, but something temporary, designed for movement.
Life's Sudden Shift
Hezekiah feels his life is being plucked up and removed like this tent. It's not a slow decline, but a drastic uprooting. His entire existence, his 'dwelling,' is being taken from him, implying a move from the familiar world of the living to an unknown place.
Life often feels like a carefully woven tapestry, full of intention and ongoing work. But what happens when the weaver's hands are stilled, or the threads are suddenly cut?
Hezekiah shifts to the imagery of weaving to express the abrupt end of his life's work and purpose.
Rolling Up the Web
The phrase 'I have rolled up my life' suggests a life that was still in progress. A weaver might roll up a finished section of a tapestry or a partially completed work. Hezekiah feels his life's project is being halted prematurely.
Ask a follow-up
The Divine Scissors
The continuation of the metaphor, 'he cuts me off from the loom,' points to God as the one who ultimately controls the end of life. The 'loom' represents the place where life's purpose and work are being fashioned. Being cut off signifies an abrupt cessation, not a natural completion. Some scholars suggest the original phrasing might even refer to cutting the threads from the 'thrum' – the very last part of the warp attached to the loom, emphasizing how close to the end Hezekiah felt.
Death often feels like a distant event, but what if it looms so close you can see it happening within a single day?
The final line emphasizes the terrifying speed with which Hezekiah anticipates his end.
A Swift End
'From day to night you bring me to an end' speaks of an incredibly rapid demise. Hezekiah isn't facing a long, drawn-out illness where death is a slow, gradual fade. Instead, he perceives his end as imminent, potentially occurring between morning and evening.
Divine Authority Over Time
This phrase underscores God's sovereign power not just over life, but over the very timing of death. Hezekiah acknowledges that it is God who 'brings him to an end.' The speed is determined by God's will, highlighting the king's complete helplessness and dependence in his crisis.
Understand the original words
sheol (implied context of dwelling) · Hebrew Noun
The Hebrew term for the place of the dead, representing the grave or the underworld, often associated with a place of darkness and separation from the public worship of God.
qaphad · Hebrew Verb
A metaphor for the fragility and finite duration of life; often used in Scripture to depict God as the one who determines the beginning and end of human existence.
This passage comes from a moment of intense personal crisis for King Hezekiah, facing a life-threatening illness and the looming threat of Assyrian conquest, which directly shapes his desperate plea and vivid metaphors for life's fragility.
c. 705-681 BC— this verse
Hezekiah's Reign
King Hezekiah ruled Judah during a tumultuous period, marked by Assyrian dominance and later, rebellion.
c. 701 BC
Assyrian Invasion
King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah, conquering many cities and besieging Jerusalem. Hezekiah faced immense pressure.
c. 701 BC
Hezekiah's Illness and Divine Intervention
According to the biblical narrative, Hezekiah fell gravely ill and was told by Isaiah that he would die. He prayed, and God granted him fifteen additional years of life, with a sign involving the sun dial.
Job also feels his life is rapidly coming to an end, describing the land of darkness and the shadow of death as a place where life is cut short and hope is lost.
Job 17:11-14Similar to Isaiah's lament, Job speaks of his life being shortened and his days consumed, with his hope lying in the dust and the grave calling to him as his father and mother.
Psalm 39:4-7The Psalmist reflects on the brevity of life, comparing it to a handbreadth and a fleeting breath, and acknowledges that all human striving is ultimately vanity, highlighting the transient nature of existence.
2 Corinthians 5:1-4Paul uses the imagery of a tent to describe our earthly bodies, which we long to exchange for a heavenly dwelling, echoing the idea of life being temporary and a temporary habitation being removed.
Lamentations 3:17-20Jeremiah expresses a profound sense of desolation and suffering, feeling that his soul is stripped of peace and his hope has perished, akin to Isaiah's feeling of life being cut off and ended.
barnesIsaiah 38:12: "Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me."
Mine age - The word which is used here (דור dôr) means properly the revolving period or circle of human life. The parallelism seems to demand, however, that it should be used in the sense of dwelling or habitation, so as to correspond with the 'shepherd's tent.' Accordingly, Lowth a…
bensonIsaiah 38:12: "Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me."
Isaiah 38:12 . Mine age is departed — The time of my life is expired; and is removed as a shepherd’s tent — Which is easily and speedily removed: I have cut off — Namely, by my sins, provoking God to do it; or, I have concluded, and declare that my life is, or will be, soon cut off: f…
The imagery here is so vivid! What’s easy to miss is that Hezekiah isn’t just saying his life is ending, but that he’s actively cutting himself off the loom, like a weaver rolling up his finished work. This isn't just passive suffering; it's his own sense of agency, even in his distress, perhaps acknowledging his own role in bringing about this crisis, before God steps in to finalize the severing.
Hezekiah is facing a life-threatening illness and believes his time is up, lamenting that his life is being abruptly taken away. He uses vivid metaphors of a shepherd's tent being packed up and a weaver cutting a finished or unfinished tapestry from the loom to describe the sudden and complete end he anticipates. Hezekiah sees his life being rolled up and cut short, fearing he will perish within a single day.
Hezekiah is facing a life-threatening illness and believes his time is up, lamenting that his life is being abruptly taken away. He uses vivid metaphors of a shepherd's tent being packed up and a weaver cutting a finished or unfinished tapestry from the loom to describe the sudden and complete end he anticipates. Hezekiah sees his life being rolled up and cut short, fearing he will perish within a single day.
"My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent; like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom; from day to night you bring me to an end;" — The imagery here is so vivid! What’s easy to miss is that Hezekiah isn’t just saying his life is ending, but that he’s actively cutting himself off the loom, like a weaver rolling up his finished w…
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Last reviewed October 2026