Isaiah 20:5

5 Those who have put their trust in Ethiopia and have boasted about Egypt will be disillusioned, their hopes shattered.

Isaiah 20:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 20:5

And they shall be afraid and ashamed
That is, those that trusted and depended upon the Egyptians and Ethiopians, particularly the Jews after mentioned, shall be "afraid" that it will be their turn next, that they also shall be taken and carried captive; and they shall be "ashamed" that they have put their trust and confidence in those nations, and not in the Lord: of Ethiopia their expectation;
from whom they expected assistance and protection, particularly when Tirhakah king of Ethiopia went out against the king of Assyria, that he would have been a match for him, and have overcome him, and so have freed them from such a powerful enemy: and of Egypt their glory;
who was their ally, and a very potent one, and in whom they gloried; but now should be ashamed, when both those people on whom they relied were carried captive.

Isaiah 20:5 In-Context

3 When Ashdod was captured, the Lord said, "My servant Isaiah has been going around naked and barefoot for three years. This is a sign of what will happen to Egypt and Ethiopia.

4 The emperor of Assyria will lead away naked the prisoners he captures from those two countries. Young and old, they will walk barefoot and naked, with their buttocks exposed, bringing shame on Egypt.

5 Those who have put their trust in Ethiopia and have boasted about Egypt will be disillusioned, their hopes shattered.

6 When that time comes, the people who live along the coast of Philistia will say, "Look at what has happened to the people we relied on to protect us from the emperor of Assyria! How will we ever survive?' "

Footnotes

• [a]. [Hebrew] Cush(ites): [Cush is the ancient name of the extensive territory south of the First Cataract of the Nile River. This region was called Ethiopia in Graeco-Roman times, and included within its borders most of modern Sudan and some of present-day Ethiopia (Abyssinia).]