Isaiah 19:5

5 The waters of the Nile River will dry up. The bottom of it will be cracked and dry.

Isaiah 19:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 19:5

And the waters shall fail from the sea
Which Kimchi understands figuratively of the destruction of the Egyptians by the king of Assyria, compared to the drying up of the waters of the Nile; and others think that the failure of their trade by sea is meant, which brought great revenues into the kingdom: but, by what follows, it seems best to take the words in a literal sense, of the waters of the river Nile, which being dried up, as in the next clause, could not empty themselves into the sea, as they used, and therefore very properly may be said to fail from it; nay, the Nile itself may be called a sea, it being so large a confluence of water: and the river shall be wasted and dried up;
that is, the river Nile, which was not only very useful for their trade and navigation, but the fruitfulness of the country depended upon it; for the want of rain, in the land of Egypt, was supplied by the overflow of this river, at certain times, which brought and left such a slime upon the earth, as made it exceeding fertile; now the drying up of this river was either occasioned by some great drought, which God in judgment sent; or by the practices of some of their princes with this river, by which it was greatly impaired, and its usefulness diminished.

Isaiah 19:5 In-Context

3 The people of Egypt will lose hope. I will keep them from doing what they plan to do. They will ask their gods for advice. They will turn to the spirits of dead people for help. They will go to people who get messages from those who have died. They will ask for advice from people who talk to the spirits of the dead.

4 I will hand the Egyptians over to a mean and unkind master. A powerful king will rule over them," announces the Lord. He is the LORD who rules over all.

5 The waters of the Nile River will dry up. The bottom of it will be cracked and dry.

6 Its waterways will stink. And the streams of Egypt will get smaller and smaller until they dry up. The tall grass that grows along the river will dry up.

7 So will the plants along the banks of the Nile. Even the planted fields along the Nile will dry up. Everything that grows there will blow away and disappear.