Isaiah 20:4

4 So shall the king of the Assyrians lead away the prisoners of Egypt, and the captivity of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered to the shame of Egypt.

Isaiah 20:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 20:4

So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians
prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives
As beasts are led or driven, being taken prisoners, and carried captive by the king of Assyria, namely Sargon, whoever is intended by him:

young and old;
without any regard to age, sparing none for their tender years or gray hairs:

naked and barefoot;
as prisoners of war commonly are, being stripped by their conquerors of their clothes, and having only a few rags given them to cover their nakedness with, and obliged to travel without shoes on their feet:

even with [their] buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt;
having no clothes on them to cover those parts; or the skirts of their garments cut off, as David's servants were by the Ammonites, ( 2 Samuel 10:4 ) and this to humble and mortify the pride of the Egyptians.

Isaiah 20:4 In-Context

2 At that same time the Lord spoke by the hand of Isaias the son of Amos, saying Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and take off thy shoes from thy feet. And he did so, and went naked, and barefoot.

3 And the Lord said: As my servant Isaias hath walked, naked and barefoot, it shall be a sign and a wonder of three years upon Egypt, and upon Ethiopia,

4 So shall the king of the Assyrians lead away the prisoners of Egypt, and the captivity of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered to the shame of Egypt.

5 And they shall be afraid, and ashamed of Ethiopia their hope, and of Egypt their glory.

6 And the inhabitants of this isle shall say in that day: Lo this was our hope, to whom we fled for help, to deliver us from the face of the king of the Assyrians: and how shall we be able to escape?