Isaiah 19:1-17

Message to Egypt

1 The ¹oracle concerning ²Egypt. Behold, the LORD is ³riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The ⁴idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the ⁵heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

2 "So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians; And they will ⁶each fight against his brother and each against his neighbor, City against city and kingdom against kingdom.

3 "Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confound their strategy, So that ⁷they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead And to mediums and spiritists.

4 "Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a ⁸cruel master, And a mighty king will rule over them," declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

5 ⁹The waters from the sea will dry up, And the river will be parched and dry.

6 The ¹⁰canals will emit a stench, The ¹¹streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up; ¹²The reeds and rushes will rot away.

7 The bulrushes by the ¹³Nile, by the edge of the Nile And all the sown fields by the Nile Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.

8 And the ¹⁴fishermen will lament, And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn, And those who spread nets on the waters will pine away.

9 Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax And the weavers of white ¹⁵cloth will be utterly dejected.

10 And the ¹⁶pillars of Egypt will be crushed; All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

11 The princes of ¹⁷Zoan are mere fools; The advice of Pharaoh's wisest advisers has become stupid. How can you men say to Pharaoh, "I am a son of the ¹⁸wise, a son of ancient kings "?

12 Well then, where are your wise men? Please let them tell you, And let them understand what the LORD of hosts Has ¹⁹purposed against Egypt.

13 The princes of Zoan have acted foolishly, The princes of ²⁰Memphis are deluded; Those who are the ²¹cornerstone of her tribes Have led Egypt astray.

14 The LORD has mixed within her a spirit of ²²distortion; ²³They have led Egypt astray in all that it does, As a ²⁴drunken man staggers in his vomit.

15 There will be no work for Egypt ²⁵Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.

16 In that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in ²⁶dread because * of the ²⁷waving of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which He is going to wave over them.

17 The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because * of the ²⁸purpose of the LORD of hosts which He is purposing against them.

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Isaiah 19:1-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 19

This chapter contains prophecies of various calamities that should come upon Egypt in a short time, and of the conversion of many of them to Christ in Gospel times. The calamities are many; the Lord's coming unto them, which their gods cannot prevent, nor stand before, nor save them, and at which the hearts of the Egyptians are dispirited, Isa 19:1 civil wars among themselves, Isa 19:2 want of counsel, which sends them to idols and wizards, but in vain, Isa 19:3 subjection to a cruel lord, Isa 19:4 drying up of their rivers and waters, so that the paper reeds wither, and fishes die; and hence no business for fishermen, nor for workers in flax, or weavers of nets, Isa 19:5-10,15 the stupidity of their princes and wise counsellors, given up by the Lord to a perverse spirit, so that they concerted wrong measures, and deceived the people, Isa 19:11-14 a general consternation among them, because of the hand and counsel of the Lord; and because of the Lord's people, the Jews, who were a terror to them, Isa 19:16,17 and then follows the prophecy of their conversion in later times, which is signified by their speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing to the Lord, Isa 19:18 by their erecting an altar, and a pillar to the Lord, which should be a sign and witness to him; and by their crying to him, and his sending them a Saviour, and a great one, Isa 19:19,20 by his being known unto them, by their offering sacrifice to him, and by his smiting and healing them Isa 19:21,22 and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy of that harmony, and agreement, and fellowship, that shall be between Jew and Gentile, between Egypt, Assyria, and Israel; and that the blessing of God should be upon them all, Isa 19:23-25.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 28

1. Isaiah 13:1
2. Joel 3:19
3. Psalms 18:9, 10; Psalms 104:3; Matthew 26:64; Revelation 1:7
4. Exodus 12:12; Jeremiah 43:12; Jeremiah 44:8
5. Joshua 2:11; Isaiah 13:7
6. Judges 7:22; 1 Samuel 14:20; 2 Chronicles 20:23; Matthew 10:21, 36
7. 1 Chronicles 10:13; Isaiah 8:19; Daniel 2:2
8. Isaiah 20:4; Jeremiah 46:26; Ezekiel 29:19
9. Isaiah 50:2; Jeremiah 51:36; Ezekiel 30:12
10. Exodus 7:18
11. Isaiah 37:25
12. Exodus 2:3; Job 8:11; Isaiah 15:6
13. Isaiah 23:3, 10
14. Ezekiel 47:10; Habakkuk 1:15
15. Proverbs 7:16; Ezekiel 27:7
16. Psalms 11:3
17. Numbers 13:22; Psalms 78:12, 43; Isaiah 30:4
18. Genesis 41:38, 39; 1 Kings 4:30; Acts 7:22
19. Isaiah 14:24; Romans 9:17
20. Jeremiah 2:16; Jeremiah 46:14, 19; Ezekiel 30:13
21. Zechariah 10:4
22. Proverbs 12:8; Matthew 17:17
23. Isaiah 3:12; Isaiah 9:16
24. Isaiah 28:7
25. Isaiah 9:14, 15
26. 2 Corinthians 5:11; Hebrews 10:31
27. Isaiah 11:15
28. Isaiah 14:24; Daniel 4:35

Footnotes 20

[a]. Or "burden of"
[b]. Or "ghosts and spirits"
[c]. Or "fierce"
[d]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD
[e]. Lit "rivers"
[f]. Or "Nile branches;" i.e. the delta
[g]. Or "mouth"
[h]. Lit "hook"
[i]. Or "languish"
[j]. Lit "ashamed"
[k]. Lit "her pillars" or, "her weavers"
[l]. Or "Tanis"
[m]. Or "brutish"
[n]. Or "know"
[o]. Or "Tanis"
[p]. Or "have caused Egypt to stagger"
[q]. Lit "its work"
[r]. Or "goes astray"
[s]. Or "cause of shame"
[t]. Lit "who mentions it will be in dread to it"