Isaiah 19:15

15 There is nothing Egypt can do— head or tail, palm branch or reed.

Isaiah 19:15 in Other Translations

15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.

15 And there will be nothing for Egypt that head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.

15 There is nothing Egypt can do. All are helpless— the head and the tail, the noble palm branch and the lowly reed.

15 Egypt's hopeless, past helping, a senile, doddering old fool.

15 No head or tail, palm or reed, will be able to do anything for Egypt.

Isaiah 19:15 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 19:15

Neither shall there be [any] work for Egypt
No trade or business to carry on; their rivers being dried up, there was no flax to work with, and fine linen was a principal commodity of Egypt; nor any fish to catch, or rushes to make paper of, as before observed: or it would not be in the power of their hands to deliver themselves from the Assyrians that should come against them; and that they should be deprived of wisdom and counsel, and be at their wits' end, not knowing what to do, or what step to take:

which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do:
high or low, strong or weak, all ranks and orders of men shall have nothing to do; all shall be weak and dispirited, and void of counsel. By the "head" and "branch" may be meant the king and his nobles; and by the "tail" and "rush" the common people; see ( Isaiah 9:14 Isaiah 9:15 ) . The Targum interprets the whole of their chief men thus,

``and the Egyptians shall have no king to reign, nor prince, noble, governor, or ruler.''

Jarchi explains it of the magicians, astrologers, and stargazers of Egypt, who, with all their boasted knowledge and wisdom, should not be able either to foresee or prevent the evil coming upon them.

Isaiah 19:15 In-Context

13 The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray.

14 The LORD has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.

15 There is nothing Egypt can do— head or tail, palm branch or reed.

16 In that day the Egyptians will become weaklings. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the LORD Almighty raises against them.

17 And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the LORD Almighty is planning against them.

Cross References

• 1. S Isaiah 9:14