Isaiah 19:4

4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

Isaiah 19:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 19:4

And the Egyptians will I give over into the hands of a
cruel lord
Not of Sennacherib king of Assyria, which way go many interpreters, both Christian and Jewish, as Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi; nor of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, as in ( Jeremiah 46:25 Jeremiah 46:26 ) but either of the twelve tyrants that rose up after the death of Sethon above mentioned; for the word is in the plural number, "lords", though the adjective rendered "cruel" is singular; or else Psammiticus, the father of Pharaohnecho, that slew Josiah; and who conquered the other eleven tyrants, and ruled alone, for the space of fifty four years, with great rigour; and the same is designed in the next clause: and a fierce king shall rule over them;
it is reported of Psammiticus, that he gave such offence to his subjects, that two hundred thousand of his soldiers left him, and went into Ethiopia ^F1. Vitringa interprets this of the Persian emperors, into whose hands Egypt fell, as Cambyses and Ochus; and who, according to historians, were very cruel princes. That there might be no doubt of the sure and certain accomplishment of this prophecy, it is added, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts;
of the armies above and below; and who does what he pleases among the kings and kingdoms of the earth.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 See Raleigh's History of the World, B. 2. c. 27. sect. 3. p. 357.

Isaiah 19:4 In-Context

2 And I will incite the Egyptians against the Egyptians; and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of it, and I will destroy the counsel thereof; and they shall seek unto the idols and unto the conjurers, and unto the necromancers, and unto the soothsayers.

4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up;

6 and the rivers shall stink, and the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and drain away: the reeds and sedges shall wither.