Isaiah 30:4

4 For their princes are at Tzo`an, and their ambassadors are come to Hanes.

Isaiah 30:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 30:4

For his princes were at Zoan
That is, the princes of the king of Judah, or of the people of Judah; though it can hardly be thought that princes should be sent ambassadors into Egypt, to enter into an alliance, or request help, without the knowledge, leave, and consent, and indeed order, of the king, under which character they went, as appears from the following clause: and his ambassadors came to Hanes;
these are the same with the princes, for such were sent on this embassy, both for the honour of the kingdom, and for the more easy obtaining of their end; the two places mentioned, to which they went, were two principal cities in Egypt, where probably the king of Egypt was, and his court kept, sometimes at one place, and sometimes at another. Zoan is the same with Tanis, the metropolis of one of the nomes or provinces of Egypt, called from it the Tanitic nome; and so the Targum here renders it, "Tanes": and the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, "Tanis"; (See Gill on Isaiah 19:11). The Jews F7 say there is not a more excellent place in all Egypt than Zoan, because kings were brought up in it, as it is here said, "his princes were at Zoan"; the other, here called "Hanes", is the same with Tahapanes in ( Jeremiah 2:16 ) and Tahpanhes, ( Jeremiah 43:7-9 ) and so the Targum here calls it; it is thought to be the same with Daphnae Pelusiae; here Pharaoh had a house or palace; see ( Jeremiah 43:9 ) and this is the reason of the ambassadors going thither.


FOOTNOTES:

F7 T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 112. 1. & Sota, fol. 34. 2.

Isaiah 30:4 In-Context

2 that set out to go down into Mitzrayim, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Par`oh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Mitzrayim!
3 Therefore shall the strength of Par`oh be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Mitzrayim your confusion.
4 For their princes are at Tzo`an, and their ambassadors are come to Hanes.
5 They shall all be ashamed because of a people that can't profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
6 The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit [them].
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.