Isaiah 19:14

14 The LORD has mingled a perverse spirit in its midst, and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

Isaiah 19:14 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 19:14

The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst
thereof
A spirit of error, as the Targum, Septuagint, and Arabic versions; or of giddiness, as the Vulgate Latin: this he mingled in a cup for them, and poured it out, and gave them it to drink; and an intoxicating cup it was, such as men are made drunk with; to which the allusion is, as the last clause of the verse shows; so that the infatuation and want of wisdom in their counsels were from the Lord; who, because of the vain boasts of their wisdom in righteous judgment, gave them up to judicial blindness, stupidity, and folly: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof;
both in religious and civil affairs, leading them into superstition and idolatry, to which they were of old inclined and addicted, and forming such schemes and projects, and putting them upon such works, as were very detrimental to the nation. Some think this refers to the twelve tyrants, who disagreeing among themselves, being actuated by a perverse spirit, greatly distracted the people; though rather it may refer to the times of Necho, and to his project in cutting a canal for the bringing of the Nile to the Red sea before mentioned, in which he lost several thousands of men without accomplishing it; and of his predecessor, in besieging Ashdod twenty nine years ere he took it F23: as a drunken [man] staggereth in his vomit;
who is so very drunk, that his head is quite giddy, and cannot walk upright, but staggers as he goes, and vomits as he staggers, and falls down, and is rolled in it, as the Targum; just like such a man were the princes and governors of the Egyptian provinces.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 Herodot. l. 2. c. 157, 158.

Isaiah 19:14 In-Context

12 Where are they? Where are thy wise men? Let them tell thee now, or let them cause thee to know what the LORD of the hosts has purposed upon Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even those that are the stay of the tribes thereof.
14 The LORD has mingled a perverse spirit in its midst, and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
15 Neither shall it be of any value unto Egypt, any work which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.
16 In that day Egypt shall be like unto women, and it shall be afraid and fear in the presence of the tall hand of the LORD of the hosts, which he shall raise up over them.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010