Isaiah 36:6

6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean , it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

Isaiah 36:6 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 36:6

Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt,
&c.] His ally and auxiliary; and which is rightly called "the staff of a broken reed", if trusted to, and leaned upon, being weak and frail, and an insufficient ground of confidence to depend upon; the allusion seems to be to the cane or reed which grew upon the banks of the river Nile, in Egypt: whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it;
the splinters of the broken reed being leaned on, will enter into a man's hand, and do him harm, instead of being a help to him to walk with: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him;
pernicious and harmful, instead of being useful and helpful.

Isaiah 36:6 In-Context

4 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest ?

5 I say , sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust , that thou rebellest against me?

6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean , it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

7 But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away , and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

8 Now therefore give pledges , I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.