Isaiah 19
19
The Oracle concerning Egypt
1 #
Jer 46.2-26; Ezek 29.1—32.32. The burden of Egypt.
Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. 2And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. 3And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 4And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts.
5And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. 6And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defense shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. 7The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. 8The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish. 9Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. 10And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.
11Surely the princes of Zo´an are fools, the counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? 12Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. 13The princes of Zo´an are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. 14The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. 15Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.
16In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh over it. 17And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined against it.
18In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.#19.18 destruction or the sun.
19In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. 20And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. 21And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it. 22And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them.
23In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.
24In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: 25whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
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Isaiah 19: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Isaiah 19
19
The Lord Will Judge Egypt
1 Here is a message about Egypt:
Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud
and approaches Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him;
the Egyptians lose their courage.#tn Heb “and the heart of Egypt melts within it.”
2 “I will provoke civil strife in Egypt,#tn Heb I will provoke Egypt against Egypt” (NAB similar).
brothers will fight with each other,
as will neighbors,
cities, and kingdoms.#tn Heb “and they will fight, a man against his brother, and a man against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.” Civil strife will extend all the way from the domestic level to the provincial arena.
3 The Egyptians will panic,#tn Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”
and I will confuse their strategy.#tn The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע.
They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,
from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians.#tn Heb “they will inquire of the idols and of the spirits of the dead and of the ritual pits and of the magicians.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19.
4 I will hand Egypt over to a harsh master;
a powerful king will rule over them,”
says the sovereign master,#tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay). the Lord who commands armies.
5 The water of the sea will be dried up,
and the river will dry up and be empty.#tn Heb “will dry up and be dry.” Two synonyms are joined for emphasis.
6 The canals#tn Heb “rivers” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, CEV “streams”; TEV “channels.” will stink;#tn The verb form appears as a Hiphil in the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa; the form in MT may be a so-called “mixed form,” reflecting the Hebrew Hiphil stem and the functionally corresponding Aramaic Aphel stem. See HALOT 276 s.v. I זנח.
the streams of Egypt will trickle and then dry up;
the bulrushes and reeds will decay,
7 along with the plants by the mouth of the river.#tn Heb “the plants by the river, by the mouth of the river.”
All the cultivated land near the river
will turn to dust and be blown away.#tn Heb “will dry up, [being] scattered, and it will vanish.”
8 The fishermen will mourn and lament,
all those who cast a fishhook into the river,
and those who spread out a net on the water’s surface will grieve.#tn Or perhaps, “will disappear”; cf. TEV “will be useless.”
9 Those who make clothes from combed flax will be embarrassed;
those who weave will turn pale.#tn BDB 301 s.v. חוֹרִי suggests the meaning “white stuff” for חוֹרִי (khori); the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has חָוֵרוּ (khaveru), probably a Qal perfect, third plural form of חוּר, (khur, “be white, pale”). See HALOT 299 s.v. I חור. The latter reading is assumed in the translation above.
10 Those who make cloth#tn Some interpret שָׁתֹתֶיהָ (shatoteha) as “her foundations,” i.e., leaders, nobles. See BDB 1011 s.v. שָׁת. Others, on the basis of alleged cognates in Akkadian and Coptic, repoint the form שְׁתִיתֶיהָ (shÿtiteha) and translate “her weavers.” See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:370. will be demoralized;#tn Heb “crushed.” Emotional distress is the focus of the context (see vv. 8-9, 10b).
all the hired workers will be depressed.#tn Heb “sad of soul”; cf. NIV, NLT “sick at heart.”
11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools;#tn Or “certainly the officials of Zoan are fools.” אַךְ (’akh) can carry the sense, “only, nothing but,” or “certainly, surely.”
Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice.
How dare you say to Pharaoh,
“I am one of the sages,
one well-versed in the writings of the ancient kings?”#tn Heb “A son of wise men am I, a son of ancient kings.” The term בֶּן (ben, “son of”) could refer to literal descent, but many understand the word, at least in the first line, in its idiomatic sense of “member [of a guild].” See HALOT 138 s.v. בֶּן and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:371. If this is the case, then one can take the word in a figurative sense in the second line as well, the “son of ancient kings” being one devoted to their memory as preserved in their literature.
12 But where, oh where, are your wise men?#tn Heb “Where are they? Where are your wise men?” The juxtaposition of the interrogative pronouns is emphatic. See HALOT 38 s.v. אֶי.
Let them tell you, let them find out
what the Lord who commands armies has planned for Egypt.
13 The officials of Zoan are fools,
the officials of Memphis#tn Heb “Noph” (so KJV); most recent English versions substitute the more familiar “Memphis.” are misled;
the rulers#tn Heb “the cornerstone.” The singular form should be emended to a plural. of her tribes lead Egypt astray.
14 The Lord has made them undiscerning;#tn Heb “the Lord has mixed into her midst a spirit of blindness.”
they lead Egypt astray in all she does,
so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit.#tn Heb “like the going astray of a drunkard in his vomit.”
15 Egypt will not be able to do a thing,
head or tail, shoots and stalk.#tn Heb “And there will not be for Egypt a deed, which head and tail, shoot and stalk can do.” In 9:14-15 the phrase “head or tail” refers to leaders and prophets, respectively. This interpretation makes good sense in this context, where both leaders and advisers (probably including prophets and diviners) are mentioned (vv. 11-14). Here, as in 9:14, “shoots and stalk” picture a reed, which symbolizes the leadership of the nation in its entirety.
16 At that time#tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV), likewise at the beginning of vv. 18 and 19. the Egyptians#tn Heb “Egypt,” which stands by metonymy for the country’s inhabitants. will be like women.#sn As the rest of the verse indicates, the point of the simile is that the Egyptians will be relatively weak physically and will wilt in fear before the Lord’s onslaught. They will tremble and fear because the Lord who commands armies brandishes his fist against them.#tn Heb “and he will tremble and be afraid because of the brandishing of the hand of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], which he brandishes against him.” Since according to the imagery here the Lord’s “hand” is raised as a weapon against the Egyptians, the term “fist” has been used in the translation. 17 The land of Judah will humiliate Egypt. Everyone who hears about Judah will be afraid because of what the Lord who commands armies is planning to do to them.#tn Heb “and the land of Judah will become [a source of] shame to Egypt, everyone to whom one mentions it [i.e., the land of Judah] will fear because of the plan of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] which he is planning against him.”
18 At that time five cities#sn The significance of the number “five” in this context is uncertain. For a discussion of various proposals, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:376-77. in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord who commands armies. One will be called the City of the Sun.#tc The Hebrew text has עִיר הַהֶרֶס (’ir haheres, “City of Destruction”; cf. NASB, NIV) but this does not fit the positive emphasis of vv. 18-22. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and some medieval Hebrew mss read עִיר הָחֶרֶס (’ir hakheres, “City of the Sun,” i.e., Heliopolis). This reading also finds support from Symmachus’ Greek version, the Targum, and the Vulgate. See HALOT 257 s.v. חֶרֶס and HALOT 355 s.v. II חֶרֶס. 19 At that time there will be an altar for the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, as well as a sacred pillar#tn This word is sometimes used of a sacred pillar associated with pagan worship, but here it is associated with the worship of the Lord. dedicated to the Lord at its border. 20 It#tn The masculine noun מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbbeakh, “altar”) in v. 19 is probably the subject of the masculine singular verb הָיָה (hayah) rather than the feminine noun מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”), also in v. 19. will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of#tn Heb “a sign and a witness to the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] in the land of Egypt.” the Lord who commands armies. When they cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender#tn רָב (rav) is a substantival participle (from רִיב, riv) meaning “one who strives, contends.” who will rescue them. 21 The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptians, and they#tn Heb “Egypt.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, the present translation uses the pronoun (“they”) here. will acknowledge the Lord’s authority#tn Heb “will know the Lord.” at that time.#tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV), likewise at the beginning of vv. 23 and 24. They will present sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt, striking and then healing them. They will turn to the Lord and he will listen to their prayers#tn Heb “he will be entreated.” The Niphal has a tolerative sense here, “he will allow himself to be entreated.” and heal them.
23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.#tn The text could be translated, “and Egypt will serve Assyria” (cf. NAB), but subjugation of one nation to the other does not seem to be a theme in vv. 23-25. Rather the nations are viewed as equals before the Lord (v. 25). Therefore it is better to take אֶת (’et) in v. 23b as a preposition, “together with,” rather than the accusative sign. The names of the two countries are understood to refer by metonymy to their respective inhabitants. 24 At that time Israel will be the third member of the group, along with Egypt and Assyria, and will be a recipient of blessing#tn Heb “will be a blessing” (so NCV). in the earth.#tn Or “land” (KJV, NAB). 25 The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying,#tn Heb “which the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] will bless [it], saying.” The third masculine singular suffix on the form בֵּרֲכוֹ (berakho) should probably be emended to a third feminine singular suffix בֵּרֲכָהּ (berakhah), for its antecedent would appear to be the feminine noun אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) at the end of v. 24. “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession,#tn Or “my inheritance” (NAB, NASB, NIV). Israel!”
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