Isaiah19
King James Version · Public Domain
1The 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 neighbour; 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 defence 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 Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors 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 Zoan are become fools, the princes of Memphis 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.
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.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Isaiah 19.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Judgments upon Egypt. (1-17). Its deliverance, and the conversion of the people. (18-25).
vv1-17
God shall come into Egypt with his judgments. He will raise up the causes of their destruction from among themselves. When ungodly men escape danger, they are apt to think themselves secure; but evil pursues sinners, and will speedily overtake them, except they repent. The Egyptians will be given over into the hand of one who shall rule them with rigour, as was shortly after fulfilled. The Egyptians were renowned for wisdom and science; yet the Lord would give them up to their own perverse schemes, and to quarrel, till their land would be brought by their contests to become an object of contempt and pity. He renders sinners afraid of those whom they have despised and oppressed; and the Lord of hosts will make the workers of iniquity a terror to themselves, and to each other; and every object around a terror to them.
vv18-25
The words, "In that day," do not always refer to the passage just before. At a time which was to come, the Egyptians shall speak the holy language, the Scripture language; not only understand it, but use it. Converting grace, by changing the heart, changes the language; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So many Jews shall come to Egypt, that they shall soon fill five cities. Where the sun was worshipped, a place infamous for idolatry, even there shall be a wonderful reformation. Christ, the great Altar, who sanctifies every gift, shall be owned, and the gospel sacrifices of prayer and praise shall be offered up. Let the broken-hearted and afflicted, whom the Lord has wounded, and thus taught to return to, and call upon him, take courage; for He will heal their souls, and turn their sorrowing supplications into joyful praises. The Gentile nations shall not only unite with each other in the gospel fold under Christ, the great Shepherd, but they shall all be united with the Jews. They shall be owned together by him; they shall all share in one and the same blessing. Meeting at the same throne of grace, and serving with each other in the same business of religion, should end all disputes, and unite the hearts of believers to each other in holy love.
Key Words
מַשָּׂא: a burden; specifically, tribute, or (abstractly) porterage; figuratively, an utterance, chiefly adoom, especially singing; mental, desire
מִצְרַיִם: Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt
הִנֵּה: lo!
רָכַב: to ride (on an animal or in a vehicle); causatively, to place upon (for riding or generally), to despatch
קַל: light; (by implication) rapid (also adverbial)
עָב: properly, an envelope, i.e. darkness (or density, 2 Chronicles 4:17); specifically, a (scud) cloud; also a copse
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
אֱלִיל: good for nothing, by anal. vain or vanity; specifically an idol
נוּעַ: to waver, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively (as subjoined)
מִן: properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses
Cross References
Isaiah 19Judgment executed upon the gods of Egypt, mirroring the original Exodus visitation.
Supported by JFB
Folly of seeking counsel from charmers and wizards instead of the living God.
Supported by JFB
Physical judgment of the drying up of the Nile accompanying political convulsions.
Supported by JFB
The Hebrew idiom of referring to a large river (like Nile or Euphrates) as a 'sea'.
Supported by JFB
Egypt's proverbial wisdom, contrasted here with the utter foolishness of Pharaoh's counselors.
Supported by JFB
Moses was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, highlighting Egypt's historical prestige.
Supported by JFB
Prophecies targeting Noph (Memphis) as a deceived center of power in Egypt.
Supported by JFB
The divine pattern of wounding and then binding up/healing those who repent.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Imagery of the Lord making the clouds His chariot or riding upon them.
Supported by JFB
Prophecy of the destruction and burning of the temples/idols of Egypt.
Supported by JFB
God putting a lying or perverse spirit in the mouths of leaders to judge them.
Supported by Matthew Poole
God alone holds the power to kill and make alive, to wound and to heal.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Prophecy of a highway for the remnant, linking Egypt, Assyria, and Israel.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Prophecy of Egypt stretching out her hands in conversion and worship to God.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Gentiles offering pure, acceptable worship globally, fulfilling the altar in Egypt.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Christ breaking down the middle wall of partition to unite former enemies.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Under Christ, national distinctions fade; Greek, Jew, barbarian, Scythian are one.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The unique dependence of rainless Egypt on irrigation rather than direct rainfall.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Historical antiquity of Zoan, reinforcing its status as an ancient royal seat.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Setting up a pillar as a consecrated monument and witness to God.
Supported by Matthew Poole