Isaiah19
New American Standard
1The pronouncement concerning Egypt: Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
2“So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians; And they will fight, each against his brother and each against his neighbor, City against city and kingdom against kingdom.
3Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confuse their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead, And to mediums and spiritists.
4Furthermore, I will hand the Egyptians over to a cruel master, And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord God of armies.
5The waters from the sea will dry up, And the river will be parched and dry.
6The canals will emit a stench, The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up; The reeds and rushes will rot away.
7The bulrushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile And all the sown fields by the Nile Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
8And the fishermen will grieve, And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn, And those who spread nets on the waters will dwindle away.
9Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax And the weavers of white cloth will be utterly dejected.
10And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed; All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.
11The officials of Zoan are mere fools; The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become stupid. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings”?
12Well then, where are your wise men? Please let them tell you, And let them understand what the Lord of armies Has planned against Egypt.
13The officials of Zoan have turned out to be fools, The officials of Memphis are deluded; Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes Have led Egypt astray.
14The Lord has mixed within her a spirit of distortion; They have led Egypt astray in all that it does, As a drunken person staggers in his vomit.
15There will be no work for Egypt Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.
16On that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in great fear because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of armies, which He is going to wave over them.
17The land of Judah will become a cause of shame to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in great fear because of the plan of the Lord of armies which He is making against them.
18On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the Lord of armies; one will be called the City of Destruction.
19On that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a memorial stone to the Lord beside its border.
20And it will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of armies in the land of Egypt; for they will cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will save them.
21So the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord on that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it.
22And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to their pleas and heal them.
23On that day there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
24On that day Israel will be the third party to Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,
25whom the Lord of armies has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My 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