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. Ver. 1. _The burden of Egypt._] See Isaiah 13:1 . _ Behold the Lord rideth._] Heb., Riding - _sc.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And 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._ Ver. 2. _And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians._] _Commiscebo Egyptios inter se,_ I will embr... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 3. _And the spirit of Egypt shall fail._] Fail and falter; their wits shall not se... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 4. _And the Egyptians will I give over._] Heb., Shut up - _sc., _ as fishes in a pond. _ Into the hand of a cruel lord._] Heb., Lords - viz., those twel... [ Continue Reading ]
And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. Ver. 5. _And the waters shall fail from the sea,_] _i.e., _ Their sea traffic shall be taken from them, to their very great loss. Historians testify, that by frequent navigation out of the Bay of Arabia into India a... [ Continue Reading ]
And they shall turn the rivers far away; [and] the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. Ver. 6. _And they shall turn the rivers far away._] The Assyrians shall, or some of their own fond and vainglorious princes shall drain the river Nile at several pas... [ Continue Reading ]
The 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]. Ver. 7. _The paper reeds by the brooks,_] _i.e., _ By the streams of Nile; for where this river arriveth not, is nothing but a whitish sand, bearing no gras... [ Continue Reading ]
The 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. Ver. 8. _The fishers also shall mourn._] Because their trade decayeth, or they take pains to no purpose. Isa 19:10... [ Continue Reading ]
Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. Ver. 9. _They that work in fine flax shall be confounded,_] _sc., _ For want of materials, such as were wont to be sown by the brooks Isa 19:7 1Ki 10:28 Pro 7:16 Eze 27:7 (Plin., lib. ix. cap. 1). _ They that... [ Continue Reading ]
And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices [and] ponds for fish. Ver. 10. _And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof._] Heb., In the foundations, as Psalms 11:3. Purposes are the foundation of practices, but are oft disappointed. _ And ponds for fish._] Heb., Po... [ Continue Reading ]
Surely 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? Ver. 11. _Surely the princes of Zoan are fools._] Otherwise they would never have so ill-advised their king so to... [ Continue Reading ]
_Where [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._ Ver. 12. _Where are they? where are thy wise men?_] _q.d., _ _Vile latens virtus:_ if they have that wisdom they pretend to, let them predict thy calamities... [ Continue Reading ]
The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, [even they that are] the stay of the tribes thereof. Ver. 13. _The princes of Zoan are become fools._] Wilful fools; this they are told twice over, because hardly persuaded to it. See Isaiah 19:11... [ Continue Reading ]
The 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. Ver. 14. _The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit._] Or, Given them to drink a spirit of giddiness. Heb., A spirit of extreme perversiti... [ Continue Reading ]
_Neither shall there be [any] work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do._ Ver. 15. _Neither shall there be any work._] See on Isaiah 19:14 .... [ Continue Reading ]
In 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. Ver. 16. _In that day shall Egypt be like unto women._] Feeble and faint-hearted, _nihil mascule aut fortiter facturi, sed mulieribus meticu... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 17. _And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt._] For how should Egypt hope to speed... [ Continue Reading ]
In 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. Ver. 18. _In that day._] When the gospel shall be there preached, whether by Mark the evangelist or others, as Clement, Origen, Didymus. _... [ Continue Reading ]
In 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. Ver. 19. _In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord._] A spiritual altar for spiritual sacrifices. _as _ Isa 19:20 Heb 13:10 Onias, the Jewish priest, who hereupo... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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. Ver. 20. _And it shall be for a sign and for a witness._] The doctrine... [ Continue Reading ]
And 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]. Ver. 21. _And the Lord shall be known to Egypt._] They shall both know the Lord Christ, and be known of him. _as _... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal [it]: and they shall return [even] to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. Ver. 22. _And the Lord shall smite Egypt._] That he may bring it into the bond of the covenant. Eze 20:37 _Hebrews 12:9_ Hos 6:1 _ He shal... [ Continue Reading ]
In 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. Ver. 23. _In that day there shall be an highway, &c._] All hostility shall cease, and a blessed unanimity be settled... [ Continue Reading ]
In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, [even] a blessing in the midst of the land: Ver. 24. _In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt._] The posterity of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, shall concur in the communion of saints; the pale and partition wall being taken away... [ Continue Reading ]
Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed [be] Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. Ver. 25. _Whom the Lord af hosts shall bless._] Or, For the Lord of hosts shall bless, and then he shall be blessed, _a_ as Isaac said of Jacob. Gen 27:33 _ Bles... [ Continue Reading ]