An oracle on Egypt It is recognised by all commentators that this difficult chapter consists of two dissimilar parts, although it is doubtful whether the second division commences with Isaiah 19:16 or Isaiah 19:18. For convenience, we may adopt the arrangement of Delitzsch, who regards Isaiah 19:16... [ Continue Reading ]
On the superscription, see on ch. Isaiah 13:1. _rideth upon a swift cloud_ The same representation in Psalms 18:10; Psalms 104:3. It is based on the ancient conception of the thunder-storm as the emblem of Jehovah's presence. _the idols_ the "non-entities" as in ch. Isaiah 2:8, &c. _shall be move... [ Continue Reading ]
The dissolution of the Egyptian nationality by the judicial intervention of Jehovah.... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah speaks. The description of anarchy and civil war recalls ch. Isaiah 3:5; Isaiah 9:18 ff. _I will set … Egyptians_ Lit. I WILL STIR UP (see ch. Isaiah 9:11) EGYPT AGAINST EGYPT the general expression for civil discord which is explained in the remainder of the verse. _kingdom against kingdom... [ Continue Reading ]
_the spirit of Egypt shall fail_ lit. BE POURED OUT, cf. Jeremiah 19:7. "Spirit" is here used of intellectual power, as "heart" in Isaiah 19:1 denotes courage. _I will destroy_ or "swallow up," "annihilate," but see on ch. Isaiah 3:12. In their desperation the Egyptians betake themselves to incanta... [ Continue Reading ]
R.V. AND I WILL GIVE OVER (lit. "shut up") THE EGYPTIANS INTO THE HAND OF A CRUEL ("hard") LORD (in Hebr. plur. of majesty), &c. The words suggest a foreign ruler and are quite applicable to any Assyrian monarch likely to undertake the conquest of Egypt. Esarhaddon in 672 and again Asshurbanipal in... [ Continue Reading ]
It has been supposed by some that there is a causal connexion between the judgments here threatened and the political calamities described in the first strophe. The loss of a stable and beneficent central administration in Egypt is immediately felt by the peasantry through the neglect of the vast sy... [ Continue Reading ]
The material and industrial ruin of Egypt.... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse reads: AND THE STREAMS SHALL STINK, THE CANALS OF EGYPT SHALL BECOME FEEBLE AND DRY UP, &c. The word for "stink" is an anomalous form in Hebr. That rendered in A.V. "defence" is a rare name for Egypt (_Maçôr_, cf. Assyr. _Muṣur_, Arab. _Miṣr_), found also in ch. Isaiah 37:25; 2 Kings 19:24... [ Continue Reading ]
_The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks_ Usually rendered as in R.V., "The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile." The word for "meadows," which does not occur again, is supposed to mean literally "bare place," hardly a suitable designation! A safer translation would be, B... [ Continue Reading ]
Fishing, one of the staple industries of Egypt, is first mentioned, as that most immediately affected (cf. Exodus 7:21). The two methods referred to, angling and net-fishing, are both depicted on the monuments. _that cast angle into the brooks_ R.V. NILE.... [ Continue Reading ]
Textile manufactures, linen and cotton, flourished greatly in ancient Egypt. _fine flax_ COMBED FLAX (R.V.). For _networks_read WHITE-STUFFS, probably cotton.... [ Continue Reading ]
Translate as R.V. AND HER PILLARS SHALL BE BROKEN IN PIECES, ALL THEY THAT WORK FOR HIRE SHALL BE GRIEVED IN SOUL. The expressions, however, are very obscure, and the sense is doubtful. The word for "pillars" is found in Psalms 11:3 ("foundations"), but it is disputed whether the capitalists or the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Surely … fools_ MERE FOOLS ARE THE PRINCES OF ZOAN. Zoan (Tanis, between the two most easterly mouths of the Nile), an ancient city (Numbers 13:22), had played an important part in Egyptian history. Formerly the seat of the Hyksos kings, it had subsequently given its name to two native dynasties (2... [ Continue Reading ]
The stultification of Pharaoh's advisers.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Pharaoh is now addressed in turn. WHERE ARE THEY, PRAY, THY WISE MEN? In face of this problem they are nowhere; they cannot "know," far less "tell," the purpose of Jehovah towards Egypt.... [ Continue Reading ]
_are become fools_ Better ARE BEFOOLED "stultified." _Noph_is Memphis, the capital of Lower Egypt, and an ancient seat of Egyptian religion and learning. An older form of the Hebrew name is apparently _Moph_(Hosea 9:6); both forms are perhaps contracted from _Mnoph_(hieroglyphic _Mennofer_). The cit... [ Continue Reading ]
Their intellectual confusion is caused by "a spirit" from Jehovah (but not personified as in 1 Kings 22:21 f.) _a perverse spirit_ Better A SPIRIT OF PERVERSENESS (R.V.). Cf. "spirit of deep slumber," ch. Isaiah 29:10. _err … staggereth_ The same verb should be used in both places "wander" or "stra... [ Continue Reading ]
No concerted action is possible, and every proposal that is brought forward falls to the ground. HEAD AND TAIL, PALM-BRANCH AND RUSH, exactly as in ch. Isaiah 9:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
_like unto women_ timid and faint-hearted (Nahum 3:13). _be afraid_ Better, TREMBLE, as R.V. _the shaking_(or "swinging") _of the hand … which he shaketh_ i.e. the repeated blows with which he smites them, cf. Isaiah 30:32; Isaiah 10:32; Isaiah 11:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
The terror of Jehovah on the Egyptians. There is an allusion to the effect of the plagues in the time of the Exodus. See Exodus 10:7; Exodus 11:3; Exodus 12:33; Exodus 12:36. Then, as in this prophecy, the people of God became an object of fear to their enemies, through the strokes of Jehovah's hand... [ Continue Reading ]
By association of ideas the fear of Jehovah becomes fear of the land which is His dwelling-place. The verse is intelligible only in this connexion. _every one that maketh … himself_ Either "every (Egyptian) to whom one mentions it, shall fear," or "whenever any one mentions it to him (Egypt) he sha... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse may mean either (1) that an indefinite, but small, number of Egyptian cities shall be converted to the worship of Jehovah and adopt Hebrew as at least their sacred language; or (2) that at a certain epoch there shall be five (and no more) Jewish colonies in Egypt maintaining their national... [ Continue Reading ]
It was to this verse, according to Josephus (and not to Isaiah 19:18), that Onias appealed in support of the legitimacy of his project. The statement is perfectly intelligible; it had never occurred to any one to think of Leontopolis in connexion with Isaiah 19:18; on the other hand, the promise of... [ Continue Reading ]
_for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts_ i.e. a reminder that He has a people in Egypt, and that by their presence the land is consecrated to Him. The process of conversion in this and the following verses is finely conceived. First, the name of Jehovah is made known by the religious o... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall be known_ Rather: SHALL MAKE HIMSELF KNOWN, as R.V. marg. _sacrifice and oblation_ animal and vegetable offerings, see on Isaiah 1:11; Isaiah 1:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
he _shall smite and heal it_ lit. "with a smiting and a healing," i.e. He will smite only in order to heal (Hosea 6:1). _be intreated_ hear their supplications (_Niph. tolerativum_).... [ Continue Reading ]
_a highway_ leading of course through Palestine. The ancient enmity between the two empires is laid aside in consequence of their common acceptance of the religion of Jehovah. EGYPT SHALL SERVE (JEHOVAH) WITH ASSYRIA.... [ Continue Reading ]
The incorporation of Egypt and Assyria in the kingdom of God. On the hypothesis that the prophecy is post-exilic "Assyria" will here denote the power to whom the reversion of the ancient Assyrian Empire had fallen. See on ch. Isaiah 11:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall Israel be the third_ member of the Messianic League. For _land_read EARTH as R.V.... [ Continue Reading ]
_whom the Lord of hosts shall bless_ R.V. FOR THAT THE LORD OF HOSTS HATH BLESSED HIM (Israel). A better sense than either is given by the LXX. "(the earth;) which Jehovah … hath blessed." But the masculine suffix is opposed to this. _my people_and _the work of my hands_are titles elsewhere confine... [ Continue Reading ]