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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Isaiah 19:1 - 19:15
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A Threat of Destruction
v. 1. The burden of Egypt, including both Lower and Upper Egypt: Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, coming on light clouds as His chariots, in order to pass sentence, and shall come into Egypt; and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at His presence, trembling with terror at their approaching fall and doom, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it, namely, for fear of the impending punishment. Thus the prophet summarizes his entire prophecy upon Egypt.
v. 2. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians, inciting them to civil war and anarchy such as we are told of by secular historians; and they shall fight every one against his brother and every one against his neighbor; city against city and kingdom against kingdom. All this was fulfilled at the beginning of the seventh century before Christ, about the time before Nebuchadnezzar's invasion, when Egypt was divided into twelve kingdoms and into forty-two nomes, or districts, between some of whom there was always dissension, and real peace was not established even after Psammetichus had become sole ruler of the country.
v. 3. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof, so that the courage of the Egyptians would, literally, "be emptied out"; and I will destroy the counsel thereof, swallowing all their plans, so that the rulers would be helpless in the situation; and they shall seek to the idols, appealing to them for help, and to the charmers, literally, "the murmurers, or mutterers," those who professed to be in touch with the spirit world, and to them that have familiar spirits, the spiritists of those days, and to the wizards, those actually in league with the Evil One. Then, as now, people who refused to accept the true God resorted to superstitious rites and to the assistance of the spirits of darkness.
v. 4. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, the reference being either to one of their own tyrannical rulers or to the Assyrian conquerors; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. Three Pharaohs, namely, Psammetichus, Necho, and Hophra, oppressed the Egyptians so severely that the land never recovered from their tyranny.
v. 5. And the waters shall fail from the sea, the Nile itself being so called on account of its great width at the time of its annual overflow, which, however, would not take place now, and the river shall be wasted and dried up, this condition being a calamity for Egypt, since it depended entirely upon irrigation.
v. 6. And they shall turn the rivers far away, rather, "and the rivers shall produce a stench," being reduced to stagnating pools; and the brooks of defense shall be emptied and dried up, that is, the canals of the Nile, especially in its delta and in the irrigation systems, would carry no more water; the reeds and flags, principally the papyrus-plants depending altogether upon the moisture of the river, shall wither.
v. 7. The paper-reeds by the brooks, literally, "the naked places," the meadows on the Nile, by the mouth of the brooks, along the banks of the river, and everything sown by the brooks, the grain-fields along the very edge of the Nile, shall wither, be driven away, scattered by the wind in the form of dust, and be no more.
v. 8. The fishers also shall mourn, because they would be thrown out of employment, and all they that cast angle into the brooks, that is, the Nile, shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish, since the rich fisheries of the Nile would no longer exist.
v. 9. Moreover, they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, white cotton cloth, shall be confounded, since neither flax nor cotton would grow, and this important industry would thus be made impossible.
v. 10. And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish, literally, "and shall be her foundations ruins, all laborers for hire swamps of the soul," that is, the upper castes of the nation would lose their power, and the poorest people of the country would give way to hopelessness and despair.
v. 11. Surely the princes of Zoan, or Tanis, a city of Lower Egypt, at one time the capital of the country, are fools, the counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish, the priestly counselors of the Egyptian king had lost all their wisdom. How say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? In spite of the fact that they boasted their descent from wise and ancient counselors, even of royalty, they were unable to offer advice in the present crisis.
v. 12. Where are they? Where are thy wise men? And, let them tell thee now, in a certain prophecy, and let them know what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. But the challenge remains unanswered.
v. 13. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph, of Memphis, on the western bank of the Nile, capital of Lower Egypt, are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, led its people astray by their false claims and foolish counsel, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof, upon whom the people depended for leadership. The explanation for this condition is now given.
v. 14. The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof, for the false wisdom of the leading castes acted like a spirit of intoxication; and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit, unable to find his way out.
v. 15. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do, that is, no person in Egypt, whether of the ruling or of the serving class, whether lofty or humble, will be able to do anything to stop the general destruction. Such is the effect of the Lord's judgment upon Egypt.