ISAIAH 19 COMMENTARY

EDITED BY GLENN PEASE

A Prophecy Against Egypt

19 A prophecy against Egypt:

See, the LORD rides on a swift cloud

and is coming to Egypt.

The idols of Egypt tremble before him,

and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.

1.BARNES, The burden of Egypt - This is the title to the prophecy. For the meaning of

the word burden, see the note at Isa_13:1. The word Egypt in the original is

mtseraym; and it was so called after Mizraim the second son of Ham, and grandson of Noah. Sometimes it is called Mazor 2Ki_19:24; Isa_19:6; Isa_37:25; Mic_7:12; where, however, our English version has rendered the word by besieged place or fortress. The ancient name of the

country among the inhabitants themselves was Chimi or Chami ( Chemu). The Egyptian word signified black, and the name was probably given from the black deposit made by the slime of the Nile. Mizraim, or Misrim, the name given to Egypt in the Scriptures, is in the plural form, and is the Hebrew mede of expressing the two regions of Egypt (so commonly met with in the hieroglyphics), or the two Misr, a name still used by the Arabs, who call all Egypt, as well as Cairo, Musr or Misr. (Wilkinsons Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 2). The origin of the name Egypt is unknown. Egyptus is said by some to have been an ancient king of this country.

Behold, the Lord - This is a bold introduction. Yahweh is seen advancing to Egypt for the purpose of confounding its idols, and inflicting punishment. The leading idea which the prophet wishes probably to present is, that national calamities - anarchy, commotion, revolution, as well as physical sufferings - are under the government and direction of Yahweh.

Rideth upon a swift cloud - Yahweh is often thus represented as riding on a cloud, especially when he comes for purposes of vengeance or punishment:

And he rode upon a cherub and did fly, Yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

Psa_18:10

Who maketh the clouds his chariot,

Who walketh upon the wings of the wind. Psa_104:3

I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven Dan_7:13. So the Saviour is represented as coming to judgment in the clouds of heaven Mat_24:30. Compare the sublime description in Hab_3:3-10.

And the idols of Egypt - It is well known that Egypt was celebrated for its idolatry. They worshipped chiefly the heavenly bodies; but they worshipped also all kinds of animals, probably as living symbols of their gods. Shall be moved. That is, shall tremble, be agitated, alarmed; or shall be removed from their place, and overthrown. The word will bear either construction. Vitringa inclines to the latter.

And the heart of Egypt - The strength; the courage; the rigor. We use the word heart in the same sense now, when we speak of a stout heart; a courageous heart, etc.

Shall melt - The word used here denotes to dissolve; and is applied to the heart when its courage fails - probably from the sensation of weakness or fainting. The fact alluded to here was probably the disheartening circumstances that attended the civil commotions in Egypt, when the people felt themselves oppressed by cruel rulers. See the Analysis of the chapter.

2. CLARKE, The burden of Egypt - That is, the prophets declaration concerning Egypt.

3. GILL, The burden of Egypt;.... Or a prophecy concerning Egypt, as the Arabic version; a very grievous one, declaring many calamities that should come upon them. The Targum is, "the burden of the cup of cursing, to make the Egyptians drink.'' The people of the Jews reposed great confidence in the Egyptians their allies; wherefore, in order to break this confidence, it was necessary they should be acquainted with the destruction that was coming upon them, which is the design of this prophecy. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud: or a "light" one (q) denoting the speed with which he came, he would come quickly, light clouds move swiftly; the suddenness and unexpectedness of his coming, clouds being rarely seen in Egypt, where was no rain; and the irresistible power with which he would come, for who or what can stop the clouds of heaven? not anything on earth, not armies, nor castles, and fortified places. The Lord is represented as riding in great state and majesty, as a general at the head of his army against his enemies; or as a judge going to try and condemn criminals; he rides upon the heavens, walks on the wings of the wind, and the clouds are his chariot, Psa_68:4 so Christ is represented as coming in the clouds of heaven, and as sitting on a white cloud, when he shall come to judge the world, Rev_1:7 though these words are not to be understood of that coming of his; and much less of his first coming in the flesh, to which they are weakly applied by Jerom and others; who, by the light cloud, understand the Virgin Mary, as the Christians of Syria; or the human nature of Christ, as Salmero, who relates, that upon Christ's flight into Egypt, and entering into Heliopolis, and the temple there, in which were as many idols as days of the year, they all fell, and so this prophecy was fulfilled (r) but of the Lord's coming to inflict punishment on the Egyptians; so the Targum,

"and, behold, the Lord shall be revealed in the cloud of his glory, to take vengeance on the Egyptians:'' and shall come into Egypt; not by Sennacherib king of Assyria, and his army, whom he should send to invade it, and enter into it, as some think; but rather by Cambyses and Ochus, kings of Persia; though it seems that what is here foretold should be done, was done, not by means of any foreign power, but by the Lord himself, who did by his own power and providence, or suffer to be done, what was done: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence; or tremble before him; these were many, the chief of them were Osiris and Isis, Apis, Serapis, Vulcan, Bubastis, &c.; some were living creatures, as cats, dogs, oxen, sheep, &c. who might move and tremble, in a literal sense; and some were images, "made with hands", as the Septuagint here render the word; and which, as the Targum paraphrases it, should "be broken"; the sense is, that they could none of them save the Egyptians, or deliver them out of their distresses: and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it; like wax before the fire; even the most courageous among them, their soldiers, their army, with their officers and generals; which were the heart of the people, and their defence, and who used to fight for them, and protect them, but now would be dispirited.

4. HENRY, Though the land of Egypt had of old been a house of bondage to the people of God, where they had been ruled with rigour, yet among the unbelieving Jews there still remained much of the humour of their fathers, who said, Let us make us a captain and return into Egypt. Upon all occasions they trusted to Egypt for help (Isa_30:2), and thither they fled, in disobedience to God's express command, when things were brought to the last extremity in their own country, Jer_43:7. Rabshakeh upbraided Hezekiah with this, Isa_36:6. While they kept up an alliance with Egypt, and it was a powerful ally, they stood not in awe of the judgments of God; for against them they depended upon Egypt to protect them. Nor did they depend upon the power of God when at any time they were in distress; but Egypt was their confidence. To prevent all this mischief, Egypt must be mortified, and many ways God here tells them he will take to mortify them.

I. The gods of Egypt shall appear to them to be what they always really were, utterly unable to

help them, Isa_19:1. The Lord rides upon a cloud, a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt. As

a judge goes in state to the bench to try and condemn the malefactors, or as a general takes the

field with his troops to crush the rebels, so shall God come into Egypt with his judgments; and

when he comes he will certainly overcome. In all this burden of Egypt here is no mention of any

foreign enemy invading them; but God himself will come against them, and raise up the causes

of their destruction from among themselves. He comes upon a cloud, above the reach of the

opposition or resistance. He comes apace upon a swift cloud; for their judgment lingers not

when the time has come. He rides upon the wings of the wind, with a majesty far excelling the

greatest pomp and splendour of earthly princes. He makes the clouds his chariots, Psa_18:9;

Psa_104:3. When he comes the idols of Egypt shall be moved, shall be removed at his presence,

and perhaps be made to fall as Dagon did before the ark. Isis, Osiris, and Apis, those celebrated

idols of Egypt, being found unable to relieve their worshippers, shall be disowned and rejected

by them. Idolatry had got deeper rooting in Egypt than in any land besides, even the most

absurd idolatries; and yet now the idols shall be moved and they shall be ashamed of them.

When the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt he executed judgments upon the gods of the

Egyptians (Num_33:4); no marvel then if, when he comes, they begin to tremble. The Egyptians

shall seek to the idols, when they are at their wits' end, and consult the charmers and wizards

(Isa_19:3); but all in vain; they see their ruin hastening on them notwithstanding.

5. JAMISON, Isa_19:1-25. The nineteenth and twentieth chapters are connected, but with an interval between. Egypt had been held by an Ethiopian dynasty, Sabacho, Sevechus, or Sabacho II, and Tirhakah, for forty or fifty years. Sevechus (called So, the ally of Hoshea, 2Ki_17:4), retired from Lower Egypt on account of the resistance of the priests; and perhaps also, as the Assyrians threatened Lower Egypt. On his withdrawal, Sethos, one of the priestly caste, became supreme, having Tanis (Zoan) or else Memphis as his capital, 718 b.c.; while the Ethiopians retained Upper Egypt, with Thebes as its capital, under Tirhakah. A third native dynasty was at Sais, in the west of Lower Egypt; to this at a later period belonged Psammetichus, the first who admitted Greeks into Egypt and its armies; he was one of the dodecarchy, a number of petty kings between whom Egypt was divided, and by aid of foreign auxiliaries overcame the rest, 670 b.c. To the divisions at this last time, Gesenius refers Isa_19:2; and Psammetichus, Isa_19:4, a cruel lord. The dissensions of the ruling castes are certainly referred to. But the time referred to is much earlier than that of Psammetichus. In Isa_19:1, the invasion of Egypt is represented as caused by the Lord; and in Isa_19:17, Judah is spoken of as a terror to Egypt, which it could hardly have been by itself. Probably, therefore, the Assyrian invasion of Egypt under Sargon, when Judah was the ally of Assyria, and Hezekiah had not yet refused tribute as he did in the beginning of Sennacheribs reign, is meant. That Assyria was in Isaiahs mind appears from the way in which it is joined with Israel and Egypt in the worship of Jehovah (Isa_19:24, Isa_19:25). Thus the dissensions referred to (Isa_19:2) allude to the time of the withdrawal of the Ethiopians from Lower Egypt, probably not without a struggle, especially with the priestly caste; also to the time when Sethos usurped the throne and entered on the contest with the military caste, by the aid of the town populations: when the Saitic dynasty was another cause of division. Sargons reign was between 722-715 b.c. answering to 718 b.c., when Sethos usurped his throne [G. V. Smith].

burden (See on Isa_13:1).

upon ... cloud (Psa_104:3; Psa_18:10).

come into Egypt to inflict vengeance. Egypt, in Hebrew, Misraim, plural form, to express the two regions of Egypt. Bunsen observes, The title of their kings runs thus: Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt.

idols the bull, crocodile, etc. The idols poetically are said to be moved with fear at the presence of one mightier than even they were supposed to be (Exo_12:12; Jer_43:12).

6. K&D, The oracle opens with a short introduction, condensing the whole of the substance of the first half into a few weighty words - an art in which Isaiah peculiarly excelled. In this the name of Egypt, the land without an equal, occurs no less than three times. Behold, Jehovah rideth upon a light cloud, and cometh to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt shake before Him, and

the heart of Egypt melteth within it. Jehovah rides upon clouds when He is about to reveal Himself in His judicial majesty (Psa_18:11); and in this instance He rides upon a light cloud, because it will take place rapidly. The word kal signifies both light and swift, because what is

light moves swiftly; and even a light cloud, which is light because it is thin, is comparatively ,

i.e., literally dense, opaque, or obscure. The idols of Egypt shake , as in Isa_6:4; Isa_7:2), because Jehovah comes over them to judgment (cf., Exo_12:12; Jer_46:25; Eze_30:13): they must shake, for they are to be thrown down; and their shaking for fear is a shaking to their fall

, as in Isa_24:20; Isa_29:9). The Vav apodosis in together the cause and effect, as in Isa_6:7. - In what judgments the judgment will be fulfilled, is now declared by the majestic Judge Himself.

7. BI, The prophecies concerning Egypt

The kingdom to which all the three prophecies (chaps. 18, 19, 20) refer is the same, namely, the Egypto-Ethiopian kingdom; but it is so dealt with that chap. 18 refers to the ruling people, chap. 19 to the ruled people, and chap. 20 embraces them both together. (F. Delitzsch.)

Egypt interwoven with the history of the kingdom of God

The reason why the prophecy occupies itself so particularly with Egypt is that no people of the earth was so closely interwoven with the history of the kingdom of God from the patriarchal time as Egypt. (F. Delitzsch.)

The oracle concerning Egypt: promise as well as threatening

Because, as the Thora impresses it, Israel must never forget that it long resided in Egypt, and there grew great, and enjoyed much good; so prophecy, when it comes to speak to Egypt, is not less zealous in promising than in threatening. Accordingly, the Isaianic oracle falls into two distinct halves; one threatening, Isa_19:1-15, and one promising, Isa_19:18-25; and between judgment and salvation there stands the terror in Isa_19:16-17, as the bridge from the former to the latter. (F. Delitzsch.)

Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud

The way of the Lord

Here is one way in which the Lord comes, namely, upon a swift cloud (Isa_19:1). The intimation is one of mystery. No man can tell which way the Lord will come today. Let us keep our eyes upon every point of the horizon; let us distribute the watchmen wisely and assign to each his sphere of observation; for by what door the Lord may enter the field of vision no man can tell,by a political event, by some new movement in foreign policy, by the discovery of new riches in the earth, by great shocks which try mens strength, by grim sorrow, by cruel death, by judgments that have no name, by mercies tender as the tenderest love, by compassions all tears, by providences that are surprises of gladness: watch all these doors, for by any one of them the

Lord may come into the nation, the family, the heart of the individual. This Divine policy, if it may be so named, baffles the watchers who trust to their own sagacity. If men will say they will circumvent God and know all the ways of His providence, behold God forsakes all ways that are familiar and that lie within the calculation of the human mind; and He startles those who watch with light from unexpected quarters with shakings and tremblings never before felt in the vibrations of history. Clouds and darkness are round about Him: the cloud that appears to be nothing but vapour may enshrine the Deity; the bush, yesterday so common that any bird might have alighted upon it, today burns with unseen, infinite energy. The Lord will come by what way He pleases,now as if from the depths of the earth, and now as from the heights of heaven; blessed is that servant who is ready to receive Him and to welcome Him to the hearts hospitality of love. (J. Parker, D. D.)

8. PULPIT, THE BURDEN OF EGYPT. It has been doubted whether this prophecy refers to the

conquest of Egypt by Piankhi, as related in the monument which he set up at Napata, or to that by

Esarhaddon, of which we gain our knowledge from the inscriptions of his son, Asshur-bani-pal. In the

former case, we must suppose it written as early as B.C. 735; in the latter, its date might be as late as

B.C. 690. The division of Egypt, "kingdom against kingdom," is a circumstance rather in favor of the

earlier date; but the "cruel lord," and the mention of the "princes of Zoan and Noph," are decisive for the

later. Piankhi is anything rather than a "cruel lord," being particularly mild and clement; Napata (Noph) is

under him, and cannot be said to have been "deceived" or to have "seduced Egypt;" and Zoan plays no

part in the history of the period. Esarhaddon, on the contrary, was decidedly a "cruel" prince, and treated

Egypt with great severity, splitting it up into a number of governments. Zoan was one of the leading cities

of the time, and Noph was the leading power on the Egyptian side, the head of the patriotic party which

resisted the Assyrian monarch, but to no purpose. We may, therefore, regard this prophecy as one of

Isaiah's latest, placed where it is merely on account of its head-tugthe compiler having placed all the

"burdens" against foreign countries together.

Isa_19:1

The Lord rideth upon a swift cloud. Natural imagery to express the rapidity of Divine visitations

(comp. Psa_104:3). God, being about to visit Egypt with a judgment of extreme severity, is represented

as entering the land in person (so in Isa_13:5). The idols of Egypt shall be moved.Neither Piankhi nor

any other Ethiopian conqueror made war on the Egyptian idols; but the Assyrians were always bent on

humbling the gods of the hostile countries (see above, Isa_10:10; and comp. Isa_36:18-20). We have no

detailed account of Esarhaddon's campaign; but we find Asshur-bani-pal's first victory over Tirhakah

immediately followed by the presentation to him in his camp of Egyptian deities, i.e. of their images.

These were probably taken to Nineveh, or else destroyed. At a later date, the same monarch deprived an

Egyptian temple of two of its sacred obelisks. The heart of Egypt shall molt (coup. Isa_13:7; Psa_22:14).

9. CALVIN, l.The burden of Egypt. The Prophet here prophesies against Egypt, because it was a kind

of refuge to the Jews, whenever they saw any danger approaching them; for when they had forsaken

God, to whom they ought to have had recourse, they thought that they had no help left to them but in the

Egyptians. It was therefore necessary that that kingdom should be overthrown, that its wealth or its forces

might no longer deceive the Jews; for so long as Egypt was prosperous, the Jews thought that, on

account of its being exceedingly populous and highly fortified, they were far removed from danger, and

therefore despised God, or at least paid scarcely any regard to his promises. This led to evil

consequences in two respects; first, because when they ought to have relied on God alone, they were

puffed up with that vain confidence in Egypt; and secondly, because whenever the Lord punished them,

they defended themselves against his chastisements by the power of the Egyptians, as if by human

resources they could make void his judgments, when they ought to have been turned to God altogether.

On this subject Isaiah speaks more fully in a later portion of this book. (Isa_30:2.)

Behold, the Lord rideth on a swift cloud. This mode of expression is found also in other passages of

Scripture, but in a general form. (Psa_104:3.) The Prophet applies it to this prediction, because the

Egyptians thought that they were so well fortified on all sides, that there was no way by which God could

approach them. He therefore ridicules their foolish confidence, and exhibits the exalted power of God,

when he rideth on a swift cloud, by which he will easily make a descent upon them, and neither walls nor

bulwarks shall hinder his progress. Again, because in addition to earthly aid the Jews were likewise

bewitched by a false religion, on this ground also the Prophet ridicules their madness, because God will

dash to the ground all the assistance which they expected to obtain from idols. I pass by the foolish notion

which many have entertained, as to the idols which Christ overthrew in Egypt, when he was carried

thither in infancy; for it does not deserve a refutation. (Mat_2:14.) This passage has been perverted to

prove it, and to prove many conjectures of the same kind. But the Prophet meaning is totally different; for

he speaks of the defeat of the Egyptians by the Assyrians, and shews that it ought to be ascribed to God,

and not, as irreligious men commonly do, to fortune. He shews it to be a judgment of God, by whose hand

all things are governed.

And the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence. He declares that the idols shall fall; that is, that

they shall be of no avail to the Egyptians, though they rely on their assistance, and think that they are

under their protection. No nation ever was so much addicted to superstitions; for they worshipped cats,

and oxen, and crocodiles, and even onions, and plants of every sort, and there was nothing to which they

did not ascribe some kind of divinity. He means that the power of all those false gods, whom the

Egyptians had taken for their protectors, will be overthrown. Having declared that the Egyptians rely in

vain on their superstitions, he likewise casts down the pride which they cherished as to their earthly

resources.

And the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of her. By the word heart he means the courage which

sometimes fails even the bravest men, so that they do not attempt any action, even when their strength

and forces are abundant, and in this manner he declares that they will be at war with God, who will melt

their heartswithin them, before they are called to contend with their enemies. Not only does he threaten

that they will be terrified, but he likewise adds in the midst of the whole kingdom, where they had an

exceedingly safe and peaceful dwelling, because they were far removed from every attack. It was the

duty of all believers to consider this, when war was waged against the Egyptians; and we also ought to

behold the same thing exemplified in all revolutions of kingdoms, which proceed solely from the hand of

God. If the heart melts, if the strength fails, in men who are usually brave, and who had formerly

displayed great courage, this ought to be ascribed to the vengeance of God.

2 I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian

brother will fight against brother,

neighbor against neighbor,

city against city,

kingdom against kingdom.

1.BARNES, And I will set - ( sksakety). This word (from sakak) means properly to cover, to spread over, to hide, conceal, to protect. Another signification of the verb is, to weave, to intermingle. It may mean here, I will arm the Egyptians against each other (Gesenius); or, as in our version, I will mingle, confound, or throw them into discord and strife.

The Septuagint renders it, % Epegerthesontai - They shall be excited, or, raised

up. Symmachus, : Sumbalo. Syriac and Chaldee, I will excite. The sense is, that there would be discord and civil war, and this is traced to the agency or overruling providence of God - meaning that he would permit and overrule it. Compare the notes at Isa_45:7 : I make peace, and I create evil; I, Yahweh, do all these things; Amo_3:6 : Shall there be evil in a city and Jehovah hath not done it? The civil war here referred to was probably that which arose between

the twelve kings in the time of the dodekarchy (see the Analysis to the chapter), and which resulted in the single dominion of Psammetichus. Dr. Newton (On the Prophecies, xii.) supposes, however, that the prophet refers to the civil wars between Apries and Amasis at the time of the invasion by Nebuchadnezzar. But it agrees much better with the former discord than with this. The description which follows is that of anarchy or civil strife, where many parties are formed, and would naturally lead to the supposition that there were more than two engaged.

And kingdom against kingdom - Septuagint, B Nomos epi nomon - Nome against nomes. Egypt was formerly divided into forty-two nomes or districts. The version by the Septuagint was made in Egypt, and the translators would naturally employ the terms which were in common use. Still the event referred to was probably not that of one nome contending against another, but a civil war in which one dynasty would be excited against another (Gesenius), or when there would be anarchy and strife among the different members of the dodekarchy. See the Analysis of the chapter.

2. Kretzmann, 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.

3. GILL, And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians,.... Or mingle and confound them together; in which confusion they should fall upon and destroy one another, as the Midianites did: the phrase is expressive of rebellions and civil wars, as the following words explain it; and which show, that the calamities of Egypt should be brought upon them, not by means of a foreign invasion, but by internal quarrels, and other means, which the Lord would in judgment send among them: and they shall fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbour; and destroy one another: city against city; of which there were great numbers in Egypt; in the times of Amasis, it is said (s), there were twenty thousand: and kingdom against kingdom; for though Egypt was but originally one kingdom, yet upon the death of Sethon, one of its kings, who had been a priest of Vulcan, there being no successor, twelve of the nobility started up, and set up themselves as kings, and divided the kingdom into twelve parts (t), and reigned in confederacy, for the space of fifteen years; when, falling out among themselves, they excluded Psammiticus, one of the twelve, from any share of government; who gathering an army together, fought with and conquered the other eleven, and seized the whole kingdom to himself, and who seems afterwards regarded in this prophecy; all this happened in the times of Manasseh king of Judah, and so in or quickly after Isaiah's time:

though some understand this of the civil wars between Apries and Amasis, in the times of Nebuchadnezzar. The Septuagint version renders the phrase here, "nome against nome"; for the whole land of Egypt, by Sesostris, one of its kings, was divided into thirty six (u) nomes, districts, or provinces, whose names are given by Herodotus (w), Pliny (x), and others; for so the words of that version should be rendered, and not as they are by the Latin interpreter, and in the Arabic version, which follows it, "law upon law".

4. BI, Divine providence in civil strife

This method of administration, we say, obtains and prevails in all ages. This is the meaning of many a controversy, of many a quarrel, of many a dissension, in cabinets, in families, in nations. Men are surprised that they should turn upon their brothers with disdain, and even with cruel hatred. It is indeed matter of surprise and great sorrow, and if looked at within narrow limits it would seem to be a reflection upon Providence: but when does God ask to be judged within the four comers of human imagination or criticism? He not only does the deed, He does it within a field which He Himself has measured, and within the range of declarations which have about them all the mystery and graciousness of evangelical prophecies. We must, therefore, look not only at the incident, but at all its surroundings and to all its issues. When we are puzzled by household difficulties, by commercial perplexities, by unions that only exist for a moment and then dissolve or are turned into sourness and alienation, we must never forget that there is One who rules over all. (J. Parker, D. D.)

5. JAMISON, set stir up. Gesenius translates, arm.

Egyptians against the Egyptians Lower against Upper: and Saitic against both. (See Isa_3:10). Newton refers it to the civil wars between Apries and Amasis at the time of Nebuchadnezzars invasion; also between Tachos, Nectanebus, and the Mendesians, just before Ochus subdued Egypt.

kingdom against kingdom The Septuagint has nome against nome; Egypt was divided into forty-two nomes or districts.

5B. PULPIT, I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians. The disintegration of Egypt commenced

about B.C. 760-750, towards the close of the twenty-second dynasty. About B.C. 735 a struggle began

between Plan-khi, King of Upper Egypt, and Tafnekhf, King of Sais and Memphis, in which the other

princes took different sides. Ten or twelve years later there was a struggle between Bocchoris and

Sabaeo. From this time onwards, until Psamatik I. reestablished the unity of Egypt, the country was

always more or less divided, and on the occurrence of any crisis the princes were apt to make war one

up, n another. Kingdom against kingdom. During the period of disintegration, the title of" king" was

assumed by most of the potty princes, though they were little more than chiefs of cities.

6. K&D, And I spur Egypt against Egypt: and they go to war, every one with his brother, and every one with his neighbour; city against city, kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt is emptied out within it: and I swallow up its ready counsel; and they go to the idols to inquire, and to the mutterers, and to the oracle-spirits, and to the soothsayers. And I shut up

Egypt in the hand of a hard rule; and a fierce king will reign over them, saith the Lord,

Jehovah of hosts. Civil war will rage in Egypt (on sicsec, see at Isa_9:10). The people once so

shrewd are now at their wits' end; their spirit is quite poured out , with the reduplication

removed, for H, according to Ges. 68, Anm. 11 - as, for example, in Gen_11:7; Eze_41:7), so that there is nothing left of either intelligence or resolution. Then (and this is also part of the judgment) they turn for help, in counsel and action, where no help is to be found, viz., to their nothings of gods, and the manifold demoniacal arts, of which Egypt could boast of being the

primary seat. On the names of the practisers of the black art, see Isa_8:19; 'ittim, the mutterers,

is from 'aJtat, to squeak (used of a camel-saddle, especially when new), or to rumble (used of an

empty stomach): see Lane's Lexicon. But all this is of no avail: Jehovah gives them up (L, syn.

N, to be ruled over by a hard-hearted and cruel king. The prophecy does not relate to a foreign conqueror, so as to lead us to think of Sargon (Knobel) or Cambyses (Luzzatto), but to a native despot. In comparing the prophecy with the fulfilment, we must bear in mind that Isa_19:2 relates to the national revolution which broke out in Sais, and resulted in the overthrow of the Ethiopian rule, and to the federal dodekarchy to which the rising of the nation led. Kingdom against kingdom: this exactly suits those twelve small kingdoms into which Egypt was split up after the overthrow of the Ethiopian dynasty in the year 695, until Psammetichus, the dodekarch of Sais, succeeded in the year 670 in comprehending these twelve states once more under a single monarchy. This very Psammetichus (and the royal house of Psammetichus generally) is the hard ruler, the reckless despot. He succeeded in gaining the battle at Momemphis, by which he established himself in the monarchy, through having first of all strengthened himself with mercenary troops from Ionia, Caria, and Greece. From his time downwards, the true Egyptian character was destroyed by the admixture of foreign elements;

(Note: See Leo, Universalgesch. i. 152, and what Brugsch says in his Histoire d'Egypte, i. 250, with regard to the brusques changements that Egypt endured under Psammetichus.)

and this occasioned the emigration of a large portion of the military caste to Meroe. The Egyptian nation very soon came to feel how oppressive this new dynasty was, when Necho (616-597), the son and successor of Psammetichus, renewed the project of Ramses-Miamun, to construct a Suez canal, and tore away 120,000 of the natives of the land from their homes, sending them to wear out their lives in forced labour of the most wearisome kind. A revolt on the part of the native troops, who had been sent against the rising Cyrene, and driven back into the desert, led to the overthrow of Hophra, the grandson of Necho (570), and put an end to the hateful government of the family of Psammetichus.

7.CALVIN, 2.And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians. Here he describes more particularly

the calamity which the Lord had determined to bring on Egypt. By the expression, I will set, he means the

internal struggles, in which those who ought to be mutual defenders cut down one another; and no evil

can be more destructive than this to a state or a people. It was of importance also to convince the Jews

that God, in whose hands are the hearts of men, (Pro_21:1,) could by his unseen influence inflame the

Jews to mutual animosities, that they might slay each other, though they were victorious over foreign

enemies. Hence we learn that nations never rise in a seditious manner, unless the Lord set them against

each other, as when one brings forward gladiators to the place of combat. He inflames their minds for

battle, and prompts them to slay each other by mutual wounds; and therefore, as we ought to reckon it an

evidence of God favor, when friendship is cherished among citizens, so we ought to ascribe it to his

vengeance, when they rage against and slay and injure one another.

And they shall fight every one against his brother. For the sake of heightening the picture, he adds what

was still more monstrous, that those who were related to them by blood would take up arms to destroy

each other; for if men are worse than beasts when, forgetting their common nature, they engage in battle,

how much more shocking is it to nature that brethren or allies should fight with each other! But the more

monstrous it is, the more ought we to acknowledge the judgment of God and his terrible vengeance.

City against city, and kingdom against kingdom. Isaiah appears to advance by degrees; for he mentions,

first, a brother; secondly, a neighbor; thirdly, cities; and, fourthly, kingdoms By kingdoms he

means provinces, into which Egypt was divided, which the Greeks called , the term by which the

Greek translators have rendered it in this passage. (26)

(26) . The reader will observe the distinction between the paroxytone , a

law, and the oxytone , a field or a dwelling; for it is the latter that is employed by Herodotus to

denote a district or province. Herod. 2:164. Ed.

FT284 the spirit of Egypt shall fail. Heb. shall be emptied. Eng. Ver.

FT285 the Egyptians will I give over, or, shut up. Eng. Ver. I will shut up Egypt in the hand of cruel

lords. Stock.

FT286 fierce king. Eng. Ver.

FT287 See vol. 1 p. 266

FT288 Embanked canals. Rivi aggerum, as the Vulgate has it. The canals by which the waters of the Nile

were distributed were fortified by mounds or banks. , (m) which word Rosenm vainly endeavors to

shew to be another name for Egypt or Mizraim. Stock.

FT289 See vol. 1 p. 492

FT290 ashamed (disappointed or confounded) are the workers of combed (or hatchelled) flax, and the

weavers of white (stuffs.) The older writers supposed the class of persons here described to be the

manufacturers of nets for fishing, and took , (h) in the sense of perforated open work or net-work.

The moderns understand the verse as having reference to the working of flax and manufacture of linen.

Knobel supposes , (h) to mean cotton, as being white by nature, and before it is wrought. Some of

the older writers identified , (s,) with sericum the Latin word for silk. Calvin supposes an allusion

in the last clause to the diaphanous garments of luxurious women. Professor Alexander.

FT291 Our author is puzzled about this word. In his version he follows the old rendering, that make a

net, but his marginal reading is that make gain, and to the latter he adheres in his commentary.

Bishops Lowth and Stock render it, that make a gain, and Professor Alexander, laborers for hire.

Ed.

FT292 , (k) has two meanings, and east; and accordingly Bishop Stock renders this clause,

son of the kings of the east, adding the following note: Kings of the east. A synonyme for wise

men, , the quarter of the world where the arts of divination originated, and to whose

sovereigns Egyptian sages pretended kindred. Hence the magi, that came to worship Christ, are often

denominated the three kings. Ed.

FT293 the Tanis of the Greeks, was one of the most ancient cities of Lower Egypt, (Num_13:22,) and a

royal residence. The name is of Egyptian origin, and signifies low situation. Noph is the Memphis of the

Greek geographers, called Moph, (Hos_9:6.) It was one of the chief cities of ancient Egypt, the royal seat

of Psammetichus. Alexander.

FT294 stay (Heb., corners) of the tribes thereof. Eng. Ver.

FT295 Instead of , (pinn) the construct singular, Grotius, Lowth, and others, prefer the conjectural

reading, (pinn) corners. But Rosenm removes the difficulty of the Syntax by remarking, that ,

(pinn) a collective noun, and agreeably to the frequent usage of the Hebrew tongue, fitly agrees with a

plural verb; and he quotes 2Sa_19:41, as a parallel instance. Ed.

FT296 Professor Alexander prefers the literal rendering, before the shaking of the hand, and thus

explains the passage: , (mipp,) may be rendered, on account of, which idea is certainly included,

but the true force of the original expression is best retained by a literal translation. , (t y,) is

not the act of beckoning for the enemy, but that of threatening or preparing to strike. The reference is not

to the slaughter of Sennacherib army, but more generally to the indications of Divine displeasure.

FT297 The only passage which occurs to my remembrance as likely to be in the author eye is, thou shalt

become an astonishment, a proverb and a bye-word, among all the nations whither the Lord shall lead

thee. (Deu_28:37.) Ed.

FT298 Heliopolis is a Greek word, and signifies city of the sun. It is the name of a famous city of Lower

Egypt, in which there was a temple dedicated to the sun. Ed.

FT299 Pillar. Eng. Ver.

FT300 The name which means his mother, was ironically given to him on account of his known

hatred of his mother Cleopatra. Ed

FT301 Sous ceste pedagogie de la Loy.

FT302 Les signes et sacramens.

FT303 Of one clause in this verse, rendered by our translators a great one, Calvin takes no notice.

Rosenm considers (r) to be the participle Kal of , (r,) and assigns to Cocceius the honor of

having discovered that the punctuation, which the Masoretic annotators have set aside, in the parallel

passage of Deuteronomy, as a peculiarity for which they could not account, was the key to the true

interpretation. Almost all the commentators, Cocceius excepted, render (r) great one, some of them

supposing that Ptolemy the Great, the son of Lagus, and others that Alexander the Great, was meant. But

Cocceius was the first to perceive that the signification does not agree with the context, and has justly

remarked that the word (r) with a Kametz, ought not to be confounded with (r,) with a Pathach,

but that its meaning should be sought from the verb (r) or (r,) contend, to argue, to defend one

cause in a court of justice; and he quotes a parallel passage, in which Moses, while he blesses Judah,

speaking of God, says, (y r l) hands shall be his protector. (Deu_33:7.) See Robertson

Clavis Pentateuchi, p. 561. The ancients appear to have taken a similar view. The Septuagint renders it

thus. . The Chaldee and Syriac

render it, deliverer and a judge, and Jerome rendering is, propuqnatorem , defender or champion

Rosenm Scholia. Savior and a vindicator Lowth. advocate Stock. explanation of , (rab) as a

participle, says Professor Alexander, found in all the ancient versions, and is adopted by most modern

writers. Ed.

FT304 The words of the Apostle are, shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? But Calvin

remark, which immediately follows, vindicates the appropriateness, though not the verbal accuracy, of the

quotation. Ed.

FT305 La doctrine de salut; doctrine of salvation.

FT306 Ce sera un preparatif pour les amener repentance; will be a preparation to lead them to

repentance.

FT307 Pourvenu que notre repentance ne soit hypocritique; that our repentance be not hypocritical.

FT308 D viennent les chastimens, si non de nos pechez? S sont pardonnez, aussi le sont les

chastimens meritez a cause d come chastisements but from our sins? If they are remitted, so are

also the chastisements deserved on account of them.

FT309 See vol. 1 p. 101

FT310 This is the Author version. See p. 48

FT311 The particle (th) does not decide the question, for it may either be the sign of the accusative

case, or a preposition signifying with. Professor Alexander adopts the latter view, and argues powerfully

in favor of the rendering, shall serve God, in which he concurs with Lowth, the Egyptian shall worship

with the Assyrian, and with Stock, Egypt shall serve [God] with Assyria. Ed.

FT312 De la crainte de Dieu, the fear of God.

FT313 is the lot (Heb. cord) of his inheritance. Eng. Ver.

FT314 meaning obviously is, says Professor Alexander, Israel should be one of three, or a party to a

triple union. By an analagous idiom of the Greek language, Peter calls Noah , eighth, that is,

of eight persons. (2Pe_2:5.) From classical writers other instances might be given, such as

went to his house the twelfth, or, of twelve, that is, with eleven other persons. Ed.

FT315 the Lord of hosts shall bless. Eng. Ver.

FT316 Our Author perhaps refers to his expository remarks on Eph_2:10, Isa_17:7, Isa_64:7, See p. 26

3 The Egyptians will lose heart,

and I will bring their plans to nothing;

they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,

the mediums and the spiritists.

1.BARNES, And the spirit of Egypt - (see Isa_19:1). They shall be exhausted with their long internal contentions and strifes; and seeing no prospect of deliverance, and anxious that the turmoils should end, they shall seek counsel and refuge in their gods and necromancers, but in vain.

Shall fail - ( naJbeqaJh). Margin, Be emptied. The word means, literally, to pour out, empty, depopulate. Here it means that they would become disheartened and discouraged.

And I will destroy - Margin, as the Hebrew, I will swallow up. So the word is used in Psa_107:27, All their wisdom is destroyed (Hebrew, swallowed up. )

And they shall seek to the idols - According to Herodotus (ii. 152), Psammetichus had consulted the oracle of Latona at Butos, and received for answer that the sea should avenge his cause by producing brazen men. Some time after, a body of Ionians and Carians were compelled by stress of weather to touch at Egypt, and landed there, clad in brass armor. Some Egyptians, alarmed at their appearance, came to Psammetichus, and described them as brazen men who had risen from the sea, and were plundering the country. He instantly supposed that this was the accomplishment of the oracle, and entered into an alliance with the strangers, and by their aid was enabled to obtain the victory over his foes. Compare the different accounts of Diodorus in the Analysis of this chapter. The whole history of Egypt shows how much they were accustomed to consult their idols (see Herodot. ii. 54ff, 82, 83, 139, 152). Herodotus says (ii. 83), that the art of divination in Egypt was confined to certain of their deities. There were in that country the oracles of Hercules, of Apollo, of Mars, of Diana, and of Jupiter; but the oracle of Latona in Butos was held in greater veneration than any of the rest.

And to the charmers - ( 'tym). This word occurs nowhere else. The root 'aJtat, in Arabic, means to mutter, to make a gentle noise; and this word probably denotes conjurors, diviners (see the note at Isa_8:19). The Septuagint renders it, Their idols.

And to them that have familiar spirits - (see the note at Isa_8:19). The Septuagint renders this, Those who speak from the ground.

And to the wizards - Septuagint - % Engastrimuthous - Ventriloquists. The

Hebrew word means a wise man, a soothsayer, a magician ( ydonym from yaJda to know; see Lev_19:31; Lev_20:6; Deu_18:11). This fake science abounded in Egypt, and in most Oriental countries.

2. CLARKE, They shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards - And thei schul asken their symulacres, and their debynouris, and their devyl clepers, and their devyl sacristers. - Old Bible. The import of the original words has already been given where they occur in the Pentateuch. See Deu_18:10, etc.

3. GILL, And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof,.... Meaning not the spirit of valour and courage, that is expressed before, but of wisdom, prudence, and understanding; the wisdom of Egypt, in which Moses is said to be brought up, Act_7:22 was famous all the world over; hither men of learning, as the ancient philosophers, Pythagoras, Plato, and others, travelled, to improve in knowledge, and gain a larger acquaintance with things human and divine; it was the mother and mistress of the liberal arts and sciences; but now what was before like a river full of water, was about to be "emptied", and drained dry, as the word (y) used signifies: and I will destroy the counsels thereof; or "swallow them up" (z), so that they shall be no more seen, or take effect: this explains what is before meant by the spirit of Egypt, and which is further enlarged on, and illustrated in Isa_19:11, and they shall seek to the idols; with which the land abounded, particularly to Osiris and Isis, to Apis, Latona, and others: and to the charmers; that used incantations and spells; magicians and conjurers, that whispered and muttered; for the word used has the signification of speaking in a slow and drawling manner. The Targum renders it "witches"; but Jarchi takes it to be the name of an idol: and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards; See Gill on Isa_8:19.

4. HENRY, The militia of Egypt, that had been famed for their valour, shall be quite dispirited and disheartened. No kingdom in the world was ever in a better method of keeping up a standing army than the Egyptians were; but now their heroes, that used to be celebrated for courage, shall be posted for cowards: The heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it, like wax before the fire (Isa_19:1); the spirit of Egypt shall fail, Isa_19:3. They shall have no inclination, no resolution, to stand up in defence of their country, their liberty, and property; but shall tamely and ingloriously yield all to the invader and oppressor. The Egyptians shall be like women (Isa_19:16); they shall be frightened and put into confusion by the least alarm; even those that dwell in the heart of the country, in the midst of it, and therefore furthest from danger, will be as full of frights as those that are situate on the frontiers. Let not the bold and brave be proud or secure, for God can easily cut off the spirit of princes (Psa_76:12) and take away their hearts, Job_12:24.

III. The Egyptians shall be embroiled in endless dissensions and quarrels among themselves. There shall be no occasion to bring a foreign force upon them to destroy them; they shall destroy one another (Isa_19:2): I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians. As these divisions and animosities are their sin, God is not the author of them, they come from men's lusts; but God, as

a Judge, permits them for their punishment, and by their destroying differences corrects them for their sinful agreements. Instead of helping one another, and acting each in his place for the common good, they shall fight every one against his brother and neighbour, whom he ought to love as himself - city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. Egypt was then divided into twelve provinces, or dynasties; but Psammetichus, the governor of one of them, by setting them at variance with one another, at length made himself master of them all. A kingdom thus divided against itself would soon be brought to desolation. En quo discordi cives perduxit miseros! - Oh the wretchedness brought upon a people by their disagreements among themselves! It is brought to this by a perverse spirit, a spirit of contradiction, which the Lord would mingle, as an intoxicating draught made up of several ingredients, for the Egyptians, Isa_19:14. One party shall be for a thing for no other reason than because the other is against it; that is a perverse spirit, which, if it mingle with the public counsels, tends directly to the ruin of the public interests.

5. JAMISON, spirit wisdom, for which Egypt was famed (Isa_31:2; 1Ki_4:30; Act_7:22); answering to counsel in the parallel clause.

fail literally, be poured out, that is, be made void (Jer_19:7). They shall seek help from sources that can afford none, charmers, etc. (Isa_8:19).

charmers literally, those making a faint sound; the soothsayers imitated the faint sound which was attributed to the spirits of the dead (see on Isa_8:19).

5B. PULPIT, They shall seek to the idols. The Egyptians believed that their gods gave them oracles. Menephthah claims to have been warned by Phthah, the god of Memphis, not to take the field in person against the Libyans when they invaded the Delta, but to leave the task of contending with them to his generals. Herodotus speaks of there being several well-known oracular shrines in Egypt, the most trustworthy being that of Maut, at the city which he calls Buto. The charmers - them that have familiar spirits - wizards. Classes of men corresponding to the "magicians" and "wise men" of earlier times (Gen_41:8). (On the large place which magic occupied in the thoughts of the Egyptians, see 'Pulpit Commentary' on Exo_7:11.) There was no diminution of the confidence reposed in them as time went on; and some remains of their practices seem to survive to the present day.

6. KRETZMANN, 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.

7.CALVIN, 3.And the spirit of Egypt shall be emptied. (27) As Isaiah had, a little before, deprived the

Egyptians of courage, so he now takes away their understanding, both of which are exceedingly

necessary for the defense of kingdoms; for when these have been taken away, there is no possibility of

transacting national affairs. Now, the Egyptians had so high an opinion of their own wisdom, that they

reckoned themselves superior to other nations; and it is well known that they haughtily despised all other

nations as barbarians, as if there had been no civilization, refinement, learning, or skill, but in Egypt

alone. They boasted that they were the inventors of learning, that philosophy and astronomy came from

them, and, in short, that Egypt was the workshop of all the liberal arts; and therefore they would never

have thought it possible that they should fail in wisdom and prudence, and unquestionably, if this

prediction had come to their knowledge, they would have laughed at it in disdain, and would have

thought, that sooner would the waters of the sea be dried up, and everything be overturned, than this

should befall those who imagined that prudence was their birthright. But Isaiah declares it boldly, for he

did not speak from himself.

Again, since he had predicted that they would be deprived of courage, in which they excelled, the context

requires us to understand the meaning to be, that they would be struck with blindness; for both faculties

of the soul depend entirely on the favor of God. Consequently, (r) means here understanding and

sagacity, which ought to be carefully observed, for many are mistaken as to the meaning of this word.

When he immediately adds, I will destroy the counsel thereof, this is a stronger expression of the former

statement; for it shews what is the cause of that emptiness, namely, that God will take and carry away

their counsel.

Even though they seek it. This is spoken by anticipation, for he meets the objections of the Egyptians,

who might have said, we not gods whom we can consult? Have we not magicians, diviners, and

soothsayers? Do you reckon those to be of no value? He threatens that all these things will be of no avail

to them, to whatever extent they may rely on them, and be puffed up with the empty name of wisdom. I

shall not spend much time on these names, though it is probable that Isaiah enumeration proceeds by

gradual advancement. First, he mentions gods, next magicians, and afterwards diviners and fortune-

tellers They had their oracles, in which they placed the highest confidence. Next after them came

the magicians, though these too had great influence. In matters of smaller moment they consulted the

soothsayers. Superstitious men are so restless that nothing can satisfy them; for they are fickle and

unsteady, and sometimes resort to one remedy and sometimes to another; and indeed Satan deceives

them in such a manner, that at first he holds out to them the appearance of peace and quietness, which

they think that they have fully obtained, but afterwards shews them that they have not reached it, and

distresses and harasses them more and more, and compels them to seek new grounds of confidence.

Thus our minds cannot obtain rest and peace but in God alone. And undoubtedly the Prophet condemns

those arts as contrary to reason; for God has revealed all that is necessary to be known by means of the

arts and sciences, which he intended to be used, and of which he approves. If any man shall wish to be

wise in any other manner, he must have Satan for his teacher.

4 I will hand the Egyptians over

to the power of a cruel master,

and a fierce king will rule over them,

declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

1.BARNES, And the Egyptians - The Egyptian nation; the entire people, though divided into factions and contending with each other.

Will I give over - Margin, Shut up. The Hebrew word ( sakar) usually has the sense of shutting up, or closing. Here it means that these contentions would be closed or concluded by

their being delivered to of a single master. The Septuagint renders it, Paradoso - I will surrender.

Into the hands of a cruel lord - Hebrew, Lords of cruelty, or severity. The word rendered

lord, meaning master, is in the Hebrew in the plural number ( 'a]doJny). It is, however, generally supposed that it is pluralis excellentiae - denoting majesty and dignity, and applicable to a single monarch. The connection requires this, for the state here described would be different from that where many rule, and it seems to suppose that one should succeed to the many who had been contending. In the parallel member, also, a name in the singular number is used - a fierce king; and as this evidently denotes the same, it follows that the word here is used to denote a single monarch. The plural form is often thus used in the Hebrew (see Psa_7:10; Eze_29:3; Hos_12:1). God here claims jurisdiction over the nation, and says that he will do it - a most striking illustration of the power which he asserts over contending people to deliver them to whomsoever he will.

Dr. Newton supposes that this was Nebuchadnezzar, or more properly Cambyses, by whom Egypt was made subject to the authority of Persia, and who was eminently a cruel man, a madman. But the more probable interpretation is that which refers it to Psammetichus. twelve kings were in contention, of whom he was one. He called in the aid of the Arabians, the pirates of Caria and Iona (Herodot. ii. 152; see the Analysis of the chapter; Diod. i. 66). This was in the twentieth year of the reign of Manasseh. Psammetichus reigned fifty-four years and was succeeded by Nechus his son, called in Scripture Pharaoh-Necho, and often mentioned under that name. Psammetichus, during a considerable part of his reign, was engaged in wars with Assyria and Palestine. He is here called a cruel lord; that is, an oppressive monarch, probably because he secured the kingdom by bringing in to his aid foreign mercenaries - robbers and pirates, and because his wars made his government oppressive and burdensome.

A fierce king - Hebrew, A king of strength - a description particularly applicable to one who, like Psammetichus, had subdued eleven rivals, and who had obtained the kingdom by conquest.

2. CLARKE, A cruel lord Cruel lords - Nebuchadnezzar in the first place, and afterwards the whole succession of Persian kings, who in general were hard masters, and

grievously oppressed the country. Note, that for kasheh, lord, a MS. reads kashim, lords, agreeable to which is the rendering of the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate.

3. GILL, And the Egyptians will I give over into the hands of a cruel lord,.... Not of Sennacherib king of Assyria, which way go many interpreters, both Christian and Jewish, as Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi; nor of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, as in Jer_46:25 but either of the twelve tyrants that rose up after the death of Sethon above mentioned; for the word is in the plural number, "lords", though the adjective rendered "cruel" is singular; or else Psammiticus, the father of Pharaohnecho, that slew Josiah; and who conquered the other eleven tyrants, and ruled alone, for the space of fifty four years, with great rigour; and the same is designed in the next clause: and a fierce king shall rule over them; it is reported of Psammiticus, that he gave such offence to his subjects, that two hundred thousand of his soldiers left him, and went into Ethiopia (a). Vitringa interprets this of the Persian emperors, into whose hands Egypt fell, as Cambyses and Ochus; and who, according to historians, were very cruel princes. That there might be no doubt of the sure and certain accomplishment of this prophecy, it is added, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts; of the armies above and below; and who does what he pleases among the kings and kingdoms of the earth.

4. HENRY, Their politics shall be all blasted, and turned into foolishness. When God will destroy the nation he will destroy the counsel thereof (Isa_19:3), by taking away wisdom from the statesmen (Job_12:20), or setting them one against another (as Hushai and Ahithophel), or by his providence breaking their measures even when they seemed well laid; so that the princes of Zoan are fools: they make fools of one another, every one betrays his own folly, and divine Providence makes fools of them all, Isa_19:11. Pharaoh had his wise counsellors. Egypt was famous for such. But their counsel has all become brutish; they have lost all their forecast; one would think they had become idiots, and were bereaved of common sense. Let no man glory then in his own wisdom, nor depend upon that, nor upon the wisdom of those about him; for he that gives understanding can when he please take it away. And from those it is most likely to be taken away that boast of their policy, as Pharaoh's counsellors here did, and, to recommend themselves to places of public trust, boast of their great understanding (I am the son of the wise, of the God of wisdom, of wisdom itself, says one; my father was an eminent privy-counsellor of note in his day for wisdom), or of the antiquity and dignity of their families: I am, says another, the son of ancient kings. The nobles of Egypt boasted much of their antiquity, producing fabulous records of their succession for above 10,000 years. This humour prevailed much among them about this time, as appears by Herodotus, their common boast being that Egypt was some thousands of years more ancient than any other nation. But where are thy wise men? Isa_19:12. Let them now show their wisdom by foreseeing what ruin is coming upon their nation, and preventing it, if they can. Let them with all their skill know what the Lord of hosts has purposed upon Egypt, and arm themselves accordingly. Nay, so far are

they from doing this that they themselves are, in effect, contriving the ruin of Egypt, and hastening it on, Isa_19:13. The rod of government shall be turned into the serpent of tyranny and oppression (Isa_19:4): The Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, not a foreigner, but one of their own, one that shall rule over them by an hereditary right, but shall be a fierce king and rule them with rigour, either the twelve tyrants that succeeded Sethon, or rather Psammetichus that recovered the monarchy again; for he speaks of one cruel lord. Now the barbarous usage which the Egyptian task masters gave to God's Israel long ago was remembered against them and they were paid in their own coin by another Pharaoh. It is sad with a people when the powers that should be for edification are for destruction, and they are ruined by those by whom they should be ruled, when such as this is the manner of the king, as it is described (in terrorem - in order to impress alarm), 1Sa_8:11.

5. JAMISON, cruel lord Sargon, in Hebrew it is lords; but plural is often used to express greatness, where, one alone is meant (Gen_39:2). The parallel word king (singular) proves it. Newton makes the general reference to be to Nebuchadnezzar, and a particular reference to Cambyses, son of Cyrus (who killed the Egyptian god, Apis), and Ochus, Persian conquerors of Egypt, noted for their fierce cruelty. Gesenius refers it to Psammetichus, who had brought into Egypt Greek and other foreign mercenaries to subdue the other eleven princes of the dodecarchy.

5B. PULPIT, The Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord. It has been observed above

that Piankhi will not answer to this description. It will, however, well suit Esarhaddon. Esarhaddon, soon

after his accession, cut off the heads of Abdi-Milkut, King of Sidon, and of Sanduarri, King of Kundi, and

hung them round the necks of two of their chief officers. In an expedition which he made into Arabia, he

slew eight of the sovereigns, two of them being women. On conquering Egypt he treated it with extreme

severity. Not only did he divide up the country into twenty governments, but he changed the names of the

towns, and assigned to his twenty governors, as their main duty, that they were "to slay, plunder, and

spoil" their subjects. He certainly well deserved the appellations of "a cruel lord," "a fierce king."

6. KRETZMANN, 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.

7.CALVIN, 4.And I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master. (28) He now shews what

will happen to the Egyptians, after having lost courage and been deprived of understanding. Nothing will

be left for them but to be reduced to slavery; for a nation destitute of these must fall of its own accord,

even though it were not violently attacked by any enemy. Of such aids, therefore, God deprives those on

whom he determines to take vengeance, and shuts them out from every method of upholding their liberty.

Yet the Prophet threatens what is still more shocking, that not only will the empire of which the Egyptians

proudly vaunted fall down, but the inhabitants also will undergo hard bondage. Though the adjective ,

(k) cruel, is in the singular number, yet he says in the plural number, that they shall be subject

to lords, which is harder to endure than if there had been but one lord to whom they were subject.

And a powerful king (29) shall rule over them. He means that the power of the tyrant to whom he will

subject them shall be so great, that it will not be easy to restore them to liberty. Historians shew that

various changes occurred in many countries, which they who subdued them were unable to hold and

retain; for to keep what has been obtained is often more difficult than to conquer. But the Prophet

intimates that this condition will not be easily changed, and that the bondage of the Egyptians shall be of

long duration, because no one will dare to enter the lists with an exceedingly powerful conqueror. We

may also understand the meaning to be, that the princes of smaller nations will deal more gently with their

people than more powerful monarchs, who, relying on their greatness, allow themselves to do whatever

they please; for, reckoning their power to be unlimited, they set no bounds to their freedom of action, and

rush forward, without restraint, wherever their passions drive them. Whether the one view or the other be

adopted, it will amount to this, that the Egyptians, who consider themselves to be the highest and most

distinguished of all men, shall fall under the power of another, and shall be oppressed by hard bondage,

that is, by the bondage of a powerful king, whom no one will dare to oppose. Hence we see how great is

the folly of men who are desirous to have a powerful and wealthy king reigning over them, and how justly

they are punished for their ambition, though it cannot be corrected by the experience of every day, which

is everywhere to be seen in the world. France and Spain, at the present day, boast that they are

governed by mighty princes, but feel to their cost how little advantage they derive from that which dazzles

them by a false pretense of honor. But on this subject we have spoken formerly in another

place. (30) (Isa_8:6.)

5 The waters of the river will dry up,

and the riverbed will be parched and dry.

1.BARNES, And the waters shall fail - Here commences a description of the physical calamities that would come upon the land, which continues to Isa_19:10. The previous verses contained an account of the national calamities by civil wars. It may be observed that discord, anarchy, and civil wars, are often connected with physical calamities; as famine, drought, pestilence. God has the elements, as well as the hearts of people, under his control; and when he chastises a nation, he often mingles anarchy, famine, discord, and the pestilence together. Often,

too, civil wars have a tendency to produce these calamities. They annihilate industry, arrest enterprise, break up plans of commerce, and divert the attention of people from the cultivation of the soil. This might have been in part the case in Egypt; but it would seem also that God, by direct agency, intended to afflict them by drying up their streams in a remarkable manner.

From the sea - The parallelism here, as well as the whole scope of the passage, requires us to

understand this of the Nile. The word yaJm is sometimes used to denote a large river (see the notes at Isa_11:15; Isa_18:2). The Nile is often called a sea. Thus Pliny (Nat. Hist. ii. 35) says, The water of the Nile resembles the sea. Thus, Seneca (Quaest. Nat. v. 2) says, By continued accessions of water, it stagnates (stagnat) into the appearance of a broad and turbid sea. Compare Herodot. ii. 97; Diod. i. 12, 96; To this day in Egypt, the Nile is el-Bahr, the sea, as its most common appellation. Our Egyptian servant, says Dr. Robinson, who spoke English, always called it the sea. (Bib. Rescarches, vol. i. 542).

And the river - The Nile.

Shall be wasted - This does not mean entirely, but its waters would fail so as to injure the country. It would not overflow in its accustomed manner, and the consequence would be, that the land would be desolate. It is well known that Egypt derives its great fertility entirely from the overflowing of the Nile. So important is this, that a public record is made at Cairo of the daily rise of the water. When the Nile rises to a less height than twelve cubits, a famine is the inevitable consequence, for then the water does not overflow the land. When it rises to a greater height than sixteen cubits, a famine is almost as certain - for then the superabundant waters are not drained off soon enough to allow them to sow the seed. The height of the inundation, therefore, that is necessary in order to insure a harvest, is from twelve to sixteen cubits. The annual overflow is in the month of August. The prophet here means that the Nile would not rise to the height that was desirable - or the waters should fail - and that the consequence would be a famine.

2. CLARKE, The river shall be wasted and dried up - The Nile shall not overflow its banks; and if no inundation, the land must become barren. For, as there is little or no rain in Egypt, its fertility depends on the overflowing of the Nile.

3. GILL, And the waters shall fail from the sea,.... Which Kimchi understands figuratively of the destruction of the Egyptians by the king of Assyria, compared to the drying up of the waters of the Nile; and others think that the failure of their trade by sea is meant, which brought great revenues into the kingdom: but, by what follows, it seems best to take the words in a literal sense, of the waters of the river Nile, which being dried up, as in the next clause, could not empty themselves into the sea, as they used, and therefore very properly may be said to fail from it; nay, the Nile itself may be called a sea, it being so large a confluence of water: and the river shall be wasted and dried up; that is, the river Nile, which was not only very useful for their trade and navigation, but the fruitfulness of the country depended upon it; for the want of rain, in the land of Egypt, was supplied by the overflow of this river, at certain times, which brought and left such a slime upon the earth, as made it exceeding fertile; now the drying up of this river was either occasioned by some great drought, which God in judgment sent; or by the practices of some of their princes with this river, by which it was greatly impaired, and its usefulness diminished.

4. HENRY, . Egypt was famous for its river Nile, which was its wealth, and strength, and beauty, and was idolized by them. Now it is here threatened that the waters shall fail from the sea and the river shall be wasted and dried up, Isa_19:5. Nature shall not herein favour them as she has done. Egypt was never watered with the rain of heaven (Zec_14:18), and therefore the fruitfulness of their country depended wholly upon the overflowing of their river; if that therefore be dried up, their fruitful land will soon be turned into barrenness and their harvests cease: Every thing sown by the brooks will wither of course, will be driven away, and be no more, Isa_19:7. If the paper-reeds by the brooks, at the very mouth of them, wither, much more the corn, which lies at a greater distance, but derives its moisture from them. Yet this is not all; the drying up of their rivers is the destruction, 1. Of their fortifications, for they are brooks of defence (Isa_19:6), making the country difficult of access to an enemy. Deep rivers are the strongest lines, and most hardly forced. Pharaoh is said to be a great dragon lying in the midst of his rivers, and guarded by them, bidding defiance to all about him, Eze_29:3. But these shall be emptied and dried up, not by an enemy, as Sennacherib with the sole of his foot dried up mighty rivers (Isa_37:25), and as Cyrus, who took Babylon by drawing Euphrates into many streams, but by the providence of God, which sometimes turns water-springs into dry ground, Psa_107:33. 2. It is the destruction of their fish, which in Egypt was much of their food, witness that base reflection which the children of Israel made (Num_11:5): We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely. The drying up of the rivers will kill the fish (Psa_105:29), and will thereby ruin those who make it their business, (1.)

5. JAMISON, the sea the Nile. Physical calamities, it is observed in history, often accompany political convulsions (Eze_30:12). The Nile shall fail to rise to its wonted height, the result of which will be barrenness and famine. Its waters at the time of the overflow resemble a sea [Pliny, Natural History, 85.11]; and it is still called El-Bahr, the sea, by the Egyptians (Isa_18:2; Jer_51:36). A public record is kept at Cairo of the daily rise of the water at the proper time of overflow, namely, August: if it rises to a less height than twelve cubits, it will not overflow the land, and famine must be the result. So, also, when it rises higher than sixteen; for the waters are not drained off in time sufficient to sow the seed.

5B. PULPIT, The waters shall fail from the sea. By "the sea" it is generally allowed that the Nile must be meant, as in Isa_18:2 and Nah_3:8. The failure might be caused by deficient rains in Abyssinia and Equatorial Africa, producing an insufficient inundation. It might be aggravated by the neglect of dykes and canals, which would be the natural consequence of civil disorders. Wasted and dried up; rather, parched and dried up. Allowance must be made for Oriental hyperbole. The meaning is only that there shall be a great deficiency in the water supply. Such a deficiency has often been the cause of terrible famines in Egypt.

6. K&D 5-10, The prophet then proceeds to foretell another misfortune which was coming upon Egypt: the Nile dries up, and with this the fertility of the land disappears. And the waters will dry up from the sea, and the river is parched and dried. And the arms of the river spread a stench; the channels of Matzor become shallow and parched: reed and rush shrivel up. The meadows by the Nile, on the border of the Nile, and every corn-field of the Nile, dries up, is scattered, and disappears. And the fishermen groan, and all who throw draw-nets into the Nile lament, and they that spread out the net upon the face of the waters languish away. And the workers of fine combed flax are confounded, and the weavers of cotton fabrics. And the

pillars of the land are ground to powder; all that work for wages are troubled in mind. In

Isa_19:5 the Nile is called yaJm (a sea), just as Homer calls it Oceanus, which, as Diodorus

observes, was the name given by the natives to the river (Egypt. oham). The White Nile is called

bahr el-abyad (the White Sea), the Blue Nile bahr el-azrak, and the combined waters bahren`Nil, or,

in the language of the Besharn, as here in Isaiah, yam. And in the account of the creation, in Gen

1, yammim is the collective name for great seas and rivers. But the Nile itself is more like an inland sea than a river, from the point at which the great bodies of water brought down by the Blue Nile and the White Nile, which rises a few weeks later, flow together; partly on account of its great breadth, and partly also because of its remaining stagnant throughout the dry season. It is not till the tropical rains commence that the swelling river begins to flow more rapidly, and

the yaJm becomes a naJhaJr. But when, as is here threatened, the Nile sea and Nile river in Upper

Egypt sink together and dry up (nisshethu, niphal either of shaJthath = naJshattu, to set, to grow

shallow; or more probably from naJshath, to dry up, since Isa_41:17 and Jer_51:30 warrant the

assumption that there was such a verb), the mouths (or arms) of the Nile (nehaJr), which flow

through the Delta, and the many canals (ye'orim), by which the benefits of the overflow are

conveyed to the Nile valley, are turned into stinking puddles (, a hiphil, half substantive half verbal, unparalleled elsewhere,

(Note: It is not unparalleled as a hiph. denom. (compare , oil, , to press,

Job_24:11, Talm. , to become worm-eaten, and many others of a similar kind); and as a mixed form (possibly a mixture of two readings, as Gesenius and Bttcher suppose, though it is not necessarily so), the language admitted of much that was strange, more especially in the vulgar tongue, which found its way here and there into written composition.)

signifying to spread a stench; possibly it may have been used in the place of , from e or

, stinking, to which a different application was given in ordinary use). In all probability it is

not without intention that Isaiah uses the expression MaJtzor, inasmuch as he distinguishes MaJ

zort from Pathros (Isa_11:11), i.e., Lower from Upper Egypt (Egyp. sa-het, the low land, and sa-

res, the higher land), the two together being Mitzrayim. And ye'orim (by the side of nehaJroth) we are warranted in regarding as the name given of the Nile canals. The canal system in Egypt and the system of irrigation are older than the invasion of the Hyksos (vid., Lepsius, in Herzog's

Cyclopaedia). On the other hand, ye'or in Isa_19:7 (where it is written three times plene, as it is

also in Isa_19:8) is the Egyptian name of the Nile generally (yaro).

(Note: From the fact that aur in old Egyptian means the Nile, we may explain the :

gh, with which the Laterculus of Eratosthenes closes.)

It is repeated emphatically three times, like Mitzrayim in Isa_19:1. Parallel to mizra, but yet

different from it, is , from , to be naked or bare, which signifies, like many derivatives of the synonymous word in Arabic, either open spaces, or as here, grassy tracts by the water-side,

i.e., meadows. Even the meadows, which lie close to the water-side (pi = ora, as in Psa_133:2, not ostium), and all the fields, become so parched, that they blow away like ashes.

Then the three leading sources from which Egypt derived its maintenance all fail: - viz. the fishing; the linen manufacture, which supplied dresses for the priests and bandages for mummies; and the cotton manufacture, by which all who were not priests were supplied with clothes. The Egyptian fishery was very important. In the Berlin Museum there is an Egyptian

micmoreth with lead attached. The mode of working the flax by means of serikaJh, pectinatio

(compare , wool-combs, Kelim, 12, 2), is shown on the monuments. In the Berlin Museum there are also Egyptian combs of this description with which the flax was carded. The

productions of the Egyptian looms were celebrated in antiquity: choraJy, lit., white cloth

(singularet. with the old termination ay), is the general name for cotton fabrics, or the different

kinds of byssus that were woven there (compare the j of the Rosetta inscription). All the castes, from the highest to the lowest, are not thrown into agonies of

despair. The shaJthoth (an epithet that was probably suggested by the thought of shethi, a warp,

Syr. 'ashti, to weave, through the natural association of ideas), i.e., the pillars of the land (with a suffix relating to Mitzrayim, see at Isa_3:8, and construed as a masculine as at Psa_11:3),

were the highest castes, who were the direct supporters of the state edifice; and cannot mean the citizens engaged in trade, i.e., the middle classes, but such of the people as hired themselves to the employers of labour, and therefore lived upon wages and not upon their own

property ( is used here as in Pro_11:18, and not as equivalent to , the dammers-up of the

water for the purpose of catching the fish, like , Kelim, 23, 5).

7.CALVIN, 5.Then the waters shall fail from the sea. He follows out the subject which he had already

begun, that the fortifications, by which the Egyptians thought that they were admirably defended, will be of

no avail to them. They reckoned themselves to be invincible, because they were surrounded by the sea,

and by the Nile, and by fortifications; and historians tell us that it was difficult to gain entrance to them,

because the Nile had no mouth, by which they could not easily prevent ships from landing. They therefore

boasted that their situation was excellent, and that they were strongly fortified by nature, in like manner as

the inhabitants of Venice, at the present day, think that, in consequence of being surrounded by deep

ditches, they are impregnable; but fortresses are useless, when God has determined to punish us.

6 The canals will stink;

the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.

The reeds and rushes will wither,

1.BARNES, And they shall turn the rivers far away - (n he'ezenychuJ), probably

from zaJnach, to have an offensive smell; to be rancid, or putrid. The word in this form occurs nowhere else. It is in the Hiphil conjugation, and is probably a form made from a mixture with the Chaldee. The sense is not doubtful. It means the rivers shall become putrid - or have an offensive smell; that is, shall become stagnant, and send forth unwholesome miasmata producing sickness, as stagnant waters often do. The Vulgate renders it, And the rivers shall fail. The Septuagint, And the Egyptians shall drink the waters from the sea, but the river shall

fail, and be dried up, and the rivers shall fail, and the streams (o dioruches) of the river,

and all the assembling ( sunagoge) waters shall be dried up.

And the brooks of defense - Hebrew, The rivers of maJtsoJr. The word maJtsoJr often means straitness, affliction; then a siege, a wall, a bulwark, a fortification. But, probably,

it here means Egypt, or the same as mtseraym (compare Isa_37:25; 2Ki_18:24; Mar_7:12). Perhaps the Hebrews may have thought of Egypt as a strongly fortified place, and thus have given the name to it; or possibly this may have been a modification of the name Mitsraim.

The reeds and flags - Which grew on the banks of the Nile - the papyrus, etc. (see the note at Isa_18:2)

2. CLARKE, Shall turn the rivers far away Shall become putrid -

heeznichu. This sense of the word, which Simonis gives in his Lexicon, from the meaning of it in Arabic, suits the place much better than any other interpretation hitherto given; and that the word in Hebrew had some such signification, is probable from 2Ch_29:19, where the Vulgate renders it by polluit, polluted, and the Targum, by profaned, and made abominable, which the context in that place seems plainly to require. The form of the verb here is very irregular; and the rabbins and grammarians seem to give no probable account of it.

3. GILL, And they shall turn the rivers far away,.... The river Nile, called "rivers", the plural for the singular, because of the abundance of water in it; or its seven streams, with other rivulets, derived from it. Some make the "they" here to refer to the kings of Egypt, and interpret the words of some projects of theirs, by which the course of the river was turned to great disadvantage; particularly they understand it of the twelve tyrants that reigned after Sethon, to whom they ascribe the digging of the vast lake of Moeris, the two pyramids built in the midst of it, and a labyrinth near it, though only the labyrinth was made by them (b); and as for the lake, it was made by Moeris, a king of Egypt, from whom it had its name, some hundred years before; and, besides, was of service, and not disservice, to the Nile; for it received its waters when it

overflowed too much, and it furnished it with water by an outlet when it failed: rather therefore this passage may be illustrated by the attempt which Necus, the son of Psammiticus, whom the Scripture calls Pharaohnecho, made, to join the Nile and the Red Sea together, by making a canal from the one to the other; in which work he lost a hundred and twenty thousand men, and desisted from it without finishing it (c); but it is thought hereby the river was greatly weakened: and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up; as the river of Nile and its streams were the defence of the land of Egypt, as well as made for the fruitfulness of it, for these must make it less accessible to a foreign enemy; and besides, here lay their shipping, which were their protection; and moreover, from hence brooks and courses of water might be derived and carried about their fortified cities, which added to the strength of them. The Targum renders it deep brooks or rivers; and Kimchi interprets it the brooks of Egypt, taking Matzor to signify Egypt, a word in sound near to Mitzraim, the common word used for Egypt. It looks, by this and other expressions in the context, as if more were designed than the above instance or instances will account for: the reeds and flags shall wither; which grew in the brooks, and near them; and therefore much more the grass and corn, and other trees, which were at a distance; besides, these are mentioned, bemuse of the great usefulness they were of; for of these they made ships, barks, and boats, and mats for bedding, and nets fishing; as also paper to write on, as follows, and which was a staple commodity with them; See Gill on Isa_18:2.

4. HENRY, . The Egyptians may themselves remember the fish they have formerly eaten freely, but now cannot have for money. And that which aggravates the loss of these advantages by the river