1 The burden H4853 of Egypt. H4714 Behold, the LORD H3068 rideth H7392 upon a swift H7031 cloud, H5645 and shall come H935 into Egypt: H4714 and the idols H457 of Egypt H4714 shall be moved H5128 at his presence, H6440 and the heart H3824 of Egypt H4714 shall melt H4549 in the midst H7130 of it.
2 And I will set H5526 the Egyptians H4714 against the Egyptians: H4714 and they shall fight H3898 every one H376 against his brother, H251 and every one H376 against his neighbour; H7453 city H5892 against city, H5892 and kingdom H4467 against kingdom. H4467
3 And the spirit H7307 of Egypt H4714 shall fail H1238 in the midst H7130 thereof; and I will destroy H1104 the counsel H6098 thereof: and they shall seek H1875 to the idols, H457 and to the charmers, H328 and to them that have familiar spirits, H178 and to the wizards. H3049
4 And H853 the Egyptians H4714 will I give over H5534 into the hand H3027 of a cruel H7186 lord; H113 and a fierce H5794 king H4428 shall rule H4910 over them, saith H5002 the Lord, H113 the LORD H3068 of hosts. H6635
5 And the waters H4325 shall fail H5405 from the sea, H3220 and the river H5104 shall be wasted H2717 and dried up. H3001
6 And they shall turn H2186 the rivers H5104 far away; H2186 and the brooks H2975 of defence H4693 shall be emptied H1809 and dried up: H2717 the reeds H7070 and flags H5488 shall wither. H7060
7 The paper reeds H6169 by the brooks, H2975 by the mouth H6310 of the brooks, H2975 and every thing sown H4218 by the brooks, H2975 shall wither, H3001 be driven away, H5086 and be no more.
8 The fishers H1771 also shall mourn, H578 and all they that cast H7993 angle H2443 into the brooks H2975 shall lament, H56 and they that spread H6566 nets H4365 upon H6440 the waters H4325 shall languish. H535
9 Moreover they that work H5647 in fine H8305 flax, H6593 and they that weave H707 networks, H2355 shall be confounded. H954
10 And they shall be broken H1792 in the purposes H8356 thereof, all that make H6213 sluices H7938 and ponds H99 for fish. H5315
11 Surely the princes H8269 of Zoan H6814 are fools, H191 the counsel H6098 of the wise H2450 counsellors H3289 of Pharaoh H6547 is become brutish: H1197 how say H559 ye unto Pharaoh, H6547 I am the son H1121 of the wise, H2450 the son H1121 of ancient H6924 kings? H4428
12 Where H335 are they? where H645 are thy wise H2450 men? and let them tell H5046 thee now, and let them know H3045 what the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 hath purposed H3289 upon Egypt. H4714
13 The princes H8269 of Zoan H6814 are become fools, H2973 the princes H8269 of Noph H5297 are deceived; H5377 they have also seduced H8582 Egypt, H4714 even they that are the stay H6438 of the tribes H7626 thereof.
14 The LORD H3068 hath mingled H4537 a perverse H5773 spirit H7307 in the midst H7130 thereof: and they have caused Egypt H4714 to err H8582 in every work H4639 thereof, as a drunken H7910 man staggereth H8582 in his vomit. H6892
15 Neither shall there be any work H4639 for Egypt, H4714 which the head H7218 or tail, H2180 branch H3712 or rush, H100 may do. H6213
16 In that day H3117 shall Egypt H4714 be like unto women: H802 and it shall be afraid H2729 and fear H6342 because H6440 of the shaking H8573 of the hand H3027 of the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 which he shaketh H5130 over it.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 19
Commentary on Isaiah 19 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 19
As Assyria was a breaking rod to Judah, with which it was smitten, so Egypt was a broken reed, with which it was cheated; and therefore God had a quarrel with them both. We have before read the doom of the Assyrians; now here we have the burden of Egypt, a prophecy concerning that nation,
Isa 19:1-17
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 (ch. 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, ch. 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.
Isa 19:18-25
Out of the thick and threatening clouds of the foregoing prophecy the sun of comfort here breaks forth, and it is the sun of righteousness. Still God has mercy in store for Egypt, and he will show it, not so much by reviving their trade and replenishing their river again as by bringing the true religion among them, calling them to, and accepting them in, the worship of the one only living and true God; and these blessings of grace were much more valuable than all the blessings of nature wherewith Egypt was enriched. We know not of any event in which this prophecy can be thought to have its full accomplishment short of the conversion of Egypt to the faith of Christ, by the preaching (as is supposed) of Mark the Evangelist, and the founding of many Christian churches there, which flourished for many ages. Many prophecies of this book point to the days of the Messiah; and why not this? It is no unusual thing to speak of gospel graces and ordinances in the language of the Old-Testament institutions. And, in these prophecies, those words, in that day, perhaps have not always a reference to what goes immediately before, but have a peculiar significancy pointing at that day which had been so long fixed, and so often spoken of, when the day-spring from on high should visit this dark world. Yet it is not improbable (which some conjecture) that this prophecy was in part fulfilled when those Jews who fled from their own country to take shelter in Egypt, when Sennacherib invaded their land, brought their religion along with them, and, being awakened to great seriousness by the troubles they were in, made an open and zealous profession of it there, and were instrumental to bring many of the Egyptians to embrace it, which was an earnest and specimen of the more plentiful harvest of souls that should be gathered in to God by the preaching of the gospel of Christ. Josephus indeed tells us that Onias the son of Onias the high priest, living an outlaw at Alexandria in Egypt, obtained leave of Ptolemy Philometer, then king, and Cleopatra his queen, to build a temple to the God of Israel, like that at Jerusalem, at Bubastis in Egypt, and pretended a warrant for doing it from this prophecy in Isaiah, that there shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt; and the service of God, Josephus affirms, continued in it about 333 years, when it was shut up by Paulinus soon after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans; see Antiq. 13.62-79, and Jewish War 7.426-436. But that temple was all along looked upon by the pious Jews as so great an irregularity, and an affront to the temple at Jerusalem, that we cannot suppose this prophecy to be fulfilled in it.
Observe how the conversion of Egypt is here described.