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
So shall the king H4428 of Assyria H804 lead away H5090 the Egyptians H4714 prisoners, H7628 and the Ethiopians H3568 captives, H1546 young H5288 and old, H2205 naked H6174 and barefoot, H3182 even with their buttocks H8357 uncovered, H2834 to the shame H6172 of Egypt. H4714
And I will deliver H5414 them into the hand H3027 of those that seek H1245 their lives, H5315 and into the hand H3027 of Nebuchadrezzar H5019 king H4428 of Babylon, H894 and into the hand H3027 of his servants: H5650 and afterward H310 it shall be inhabited, H7931 as in the days H3117 of old, H6924 saith H5002 the LORD. H3068
Therefore thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Behold, I will give H5414 the land H776 of Egypt H4714 unto Nebuchadrezzar H5019 king H4428 of Babylon; H894 and he shall take H5375 her multitude, H1995 and take H7997 her spoil, H7998 and take H962 her prey; H957 and it shall be the wages H7939 for his army. H2428
And it was told H5046 Saul H7586 that David H1732 was come H935 to Keilah. H7084 And Saul H7586 said, H559 God H430 hath delivered H5234 him into mine hand; H3027 for he is shut in, H5462 by entering H935 into a town H5892 that hath gates H1817 and bars. H1280
And hast not shut me up H5462 into the hand H3027 of the enemy: H341 thou hast set H5975 my feet H7272 in a large room. H4800
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.