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Isaiah 19

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The Lord's Judgment and Civil War 1–4

1
The burden of Egypt. Behold, Jehovah rideth upon a swift cloud, and cometh unto Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. ​
2
And I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. ​
3
And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of it; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek unto the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4
And I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts. ​

Economic Ruin: The Drying of the Nile 5–10

5
And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and become dry. ​
6
And the rivers shall become foul; the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and dried up; the reeds and flags shall wither away.
7
The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, shall become dry, be driven away, and be no more.
8
And the fishers shall lament, and all they that cast angle into the Nile shall mourn, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.
9
Moreover they that work in combed flax, and they that weave white cloth, shall be confounded.
10
And the pillars of Egypt shall be broken in pieces; all they that work for hire shall be grieved in soul.

Failure of Egyptian Wisdom 11–15

11
The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the counsel of the wisest counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? ​
12
Where then are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now; and let them know what Jehovah of hosts hath purposed concerning Egypt.
13
The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Memphis are deceived; they have caused Egypt to go astray, that are the corner-stone of her tribes.
14
Jehovah hath mingled a spirit of perverseness in the midst of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. ​
15
Neither shall there be for Egypt any work, which head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do.

Egypt's Fear of Judah 16–17

16
In that day shall the Egyptians be like unto women; and they shall tremble and fear because of the shaking of the hand of Jehovah of hosts, which he shaketh over them. ​
17
And the land of Judah shall become a terror unto Egypt; every one to whom mention is made thereof shall be afraid, because of the purpose of Jehovah of hosts, which he purposeth against it. ​

Future Conversion and Blessing for Egypt 18–25

18
In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Jehovah of hosts; one shall be called The city of destruction. ​
19
In that day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to Jehovah. ​
20
And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto Jehovah of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto Jehovah because of oppressors, and he will send them a saviour, and a defender, and he will deliver them. ​
21
And Jehovah shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know Jehovah in that day; yea, they shall worship with sacrifice and oblation, and shall vow a vow unto Jehovah, and shall perform it.
22
And Jehovah will smite Egypt, smiting and healing; and they shall return unto Jehovah, and he will be entreated of them, and will heal them. ​
23
In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians shall worship with the Assyrians. ​
24
In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth; ​
25
for that Jehovah of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 19

Verse 1

rideth upon a swift cloud — Qal, 'swift', is the word of the swift messengers of Cush (18:2). The LORD 'maketh the clouds his chariot' (Ps 104:3) and now comes in one. 'Idols' is elilim, 'things of nothing', moved 'at his presence'; so at the first Passover he said, 'against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment' (Ex 12:12).

Verse 2

I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians — The LORD himself sets them at each other, as with Midian's host, where he 'set every man's sword against his fellow' (Judg 7:22). The strife runs from the household to the realm: 'every one against his brother', 'neighbour', 'city against city', 'kingdom against kingdom'.

Verse 4

into the hand of a cruel lord — Sakar is to shut up, the verb of Ps 31:8, 'hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy': Egypt is shut up into one. The book names who took them, 'the king of Assyria' (Isa 20:4), and Ezekiel says the land is to be given 'unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon' (Ezek 29:19).

Verse 5

the river shall be wasted and dried up — The 'sea' and the 'river' are the Nile, with its branches (cf. Nah 3:8, where Egypt's city sits 'among the rivers' with 'the sea' as its rampart). Pharaoh had said of it, 'My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself' (Ezek 29:3), and in Ex 7:20 it was the first water struck. Its drying removes what Egypt counted its own.

Verse 11

the princes of Zoan — Zoan was a royal seat: the LORD 'wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan' (Ps 78:43), and 'his princes were at Zoan' (Isa 30:4). Egypt's wise men were famous (Gen 41:8; Acts 7:22), yet Pharaoh said of Joseph, 'God hath shewed thee all this' (Gen 41:39). Their 'counsel' (etsah) is what the LORD destroys in v.3.

Verse 14

a perverse spirit — Iw'im, perversity, is found only here. The LORD 'hath mingled' it like a cup: 'Take the wine cup of this fury… and they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad' (Jer 25:15–16), a cup Pharaoh also drinks (Jer 25:19). One verb, ta'ah, stands for both 'err' and 'staggereth': the leaders reel like a drunk man. Compare 1 Kgs 22:23.

Verse 16

like unto women — The figure is of fear, as with Babylon's soldiers who 'became as women' (Jer 51:30) and with Nineveh's people (Nah 3:13). The 'shaking' (tenuphah) is the word rendered 'wave offering' (Ex 29:24), from the verb of 'he shaketh' here; Isa 11:15 has 'shall he shake his hand over the river'.

Verse 17

the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt — Chagga, 'terror', is found only here. The fear comes from 'the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it'. 'Counsel' (etsah) and the verb 'determined' (ya'ats, also 'purposed' in v.12) are the root of the 'counsellors' of v.11: his counsel outlasts theirs, as in Isa 14:24, 'as I have purposed, so shall it stand'.

Verse 18

the language of Canaan — Five cities take up Israel's speech and oath: they 'speak the language' (saphah, lip) of Canaan and 'swear to the LORD of hosts', as Moses commanded, 'swear by his name' (Deut 10:20). Zeph 3:9 foretells 'a pure language' for all peoples, and Jer 12:16 the nations taught 'to swear by my name, The LORD liveth'.

Verse 19

an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt — The 'altar' stands in the midst and the 'pillar' (matstsebah) at the border, the stone Jacob set up at Bethel (Gen 28:18). Both are 'for a sign and for a witness' (v.20), as the altar the eastern tribes raised by Jordan was 'a witness between us' (Josh 22:27).

Verse 20

he shall send them a saviour — The cry and the answer are those of Israel in Egypt: 'the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me… the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them' (Ex 3:9), and of the Judges, 'the LORD raised up a deliverer' (Judg 3:9). Here the oppressed are Egyptians (lachats, the verb of Ex 3:9), and the 'saviour' (moshia) is called 'a great one'.

Verse 22

he shall smite and heal it — The pattern is Moses' own words, 'I wound, and I heal' (Deut 32:39), and Hosea's call, 'he hath torn, and he will heal us' (Hos 6:1). 'Intreated' (atar) is what Pharaoh asked of Moses, 'Intreat the LORD' (Ex 8:8); now the LORD 'shall be intreated of them' himself.

Verse 23

a highway out of Egypt to Assyria — Ephraim had looked to both: 'they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria' (Hos 7:11). The 'highway' (mesillah) is the raised road of Isa 11:16, where it is for the remnant coming 'from Assyria', and of Isa 40:3, 'a highway for our God'. Egypt and Assyria are joined in it as those who 'serve'.

Verse 24

Israel be the third — The third in a line of three, and 'a blessing in the midst of the land'. The word is that given to Abraham, 'thou shalt be a blessing… and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed' (Gen 12:2–3), which Paul says was 'preached before the gospel' to Abraham (Gal 3:8).

Verse 25

Blessed be Egypt my people — The titles are shared out: 'my people' for Egypt, 'the work of my hands' for Assyria, 'mine inheritance' for Israel. Israel's children are 'the work of mine hands' in Isa 29:23 and Jacob 'the lot of his inheritance' in Deut 32:9, so the blessing gives the nations names the LORD had already given his own.