Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which head or tail, palm branch or rush, may do.
Parallel Translations
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Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which head or tail, palm branch or rush, may do.
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Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.
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Neither shall there be for Egypt any work, which head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Isaiah 19:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 9:14-15 Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed, in one day. The elder and the honorable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.
- Psalms 128:2 For you will eat the labor of your hands. You will be happy, and it will be well with you.
- Proverbs 14:23 In all hard work there is profit, but the talk of the lips leads only to poverty.
- Habakkuk 3:17 For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls:
- Haggai 1:11 I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground produces, on men, on livestock, and on all the labor of the hands.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you; that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Neither the great nor the small, the strong nor…
Neither the great nor the small, the strong nor the weak.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 19:15 Neither shall there be [any] work for…
Isa 19:15 Neither shall there be [any] work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.
Ver. 15. Neither shall there be any work.] See on Isa 19:14.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain All people, both high and low, shall be at…
All people, both high and low, shall be at their wits’ end not knowing what to do.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Neither shall there be any work for Egypt,.... No…
Neither shall there be any work for Egypt,.... No trade or business to carry on; their rivers being dried up, there was no flax to work with, and fine linen was a principal commodity of Egypt; nor any fish to catch, or rushes to make paper of, as before observed: or it would not be in the power of their hands to deliver themselves from the Assyrians that should come against them; and that they should be deprived of wisdom and counsel, and be at their wits' end, not knowing what to do, or what step to take:
which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do: high or low, strong or weak, all ranks and orders of men shall have nothing to do; all shall be weak and dispirited, and void of counsel. By the "head" and "branch" may be meant the king and his nobles; and by the "tail" and "rush" the common people; see Isa 9:14. The Targum interprets the whole of their chief men thus,
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"and the Egyptians shall have no king to reign, nor prince, noble, governor, or ruler.''
Jarchi explains it of the magicians, astrologers, and stargazers of Egypt, who, with all their boasted knowledge and wisdom, should not be able either to foresee or prevent the evil coming upon them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Head, &c. - All people, both high and low,…
Head, &c. - All people, both high and low, shall be at their wits end.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. The head or tail, branch or rush]…
Verse 15. The head or tail, branch or rush] R. D. Kimchi says, there are some who suppose that these words mean the dragon's head and tail; and refer to all those who are conversant in astronomy, astrology, &c.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Neither shall there be any work - The sense…
Neither shall there be any work - The sense is, that there shall be such discord that no man, whether a prince, a politician, or a priest, shall be able to give any advice, or form any plan for the national safety and security, which shall be successful.
Which the head or tail - High or low; strong or weak: those in office and those out of office; all shall be dispirited and confounded. Rosenmuller understands by the head here, the “political” orders of the nation, and by the tail the “sacerdotal” ranks. But the meaning more probably is, the highest and the lowest ranks - all the politicians, and priests, and princes, on the one hand, as the prophet had just stated Isa 19:11-15; and all the artificers, fishermen, etc., on the other, as he had stated Isa 19:8-10. This verse, therefore, is a “summing up” of all he had said about the calamities that were coming upon them.
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Branch or rush - See these words explained in the note at Isa 9:14.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Back. King and subject are equally confused, chap. ix.…
Back. King and subject are equally confused, chap. ix. 14. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain work for Egypt--nothing which Egypt can do to extricate…
work for Egypt--nothing which Egypt can do to extricate itself from the difficulty.
head or tail--high or low (Isa 19:11-15, and Isa 19:8-10).
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branch or rush--the lofty palm branch or the humble reed (Isa 9:14-15; Isa 10:33-34).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 15. Any work for Egypt — Any plan or…
15. Any work for Egypt — Any plan or invention devised for Egypt’s extrication from difficulty by any class, or all classes combined, as expressed in the familiar proverbial designations, head or tail, which means high or low castes.
Branch or rush — The same thought under figure of lofty palm branches, representing the high castes, and of the humble reeds along the Nile, denoting the lower classes — the fellahs of this day.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 15. No concerted action is possible, and every proposal…
15. No concerted action is possible, and every proposal that is brought forward falls to the ground.
head and tail, palm-branch and rush, exactly as in ch. Isa_9:14.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (15) The head or tail, branch or rush.—For this…
(15) The head or tail, branch or rush.—For this figurative description of all classes of the people, see Note on Isa_9:14.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Neither shall there be, etc. Translate, And there shall…
Neither shall there be, etc. Translate, And there shall be for Egypt no work in which both the head and the tail, both the palm branch and the rush, may (conjointly) work. The general spirit of perverseness shall prevent all union of high with low, rich with poor.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 19:15 There is nothing Egypt can do: No leader,…
19:15 There is nothing Egypt can do: No leader, idol, or conventional wisdom can stand against God’s judgment. • The head and the tail represented all of Egypt’s leaders from the greatest to the least important (see 9:14-15).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.