I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they will fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. The spirit of Egypt will fail within it. I will destroy its counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards. I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord. A fierce king will rule over them,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
The waters will fail from the sea, and the river will be wasted and become dry. The rivers will become foul. The streams of Egypt will be diminished and dried up. The reeds and flags will wither away. The meadows by the Nile, by the brink of the Nile, and all the sown fields of the Nile, will become dry, be driven away, and be no more. The fishermen will lament, and all those who fish in the Nile will mourn, and those who spread nets on the waters will languish. Moreover those who work in combed flax, and those who weave white cloth, will be confounded. The pillars will be broken in pieces. All those who work for hire will be grieved in soul.
The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?” Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now; and let them know what Yahweh of Armies has purposed concerning Egypt. The princes of Zoan have become fools. The princes of Memphis are deceived. They have caused Egypt to go astray, who are the cornerstone of her tribes. Yahweh has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the middle of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in all of its works, like a drunken man staggers in his vomit. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which head or tail, palm branch or rush, may do. In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble and fear because of the shaking of Yahweh of Armies’s hand, which he shakes over them.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15 As he caused the Ammonites, Moabites and Idumeans to…
As he caused the Ammonites, Moabites and Idumeans to kill one another, when they came to destroy the Church of God, 2 Chron. 20:22; Isa. 49:26.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–16 Isa 19:2 And I will set the Egyptians against…
Isa 19:2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, [and] kingdom against kingdom.
Ver. 2. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians.] Commiscebo Egyptios inter se, I will embroil them in a civil war. This happened, saith Junius, under King Psammeticus, after the death of Sethon, about the end of Hezekiah’s reign, or the beginning of Manasseh’s, while Isaiah was yet alive. {a}
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And kingdom against kingdom.] Or, Rectory against rectory; for as here in the heptarchy, so there the land was divided into many provinces or jurisdictions, even sixty-six, saith Ortelius.
{a} Herod., lib. ii. Diod. Sic., lib. i.
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 On vv2–16 I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians; I…
I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians; I will raise civil wars among them.
Kingdom against kingdom; for although all Egypt was now one kingdom, and under one king, yet not many years after this time it was divided into twelve several kingdoms, between whom there were many and cruel wars, as is related by the historians of those times, and particularly by Herodotus and Diodorus.
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 On vv2–16 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians,....…
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:
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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".
(s) Herodot. l. 2. c. 177. (t) Ib. c. 147. (u) There were ten of them in Thebais, the same number in Delta, and sixteen between them. (w) Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 164, 165, 166. (x) Nat. Hist. I. 5. c. 9. Ptolem. Geograph. l. 4. c. 4. Strabo Geogr. l. 17. P. 541.
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 On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 I will set - Egypt was now one kingdom,…
I will set - Egypt was now one kingdom, but not many years after this time it was divided into twelve kingdoms, between whom there were many and cruel wars.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 Verse 3. They shall seek to the idols, and…
Verse 3. 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 devynouris, 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 De 18:10, &c.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 5, 11, 16 Isa 19:2-3. I will set the Egyptians against the…
Isa 19:2-3. I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians — Two principal calamities to befall Egypt are foretold in this prophecy; the first of which is here described: civil wars should arise among them. They shall fight every one against his brother and neighbour — Whom he ought to love as himself. City against city, and kingdom against kingdom — “The LXX. read, νομος επι νομον, province against province, Egypt being divided into prefectures, or provinces. Vitringa and others apply this to the time of the twelve kings, the anarchy that preceded, and the civil wars that ensued, in which Psammitichus prevailed over the rest; but it may, perhaps, be more properly applied to what agrees better, in point of time, with other parts of the prophecy, the civil wars between Apries and Amasis, at the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion; and the civil wars a little before the country was finally subdued by Ochus. It is no wonder, that in such distractions and distresses as these, the Egyptians, being naturally a cowardly people, should be destitute of counsel, and that the spirit of Egypt should fail in the midst thereof, as the prophet foretels, (Isa 19:3,) and that, being also a very superstitious people, they should seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that had familiar spirits, and to the wizards. But their divination was all in vain,” God having determined that they should be subdued and oppressed by cruel lords and tyrants, as it follows.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2–16 And I will set - (סכסכתי sı̂ksaketı̂y). This word…
And I will set - (סכסכתי sı̂ksaketı̂y). This word (from סכך sākak) 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, Ἐπεγερθήσονται Epegerthēsontai - ‘They shall be excited,’ or, ‘raised up.’ Symmachus, Συμβαλῶ Sumbalō. 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, Νόμος έπὶ νόμων Nomos epi nomōn - ‘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.
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 On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15 Kingdom. Under the twelve kings. (Calmet)
Kingdom. Under the twelve kings. (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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v16 ב) The Transition: Egypt fears the LORD
ב) The Transition: Egypt fears the LORD
Isa_19:16-17
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16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women:
And it shall be afraid and fear
33Because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts,
Which he shaketh over it.
17 And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt,
Every one that 34maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself,
Because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts,
Which he hath determined against it.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_19:16. חרד comp. Isa_10:29; Isa_32:16; Isa_41:5.——פחד Isa_12:2; Isa_33:14; Isa_44:8; Isa_44:11; Isa_60:5.——The verb הֵנִיף we have already read of the hand lifted up in threatening: Isa_11:15, comp. Isa_10:15; Isa_10:32; Isa_13:2; Isa_30:28.——תנופה, frequent in the Pentateuch, occurs in Isaiah only here and Isa_30:32.——Regarding the expression אדמת יהודה it is to be remarked that, apart from the frequent אדמת ישׂראל in Ezekiel, אדמה never occurs in connection with the name of a nation except here and Gen_47:20; Gen_47:26, in the expression אדמת מצרים——חָגָּא (from חָגַג, circulare, tripudiare), “the revolving movement of dizziness,” is ἅπ. λεγ.——The expression כֹּל אֲשֶר וגו׳, is a resolving of the otherwise usual participial construction, on which comp. Ewald, § 337, c, sq.—The Hiph. הִזְכִּיר is frequent in Isa_12:4; Isa_26:13; Isa_3:22; Isa_43:26; Isa_48:1; Isa_62:6, etc.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The discourse is artistically arranged: according to the foregoing, Egypt still thinks it may be saved by its own wisdom. Now it has surrendered this hope. It trembles before the threatening gesture of Jehovah’s hand (Isa_19:16). In fact, whenever the land of Judah is thought of, Egypt quakes with fear lest the decree of Jehovah may be accomplished (Isa_19:17).
2. The expression of Isaiah “in that day” which is peculiar to the first part (in the second it occurs only Isa_52:6) appears with more frequency in the present chapter, than in any other passage: viz.: Isa_19:16; Isa_19:18-19; Isa_19:21; Isa_19:23-24. Comp. the remark at Isa_2:12. As often as one utters the name Judah, men turn affrighted to him, for they know but too well the power of the God of Judah. The counsel of Jehovah, then, of which Isa_19:12 speaks, must have been partly accomplished. Men fear its further and complete fulfilment.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2–16 set--stir up. GESENIUS translates, "arm."
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 Nebuchadnezzar's invasion; also between Tachos, Nectanebus, and the Mendesians, just before Ochus subdued Egypt.
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kingdom against kingdom--The Septuagint has "nome against nome"; Egypt was divided into forty-two nomes or districts.
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 On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16 2-4. Opinions greatly vary as to when the events…
2-4. Opinions greatly vary as to when the events here described took place. Of the most plausible, one refers them to times shortly following the destruction of Sennacherib’s army, during which times the affairs of Egypt were in great confusion. Another opinion (and which is to be preferred) places the events in successu; the reference to Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest being general, and to the conquest of Cambyses particular; and the whole referring to successive disciplinary punishments, but ending with deliverances, such as the final adoption of the worship of the true God will bring. The lesson taught is, that Jehovah is the God of all nations, especially of Egypt and Assyria, the greatest kingdoms then known; and that his worship effects the only true salvation for all.
2. Egyptians against… Egyptians — One district or nome against another. So the Septuagint: or, Upper, Middle, and Lower Egypt against each other. The former is the more probable meaning. In all Egypt there were at various times from thirty-six to forty-two of such divisions. Or, the immediate thought of divisions may be that of the Dodakarchy, or the twelve provinces, from B.C. 695 till Psammetichus. (See SMITH’S History, vol. 1.)
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 On vv2–16 2. Jehovah speaks. The description of anarchy and civil…
2. Jehovah speaks. The description of anarchy and civil war recalls ch. Isa_3:5, Isa_9:18 ff.
I will set … Egyptians] Lit. I will stir up (see ch. Isa_9:11) Egypt against Egypt—the general expression for civil discord which is explained in the remainder of the verse. kingdom against kingdom] LXX. νομὸς ἐπὶ νομόν—a correct translation drawn from the translator’s local knowledge of Egypt. The numerous nomes or cantons were but loosely federated, and dissensions and local jealousies were always apt to break out when the central government was paralysed.
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 On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16 (2) I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians…
(2) I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians . . .—The discord predicted was probably the natural consequence of the overthrow of the Ethiopian power by Sargon, the Assyrian king, in B.C. 720. Under Piankhi each nome, or district, had been governed by a chief, owning the suzerainty of the Ethiopian king, and these, when the restraint was removed, would naturally assert their independence. So Herodotus (ii. 147) relates that on the overthrow of Sabaco, the last of the Ethiopian dynasty, the unity of Egypt was broken up into a dodecarchy.
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 On vv2–16 I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians. The…
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 (about B.C. 650), 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 (see "Records of the Past," vol. 2. p. 100; G. Smith, "History of Asshur-bani-pal," pp. 20-22).
Vers. 2-10. A picture of penalty.
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The threatened penalty of Egypt as painted by the prophet here will, on examination, be found to be essentially the penalty with which God causes sin to be visited always and everywhere.
I STRIFE, especially internal strife (ver. 2). The guilty nation will find itself plunged into civil war (Egypt, Greece, Rome, France, America northern and southern states, etc.), or rent with bitter and vindictive factions; the guilty family will have its domestic harmony destroyed by petty broils and miserable disagreements; the individual soul will be compelled to expend its powers in internal strife conscience having a long and perhaps desperate struggle with passion; reason, which urges to immediate decision, contending with the evil spirit of procrastination; the will to submit to Divine demands doing stern, protracted battle with a desire to conform to the good pleasure of the unholy and the unwise.
II DELUSION. (Ver. 3.) As the, Egyptians, paying the penalty of disobedience, were to abandon the counsels of human wisdom for the fancies and fooleries of the juggler, so will men find that sin leads down from the guidance of reason to the dictates of folly and the misleadings of delusion. It is not long before the sinner experiences "the deceitfulness of sin;" before he finds that he does not impose ca other men half so much as he is imposed upon, or as he imposes on himself. He comes to think that utterances which are earthly, or of lower origin than that, are the voices of heaven; he "calls evil good, and good evil;" counsel which he ought to abjure as diabolical, he deems excellent and wise; neglecting truths and principles which would be his salvation, he falls back upon sentiments which lead down, with certain path, to innermost and uttermost ruin.
III BONDAGE. (Ver. 4.) It is one of the most certain and one of the saddest penalties of sin that the wrong-doer is handed over to the despotism of "a cruel lord." By what truer or more descriptive terms could these enemies of the soul be characterized into whose iron grasp the transgressor falls? Is not the insatiable craving for strong drink or for the hurtful narcotic a "cruel lord?" What but cruel lords are covetousness, ambition, lasciviousness, the voracity or extreme delicacy of those "whose God is their belly the passion which demands and will not be denied, which consumes the time, which saps the energy, which steals the manhood that should be devoted to nobler ends, that should be laid on a worthier altar? The victims of vice are "holden with the cords of their sins;" they are "in the hand of a cruel lord," who will make them pay "the uttermost farthing.
IV SHRINKAGE. (Vers. 5-10.) Egypt should be pitiably reduced; the waters of its life-giving river should be wanting (ver. 5), its vegetation should fade and die (ver. 6), its industries should be stopped (vers. 8, 9), its chief men should be overthrown (ver. 10). All Egyptian life, through its length and breadth, should be struck a ruinous blow, should shrink from fullness and power into feebleness and decline. Under the dominion of sin, human life suffers a ruinous reduction. Made for God, for his likeness, for his fellowship, for his service, for the highest forms of usefulness and the noblest order of enjoyment, we sink into folly, into selfishness, into smallness of aim and littleness of accomplishment; our lives are narrowed, lessened, shriveled. It is the pitiful penalty of departure from God, of withholding our hearts from our Divine Friend. In Christ we realize the fair and blessed opposites of these. In him is
(1) peace; (Joh_14:27 Joh_16:33 Eph_2:14)
(2) enlightenment; (1Co_14:20 Eph_1:18 Col_1:9) freedom; (Joh_8:32-36 Rom_6:18 Gal_5:1) enlargement. C. (Mat_5:45 Joh_15:14 Rom_8:17 Eph_2:6 Rev_1:6)
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 2. Political commotion regarded as Divine judgment.
"And I will spur Egypt against Egypt, and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his fellow, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom." Civil war does far more serious and permanent mischief to a nation than foreign war. There are no such distressing conditions brought about by any other agencies as those which follow civil war. There can be no true heroism in its scenes; because the impulse is either mercenary, or it is class hatred and passion. Patriotism is swallowed up in mere sectional interests. The historical connections of this prophecy seem to be made clear by the recent discoveries of Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions. There has been found an inscription containing a proclamation of one Piankhi, who, in the eighth century B.C., united under his scepter the whole of Egypt and Ethiopia. Lower Egypt was divided among rival princes, whose connection with their over-lord was merely nominal, and civil wars from time to time arose. That which is true of actual civil war, is in measure true of times of political excitement and conflict, when party feeling runs high. Some of the evils of such times may be pointed out.
I THESE TIMES OF COMMOTION SET CLASS AGAINST CLASS. It is curious to notice that political conflict is never confined to the subject about which it arose. It is opening the flood-gates and letting out all the waters of class jealousy.
II THESE TIMES DISTURB SOCIAL ORDER. Breaking up families and friendships, and diverting men"s minds and energies from their ordinary occupations.
III THESE TIMES INTERFERE WITH BUSINESS. Which is very sensitive to disturbed conditions of the body politic. Mutual trust is essential to business development, and the sense of security gives value to property.
IV THESE TIMES GIVE INFLUENCE TO EVIL MEN. The demagogue finds then his opportunity. The masses of society gain undue importance. Noise has more power than intelligence. Reason"s voice can seldom be heard. She keeps still, for it is an evil time.
V THESE TIMES SERIOUSLY HINDER CHRISTIAN AND CHARITABLE ENTERPRISE. Diverting both energy and money. So seasons of political commotion become agencies in executing Divine judgments, and become times of national warning and correction. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv2, 11 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians
Isa_19:2
And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians
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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.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v16 A Promise of Blessing
A Promise of Blessing
v. 16. In that day shall Egypt be like unto women, on account of the greater timidity which usually characterizes the weaker sex; and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts which He shaketh over it, His judgments and punishments thus being scattered by means of the invaders of Egypt.
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v. 17. And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, either because the mere mention of the name struck terror to their hearts at this time, or because Judah was now allied with Assyria against the king of Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof, namely, of Judah, shall be afraid in himself because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which He hath determined against it, for they all dreaded the punishment which they felt was now inevitable. But in the very midst of the threatened destruction a ray of hope shone upon those who turned to the Lord in true repentance.
v. 18. In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, that is, accept the true, revealed religion, and swear to the Lord of hosts, pledging themselves to Him with a sacred oath; one shall be called The City of Destruction, literally, "Ir-ha-heres," which may have been the city of the sun, or Heliopolis. The prophecy of Jer 43:13, also means to point to the destruction of this or a similar city.
v. 19. In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof, probably an obelisk, to the Lord. The reference is either to the establishment of the religion of Jehovah in Egypt in the second century before Christ, when Alexandria became the center of Egyptian Jewry, or, better still, to the foothold which the Christian religion gained in Egypt at a very early date in the new era.
v. 20. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt, so that their contemporaries could see the evidence of their worship and their descendants have this proof of their religion; for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and He shall send them a savior, and a great one, a mighty warrior, and he shall deliver them, the reference probably being to Alexander the Great, whose coming was a deliverance to Egypt in various ways.
v. 21. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, namely, when Jehovah would visit Egypt in mercy and cause the truth to be proclaimed to its people, and shall do sacrifice and oblation, perform the acts of true worship to the only God; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord and perform it, pledging themselves to Jehovah and His service.
v. 22. And the Lord shall smite Egypt, in order to bring its people to repentance; He shall smite and heal it, for His purpose is always one of mercy; and they shall return even to the Lord, His punishment having taken the right effect, and He shall be intreated of them and shall heal them. Cf Lev 26:44; Deu 32:36.
v. 23. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, permitting free and friendly communication, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians, proselytes and Jews from both countries meeting at Jerusalem and elsewhere for the worship of Jehovah.
v. 24. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, the believers of the three countries being joined by the one faith, even a blessing in the midst of the land, since blessings would go forth from them to the inhabitants of other countries all over the world;
v. 25. whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt, My people, admitted to all the spiritual privileges formerly held by Israel alone, and Assyria, the work of My hands, His workmanship in the spiritual sense, and Israel, Mine inheritance, still designated thus as the actual son of the household of God and head of His family. Altogether, we have here a splendid example of the spread of the true religion under the merciful direction of God, especially in Messianic times.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 16 The spirit of Egypt will be weakened from within.…
The spirit of Egypt will be weakened from within. I will destroy his advice
The nation of Egypt is spoken of here as if it was a person. (See: Personification)
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The spirit of Egypt will be weakened from within
This can be expressed in active form. AT: "I will weaken the spirit of Egypt from within" (See: Active or Passive)
I will destroy his advice, though they sought the advice of ... spiritualists
"They sought the advice of ... spiritualists, but that will do them no good. It will not stop me from destroying his advice"
I will destroy his advice
Possible meanings are 1) Yahweh will cause the advice that he gives to be ineffective or 2) Yahweh will cause him to be unable to give any advice. This can be reworded so that the abstract noun "advice" is expressed as the verb "advise." AT: "I will confuse those who advise the king" (See: Abstract Nouns)
mediums ... spiritualists
These are people who claim to speak with those who have died.
I will give the Egyptians into the hand of a harsh master
Here "hand" refers to power or control. AT: "I will give the Egyptians over to the control of a harsh master" (See: Metonymy)
this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. Translate as in Isaiah 3:15. AT: "this is what the Lord Yahweh of hosts has declared" or "this is what I, the Lord Yahweh of hosts, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
translationWords
spirit
Egypt
advice
false god
hand
lord
king
declare
lord
Yahweh of hosts
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 19:2 Egypt had a history of civil wars that…
19:2 Egypt had a history of civil wars that ravaged the country. Egypt’s fragile unity was breaking apart.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.