so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
Parallel Translations
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so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
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So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
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so shall the king of Assyria lead away the captives of Egypt, and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Isaiah 20:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 19:4 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.
- Jeremiah 13:22 If you say in your heart, “Why have these things come on me?” Your skirts are uncovered because of the greatness of your iniquity, and your heels suffer violence.
- Jeremiah 13:26 Therefore I will also uncover your skirts on your face, and your shame will appear.
- 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.
- Isaiah 3:17 therefore the Lord brings sores on the crown of the head of the women of Zion, and Yahweh will make their scalps bald.”
- Isaiah 47:3 Your nakedness will be uncovered. Yes, your shame will be seen. I will take vengeance, and will spare no one.”
- Jeremiah 46:26 I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. Afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old,” says Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 30:18 At Tehaphnehes also the day will withdraw itself, when I break the yokes of Egypt, there. The pride of her power will cease in her. As for her, a cloud will cover her, and her daughters will go into captivity.
- Micah 1:11 Pass on, inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame. The inhabitant of Zaanan won’t come out. The wailing of Beth Ezel will take from you his protection.
- Revelation 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 20:4 So shall the king of Assyria lead…
Isa 20:4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with [their] buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
Ver. 4. So shall the king of Assyria lead away.] As men used to lead or drive cattle, for so the Hebrew word Nahag denotes: so are poor captives led; and so shall the Lord also one day "lead forth with" or in company of "the workers of iniquity" (notorious offenders) all such as "turn aside unto their crooked ways," hypocrites and dissemblers; whenas "peace shall be upon Israel, upon the pure in heart." {Psa 125:5}
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Young and old.] Young men are for action, old men for counsel. {a} Eργα νεων, βουλαι δε τεροντων. {b} They were all carried away together in a sad and sorry condition, little better, and sometimes more bitter, than death itself.
Even with their buttocks uncovered.] Vel ad ludibrium, vel ad libidinem hostium, for the enemies either to scorn at, or to feed their filthy eyes upon. Thus and for such a purpose dealt the mitred fathers with the poor Albigenses, those ancient Protestants in France, when they had forced them to take quarter for their lives, voluerunt episcopi viros et mulieres nudos egredi, &c. The bishops wished the men and women to be led forth nude. And so Tilly dealt with the miserable citizens at the sack of Magdeburg; and much worse than so dealeth the devil with all his wretched captives, whom he driveth away hellward, naked and barefoot with their buttocks uncovered, the shame of their nakedness exposed to public view for want of the white raiment of Christ’s righteousness that they might be clothed. {Rev 3:18}
{a} Consilia senum, hastae iuvenum sunt.
{b} Pindar.
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 Lead away, like beasts, of which this word is…
Lead away, like beasts, of which this word is commonly used.
Their buttocks uncovered; having their garments cut off by the middle, to the discovery of their buttocks and their secret parts. Compare 2Sa 10:4; Isa 47:2.
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 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the…
So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives,.... As beasts are led or driven, being taken prisoners, and carried captive by the king of Assyria, namely Sargon, whoever is intended by him:
young and old; without any regard to age, sparing none for their tender years or gray hairs:
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naked and barefoot; as prisoners of war commonly are, being stripped by their conquerors of their clothes, and having only a few rags given them to cover their nakedness with, and obliged to travel without shoes on their feet:
even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt; having no clothes on them to cover those parts; or the skirts of their garments cut off, as David's servants were by the Ammonites, Sa2 10:4 and this to humble and mortify the pride of the Egyptians.
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 Uncovered - Having their garments cut off by the…
Uncovered - Having their garments cut off by the middle.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain So shall the king of Assyria - The emphasis…
So shall the king of Assyria - The emphasis here is on the word “so.” As Isaiah has walked naked, that is, stripped off his usual clothing, “so” shall the Egyptians and Ethiopians be led away “stripped” of all their possessions.
The Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives - The Egyptians and Ethiopians, or Cushites, were often united in an alliance, and appear to have been when this prophecy was delivered. Thus Nah 3:8 :
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Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite;
Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
To the shame of Egypt - It shall be a disgrace to them to be subdued, and to be carried captive in so humiliating a manner. It is remarked by Belzoni (‘Operations and Recent Discoveries in Egypt and Nubia’), that in the figures on the remains of their temples, prisoners are often represented as naked, or only in aprons, with disheveled hair, and with their hands chained. He also remarks, that on a “bas-relief,” on the recently-discovered graves of the kings of Thebes, a multitude of “Egyptian and Ethiopian prisoners” are represented - showing that Egypt and Ethiopia were sometimes “allied,” alike in mutual defense and in bondage (compare Isa 47:2, and Nah 3:5).
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 Shame. Thus captives were generally exposed to sale, chap.…
Shame. Thus captives were generally exposed to sale, chap. xlvii. 2., and Nahum iii. 5.
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 buttocks uncovered--BELZONI says that captives are found represented thus…
buttocks uncovered--BELZONI says that captives are found represented thus on Egyptian monuments (Isa 47:2-3; Nah 3:5, Nah 3:8-9), where as here, Egypt and Ethiopia are mentioned as in alliance.
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 4, 5. So — Thus, in like manner, as…
4, 5. So — Thus, in like manner, as the prophet in his comparative nakedness.
Shall the king of Assyria — In this expedition Assyria’s success is assured by the prophet. Precisely when this occurred is not easy to settle, as some imagine. Not even Rawlinson, in his Five Great Monarchies, vol. ii, page 416, (which see,) does this satisfactorily. Nor is it, as regards prophecy, very material.
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Lead away the Egyptians prisoners… Ethiopians captives — This picture of naked captives taken in war, is found on the monuments in Egypt. See Isa_47:2-3; also Nah_3:5; Nah_3:8-9. The doctrine of the prophecy is: Vain is the reliance of Judah on Egypt and Ethiopia.
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 4. The apodosis. lead away] as in 1Sa_30:2.
4. The apodosis. lead away] as in 1Sa_30:2.
the Egyptians prisoners … captives] Better as R.V. the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia. The two words for exile are both abstracts used in a concrete sense; the corresponding verbs denote, the one the act of making captive, the other the act of going into exile (lit. leaving the land bare).
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to the shame] The word means “nakedness,” and the construction is difficult.
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 (4) So shall the king of Assyria lead away…
(4) So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians . . .—The prediction did not receive its fulfilment in the reign either of Sargon or Sennacherib, but Esarhaddon subdued the whole of Egypt, carried off its treasures, and appointed satraps over its provinces (Budge’s Esarhaddon, pp. 111-129). The prophet paints the brutality with which prisoners were treated on a march in vivid colours. What would men say of their boasted policy of an Egypto-Cushite alliance when they saw that as its disastrous issue? It may be noted that Rabshakeh’s scornful phrase, “This bruised reed,” seems to imply that Assyria had ceased to fear the power of Egypt; and Nahum (Nah_3:8) speaks of No (i.e., No-Amun or Thebes) as having, when he wrote, been conquered, and his people carried into captivity.
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 So shall the King of Assyria lead away the…
So shall the King of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives. In Sennacherib"s annals for the year B.C. 701, twelve years after this prophecy was given, we find the following passage: "The kings of Egypt, and the archers, chariots, and horsemen of the King of Meroe, a force without number, gathered and came to the aid of Ekron. In the neighborhood of Eltekeh their ranks were arrayed before me, and they urged on their soldiers. In the service of Asshur, my lord, I fought with them, and I accomplished their overthrow. The charioteers and sons of the kings of Egypt, and the charioteers of the King of Meres, alive in the midst of the battle, my hand captured " (G. Smith, "Eponym Canon," pp. 133, 134). Young and old. The intermixture of young and old, of full-grown males with women leading children by the hand or carrying them upon the shoulder, in the Assyrian sculptures, strikes us even on the most cursory inspection of them. Naked and barefoot. Assyrian captives are ordinarily represented "barefoot." Most commonly they wear a single tunic, reaching from the neck to the knees, or sometimes to the ankles, and girt about the waist with a girdle. It is probable that Egyptian and Ethiopian prisoners would be even more scantily clad, since the ordinary Egyptian tunic began at the waist and ended considerably above the knee.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.