The Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 19
Chapter XIX · Vol. III, pp. 1167–1169
1 The confusion of Egypt. 11 The foolishness of her princes. 18 The calling of Egypt into the church. 23 The covenant of Egypt, Assyria, and Israel.
1 The burden1 of Egypt. Behold, the LORD ridetha upon a swift cloud,2 and shall come into Egypt; and bthe idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and cthe heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
1 Denounced heavy judgments, ch.13.1, &c. Je.xlvi. Eze.xxix.-xxxii. Joel 3.19. Zec.10.11.
a Ps.18.10; 104.3; 68.4,33,34. De.33.26. Ps.97.2. Re.14.14.
2 The cloud is represented as God's chariot, in reference to the cloud whereby he defended Israel, and troubled the Egyptians at the Red Sea, Ex.14.19,24.—C.
b Ex.12.12. De.29.16,17. Eze.30.13; 20.7. Je.43.12; 46.25; 50.2; 51.44. ch.21.9; 46.1.
c ver.3,16. Je.46.5. ch.13.7,8.
2 Andd I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians:3 and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And ethe spirit of Egypt shall fail4 in the midst thereof; and I will destroy5 the counsel thereof; and they gshall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
e Eze.22.14. Job 5.12,13. ch.44.25; ver.1,11-13. Je.19.7. Ps.107.27. ch.28.7.
4 Heb. shall be emptied.
5 Heb. swallow up.
g ch.47.12; 8.19; 15.2. 1 Ch.10.13. Ju.10.14. 1 Ki.18.26.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over6 into the hand of 7a cruel lord;8 and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from hthe 9sea, and the river1 shall be wasted and dried up.
h ch.11.15. Na.3.8. Nu.34.5. Eze.32.2,14; 29.3,4.
9 The Hebrews called every considerable extent of water a sea. This prediction may therefore be considered as fulfilled in the neglect of the lake Mœris, into which the superfluous waters of the Nile were drained, and there reserved for irrigation as the Nile began to fall.—C.
1 River. The canal by which the waters of Mœris used to be carried over the subjacent country.—C.
6 And they shall turn the rivers far away, and the brooks of 2defence shall be emptied and dried up:3 the reeds and flags shall wither.
2 2 Ki.19.24. Or, Egypt, ch.37.25. Mi.7.12. These expressions may allude to a great drought that ruined their fisheries and crop, or may denote the ruin of the wealth and prosperity of the Egyptians, Eze.29.3; 30.12.
3 This was literally done by Megabysus, a Persian general.—C.
7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.4
4 Heb. and shall be out.
8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.
9 Moreover they that work iin fine flax, and they that weave networks,5 shall be confounded.
i 1 Ki.10.28. Pr.7.16. Eze.27.7,10.
5 Or, white-works.
10 And they shall be broken in the 6purposes7 thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.8
6 Heb. foundations.
A.M. cir. 3279. B.C. cir. 725.
7 'Foundations,' as in Ps.11.3. The embankments will be broken down.—C.
8 Heb. of living things.
11 Surely the princes of jZoan are kfools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
j Nu.13.22. Ps.78.12,43. Eze.30.14.
k ver.3,13. Job 5.12,13. ch.44.25. Ps.33.10.
12 Where are they?9 where are thy lwise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan1 are nbecome fools, the princes of Noph2 are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are 3the stay4 of the tribes thereof.
14 The5 LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit6 in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man ostaggereth in his vomit.
5 God, by judicially giving them up to their own foolish ways, has mingled a perverse spirit with their counsels.—C.
6 Heb. a spirit of perversities, ch.29.9,10. 1 Ki.22.22,23.
o Job 12.25. Je.25.16,27. ch.51.17,20; 28.7; 29.9. Ps.75.8; 107.27. Re.14.10.
15 Neitherp shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.
p ch.9.14. Ps.76.5.
16 In that day shall Egypt be qlike unto women; and it shall be afraid and fear, because of rthe shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it.
17 And sthe land of Judah shall be a terror7 unto Egypt: every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he thath determined against it.8
s 2 Ki.18.13. ch.36.1.
7 Not because of war between Judah and Egypt, but because of the judgments that Egypt shall hear of being inflicted on Judah.—C.
t ch.20.2-5.
8 Egypt.
18 In uthat day9 shall vfive cities1 in the land of Egypt speak the language2 of Canaan, and swearx to the LORD of hosts: one shall be called, The city of destruction.3
u ch.4.2; 2.2; 26.1.
9 That day. The day when the judgments on Judah shall have been inflicted, and the ear of Egypt shall be opened to hear, and her heart persuaded to fear, by the 'terror of the Lord.'—C.
v Ps.68.31; 87.4. ch.49.12; 11.11; 27.13. Zep.3.9.
1 See note * below.
2 Heb. the lip.
x De.10.20. Ne.10.29. ch.45.23. Je.12.16. 2 Ch.15.14. Ps.132.2-5.
3 Or, of Heres, or of the sun.
* Five messes were given to Benjamin, with five changes of raiment, Ge.43.34; 45.22. Five of his brethren did Joseph present to Pharaoh, Ge.47.2. The altar was five cubits long, and five broad, Ex.27.1. The ransom-money of the first-born was five shekels apiece, Nu.3.47. And Paul declares 'he had rather speak five words with understanding, than ten thousand in an unknown tongue,' 1 Co.14.19. May not 'five cities' be, therefore, considered not so much a definite number as the representatives of the whole kingdom in its conversion to the gospel?—C.
19 In that day shall there be yan altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD.
20 And it shall be zfor a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for athey shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour,b and a great one, and he shall deliver them.
21 Andc the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it.
22 And the LORD dshall smite Egypt; he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them.
23 In that day shall there be ea highway out of Egypt to Assyria; and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.4
e ch.11.16; 40.3,4; 35.8-10. Ep.2.19-22; 4.13; 3.6. Ac.2.41-47. 1 Co.1.10. 2 Co.13.11. Ga.6.2. Ro.15.1,2.
4 This prediction is most evidently future. The Lord hasten the time of its completion!—C.
24 In that day gshall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land;
g Zec.8.20-23; 2.11. ch.6.13; 11.6-8. Ro.10.11-13; 15.27. Ep.2.14,15,19,20; 3.6,8. Ro.11.12,25-32.
Notes
Ver. 1. God's riding upon a swift cloud denotes his coming speedily and irresistibly to execute fearful judgments. 2. After the death of Sethon the country was divided into twelve petty governments; all which, after a long civil war, Psammitichus subdued. It may also relate to the civil war between Amasis and Pharaoh-Hophrah, &c. 4. God shall give them up to the tyranny of Psammitichus, Nebuchadnezzar, the Persian kings, &c. 13-17. Infatuated by their giddy tempers, the princes shall follow pernicious counsels, and lead the subjects into ruin. Neither shall any, high or low, do anything proper for their relief, but shall be quite dispirited and terrified by the threatenings and judgments of God. The report of the destruction of Israel and ravage of Judah by the Assyrians, and the overthrow of Judah by the Chaldeans, or the prophecies uttered in the land of Judah, shall throw the Egyptians into the utmost consternation and fear of the like miseries. 18-23. Nevertheless their terrible and long-continued distresses shall at last issue in the conversion of a great many of them, even in the city of their idols, to the Christian faith; and they shall make a solemn and open profession thereof, and shall, through Jesus Christ, avowedly worship the true God everywhere in the country. After God has, by his angel's cutting off Sennacherib's army, and by Alexander's victories, delivered them from their Assyrian and Persian oppression, Jesus, the infinitely mighty Saviour, shall deliver them from Satan and their lusts, and their heathen abominations. By God's wonderful providences they shall be gradually brought to the saving knowledge of, and openly worship him, and solemnly and candidly devote themselves to his service. And in the apostolic, and especially the millennial period, they, and the eastern nations, who had warred with and oppressed them, and the Jews, who had sinfully courted and been sadly oppressed by both, shall harmoniously embrace the gospel, and unite in the service and distinguished favours of God.
Ver. 1. The idols of Egypt shall be moved. Egypt was anciently either the parent or the great patroness of idolatry. The remains of her idols, even till this day, are of the most gigantic stature. But truly they have been moved, for they are often mutilated, or thrown down, or even carried away into distant lands—memorials at once of the greatness and the littleness of man. His greatness of power in executing works so truly wonderful; and his littleness of understanding in worshipping them as gods. C.
Ver. 7. The paper reeds by the brooks. The papyrus (whence the English word paper) from which were manufactured rolls for writing, cordage, baskets, boats, &c. C.
Ver. 18. The city of destruction. The slightest possible change of the first letter makes it either the 'city of destruction' or the 'city of the sun.' 'City of destruction' seems the most probable reading, as 'city of the sun' seems heathenish rather than scriptural; and is expressively emblematic of that ruin from which the gospel delivers sinners who have destroyed themselves. C.
Reflections.—God pours the greatest contempt on men's idols; on everything which they inordinately loved or trusted. At his will created comforts concur to aggravate our ruin, and created supporters fail or fight against us. Fomenters of faction, cruel tyrants, and infatuated and giddy princes are the greatest plagues to nations. And when one sinner or sinful society is cut down, it becomes survivors to consider and tremble. If men persist in their wickedness, God is determined to destroy them. But strange, and often unaccountable to us, are his providential dispensations. He often deals most sharply with those for whom he has the greatest mercies in reserve. Deeply he wounds in order that he may graciously heal. He bereaves men of all that they have in this world, that he may give them his gospel, his grace, his ordinances, his Christ. He seeks constantly to form intelligent, devout, and harmoniously bold societies of believers out of those whom Satan had singularly besotted, sin corrupted, and miseries depressed. And it is comely when the servants of the same God, purchased by the same blood of his Son, and begotten by the same Spirit, lay aside all their animosities, and with one heart, one mind, and one mouth glorify God!