1 The burden of Egypt. Lo, Jehovah is riding on a swift thick cloud, And He hath entered Egypt, And moved have been the idols of Egypt at His presence, And the heart of Egypt melteth in its midst.
In the tenth year, in the tenth `month', in the twelfth of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been unto me, saying, `Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy concerning him, and concerning Egypt -- all of it. Speak, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I `am' against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt! The great dragon that is crouching in the midst of his floods, Who hath said, My flood `is' my own, And I -- I have made it `for' myself. And I have put hooks in thy jaws, And I have caused the fish of thy floods to cleave to thy scales, And I have caused thee to come up from the midst of thy floods, And every fish of thy floods to thy scales doth cleave. And I have left thee in the wilderness, Thou and every fish of thy floods, On the face of the field thou dost fall, Thou art not gathered nor assembled, To the beast of the earth and to the fowl of the heavens I have given thee for food. And known have all inhabitants of Egypt That I `am' Jehovah, Because of their being a staff of reed to the house of Israel. In their taking hold of thee by thy hand, -- thou art crushed, And hast rent to them all the shoulder, And in their leaning on thee thou art broken, And hast caused all their thighs to stand. Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am bringing in against thee a sword, And have cut off from thee man and beast. And the land of Egypt hath been for a desolation and a waste, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah. Because he said: The flood `is' mine, and I made `it'. Therefore, lo, I `am' against thee, and against thy floods, And have given the land of Egypt for wastes, A waste, a desolation, from Migdol to Syene, And unto the border of Cush. Not pass over into it doth a foot of man, Yea, the foot of beast doth not pass into it, Nor is it inhabited forty years. And I have made the land of Egypt a desolation, In the midst of desolate lands, And its cities, in the midst of waste cities, Are a desolation forty years, And I have scattered the Egyptians among nations, And I have dispersed them through lands. But thus said the Lord Jehovah: At the end of forty years I gather the Egyptians Out of the peoples whither they have been scattered, And I have turned back `to' the captivity of Egypt, And I have brought them back `To' the land of Pathros, to the land of their birth, And they have been there a low kingdom. Of the kingdoms it is lowest, And it lifteth not up itself any more above the nations, And I have made them few, So as not to rule among nations. And it is no more to the house of Israel for a confidence, Bringing iniquity to remembrance, By their turning after them, And they have known that I `am' the Lord Jehovah.' And it cometh to pass, in the twenty and seventh year, in the first `month', in the first of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been unto me, saying: `Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, Hath caused his force to serve a great service against Tyre, Every head `is' bald -- every shoulder peeled, And reward he had none, nor his force, out of Tyre, For the service that he served against it. Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah, Lo, I am giving to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon the land of Egypt, And he hath taken away its store, And hath taken its spoil, and taken its prey, And it hath been a reward to his force. His wage for which he laboured I have given to him, The land of Egypt -- in that they wrought for Me, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. In that day I cause to shoot up a horn to the house of Israel, And to thee I give an opening of the mouth in their midst, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah!'
`And this `is' to you the sign -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- that I am seeing after you in this place, so that ye know that My words are certainly established against you for evil; Thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am giving Pharaoh-Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those seeking his life, as I have given Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and who is seeking his life.'
Jesus saith to him, `Thou hast said; nevertheless I say to you, hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power, and coming upon the clouds, of the heaven.' Then the chief priest rent his garments, saying, -- `He hath spoken evil; what need have we yet of witnesses? lo, now ye heard his evil speaking;
That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations, For Egypt, concerning the force of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, that hath been by the river Phrat, in Carchemish, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: `Set ye in array shield and buckler, And draw nigh to battle. Gird the horses, and go up, ye horsemen, And station yourselves with helmets, Polish the javelins, put on the coats of mail. Wherefore have I seen them dismayed -- They are turned backward, And their mighty ones are beaten down, And `to' a refuge they have fled, and not turned the face? Fear `is' round about -- an affirmation of Jehovah. The swift do not flee, nor do the mighty escape, Northward, by the side of the river Phrat, They have stumbled and fallen. Who is this? as a flood he cometh up, As rivers do his waters shake themselves! Egypt, as a flood cometh up, And as rivers the waters shake themselves. And he saith, I go up; I cover the land, I destroy the city and the inhabitants in it. Go up, ye horses; and boast yourselves, ye chariots, And go forth, ye mighty, Cush and Phut handling the shield, And Lud handling -- treading the bow. And that day `is' to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts A day of vengeance, To be avenged of His adversaries, And the sword hath devoured, and been satisfied, And it hath been watered from their blood, For a sacrifice `is' to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, In the land of the north, by the river Phrat. Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt, In vain thou hast multiplied medicines, Healing there is none for thee. Nations have heard of thy shame, And thy cry hath filled the land, For the mighty on the mighty did stumble, Together they have fallen -- both of them!' The word that Jehovah hath spoken unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming in of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to smite the land of Egypt: `Declare ye in Egypt, and sound in Migdol, Yea, sound in Noph, and in Tahpanhes say: Station thyself, yea, prepare for thee, For a sword hath devoured around thee, Wherefore hath thy bull been swept away? He hath not stood, because Jehovah thrust him away. He hath multiplied the stumbling, Yea one hath fallen upon his neighbour, And they say: Rise, and we turn back to our people, And unto the land of our birth, Because of the oppressing sword. They have cried there: Pharaoh king of Egypt `is' a desolation, Passed by hath the appointed time. I live -- an affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts `is' His name, Surely as Tabor `is' among mountains, And as Carmel by the sea -- he cometh in, Goods for removal make for thee, O inhabitant, daughter of Egypt, For Noph becometh a desolation, And hath been burnt up, without inhabitant. A heifer very fair `is' Egypt, Rending from the north doth come into her. Even her hired ones in her midst `are' as calves of the stall, For even they have turned, They have fled together, they have not stood, For the day of their calamity hath come on them, The time of their inspection. Its voice as a serpent goeth on, For with a force they go, And with axes they have come in to her, As hewers of trees. They have cut down her forest, An affirmation of Jehovah -- for it is not searched, For they have been more than the grasshopper, And they have no numbering. Ashamed hath been the daughter of Egypt, She hath been given into the hand of the people of the north. Said hath Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am seeing after Amon of No, And after Pharaoh, and after Egypt, And after her gods, and after her kings, And after Pharaoh, and after those trusting in him, And I have given them into the hand of those seeking their life, And into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of his servants, And afterwards it is inhabited, As `in' days of old -- an affirmation of Jehovah. And thou, thou dost not fear, my servant Jacob, Nor `art' thou dismayed, O Israel, For lo, I am saving thee from afar, And thy seed from the land of their captivity, And Jacob hath turned back, And hath been at rest, and been at ease, And there is none disturbing. Thou, thou dost not fear, My servant Jacob, An affirmation of Jehovah -- for with thee I `am', For I make an end of all the nations Whither I have driven thee, And of thee I do not make an end, And I have reproved thee in judgment, And do not entirely acquit thee!'
Peoples have heard, they are troubled; Pain hath seized inhabitants of Philistia. Then have chiefs of Edom been troubled: Mighty ones of Moab -- Trembling doth seize them! Melted have all inhabitants of Canaan! Fall on them doth terror and dread; By the greatness of Thine arm They are still as a stone, Till Thy people pass over, O Jehovah; Till the people pass over Whom Thou hast purchased.
And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, `Take in thy hand great stones, and thou hast hidden them, in the clay, in the brick-kiln, that `is' at the opening of the house of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes, before the eyes of the men of Judah, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: `Lo, I am sending, and I have taken Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have set his throne above these stones that I have hid, and he hath stretched out his pavilion over them, and he hath come, and smitten the land of Egypt -- those who `are' for death to death, and those who `are' for captivity to captivity, and those who `are' for the sword to the sword. And I have kindled a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and it hath burned them, and he hath taken them captive, and covered himself with the land of Egypt, as cover himself doth the shepherd with his garment, and he hath gone forth thence in peace; and he hath broken the standing pillars of the house of the sun, that `is' in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of Egypt he doth burn with fire.'
Bowed down hath Bel, stooping is Nebo, Their idols have been for the beast and for cattle, Your burdens are loaded, a burden to the weary. They have stooped, they have bowed together, They have not been able to deliver the burden, And themselves into captivity have gone.
To him who is riding on the heavens of the heavens of old, Lo, He giveth with His voice a strong voice. Ascribe ye strength to God, Over Israel `is' His excellency, and His strength in the clouds.
And He rideth on a cherub, and doth fly, And He flieth on wings of wind. He maketh darkness His secret place, Round about Him His tabernacle, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness over-against Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire.
and the Philistines take the ark of God and bring it into the house of Dagon, and set it near Dagon. And the Ashdodites rise early on the morrow, and lo, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the ark of Jehovah; and they take Dagon, and put it back to its place. And they rise early in the morning on the morrow, and lo, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the ark of Jehovah, and the head of Dagon, and the two palms of its hands are cut off at the threshold, only the fishy part hath been left to him;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 19
Commentary on Isaiah 19 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 19
As Assyria was a breaking rod to Judah, with which it was smitten, so Egypt was a broken reed, with which it was cheated; and therefore God had a quarrel with them both. We have before read the doom of the Assyrians; now here we have the burden of Egypt, a prophecy concerning that nation,
Isa 19:1-17
Though the land of Egypt had of old been a house of bondage to the people of God, where they had been ruled with rigour, yet among the unbelieving Jews there still remained much of the humour of their fathers, who said, Let us make us a captain and return into Egypt. Upon all occasions they trusted to Egypt for help (ch. 30:2), and thither they fled, in disobedience to God's express command, when things were brought to the last extremity in their own country, Jer. 43:7. Rabshakeh upbraided Hezekiah with this, ch. 36:6. While they kept up an alliance with Egypt, and it was a powerful ally, they stood not in awe of the judgments of God; for against them they depended upon Egypt to protect them. Nor did they depend upon the power of God when at any time they were in distress; but Egypt was their confidence. To prevent all this mischief, Egypt must be mortified, and many ways God here tells them he will take to mortify them.
Isa 19:18-25
Out of the thick and threatening clouds of the foregoing prophecy the sun of comfort here breaks forth, and it is the sun of righteousness. Still God has mercy in store for Egypt, and he will show it, not so much by reviving their trade and replenishing their river again as by bringing the true religion among them, calling them to, and accepting them in, the worship of the one only living and true God; and these blessings of grace were much more valuable than all the blessings of nature wherewith Egypt was enriched. We know not of any event in which this prophecy can be thought to have its full accomplishment short of the conversion of Egypt to the faith of Christ, by the preaching (as is supposed) of Mark the Evangelist, and the founding of many Christian churches there, which flourished for many ages. Many prophecies of this book point to the days of the Messiah; and why not this? It is no unusual thing to speak of gospel graces and ordinances in the language of the Old-Testament institutions. And, in these prophecies, those words, in that day, perhaps have not always a reference to what goes immediately before, but have a peculiar significancy pointing at that day which had been so long fixed, and so often spoken of, when the day-spring from on high should visit this dark world. Yet it is not improbable (which some conjecture) that this prophecy was in part fulfilled when those Jews who fled from their own country to take shelter in Egypt, when Sennacherib invaded their land, brought their religion along with them, and, being awakened to great seriousness by the troubles they were in, made an open and zealous profession of it there, and were instrumental to bring many of the Egyptians to embrace it, which was an earnest and specimen of the more plentiful harvest of souls that should be gathered in to God by the preaching of the gospel of Christ. Josephus indeed tells us that Onias the son of Onias the high priest, living an outlaw at Alexandria in Egypt, obtained leave of Ptolemy Philometer, then king, and Cleopatra his queen, to build a temple to the God of Israel, like that at Jerusalem, at Bubastis in Egypt, and pretended a warrant for doing it from this prophecy in Isaiah, that there shall be an altar to the Lord in the land of Egypt; and the service of God, Josephus affirms, continued in it about 333 years, when it was shut up by Paulinus soon after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans; see Antiq. 13.62-79, and Jewish War 7.426-436. But that temple was all along looked upon by the pious Jews as so great an irregularity, and an affront to the temple at Jerusalem, that we cannot suppose this prophecy to be fulfilled in it.
Observe how the conversion of Egypt is here described.