Isaiah 19 commentary

God shall come into Egypt with his judgments. He will raise up the causes of their destruction from among themselves. When ungodly men escape danger, they are apt to think themselves secure; but evil pursues sinners, and will speedily overtake them, except they repent. The Egyptians will be given over into the hand of one who shall rule them with rigour, as was shortly after fulfilled. The Egyptians were renowned for wisdom and science; yet the Lord would give them up to their own perverse schemes, and to quarrel, till their land would be brought by their contests to become an object of contempt and pity. He renders sinners afraid of those whom they have despised and oppressed; and the Lord of hosts will make the workers of iniquity a terror to themselves, and to each other; and every object around a terror to them.

The words, "In that day," do not always refer to the passage just before. At a time which was to come, the Egyptians shall speak the holy language, the Scripture language; not only understand it, but use it. Converting grace, by changing the heart, changes the language; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So many Jews shall come to Egypt, that they shall soon fill five cities. Where the sun was worshipped, a place infamous for idolatry, even there shall be a wonderful reformation. Christ, the great Altar, who sanctifies every gift, shall be owned, and the gospel sacrifices of prayer and praise shall be offered up. Let the broken-hearted and afflicted, whom the Lord has wounded, and thus taught to return to, and call upon him, take courage; for He will heal their souls, and turn their sorrowing supplications into joyful praises. The Gentile nations shall not only unite with each other in the gospel fold under Christ, the great Shepherd, but they shall all be united with the Jews. They shall be owned together by him; they shall all share in one and the same blessing. Meeting at the same throne of grace, and serving with each other in the same business of religion, should end all disputes, and unite the hearts of believers to each other in holy love.

l. The burden of Egypt. The Prophet here prophesies against Egypt, because it was a kind of refuge to the Jews, whenever they saw any danger approaching them; for when they had forsaken God, to whom they ought to have had recourse, they thought that they had no help left to them but in the Egyptians. It was therefore necessary that that kingdom should be overthrown, that its wealth or its forces might no longer deceive the Jews; for so long as Egypt was prosperous, the Jews thought that, on account of its being exceedingly populous and highly fortified, they were far removed from danger, and therefore despised God, or at least paid scarcely any regard to his promises. This led to evil consequences in two respects; first, because when they ought to have relied on God alone, they were puffed up with that vain confidence in Egypt; and secondly, because whenever the Lord punished them, they defended themselves against his chastisements by the power of the Egyptians, as if by human resources they could make void his judgments, when they ought to have been turned to God altogether. On this subject Isaiah speaks more fully in a later portion of this book. (Isaiah 30:2.)

Behold, the Lord rideth on a swift cloud. This mode of expression is found also in other passages of Scripture, but in a general form. (Psalm 104:3.) The Prophet applies it to this prediction, because the Egyptians thought that they were so well fortified on all sides, that there was no way by which God could approach them. He therefore ridicules their foolish confidence, and exhibits the exalted power of God, when he rideth on a swift cloud, by which he will easily make a descent upon them, and neither walls nor bulwarks shall hinder his progress. Again, because in addition to earthly aid the Jews were likewise bewitched by a false religion, on this ground also the Prophet ridicules their madness, because God will dash to the ground all the assistance which they expected to obtain from idols. I pass by the foolish notion which many have entertained, as to the idols which Christ overthrew in Egypt, when he was carried thither in infancy; for it does not deserve a refutation. (Matthew 2:14.) This passage has been perverted to prove it, and to prove many conjectures of the same kind. But the Prophet’s meaning is totally different; for he speaks of the defeat of the Egyptians by the Assyrians, and shews that it ought to be ascribed to God, and not, as irreligious men commonly do, to fortune. He shews it to be a judgment of God, by whose hand all things are governed.

And the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence. He declares that the idols shall fall; that is, that they shall be of no avail to the Egyptians, though they rely on their assistance, and think that they are under their protection. No nation ever was so much addicted to superstitions; for they worshipped cats, and oxen, and crocodiles, and even onions, and plants of every sort, and there was nothing to which they did not ascribe some kind of divinity. He means that the power of all those false gods, whom the Egyptians had taken for their protectors, will be overthrown. Having declared that the Egyptians rely in vain on their superstitions, he likewise casts down the pride which they cherished as to their earthly resources.

And the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of her. By the word heart he means the courage which sometimes fails even the bravest men, so that they do not attempt any action, even when their strength and forces are abundant, and in this manner he declares that they will be at war with God, who will melt their hearts within them, before they are called to contend with their enemies. Not only does he threaten that they will be terrified, but he likewise adds in the midst of the whole kingdom, where they had an exceedingly safe and peaceful dwelling, because they were far removed from every attack. It was the duty of all believers to consider this, when war was waged against the Egyptians; and we also ought to behold the same thing exemplified in all revolutions of kingdoms, which proceed solely from the hand of God. If the heart melts, if the strength fails, in men who are usually brave, and who had formerly displayed great courage, this ought to be ascribed to the vengeance of God.

2. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians. Here he describes more particularly the calamity which the Lord had determined to bring on Egypt. By the expression, I will set, he means the internal struggles, in which those who ought to be mutual defenders cut down one another; and no evil can be more destructive than this to a state or a people. It was of importance also to convince the Jews that God, in whose hands are the hearts of men, (Proverbs 21:1,) could by his unseen influence inflame the Jews to mutual animosities, that they might slay each other, though they were victorious over foreign enemies. Hence we learn that nations never rise in a seditious manner, unless the Lord set them against each other, as when one brings forward gladiators to the place of combat. He inflames their minds for battle, and prompts them to slay each other by mutual wounds; and therefore, as we ought to reckon it an evidence of God’s favor, when friendship is cherished among citizens, so we ought to ascribe it to his vengeance, when they rage against and slay and injure one another.

And they shall fight every one against his brother. For the sake of heightening the picture, he adds what was still more monstrous, that those who were related to them by blood would take up arms to destroy each other; for if men are worse than beasts when, forgetting their common nature, they engage in battle, how much more shocking is it to nature that brethren or allies should fight with each other! But the more monstrous it is, the more ought we to acknowledge the judgment of God and his terrible vengeance.

City against city, and kingdom against kingdom. Isaiah appears to advance by degrees; for he mentions, first, a brother; secondly, a neighbor; thirdly, cities; and, fourthly, kingdoms By kingdoms he means provinces, into which Egypt was divided, which the Greeks called νομοἰ, the term by which the Greek translators have rendered it in this passage. Καὶ νομὸς ἐπὶ νομόν. The reader will observe the distinction between the paroxytone νόμος, a law, and the oxytone νομός, a field or a dwelling; for it is the latter that is employed by Herodotus to denote a district or province. Herod. 2:164. — Ed.

FT284 “And the spirit of Egypt shall fail. Heb. shall be emptied.” — Eng. Ver.

FT285 “And the Egyptians will I give over, or, shut up.” — Eng. Ver. “And I will shut up Egypt in the hand of cruel lords.” — Stock.

FT286 “A fierce king.” — Eng. Ver.

FT287 See vol. 1 p. 266

FT288 “Embanked canals. Rivi aggerum, as the Vulgate has it. The canals by which the waters of the Nile were distributed were fortified by mounds or banks. מצור, (mātzōr,) which word Rosenmüller vainly endeavors to shew to be another name for Egypt or Mizraim.” — Stock.

FT289 See vol. 1 p. 492

FT290 “And ashamed (disappointed or confounded) are the workers of combed (or hatchelled) flax, and the weavers of white (stuffs.) The older writers supposed the class of persons here described to be the manufacturers of nets for fishing, and took הורי, (hōrai,) in the sense of perforated open work or net-work. The moderns understand the verse as having reference to the working of flax and manufacture of linen. Knobel supposes הורי, (hōrai,) to mean cotton, as being white by nature, and before it is wrought. Some of the older writers identified שריקות, (sĕrīkōth,) with sericum, the Latin word for silk. Calvin supposes an allusion in the last clause to the diaphanous garments of luxurious women.” — Professor Alexander.

FT291 Our author is puzzled about this word. In his version he follows the old rendering, “all that make a net,” but his marginal reading is “all that make gain,” and to the latter he adheres in his commentary. Bishops Lowth and Stock render it, “all that make a gain,” and Professor Alexander, “all laborers for hire.” — Ed.

FT292 קרם, (kĕdĕm,) has two meanings, “antiquity” and “the east;” and accordingly Bishop Stock renders this clause, “the son of the kings of the east,” adding the following note: — “Kings of the east. A synonyme for wise men, μάγοι ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, the quarter of the world where the arts of divination originated, and to whose sovereigns Egyptian sages pretended kindred. Hence the magi, that came to worship Christ, are often denominated the three kings.” — Ed.

FT293 “Zoan, the Tanis of the Greeks, was one of the most ancient cities of Lower Egypt, (Numbers 13:22,) and a royal residence. The name is of Egyptian origin, and signifies low situation. Noph is the Memphis of the Greek geographers, called Moph, (Hosea 9:6.) It was one of the chief cities of ancient Egypt, the royal seat of Psammetichus.” — Alexander.

FT294 “The stay (Heb., corners) of the tribes thereof.” — Eng. Ver.

FT295 Instead of פנת, (pinnăth,) the construct singular, Grotius, Lowth, and others, prefer the conjectural reading, פנות (pinnōth,) corners. But Rosenmüller removes the difficulty of the Syntax by remarking, that פנה, (pinnāh,) a collective noun, and agreeably to the frequent usage of the Hebrew tongue, fitly agrees with a plural verb; and he quotes 2 Samuel 19:41, as a parallel instance. — Ed.

FT296 Professor Alexander prefers the literal rendering, “from before the shaking of the hand,” and thus explains the passage: “מפני, (mippĕnē,) may be rendered, on account of, which idea is certainly included, but the true force of the original expression is best retained by a literal translation. תנופת יד, (tĕnūphăth yăd,) is not the act of beckoning for the enemy, but that of threatening or preparing to strike. The reference is not to the slaughter of Sennacherib’s army, but more generally to the indications of Divine displeasure.”

FT297 The only passage which occurs to my remembrance as likely to be in the author’s eye is, “And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb and a bye-word, among all the nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.” (Deuteronomy 28:37.) — Ed.

FT298 Heliopolis is a Greek word, and signifies “the city of the sun.” It is the name of a famous city of Lower Egypt, in which there was a temple dedicated to the sun. — Ed.

FT299 “Pillar.” — Eng. Ver.

FT300 The name “Philomētor,” which means “loving his mother,” was ironically given to him on account of his known hatred of his mother Cleopatra. — Ed

FT301 “Sous ceste pedagogie de la Loy.”

FT302 “Les signes et sacramens.”

FT303 Of one clause in this verse, rendered by our translators “and a great one,” Calvin takes no notice. Rosenmüller considers רב (rāb) to be the participle Kal of רוב, (rūb,) and assigns to Cocceius the honor of having discovered that the punctuation, which the Masoretic annotators have set aside, in the parallel passage of Deuteronomy, as a peculiarity for which they could not account, was the key to the true interpretation. Almost all the commentators, Cocceius excepted, render רב (rāb) “a great one,” some of them supposing that Ptolemy the Great, the son of Lagus, and others that Alexander the Great, was meant. But Cocceius was the first to perceive that the signification “Great” does not agree with the context, and has justly remarked that the word רב (rāb) with a Kametz, ought not to be confounded with רב (rāb,) with a Pathach, but that its meaning should be sought from the verb רוב (rūb) or ריב (rīb,) “to contend, to argue, to defend one’s cause in a court of justice;” and he quotes a parallel passage, in which Moses, while he blesses Judah, speaking of God, says, ידיו רב לו (yādaiv rāb lō) “his hands shall be his protector.” (Deuteronomy 33:7.) See Robertson’s Clavis Pentateuchi, p. 561. The ancients appear to have taken a similar view. The Septuagint renders it thus. Καὶ ἀποστελεῖ αὐτοῖς ἄνθρωπον ὃς σώσει αὐτοὺς, κρίνων σώσει αὐτούς. The Chaldee and Syriac render it, “a deliverer and a judge,” and Jerome’s rendering is, propuqnatorem, “a defender or champion”. Rosenmüller Scholia. “A Savior and a vindicator”. Lowth. “An advocate”. Stock. “The explanation of רב, (rab) as a participle,” says Professor Alexander, “is found in all the ancient versions, and is adopted by most modern writers.” — Ed.

FT304 The words of the Apostle are, “How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?” But Calvin’s remark, which immediately follows, vindicates the appropriateness, though not the verbal accuracy, of the quotation. — Ed.

FT305 “La doctrine de salut;” “The doctrine of salvation.”

FT306 “Ce sera un preparatif pour les amener à repentance;” — “It will be a preparation to lead them to repentance.”

FT307 “Pourvenu que notre repentance ne soit hypocritique;” — “Provided that our repentance be not hypocritical.”

FT308 “D’où viennent les chastimens, si non de nos pechez? S’ils sont pardonnez, aussi le sont les chastimens meritez a cause d’iceux.“ — “Whence come chastisements but from our sins? If they are remitted, so are also the chastisements deserved on account of them.”

FT309 See vol. 1 p. 101

FT310 This is the Author’s version. See p. 48

FT311 The particle את (ĕth) does not decide the question, for it may either be the sign of the accusative case, or a preposition signifying with. Professor Alexander adopts the latter view, and argues powerfully in favor of the rendering, “they shall serve God,” in which he concurs with Lowth, “And the Egyptian shall worship with the Assyrian,” and with Stock, “And Egypt shall serve [God] with Assyria.” — Ed.

FT312 “De la crainte de Dieu,” — “from the fear of God.”

FT313 “Jacob is the lot (Heb. cord) of his inheritance.” — Eng. Ver.

FT314 “The meaning obviously is,” says Professor Alexander, “that Israel should be one of three, or a party to a triple union.” By an analagous idiom of the Greek language, Peter calls Noah ὄγδοον, “the eighth,” that is, “one of eight persons.” (2 Peter 2:5.) From classical writers other instances might be given, such as εἰς οἰκίαν δωδέκατος “he went to his house the twelfth,” or, “one of twelve,” that is, “along with eleven other persons.” — Ed.

FT315 “Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless.” — Eng. Ver.

FT316 Our Author perhaps refers to his expository remarks on Ephesians 2:10, Isaiah 17:7, Isaiah 64:7, See p. 26

3. And the spirit of Egypt shall be emptied. {Bogus footnote} As Isaiah had, a little before, deprived the Egyptians of courage, so he now takes away their understanding, both of which are exceedingly necessary for the defense of kingdoms; for when these have been taken away, there is no possibility of transacting national affairs. Now, the Egyptians had so high an opinion of their own wisdom, that they reckoned themselves superior to other nations; and it is well known that they haughtily despised all other nations as barbarians, as if there had been no civilization, refinement, learning, or skill, but in Egypt alone. They boasted that they were the inventors of learning, that philosophy and astronomy came from them, and, in short, that Egypt was the workshop of all the liberal arts; and therefore they would never have thought it possible that they should fail in wisdom and prudence, and unquestionably, if this prediction had come to their knowledge, they would have laughed at it in disdain, and would have thought, that sooner would the waters of the sea be dried up, and everything be overturned, than this should befall those who imagined that prudence was their birthright. But Isaiah declares it boldly, for he did not speak from himself.

Again, since he had predicted that they would be deprived of courage, in which they excelled, the context requires us to understand the meaning to be, that they would be struck with blindness; for both faculties of the soul depend entirely on the favor of God. Consequently, רוח (rūăch) means here understanding and sagacity, which ought to be carefully observed, for many are mistaken as to the meaning of this word. When he immediately adds, I will destroy the counsel thereof, this is a stronger expression of the former statement; for it shews what is the cause of that emptiness, namely, that God will take and carry away their counsel.

Even though they seek it. This is spoken by anticipation, for he meets the objections of the Egyptians, who might have said, “Have we not gods whom we can consult? Have we not magicians, diviners, and soothsayers? Do you reckon those to be of no value?” He threatens that all these things will be of no avail to them, to whatever extent they may rely on them, and be puffed up with the empty name of wisdom. I shall not spend much time on these names, though it is probable that Isaiah’s enumeration proceeds by gradual advancement. First, he mentions gods, next magicians, and afterwards diviners and fortune-tellers They had their oracles, in which they placed the highest confidence. Next after them came the magicians, though these too had great influence. In matters of smaller moment they consulted the soothsayers. Superstitious men are so restless that nothing can satisfy them; for they are fickle and unsteady, and sometimes resort to one remedy and sometimes to another; and indeed Satan deceives them in such a manner, that at first he holds out to them the appearance of peace and quietness, which they think that they have fully obtained, but afterwards shews them that they have not reached it, and distresses and harasses them more and more, and compels them to seek new grounds of confidence. Thus our minds cannot obtain rest and peace but in God alone. And undoubtedly the Prophet condemns those arts as contrary to reason; for God has revealed all that is necessary to be known by means of the arts and sciences, which he intended to be used, and of which he approves. If any man shall wish to be wise in any other manner, he must have Satan for his teacher.

4. And I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master. {Bogus footnote} He now shews what will happen to the Egyptians, after having lost courage and been deprived of understanding. Nothing will be left for them but to be reduced to slavery; for a nation destitute of these must fall of its own accord, even though it were not violently attacked by any enemy. Of such aids, therefore, God deprives those on whom he determines to take vengeance, and shuts them out from every method of upholding their liberty. Yet the Prophet threatens what is still more shocking, that not only will the empire of which the Egyptians proudly vaunted fall down, but the inhabitants also will undergo hard bondage. Though the adjective קשה, (kāshĕh,) cruel, is in the singular number, yet he says in the plural number, that they shall be subject to lords, which is harder to endure than if there had been but one lord to whom they were subject.

And a powerful king {Bogus footnote} shall rule over them. He means that the power of the tyrant to whom he will subject them shall be so great, that it will not be easy to restore them to liberty. Historians shew that various changes occurred in many countries, which they who subdued them were unable to hold and retain; for to keep what has been obtained is often more difficult than to conquer. But the Prophet intimates that this condition will not be easily changed, and that the bondage of the Egyptians shall be of long duration, because no one will dare to enter the lists with an exceedingly powerful conqueror. We may also understand the meaning to be, that the princes of smaller nations will deal more gently with their people than more powerful monarchs, who, relying on their greatness, allow themselves to do whatever they please; for, reckoning their power to be unlimited, they set no bounds to their freedom of action, and rush forward, without restraint, wherever their passions drive them. Whether the one view or the other be adopted, it will amount to this, that the Egyptians, who consider themselves to be the highest and most distinguished of all men, shall fall under the power of another, and shall be oppressed by hard bondage, that is, by the bondage of a powerful king, whom no one will dare to oppose. Hence we see how great is the folly of men who are desirous to have a powerful and wealthy king reigning over them, and how justly they are punished for their ambition, though it cannot be corrected by the experience of every day, which is everywhere to be seen in the world. France and Spain, at the present day, boast that they are governed by mighty princes, but feel to their cost how little advantage they derive from that which dazzles them by a false pretense of honor. But on this subject we have spoken formerly in another place. {Bogus footnote} (Isaiah 8:6,7.)

5. Then the waters shall fail from the sea. He follows out the subject which he had already begun, that the fortifications, by which the Egyptians thought that they were admirably defended, will be of no avail to them. They reckoned themselves to be invincible, because they were surrounded by the sea, and by the Nile, and by fortifications; and historians tell us that it was difficult to gain entrance to them, because the Nile had no mouth, by which they could not easily prevent ships from landing. They therefore boasted that their situation was excellent, and that they were strongly fortified by nature, in like manner as the inhabitants of Venice, at the present day, think that, in consequence of being surrounded by deep ditches, they are impregnable; but fortresses are useless, when God has determined to punish us.

6. And the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up. {Bogus footnote} What he adds about fortifications is to the same purpose with what he had stated immediately before. He alludes to the embankments, which not only restrained the overflowing of the Nile, but protected the whole country; as if he had said that the embankments will not be needed, because the Nile will be dried up. Now, it is certain that the Nile was not laid dry, and yet the Prophet did not foretell what was not accomplished. We must therefore call to remembrance what we have already said, that on account of our stupidity those calamities are represented to us in a lively manner, which places them as it were before our eyes; for we need to have a representation made to us which is fitted to impress our minds, and to arouse us to consider the judgments of God, which otherwise we despise. We ought to observe the haughtiness of the Egyptians, whose resources were so various and abundant, and who thought that it was impossible for them to be overtaken by such a calamity.

7. And the reed and the rush shall wither. He mentions the reed and the rush, because they had abundance of them, and employed them for various purposes; or, it may be thought to mean that the marshes will be dried up.

By the mouth of the brooks. Some render it embankments, but it rather means the fountain itself, which seldom is dried up, though torrents or rivers fail. By the mouth, therefore, he means the source of the river which shall be dried up in such a manner that no part of the country can be watered. Though the source of the Nile was at a great distance, yet not without reason did the Prophet threaten that that river, on whose waters the fertility almost of the whole land depended, shall be dried up at its very source; for in that country rain seldom falls, but its place is supplied every year by the Nile. If that river overflow but scantily, it threatens scarcity and famine; and therefore, when the Prophet threatens that it will be dried up, he means that the whole country will be barren. For this reason he says also, that, even at its very mouth, from which the waters spring up, there will be a lack of waters, so that in that place the herbs will be withered.

8. And the fishers shall mourn. Isaiah still keeps in his eye the condition of Egypt. We have formerly mentioned {Bogus footnote} that the prophets made use of those figures of speech by which, when any country is mentioned, they chiefly name those things which abound in that country, and for which it is celebrated. Thus, when a vinebearing country is spoken of, they mention vines; if it abound in gold, they speak of gold; and if it abound in silver, they speak of silver. Accordingly, when he speaks of Egypt, which was well watered, and contained abundance of streams, he mentions fishing.

They who spread a net on the face of the waters shall languish. Some translate the word אמללו, (ămlālū,) “they shall be cut off,” but the more correct rendering is, “they shall be weakened;” for this corresponds to the mourning and lamentation which was formerly mentioned. Now, we know that in that country there was a great number of fishers, and that these formed a great part of the wealth of Egypt. When fishers were taken away, of whom there were vast numbers among the Egyptians, and of whom their wealth chiefly consisted, they must have been weakened. Now, if the nation be deprived of that which is its ordinary food, great poverty will follow. He therefore describes an astonishing change that shall pass on the whole country.

9. And they who work in the finest flax. As he spoke of mourning, so he now speaks of shame; for they who formerly earned an abundant livelihood by this trade will have no gains. Now, the two occupations are closely connected, to weave nets and to fish. Yet it is doubtful if he speaks of those only who manufactured nets; for if we understand שריקות, (sĕrīkōth) to mean certain very fine linens, it is probable that the latter clause relates to other productions of the loom, manufactured out of small fine thread, and of the most elegant workmanship. We know that linens of very great value were woven in Egypt, and there may be good reason for interpreting the phrase white nets, or, as we have rendered it, “perforated,” to mean also linen garments, which were more costly in proportion to the greater delicacy of their texture.

It will thus be a metaphorical expression, by which the Prophet indirectly taunts them with their unbecoming luxury, alleging that the Egyptians cover themselves with linen garments in the same manner as if they clothed themselves with a net. If this meaning be adopted, it will agree with the following verse; and indeed I do not see how such exquisite skill in weaving can be applied to fishing. But if it be thought better to understand the whole as relating to fishes, the meaning will be, that they who had been much employed in fishing, and had found it to be a profitable occupation, will be overwhelmed with sorrow. {Bogus footnote}

10. And all that make ponds. As to the word שכר, (secher,) there is no absolute necessity, in my opinion, for translating it a net; for the derivation shews it, on the contrary, to denote a lucrative occupation. {Bogus footnote}

Where fishes are very abundant, they are also preserved in pools and ponds; because the fishers would otherwise be constrained to sell them at a very low price. Besides, when they throw a net, they are not always successful. He therefore follows out the same subject, “It will not be possible either to take or to preserve fishes. Pools will be of no use.”

11. Surely the princes of Zoan are fools. Here he joins wisdom with folly, and not without reason; for it is impossible to take away from men a conviction of their wisdom, which leads them to believe, in opposition to God himself, that they are wise. It is therefore a kind of acknowledgment, when he calls those persons wise whom he at the same time accuses of folly or stupidity. Though the Hebrew particle אך, (ăch,) sometimes means but, yet as the Prophet appears to attack the Egyptians, I choose rather to render it “surely,” or “truly,” or “now at least;” for he scoffs at the counselors of Pharaoh for wishing to be regarded, and believing themselves to be, exceeding wise, though they are the most foolish of all men. Thus it is an exclamation: “Where is that wisdom of Egypt? Where are the counselors who held all men in contempt? Why do they not preserve their kingdom?” Now, at least, it is evident what kind of wisdom they had. This tends to confirm and seal the prophecy, in which the Prophet obviously does not speak of things unknown, but has before his eyes, as it were, the destruction of Egypt. “Armed therefore with the authority of God, I venture to pronounce all those princes to be fools, though they think that they are wise.”

Finally, the Prophet shews that vain is the glory of men who, without God, claim for themselves even a spark of wisdom; because their folly is at length exposed, and when the actual trial comes, they shew that they are children. The Lord permits them, indeed, to achieve many exploits, that they may obtain reputation among men, but in the end he infatuates them, so that, notwithstanding their sagacity and long experience, they act more foolishly than children. Let us therefore learn to seek from the Lord the spirit of wisdom and counsel, and if he shall bestow it upon us, let us use it with propriety and moderation; for God opposes the wisdom of men when they claim more than they have a right to claim, and those who are too ambitious to exalt themselves, must be punished for their folly; and therefore he often puts them to shame, that it may be made manifest that their wisdom is nothing but empty smoke. There is no wisdom but that which is founded on the fear of God, which Solomon also declares to be the chief part of wisdom. (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10.)

How say ye to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? He reproves the counsellors of Pharaoh for flattering him, as courtiers are wont to flatter princes; for they utter nothing but what is intended to soothe and gratify the ears of princes, because this is the way by which they succeed and obtain favor. Thus, amidst many flatteries and lies, there is no room for truth. Though this vice is commonly found in the courts of great princes, yet at that time it abounded chiefly among the Egyptians. They boasted that they were the most ancient of all nations, and that they were the inventors of the arts, and of all liberal education; and if such a conviction existed even among the common people, how much stronger must it have been in the kings themselves?

The boasting related to two points, antiquity and knowledge; and Isaiah reproves both, or at least says that they will be of no value. Pharaoh boasted both of the antiquity and of the wisdom of his nation; and indeed this was common among the whole people; but he speaks chiefly of the king as the head, in whom this haughtiness was more conspicuous than among ordinary persons. Now, we ought not to boast of the wisdom of our ancestors, as if it belonged to us by hereditary right, but we must look to heaven and ask it from its Author. So far as relates to antiquity, it is a foolish and idle boast; and yet princes are so deeply infected by this vice, that they would willingly seek their birth and descent out of the world, and cannot easily be drawn away from that vanity. This madness is heightened by flatterers, who have contrived, as we perceive, many things about the genealogy of certain princes. No song is more delightful to them than when they are separated from the common herd of men, like demigods or heroes. But it frequently happens, that when they carry their curiosity to excess in inquiring about their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, they lay themselves open to ridicule, because it is found that they are descended from one of the common people.

I have heard an amusing anecdote, related by persons worthy of credit, about the Emperor Maximilian, who was very eager to inquire into his descent, and was induced by a silly trifler to believe that he had traced his lineage to Noah’s ark. This subject made so powerful an impression on his mind, that he left off all business, applied himself earnestly to this single investigation, and would allow no one to draw him away from it, not even the ambassadors who came to treat with him about important matters. All were astonished at this folly, and silently blamed him for it, but no one had power or courage to suggest a remedy. At length his cook, who was likewise his jester, and often entertained him with his sayings, asked leave to speak, and, as one who was desirous to uphold the Emperor’s dignity, told him that this eagerness to trace his descent would neither be useful nor honorable; for, said he, at present I revere your majesty, and worship you as a god; but if we must come to Noah’s ark, there we shall all be cousins, for we are all descended from it. Maximilian was so deeply affected by this saying of the jester, that he became ashamed of his undertaking, though formerly neither friends, nor counsellors, nor business could dissuade him from it; for he perceived that his name which he wished to render more illustrious by inquiring into his remote ancestors, would be altogether degraded if they came to its earliest source, from which princes and peasants, nobles and artisans, are descended.

What is blamed even by jesters and fools must be great madness; and yet it is not a vice which has lately sprung up, but is deeply rooted in the minds of almost all men. In order to avoid it, let us learn to depend on God alone, and let us prefer the blessedness of adoption to all riches, and lineage, and nobility. So far as relates to the kings of Egypt being descended from very ancient kings, who had kept possession of the throne for many ages, they were as proud as if wisdom had been born with them. {Bogus footnote}

12. Where are thy wise men? that they may tell thee. Though literally it runs thus, “And they shall tell thee, and shall know,” yet the word ought to be regarded as meaning, “that they may tell thee, and even that at length they may know;” for this mode of expression is frequently employed by the Hebrews. The Egyptians had their diviners from whom they thought that nothing, however secret, was concealed; for they consulted them about the smallest and greatest affairs, and held their replies to be oracles. The Prophet, mocking that vanity, says, “How shall they tell what they do not know? Have they been admitted to the counsel of God?” It is also probable that he condemns the art which they used in divination, because it was not only unlawful, but also made use of absolute tricks and deceptions.

There are three ways in which we may foresee or know what is future. The first and chief way is, by the revelation of the Spirit, which alone can make us certain, as by the gift of prophecy, which is rare and uncommon. The second is, by astronomy. The third is, by a comparison of past events, from which prudence is commonly obtained

As to a knowledge of the stars, from their position and conjunction, some things may occasionally be learned, such as famine, scarcity, pestilence, abundant harvests, and things of that sort; but even these cannot be certain, for they rest on mere conjecture. Now, we ought always to consider what relation the stars bear to these lower regions; for the actions of men are not regulated by them, as idle and false astrologers imagine, a vast number of whom, at the present day, endeavor to insinuate themselves into the minds of princes and subjects, as if they possessed a knowledge of everything, both present and future. Such men resemble the impostors of whom the Prophet speaks, who deceive men by their jugglery. Yet princes lend an attentive ear to such persons, and receive them as gods; and indeed they deserve to be thus imposed upon, and are justly punished for their curiosity.

They likewise boast of magic, in which those Egyptian diviners were skilled. But they add many things which are worse, and more abominable, exorcisms and calling on devils, than which nothing more destructive can be expressed or conceived. The Lord pronounces a curse on such conjectures and arts of divination, and the issue of them cannot but be disastrous and wretched. And if they were formerly condemned in the Egyptians, how much more do they deserve condemnation in those who use the name of God as a pretext? It is wonderful that men otherwise acute and sagacious should be so childishly deceived by such jugglery, so that they appear to be deprived of understanding and judgment; but it is the Lord’s righteous vengeance, who punishes the wickedness of men.

Again, when from past events we calculate what is future, and judge by experience and observation what is most proper to be done, that cannot in itself be blamed; but neither can we by these means learn with certainty what is future, for the matter always lies in conjecture. Yet Isaiah directly attacks that sagacity which is universally applauded as something highly excellent, not because it is in itself sinful, but because we can scarcely find an acute or ingenious person who does not confidently believe that his skill places within his reach all that deserves or is necessary to be known. In this manner they despise the secret providence of God, as if nothing were hidden from them.

What the Lord of hosts hath decreed. There is still another vice, that craftiness and sleight of hand are preferred by them to true wisdom. But Isaiah expressly censures that pride which led men endued with great abilities to measure events by their own judgment, as if the government of the world were not in the hand of God; and therefore with their divination he contrasts the heavenly decree. And hence learn how skillfully Isocrates says,

“Κράτιστον εἶναι παρὰ μὲν θεοῦ εὐτυχίαν, παρὰ δὲ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν εὐβουλίαν, “that the best gift of God is success, and the best gift from ourselves is prudence.”

At first sight, this maxim of the elegant orator appears beautiful; but since he robs God of the spirit of prudence and bestows it on mortals, the distribution is both wicked and foolish, to ascribe to men sound counsel, and to leave nothing to God but prosperous fortune. Now, if any one neglect the methods by which God teaches us, and resort to Satan’s impostures, he richly deserves to be deceived and involved in the greatest disgrace; for he seeks remedies that are nowhere to be found, and despises those which were offered by God.

13. The princes of Zoan are become infatuated, the princes of Noph are deceived. Zoan was one of the chief cities of Egypt; Noph also was highly celebrated; {Bogus footnote} but what cities they were we cannot with certainty determine. Some think that one of them was Alexandria, the antiquity and wealth of which may be inferred from many passages of Scripture, which serve also to refute the notion of those who think that it was founded by Alexander the Great; for although it had been frequently destroyed, yet he did not build it anew, but only repaired it. That at one time it was an independent state, and allied to the Egyptians, and that it was one of the most flourishing cities in the whole world, is evident from Nahum 3:8. The Prophet justly represents the stupidity of the princes to be the forerunner of its destruction; because the chief strength of any commonwealth or kingdom consists in wisdom and prudence, without which neither great riches nor a numerous population can be of any avail.

A corner of its tribes have deceived Egypt. {Bogus footnote} I consider the word corner to be here used metaphorically for the chief part of a building on which the whole weight rests; and I choose rather to view it in the nominative than in the accusative case. {Bogus footnote} It ought, I think, to be viewed as referring to those wise men by whom the Egyptians supposed themselves to be so powerfully defended that no evil could befall them. But Isaiah says that this is too feeble a support, because, having been deceived in their counsels, they ruined Egypt; and therefore he holds up to mockery that pretended wisdom which, when it is not accompanied by the fear of God, ought to be called vanity and folly, and not wisdom. Not only do men abuse an excellent gift of God, but they are puffed up with vain ambition, and are more delighted with cunning than with real prudence. To this is added a devilish fury, which leads them to disregard the providence of God, and to bring down all events to the level of their own capacity. This is the reason why Scripture so frequently attacks wise men of that description, and declares that they are fools. They usurp what belongs to God, and claim it for themselves; which is shocking and intolerable sacrilege. We need not wonder if the Lord make fearful displays against such wise men, so that with all their great acuteness and ingenuity they stumble and fall in the smallest matters, and run into great dangers which any peasant or artisan would have foreseen. Let these things be a warning to us, that we may not be elated or lay claim to the praise of wisdom. If we have any abilities or prudence, we ought to ascribe it wholly to God, and conform ourselves to the rule of sobriety and modesty; for if our wisdom rest on God he will truly be a steadfast corner-stone, which no one shall shake or overthrow.

14. The Lord hath mingled a spirit of perverseness. Because it was a thing unexpected and incredible that the leaders of a sagacious and prudent nation would destroy the country by their stupidity, the Prophet therefore ascribes it to the judgment of God, that the Jews may not shut their eyes against an example so striking and remarkable, as irreligious men usually attribute the judgments of God to chance when anything new or unexpected has happened. The expression is metaphorical, as if one were to mix wine in a cup, that the Lord thus intoxicates the wise men of this world so that they are stunned and amazed, and can neither think nor act aright. The consequence is, that they deceive Egypt, because, first, they were themselves deceived. That the Egyptians suffer themselves to be imposed on, and cannot guard against the deception, is the judgment of the Lord.

And yet Isaiah does not represent God to be the Author of this folly in such a manner that the Egyptians could impute blame to him, but we ought to view the matter in this light: “Men have in themselves no understanding or judgment, for whence comes wisdom but from the Spirit of God, who is the only fountain of light, understanding, and truth? Now, if the Lord withhold his Spirit from us, what right have we to dispute with him? He is under no obligations to us, and all that he bestows is actually a free gift.” Yet when he strikes the minds of men with a spirit of giddiness, he does it always for good reasons, though they are sometimes concealed from us. But very frequently he punishes with blindness those wicked men who have risen up against him, as happened to those Egyptians who, puffed up with a conviction of their wisdom, swelled with pride and despised all other men. It is therefore superfluous to dispute here about predestination, for the Lord punishes them for open vice; and, accordingly, when God blinds men or gives them over to a reprobate mind, (Romans 1:28,) he cannot be accused of cruelty; for it is the just punishment of their wickedness and licentiousness, and he who acts justly in punishing transgressions cannot be called the Author of sin.

Let us now attend to the manner of punishing. He delivers them up to Satan to be punished; for he it is, strictly speaking, that mingles the spirit of giddiness and perverseness; but as he does nothing but by the command of God, it is therefore said that God does what Satan does. The statement commonly made, that it is done by God’s permission, is an excessively frivolous evasion; for the Prophet has expressed more than this, namely, that this punishment was inflicted by God, because he is a righteous judge. God therefore acts by means of Satan, as a judge by means of an executioner, and inflicts righteous punishment on those who have offended him. Thus in the book of Kings we read that Satan presented himself before God, and asked leave to deceive Ahab’s prophets; and having obtained it, he then obeyed the command of God, for he could have done nothing by himself. It is unnecessary to produce a multitude of quotations in a matter so obvious.

And they have misled Egypt in all her work. When he adds that her counsellors deceived her, he points out a second judgment of God; for it might have happened that the princes were deprived of understanding, and resembled drunkards, and yet the common people continued to possess some judgment; but here he says, that the impostors obtained also the power of leading astray so as to deceive the people. This is a two-fold vengeance of God, both on them that lead astray, and on those who are led astray by them.

As a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. By a vomit He means shameful drunkenness. This is added (πρὸς αὔξησιν) by way of amplification, in order to shew that they were not ordinary drunkards, who have still some understanding left, but that they resembled swine.

15. Neither shall Egypt have any work to do. This is the conclusion of the former statement, for it means that all the Egyptians shall be stupefied to such a degree that whatever they undertake shall be fruitless. This must happen where there is no counsel, and it is the righteous punishment of our pride and rashness. He therefore intended to describe the result and effect, so as to shew that it will be unhappy and miserable.

Head or tail, branch or rush. When he threatens both the head and the tail, he means, that all ranks, from the highest to the lowest, all without exception, shall be deprived of counsel, so that they will not succeed in anything. Or perhaps it will be thought rather to mean the order which they observe in their actions. Hence we learn, that both the beginning and the end of everything depend on God; for we ought to ask from him counsel, and prudence, and success, if we do not wish that the same thing should happen to us which happened to the Egyptians.

16. In that day shall Egypt be like women. He again repeats what he had formerly said, that the Egyptians will have nothing that is manly. Some think that he alludes to an effeminate custom, on account of which the ancient historians censured the Egyptians, namely, that, by inverting the order of things, women appeared in public and transacted the affairs of state, and men performed the occupations of women. It is possible that the Prophet may have had this in his eye, but when I take a more careful view of the whole passage, this conjecture cannot be admitted; for here he threatens a judgment of God, which will hold up men to astonishment. If he were speaking of an ordinary custom, this would not apply to the matter in hand, for he does not charge the hearts of the Egyptians with being effeminate, but, on the contrary, threatens that they shall be struck with such dread that in no respect will they differ from women. The Egyptians not only thought that they were able to maintain war, but attacked without provocation, and gave aid to other nations. We see that heathen writers relate many of the exploits of the Egyptians, and expatiate largely on their praises; and, therefore, although the Egyptians were feeble and effeminate in comparison with other nations, yet they wished to retain the praise and renown of warlike men.

Because of the shaking of the hand of Jehovah of hosts. {Bogus footnote} The sudden change which is now effected is a striking display of the judgment of heaven, and therefore he adds, that the shaking of the hand of God will be the cause of the terror. By these words he shews that this war will be entirely carried on by the Lord, and therefore that the Egyptians cannot stand against it, because they have not to do with men. What Isaiah declares concerning Egypt ought to be likewise applied to other nations; for if wars arise and insurrections spring up, we ought to acknowledge it to be a judgment of God when men lose courage and are overwhelmed with terror. We see how the most warlike nations give way, and shew themselves to be less courageous than women, and are vanquished without any preparations of war, whenever the Lord strikes their minds with dread.

17. And the land of Judah shall be a terror to the Egyptians. Some explain it simply to mean, that the land of Judah will be an astonishment to the Egyptians as well as to other nations, and compare this passage with the saying which has formerly come under our observation, “You shall be an astonishment.” {Bogus footnote} But I think that the meaning of the Prophet here is different, for he intended to point out the reason why the Lord would make such a display against the Egyptians. It was because they had brought destruction on the Jews, for they had turned them aside from the confidence which they ought to have placed in God, as princes frequently solicit their neighbors, and offer them their aid, that they may afterwards make use of them for their own advantage. Now the Lord had forbidden them (Deuteronomy 17:16) to resort to the Egyptians for the purpose of asking assistance from them; but those wretched people, instead of obeying God, listened to the solicitation of unbelievers who made offers to them, and on this account they were justly punished.

But the Egyptians also, who had given occasion to their unbelief and distrust, did not pass unpunished, for they were so sharply chastised that whenever they remembered the Jews they were overwhelmed with terror. Hence we ought to draw a profitable doctrine, that they who have turned aside the Church from obeying and trusting in God, and who, by fear, or counsel, or any enticements, have given occasion for offense, will be severely punished. The meaning of the Prophet’s words is as if we should say, that the look of a woman will bring a blush on him who has seduced her, when the disgrace of the uncleanness shall have been laid open, and when God shall come forth as the avenger of conjugal fidelity.

18. In that day there shall be five cities. After having threatened the Egyptians, and at the same time explained the reason of the divine judgment, he comforts them, and promises the mercy of God. He declares that they will be in part restored, and will regain a prosperous and flourishing condition; for he says that out of six cities five will be saved, and only one will perish. He had already foretold a frightful destruction to the whole kingdom, so that no one who examines the former prediction can think of anything else than a condition that is past remedy. He therefore promises that this restoration will be accomplished by the extraordinary kindness of God, so that it will be a kind of addition to the redemption of the Church, or a large measure of the grace of God, when the Redeemer shall be sent.

The manner of expression is somewhat obscure, but if we observe it carefully, there is no difficulty about the meaning; for the Prophet means that on1y the sixth part of the cities will be destroyed, and that the rest will be saved. The difficulty lies in the word ההרס, (hăhĕrĕs.) Some read it החרס, (hăchĕrĕs,) that is, of the sun, but they have mistaken the letter ה (he) for ח (cheth,) which resembles it. Those who explain it “of the sun,” think that the Prophet spoke of Heliopolis; {Bogus footnote} but this does not agree with the context; and he does not merely promise that five cities would be restored, (for how inconsiderable would such a restoration have been!) but generally, that five cities out of six would be saved. We know that the cities in Egypt were very numerous. I do not mention the fables of the ancients, and those who have assigned to them twenty thousand cities. But still, there must have been a vast number of cities in a country so highly celebrated, in a kingdom so flourishing and populous, with a climate so mild and temperate. Let us then suppose that there were a thousand cities in it, or somewhat more. He says that only the sixth part will perish, that the rest will be restored, so that but few will be destroyed. From what follows it is evident that this restoration must be understood to relate to the worship.

Speaking with the lip of Canaan. By the word lip he means the tongue, (συνεκδοχικῶς,) taking a part for the whole. He expresses their agreement with the people of God, and the faith by which they will make profession of the name of God; for by the tongue he metaphorically describes confession. Since there was but one language which acknowledged and professed the true God, that is, the language of that nation which inhabited the land of Canaan, it is evident that by such a language must be meant agreement in religion. It is customary enough to employ these modes of expression, “to speak the same language,” or, “to speak a different language,” when we intend to describe agreement or diversity of opinion. But at the same time it must be remembered that it is not every kind of agreement that is sufficient, as if men were to form a conspiracy about the worship which they preferred, but if they agree in the truth which was revealed to the fathers. He does not merely say that the Egyptians will speak the same language, but that they will speak the language of Canaan. They must have changed their language, and adopted that which God had sanctified; not that the dialect was more holy, but it is commended on account of its containing the doctrine of truth.

This ought to be carefully observed, that we may understand what is the true method of agreement. We must by all means seek harmony, but we must see on what conditions we obtain it; for we must not seek any middle course, as is done by those who overturn religion, and yet who wish to be regarded as peace-makers. Away with such fickle and changeful tongues! Let the truth itself be preserved, which cannot be contained but in the word. Whosoever shall determine to agree to it, let him talk with us, but away with every one who shall corrupt it, choose what language he may. Let us abide firmly by this. It will therefore be impossible for the Egyptians to speak the language of Canaan till they have first relinquished their own language, that is, till they have relinquished all superstitions. Some refer this to the age of Ptolemy, but it is absurd, and we may infer from what follows that the Prophet speaks of piety and of the true worship of God.

And swearing by Jehovah of hosts. First, employing a figure of speech in which a part is taken for the whole, he shews that their conversation will be holy, by exhibiting a single class of them, for in swearing they will make profession that they worship the true God. It may also be read, swearing to the Lord, or, by the Lord, for ל (lamed) often signifies by. If we read, “to the Lord,” the meaning will be, that they will promise obedience to him, and that by a solemn oath, as when any nation promises fidelity to its prince; as if he had said, “They will acknowledge the authority of God, and submit to his government.” But since another reading has been more generally approved, I willingly adopt it; for since one part of the worship of God is swearing, by taking a part for the whole, as I have said, it fitly describes the whole of the worship of God. Again, to “swear by the Lord” often means to testify that he is the true God. (Deuteronomy 6:13.) In a word, it denotes a perfect agreement with the Church of God.

Hence we ought to learn that outward confession is a necessary part of the true worship of God; for if any person wish to keep his faith shut up in his heart, he will have but a cold regard for it. (Romans 10:9,10.) True faith breaks out into confession, and kindles us to such a degree that we actually profess what we inwardly feel. “To me,” says the Lord in another passage, “every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear.” (Isaiah 45:23.) Accordingly, there ought to be an outward worship and outward profession wherever faith dwells. It ought also to be observed, that those things which belong to the worship of God ought not to be applied to any other purpose, and therefore it is a profanation of an oath if we swear by any other. It is written, “Thou shalt swear by my name.” (Deuteronomy 6:13.) Accordingly, he is insulted and robbed of his honor, if the name of saints, or of any creature, be employed in an oath. Let it likewise be observed with what solemnity oaths should be made; for if by swearing we profess to worship God, we ought never to engage in it but with fear and reverence.

One shall be called the city of desolation. When he devotes to destruction every sixth city, he means that all who are not converted to God, so as to worship him, perish without hope of salvation; for he contrasts the cities of Egypt which shall begin to acknowledge God with those which are destined to destruction. Where the worship of God is wanting, nothing but destruction can remain behind. הרס (hĕrĕs) denotes execration and curse, which is followed by ruin and eternal death.

19. In that day shall there be an altar in the midst of the land of Egypt. He continues what he had said in the former verse, and states more clearly that the aspect of Egypt will be renewed, because there true religion will flourish, the pure worship of God will be set up, and all superstitions will fall to the ground. He employs the word altar to denote, as by a sign, the worship of God; for sacrifices and oblations were the outward acts of piety. By the midst of Egypt he means the chief part of the whole kingdom, as if he had said, “in the very metropolis,” or, “in the very heart of the kingdom.”

And a statue {Bogus footnote} to the Lord. Let it not be supposed that by statue are meant images which carry the resemblance of men or of saints; but memorials (μνημόσυνα) of piety; for he means that they will be marks similar to those which point out the boundaries of kingdoms, and that in this manner signs will be evident, to make known to all men that God rules over this nation. And indeed it usually happens that a nation truly converted to God, after having laid aside idols and superstitions, openly sets up signs of the true religion, that all may know that the worship of God is purely observed in it.

Josephus relates (Ant. 13. 3. 1,) that Onias perverted this passage, when he fled to Ptolemy Philometor, {Bogus footnote} whom he persuaded that it would be advantageous to erect an altar there, on which the Jews who dwelt in that country might sacrifice; and he brought forward this passage, alleging that what the Prophet had foretold ought to be accomplished. The wicked and ambitious priest persuaded the king to do this, though it was openly opposed by the Jews; for the king looked to his own advantage, and that scoundrel, who had been deprived of his rank, sought to obtain additional honor and advancement; so that no entreaty could prevent the execution of that wicked counsel. But Isaiah simply describes the pure worship of God under the figure of signs which were then in use; for he has his eye upon his own age and the men with whom he had to do. This passage, therefore, was wickedly and maliciously perverted by Onias.

But not less impudently do the Popish doctors of the present day torture a passage in Malachi to defend the sacrifice of the Mass. When he says that “a pure oblation will everywhere be offered to God,” (Malachi 1:11,) they infer that it is some sacrifice different from the ancient sacrifices, because oxen and sheep must no longer be sacrificed, and therefore that it is the Mass. A witty and ingenious argument truly! Now, it is evident that under the legal figure Malachi describes nothing else than the pure worship of God, as Isaiah does here; and we ought carefully to observe such forms of expression, which are frequently employed by the prophets.

This will be clearly explained by a passage in Joel, which we shall quote as an example. “Your sons and your daughters,” says he, “shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” (Joel 2:28.) Peter shews (Acts 2:16) that this prediction was fulfilled, when the apostles spoke various languages through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Having formerly been uneducated men, they began to be qualified for declaring the mysteries of God. On that occasion we perceive no “dreams,” so that it might be thought that Peter quoted that passage inappropriately; but it is evident that Joel there describes nothing else than prophecy, and for the purpose of adorning it, he mentioned “visions and dreams,” by means of which the Lord anciently held communication with the prophets. (Numbers 12:6.) He kept in view the ordinary custom of that age; for otherwise the Jews would have found it difficult to comprehend the gifts of the Spirit which at that time were unknown. Having been reared under that preparatory instruction of the Law, {Bogus footnote} they could rise no higher than where they were conducted by sacrifices, ceremonies, sacraments, and signs. {Bogus footnote} So then the prophets addressed them as children, who ought to have nothing set before them beyond what they can learn in a homely style (παχυμερέστερον) by custom and experience.

This doctrine will unfold to us various passages, the obscurity of which might lead to much hesitation. It is plain that the Prophet speaks of the kingdom of Christ, and that these things were not fulfilled before his coming. We must therefore take away the shadows and look at the reality of things, in order that by the altar we may understand a true and sincere calling on God. But by these signs the Prophet likewise shews that the worship of God cannot be maintained without external acts of devotion, though we have no right to lay down rules for them. Away with the inventions of men, that we may listen to God alone on this subject.

20. And he will send them a Savior. We cannot serve God unless he first bestow his grace upon us; for no one will dedicate himself to God, till he be drawn by his goodness, and embrace him with all his heart. He must therefore call us to him before we call upon him; we can have no access till he first invite us. Formerly he shewed that they must be subdued by various afflictions in order that they may submit to God, and now he repeats the same thing; for men never deny themselves and forsake idle follies any farther than the scourge compels them to yield obedience. But he likewise adds another kind of invitation, that, having experienced the kindness of God, they will freely approach to Him.

They will cry unto the Lord. The cry of which he speaks proceeds from faith, for they would never resort to this refuge till they had been allured and delighted by the goodness of God. When the Lord promises that he will send a Savior, by whose hand the Egyptians will be delivered, this can mean no other than Christ; for Egypt was not delivered from its distresses before the doctrine of Christ reached it. We read of various changes which that country suffered for four hundred years, foreign and civil wars by which it was wasted and almost destroyed; but when we would be ready to think that it is utterly ruined, lo! it is converted to the Lord, and is rescued from the hand of enemies and tyrants. Thus Christ delivered that country, when it had begun to know him. In like manner, we must be brought to the knowledge and worship of God, that, where we have suffered various afflictions, we may learn that salvation is found in him alone. Would that the world would now learn this lesson, having suffered so many calamities that it appears to be on the brink of ruin! For what can be the issue but that it shall either perish or by repentance acknowledge that it has been justly punished for so great wickedness?

That he may deliver them. When he adds these words, we ought to draw from them a profitable doctrine, that God assists us through Christ, by whose agency he gave deliverance to his own people from the beginning. He has always been the Mediator, by whose intercession all blessings were obtained from God the Father; and now that he has been revealed, let us learn that nothing can be obtained from God but through him. {Bogus footnote}

21. And the Lord shall be known by the Egyptians. Isaiah now adds what was most important; for we cannot worship the Lord, or call upon him, till we have first acknowledged him to be our Father. “How,” says Paul, “shall they call on him whom they know not?” {Bogus footnote} (Romans 10:14.) We cannot be partakers of the gifts of God for our salvation without previously having true knowledge, which is by faith. He therefore properly adds, the knowledge of God, as the foundation of all religion, or the key that opens to us the gate of the heavenly kingdom. Now, there cannot be knowledge without doctrine; and hence infer, that God disapproves of all kinds of false worship; for he cannot approve of anything that is not guided by knowledge, which springs from hearing true and pure doctrine. Whatever contrivance therefore men may make out of their own minds, they will never attain by it the true worship of God. We ought carefully to observe passages like this, in which the Spirit of God shews what is the true worship and calling of God, that, having abandoned the inventions to which men are too obstinately attached, we may allow ourselves to be taught by the pure word of God, and, relying on his authority, may freely and boldly condemn all that the world applauds and admires.

The Egyptians shall know. It is not without good reason that he twice mentions this knowledge. A matter of so great importance ought not to be slightly passed by; for it holds the chief place, and without it there is nothing that can properly be called worship.

And shall make sacrifice and oblation. This passage must be explained in the same manner as the former, in which he mentioned an altar. What would have been the use of sacrifices after the manifestation of Christ? He therefore describes metaphorically confession of faith and calling on God, which followed the preaching of the gospel. Here he includes everything that was offered to God — slain beasts, bread, fruits of every description, and all that was fitted to express gratitude. But we must attend to the difference between the Old and New Testaments, and under the shadows of ceremonies we must understand to be meant that “reasonable worship” of which Paul speaks. (Romans 12:1.)

And shall vow vows to the Lord and perform them. What he adds about vows is likewise a part of the worship of God. The Jews were accustomed to express their gratitude to God by vows, and especially they rendered thanksgiving by a solemn vow, when they had received from God any extraordinary blessing. Of their own accord also, when any one chose to do so, they made vows on various occasions. (Deuteronomy 12:6; 23:21-23.) And yet every person was not at liberty to make this or that vow according to his own pleasure; but a rule was laid down. (Numbers 30:3.) Whatever may be in that respect, it is evident that by the word vows the Prophet means nothing else than the worship of God, to which the Egyptians devoted themselves after having learned it from the word of God; but he mentions the acts of devotion by which the Jews made profession of the true worship and religion.

Hence the Papists draw an argument to prove, that whatever we vow to God ought to be performed; but since they make vows at random, and without any exercise of judgment, this passage lends no aid to defend their error. Isaiah foretells what the Egyptians will do, after having embraced and followed the instruction given by God. {Bogus footnote} In like manner, when David exhorts the people to vow and to perform their vows, (Psalm 76:11,) they think that he is on their side; but be does not therefore exhort them to make unlawful and rash vows. (Ecclesiastes 5:2.) There always remains in force the law of vows, which we are not at liberty to transgress, namely, the word of God, by which we learn what he requires from us, and what he wishes us to vow and perform. We never received permission to vow whatever we please, because we are too much disposed to go to excess, and to take every kind of liberty with regard to God, and because we act more imprudently towards him than if we had to deal with men. It was therefore necessary that men should be laid under some restraint to prevent them from taking so great liberties in the worship of God and religion.

This being the case, it is evident that God permits nothing but what is agreeable to his law, and that he rejects everything else as unacceptable and superstitious. What a man has vowed of his own accord, and without the support of the word, cannot be binding. If he perform it, he offends doubly; first, in vowing rashly, as if he were sporting with God; and secondly, in executing his resolutions wickedly and rashly, when he ought rather to have set them aside and repented. So far, therefore, is any man from being bound by vows, that he ought, on the contrary, to turn back and acknowledge his sinful rashness.

Now, if any one inquire about the vows of Papists, it will be easy to shew that they derive no support from the word of God. If those things which they highly applaud and reckon to be lawful, such as the vows of monks, are unlawful and wicked, what opinion must we form of the rest? They vow perpetual celibacy, as if it were indiscriminately permitted to all; but we know that the gift of continence is not an ordinary gift, and is not promised to every one, not even to those who in other respects are endued with extraordinary graces. Abraham was eminent for faith, steadfastness, meekness, and holiness, and yet he did not possess this gift. (Genesis 11:29; 25:1.) Christ himself, when the apostles loudly commended this state of celibacy, testified that it is not given to all. (Matthew 19:11,12.) Paul states the same thing. (1 Corinthians 7:7,9,26.) Whosoever, therefore, does not possess this gift of continence, if he vow it, does wrong, and will be justly punished for his rashness. Hence have arisen dreadful instances of want of chastity, by which God has justly punished Popery for this presumption.

They likewise vow poverty, as if they would have nothing of their own, though they have abundance of everything beyond other men. Is not this an open mockery of God? The obedience which they vow is full of deceit; for they shake off the yoke of Christ, that they may become the slaves of men. Others vow pilgrimages, to abstain from eating flesh, to observe days, and other things full of superstition. Others promise to God toys and trinkets, as if they were dealing with a child. We would be ashamed to act thus, or to pursue such a line of conduct towards men, among whom nothing is settled till it has been agreed to on both sides by mutual consent. Much less is it lawful to attempt anything in the worship of God but what has been declared by his word. What kind of worship will it be, if the judgment of God has no weight with us, and if we yield only to the will of men? Will it be possible that it can please God? Will it not be (ἐθελοθρησκεία) “will-worship,” which Paul so severely censures? (Colossians 2:23.) In vain, therefore, do they who make such vows boast that they serve God; and in vain do they endeavor to find support in this passage; for the Lord abhors that kind of worship.

22. Therefore Jehovah will smite Egypt. From what has been already said the Prophet draws the conclusion, that the chastisement which he has mentioned will be advantageous to the Egyptians, because it will be a preparation for their conversion; {Bogus footnote} as if he had said, that it will be for the good of Egypt that the Lord will punish her. Those who translate the words, “he will strike with a wound that may be healed,” misinterpret this passage, and greatly weaken the Prophet’s meaning; for it means that the wounds will be advantageous to them, and that by means of these wounds the Lord will bring them back. Hence we ought to conclude, that we must not refuse to be chastised by God, for it is done for our benefit. (Proverbs 3:11, 12; Hebrews 12:5-7.) Exemption from punishment would cherish a disposition to sin with less control. As men are exceedingly prone to give way to their own inclinations, whenever God spares them for a little, it is necessary on this account that the Lord should prevent this danger, which he does by chastisements and stripes, which excite and arouse us to repentance. A remarkable instance of this is here exhibited in Egypt, which abounded in superstitions and wickedness, and went beyond all nations in idolatry, and yet experienced the mercy of God.

For they shall be turned to Jehovah. We must attend to the manner of its accomplishment, which is, their conversion to God. It is the explanation of the former clause; as if he had said, “God will heal the Egyptians, because they shall be converted.” The copulative ו (vau) signifies for. Hence we infer that conversion may be said to be a resurrection from eternal death. We are utterly ruined so long as we are turned away from God; but when we are converted, we return to his favor, and are delivered from death; not that we deserve the favor of God by our repentance, but because in this manner God raises us up, as it were, from death to life. To repentance is added a promise, from which we conclude, that when we sincerely repent, {Bogus footnote} we do not in vain implore forgiveness. Now, when the Prophet says that the Lord will be gracious and reconciled to the Egyptians, he at the same time shews, that as soon as they have been converted, they will obtain forgiveness. It will therefore be a true conversion when it is followed by a calling on God. But without faith (Romans 10:14) it is impossible to call on God; for even the ungodly may acknowledge sin; but no man will have recourse to the mercy of God, or obtain reconciliation, till he be moved by a true feeling of repentance, which is likewise accompanied by faith.

And will heal them. He does not repeat what he had said, that God strikes in order to heal; but he promises healing in another sense, that is, that God will cease to inflict punishments. The former healing, which he mentioned a little before, was internal; but the latter relates to stripes and wounds. In short, he means that it will be a speedy remedy for all their distresses. After having been reconciled to God, there is nothing in us that calls for punishment; for whence comes punishment but on account of guilt? and when guilt is pardoned, exemption from punishment will quickly follow. {Bogus footnote} And if we be chastised, it is an evidence that we are not yet sufficiently prepared for repentance.

In a word, let us remember this order, which the Prophet points out to us; first, that stripes prepare men for repentance; secondly, that they are healed, because they are delivered from eternal destruction; thirdly, that when they have been brought to the knowledge of their guilt, they obtain pardon; fourthly, that God is gracious and reconciled to them; fifthly, that chastisements cease after they have obtained pardon from God. There is no man who ought not to acknowledge in himself what Isaiah here declares concerning the Egyptians, in whom the Lord holds out an example to the whole world.

23. In that day. The Prophet now foretells that the Lord will diffuse his goodness throughout the whole world; as if he had said, “It will not be shut up in a corner, or exclusively known, as it formerly was, by a single nation.” Here he speaks of two nations that were the most inveterate enemies of the Church, and that appeared to be farther removed than any other from the kingdom of God; for much more might have been expected from distant nations, because the nations here mentioned openly made war with God and persecuted his Church. And if the Lord is so gracious to the deadly enemies of the Church, that he pardons and adopts them to be his children, what shall be the case with other nations? This prophecy thus includes the calling of all nations.

There shall be a highway. Now, when he says that, in consequence of a highway having been opened up, there will be mutual access that they may visit each other, he describes brotherly intercourse. We know that the Egyptians carried on almost incessant wars with the Assyrians, and cherished an inveterate hatred towards each other. He now foretells that the Lord will change their dispositions, and will reconcile them to each other, so that they will have mutual communications, mutual coming in and going out, in consequence of laying open the highways which were formerly shut. Here we ought to observe what we formerly remarked at the fourth verse of the second chapter, {Bogus footnote} namely, that when men have been reconciled to God, it is likewise proper that they should cherish brotherly kindness towards each other. Strife, quarreling, disputes, hatred, and malice, ought to cease when God has been pacified. We need not wonder, therefore, that he says that a highway to Egypt is opened up for the Assyrians; but this ought undoubtedly to be referred to the reign of Christ, for we do not read that the Egyptians were on a friendly footing with the Assyrians till after they had known Christ.

And the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrians, (or, with the Assyrians.) {Bogus footnote} This clause may be rendered, “shall serve God;” but as the name of God is not expressed here, it may refer to the Assyrians, which is also pointed out by the particle את (ĕth.) {Bogus footnote} It may therefore be explained thus. They who formerly burned with a desire to injure one another will be changed in their dispositions, and will desire to shew kindness. In short, the fruit of true repentance will be made evident, for they who formerly distressed each other in mutual wars will lend mutual aid. And this opinion will agree very well with those words of the Prophet with which they stand connected. Yet I do not set aside another interpretation which is almost universally adopted, namely, “They who formerly worshipped other gods will henceforth acknowledge one God, and will assent to the same confession of faith.” I leave every one to adopt that interpretation which he thinks best. If the latter interpretation be preferred, the Prophet makes brotherly love to flow from godliness, {Bogus footnote} as from its source.

24. In that day shall Israel. Isaiah concludes the promise which he had briefly glanced at, that the Egyptians and Assyrians, as well as Israel, shall be blessed. Formerly the grace of God was in some measure confined to Israel, because with that nation only had the Lord entered into covenant. The Lord had stretched out “his cord” over Jacob, (Deuteronomy 32:9,) as Moses speaks; {Bogus footnote} and David says,

“He hath not done so to any nation, and hath not made known to them his judgments.” (Psalm 147:20.)

In a word, the blessing of God dwelt solely in Judea, but he says that it will be shared with the Egyptians and Assyrians, under whose name he includes also the rest of the nations. He does not mention them for the purpose of shewing respect, but because they were the constant enemies of God, and appeared to be more estranged from him and farther removed from the hope of favor than all others. Accordingly, though he had formerly adopted none but the children of Abraham, he now wished to be called, without distinction, “The father of all nations.” (Genesis 17:7; Exodus 19:5,6; Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2.)

Israel shall be the third blessing. Some render it, Israel shall be the third {Bogus footnote} I do not approve of that rendering; for the adjective being in the feminine gender, ought to be construed with the noun ברכה, (berachah,) blessing, and blessing means here a form or pattern of blessing.

25. Because the Lord of hosts will bless him. {Bogus footnote} He assigns a reason, and explains the former statement; for he shews that, through the undeserved goodness of God, the Assyrians and Egyptians shall be admitted to fellowship with the chosen people of God. As if he had said, “Though these titles belonged exclusively to Israel, they shall likewise be conferred on other nations, which the Lord hath adopted to be his own.” There is a mutual relation between God and his people, so that they who are called by his mouth “a holy people,” (Exodus 19:6,) may justly, in return, call him their God. Yet this designation is bestowed indiscriminately on Egyptians and Assyrians.

Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands. Though the Prophet intended to describe foreign nations as associated with the Jews who had belonged to God’s household, yet he employs most appropriate marks to describe the degrees. By calling the Egyptians “the people of God,” he means that they will share in the honor which God deigned to bestow in a peculiar manner on the Jews alone. When he calls Assyrians the work of his hands, he distinguishes them by the title peculiar to his Church. We have elsewhere remarked {Bogus footnote} that the Church is called “the workmanship” (τὸ ποίημα) of God, (Ephesians 2:10,) because by the spirit of regeneration believers are created anew, so as to bear the image of God. Thus, he means that we are “the work of God’s hands,” not so far as we are created to be men, but so far as they who are separated from the world, and become new creatures, are created anew to a new life. Hence we acknowledge that in “newness of life” nothing ought to be claimed as our own, for we are wholly “the work of God.”

And Israel my inheritance. When he comes to Israel, he invests him with his prerogative, which is, that he is the inheritance of God, so that among the new brethren he still holds the rank and honor of the first-born. The word inheritance suggests the idea of some kind of superiority; and indeed that covenant which the Lord first made with them, bestowed on them the privilege which cannot be made void by their ingratitude; for “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance,” as Paul declares, (Romans 11:29,) who shews that in the house of God they are the first-born. (Ephesians 2:12.) Although therefore the grace of God is now more widely spread, yet they still hold the highest rank, not by their own merit, but by the firmness of the promises.

CHAPTER 20

Isaiah Chapter 20:1-6

1. In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;

1. Anno quo venit Thartan in Asdod, cum misisset eum Sargon rex Assyriæ, oppugnassetque Asdod, et cepisset;

2. At the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

2. Tempore illo, inquam, loquutus est Iehova iu manu Isaiæ filii Amoz, dicendo: Vade et solve saccum de lumbis tuis, et calceamentum tuum exrahe de pede tuo; fecitque sic, ambulans nudus et discalceatus.

3. And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia;

3. Et dixit Iehova: Sicut ambulavit servus meus Isaias nudus et discalceatus tribus annis, signum et portentum super Ægypto et Ethiopia;

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.

4. Ita abducet rex Assur captivitatem Ægypti, et transmigrationem Æthiopiæ juvenum et senum, nudam et discalceatam, et discoopertos natibus in ignominiam Ægypti.

5. And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.

5. Et timebunt, et pudefient ab Æthiopia respectu suo, et ab Ægypto gloriatione (vel, pulchritudine) sua.

6. And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?

6. Dicetque incola insulæ hujus in die illa; Ecce, quomodo habeat respectus noster, quo confugimus auxilii causa, ut liberemur a facie regis Assur; et quomodo effugiemus nos?

CHAPTER 19

Is 19:1-25.

The nineteenth and twentieth chapters are connected, but with an interval between. Egypt had been held by an Ethiopian dynasty, Sabacho, Sevechus, or Sabacho II, and Tirhakah, for forty or fifty years. Sevechus (called So, the ally of Hoshea, 2Ki 17:4), retired from Lower Egypt on account of the resistance of the priests; and perhaps also, as the Assyrians threatened Lower Egypt. On his withdrawal, Sethos, one of the priestly caste, became supreme, having Tanis ("Zoan") or else Memphis as his capital, 718 B.C.; while the Ethiopians retained Upper Egypt, with Thebes as its capital, under Tirhakah. A third native dynasty was at Sais, in the west of Lower Egypt; to this at a later period belonged Psammetichus, the first who admitted Greeks into Egypt and its armies; he was one of the dodecarchy, a number of petty kings between whom Egypt was divided, and by aid of foreign auxiliaries overcame the rest, 670 B.C. To the divisions at this last time, Gesenius refers Is 19:2; and Psammetichus, Is 19:4, "a cruel lord." The dissensions of the ruling castes are certainly referred to. But the time referred to is much earlier than that of Psammetichus. In Is 19:1, the invasion of Egypt is represented as caused by "the Lord"; and in Is 19:17, "Judah" is spoken of as "a terror to Egypt," which it could hardly have been by itself. Probably, therefore, the Assyrian invasion of Egypt under Sargon, when Judah was the ally of Assyria, and Hezekiah had not yet refused tribute as he did in the beginning of Sennacherib's reign, is meant. That Assyria was in Isaiah's mind appears from the way in which it is joined with Israel and Egypt in the worship of Jehovah (Is 19:24, 25). Thus the dissensions referred to (Is 19:2) allude to the time of the withdrawal of the Ethiopians from Lower Egypt, probably not without a struggle, especially with the priestly caste; also to the time when Sethos usurped the throne and entered on the contest with the military caste, by the aid of the town populations: when the Saitic dynasty was another cause of division. Sargon's reign was between 722-715 B.C. answering to 718 B.C., when Sethos usurped his throne [G. V. Smith].

1. burden--(See on Is 13:1).

upon ... cloud--(Psa 104:3; 18:10).

come into Egypt--to inflict vengeance. "Egypt," in Hebrew, Misraim, plural form, to express the two regions of Egypt. Bunsen observes, The title of their kings runs thus: "Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt."

idols--the bull, crocodile, &c. The idols poetically are said to be "moved" with fear at the presence of one mightier than even they were supposed to be (Ex 12:12; Jr 43:12).

2. set--stir up. Gesenius translates, "arm."

Egyptians against the Egyptians--Lower against Upper: and Saitic against both. (See Is 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.

kingdom against kingdom--The Septuagint has "nome against nome"; Egypt was divided into forty-two nomes or districts.

3. spirit--wisdom, for which Egypt was famed (Is 31:2; 1Ki 4:30; Ac 7:22); answering to "counsel" in the parallel clause.

fail--literally, "be poured out," that is, be made void (Jr 19:7). They shall "seek" help from sources that can afford none, "charmers," &c. (Is 8:19).

charmers--literally, "those making a faint sound"; the soothsayers imitated the faint sound which was attributed to the spirits of the dead (see on Is 8:19).

4. cruel lord--"Sargon," in Hebrew it is lords; but plural is often used to express greatness, where, one alone is meant (Ge 39:2). The parallel word "king" (singular) proves it. Newton makes the general reference to be to Nebuchadnezzar, and a particular reference to Cambyses, son of Cyrus (who killed the Egyptian god, Apis), and Ochus, Persian conquerors of Egypt, noted for their "fierce cruelty." Gesenius refers it to Psammetichus, who had brought into Egypt Greek and other foreign mercenaries to subdue the other eleven princes of the dodecarchy.

5. the sea--the Nile. Physical calamities, it is observed in history, often accompany political convulsions (Eze 30:12). The Nile shall "fail" to rise to its wonted height, the result of which will be barrenness and famine. Its "waters" at the time of the overflow resemble "a sea" [Pliny, Natural History, 85.11]; and it is still called El-Bahr," "the sea," by the Egyptians (Is 18:2; Jr 51:36). A public record is kept at Cairo of the daily rise of the water at the proper time of overflow, namely, August: if it rises to a less height than twelve cubits, it will not overflow the land, and famine must be the result. So, also, when it rises higher than sixteen; for the waters are not drained off in time sufficient to sow the seed.

6. they shall turn the rivers--rather, "the streams shall become putrid"; that is, the artificial streams made for irrigation shall become stagnant and offensive when the waters fail [Maurer]. Horsley, with the Septuagint, translates, "And waters from the sea shall be drunk"; by the failure of the river water they shall be reduced to sea water.

brooks of defence--rather, "canals of Egypt"; "canals," literally, "Niles," Nile canals, the plural of the Egyptian term for the great river. The same Hebrew word, Matzor, whence comes Mitzraim, expresses Egypt, and a place of "defense." Horsley, as English Version translates it, "embanked canals,"

reeds ... flags--the papyrus. "Reed and rush"; utter withering.

7. paper-reeds--rather, pastures, literally, "places naked" of wood, and famed for rich herbage, on the banks of the Nile [Gesenius]. Compare Ge 13:10; De 11:10. Horsley translates, "nakedness upon the river," descriptive of the appearance of a river when its bottom is bare and its banks stripped of verdure by long drought: so Vulgate.

the brooks--the river.

mouth--rather, "the source" [Vulgate]. "Even close to the river's side vegetation shall be so withered as to be scattered in the shape of powder by the wind" (English Version, "driven away") [Horsley].

8. fishers--The Nile was famed for fish (Nu 11:5); many would be thrown out of employment by the failure of fishes.

angle--a hook. Used in the "brooks" or canals, as the "net" was in "the waters" of the river itself.

9. fine flax--Gesenius, for "fine," translates, "combed"; fine "linen" was worn by the rich only (Lu 16:19). Egypt was famous for it (Ex 9:31; 1Ki 10:28; Pr 7:16; Eze 27:7). The processes of its manufacture are represented on the Egyptian tombs. Israel learned the art in Egypt (Ex 26:36). The cloth now found on the mummies was linen, as is shown by the microscope. Wilkinson mentions linen from Egypt which has five hundred forty (or two hundred seventy double) threads in one inch in the warp; whereas some modern cambric has but a hundred sixty [Barnes].

networks--rather, white cloth (Es 1:6; 8:16).

10. in the purposes--rather, "the foundations," that is, "the nobles shall be broken" or brought low: so Is 3:1; Psa 11:3; compare Is 19:13, "The princes--the stay of the tribes. The Arabs call a prince "a pillar of the people" [Maurer]. "Their weaving-frames" [Horsley]. "Dykes" [Barnes].

all that make sluices, &c.--"makers of dams," made to confine the waters which overflow from the Nile in artificial fish-ponds [Horsley]. "Makers of gain," that is, the common people who have to earn their livelihood, as opposed to the "nobles" previously [Maurer].

11. Zoan--The Greeks called it Tanis, a city of Lower Egypt, east of the Tanitic arms of the Nile, now San; it was one the Egyptian towns nearest to Palestine (Nu 13:22), the scene of Moses' miracles (Psa 78:12, 43). It, or else Memphis, was the capital under Sethos.

I am ... son of the wise ... kings--Ye have no advice to suggest to Pharaoh in the crisis, notwithstanding that ye boast of descent from wise and royal ancestors. The priests were the usual "counsellors" of the Egyptian king. He was generally chosen from the priestly caste, or, if from the warrior caste, he was admitted into the sacred order, and was called a priest. The priests are, therefore, meant by the expression, "son of the wise, and of ancient kings"; this was their favorite boast (Herodotus, 2.141; compare Am 7:14; Ac 23:6; Php 3:5). "Pharaoh" was the common name of all the kings: Sethos, probably, is here meant.

12. let them know--that is, How is it that, with all their boast of knowing the future [Diodorus, 1.81], they do not know what Jehovah of hosts ...

13. Noph--called also Moph; Greek, Memphis (Ho 9:6); on the western bank of the Nile, capital of Lower Egypt, second only to Thebes in all Egypt: residence of the kings, until the Ptolemies removed to Alexandria; the word means the "port of the good" [Plutarch]. The military caste probably ruled in it: "they also are deceived," in fancying their country secure from Assyrian invasion.

stay of ... tribes--rather, "corner-stone of her castes" [Maurer], that is, the princes, the two ruling castes, the priests and the warriors: image from a building which rests mainly on its corner-stones (see on Is 19:10; Is 28:16; Psa 118:22; Nu 24:17, Margin; Jud 20:2; 1Sa 14:28, Margin; Zec 10:4).

14. err in every work thereof--referring to the anarchy arising from their internal feuds. Horsley translates, "with respect to all His (God's) work"; they misinterpreted God's dealings at every step. "Mingled" contains the same image as "drunken"; as one mixes spices with wine to make it intoxicating (Is 5:22; Pr 9:2, 5), so Jehovah has poured among them a spirit of giddiness, so that they are as helpless as a "drunken man."

15. work for Egypt--nothing which Egypt can do to extricate itself from the difficulty.

head or tail--high or low (Is 19:11-15, and Is 19:8-10).

branch or rush--the lofty palm branch or the humble reed (Is 9:14, 15; 10:33, 34).

16. like ... women--timid and helpless (Jr 51:30; Na 3:13).

shaking of ... hand--His judgments by means of the invaders (Is 10:5, 32; 11:15).

17. Judah ... terror unto Egypt--not by itself: but at this time Hezekiah was the active subordinate ally of Assyria in its invasion of Egypt under Sargon. Similarly to the alliance of Judah with Assyria here is 2Ki 23:29, where Josiah takes the field against Pharaoh-nechoh of Egypt, probably as ally of Assyria against Egypt [G. V. Smith]. Vitringa explains it that Egypt in its calamities would remember that prophets of Judah had foretold them, and so Judah would be "a terror unto Egypt."

thereof--of Judah.

it--Egypt.

18-22. In that day, &c.--Suffering shall lead to repentance. Struck with "terror" and "afraid" (Is 19:17) because of Jehovah's judgments, Egypt shall be converted to Him: nay, even Assyria shall join in serving Him; so that Israel, Assyria, and Egypt, once mutual foes, shall be bound together by the tie of a common faith as one people. So a similar issue from other prophecies (Is 18:7; 23:18).

five cities--that is, several cities, as in Is 17:6; 30:17; Ge 43:34; Le 26:8. Rather, five definite cities of Lower Egypt (Is 19:11, 13; 30:4), which had close intercourse with the neighboring Jewish cities [Maurer]; some say, Heliopolis, Leontopolis (else Diospolis), Migdol, Daphne (Tahpanes), and Memphis.

language of Canaan--that is, of the Hebrews in Canaan, the language of revelation; figuratively for, They shall embrace the Jewish religion: so "a pure language" and conversion to God are connected in Zep 3:9; as also the first confounding and multiplication of languages was the punishment of the making of gods at Babel, other than the One God. Pentecost (Ac 2:4) was the counterpart of Babel: the separation of nations is not to hinder the unity of faith; the full realization of this is yet future (Zec 14:9; Joh 17:21). The next clause, "swear to the Lord of Hosts," agrees with this view; that is, bind themselves to Him by solemn covenant (Is 45:23; 65:16; De 6:13).

city of destruction--Onias; "city of the sun," that is, On, or Heliopolis; he persuaded Ptolemy Philometer (149 B.C.) to let him build a temple in the prefecture (nome) of Heliopolis, on the ground that it would induce Jews to reside there, and that the very site was foretold by Isaiah six hundred years before. The reading of the Hebrew text is, however, better supported, "city of destruction"; referring to Leontopolis, the site of Onias' temple: which casts a reproach on that city because it was about to contain a temple rivalling the only sanctioned temple, that at Jerusalem. Maurer, with some manuscripts, reads "city of defense" or "deliverance"; namely, Memphis, or some such city, to which God was about to send "a saviour" (Is 19:20), to "deliver them."

23. highway--free communication, resting on the highest basis, the common faith of both (Is 19:18; Is 11:16). Assyria and Egypt were joined under Alexander as parts of his empire: Jews and proselytes from both met at the feasts of Jerusalem. A type of gospel times to come.

serve with--serve Jehovah with the Assyrians. So "serve" is used absolutely (Job 36:11).

24. third--The three shall be joined as one nation.

blessing--the source of blessings to other nations, and the object of their benedictions.

in the midst of the land--rather, "earth" (Mi 5:7). Judah is designed to be the grand center of the whole earth (Jr 3:17).

25. Whom--rather, "Which," namely, "the land," or "earth," that is, the people of it [Maurer].

my people--the peculiar designation of Israel, the elect people, here applied to Egypt to express its entire admission to religious privileges (Ro 9:24-26; 1Pe 2:9, 10).

work of my hands--spiritually (Ho 2:23; Ep 2:10).

The burden of Egypt - That is, the prophet's declaration concerning Egypt.

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 debynouris, 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 Deu 18:10, etc.

A cruel lord "Cruel lords" - Nebuchadnezzar in the first place, and afterwards the whole succession of Persian kings, who in general were hard masters, and grievously oppressed the country. Note, that for קשה kasheh, lord, a MS. reads קשים kashim, lords, agreeable to which is the rendering of the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate.

The river shall be wasted and dried up - The Nile shall not overflow its banks; and if no inundation, the land must become barren. For, as there is little or no rain in Egypt, its fertility depends on the overflowing of the Nile.

Shall turn the rivers far away "Shall become putrid" - האזניחו heeznichu. This sense of the word, which Simonis gives in his Lexicon, from the meaning of it in Arabic, suits the place much better than any other interpretation hitherto given; and that the word in Hebrew had some such signification, is probable from 2Chr 29:19, where the Vulgate renders it by polluit, polluted, and the Targum, by profaned, and made abominable, which the context in that place seems plainly to require. The form of the verb here is very irregular; and the rabbins and grammarians seem to give no probable account of it.

The fishers also "And the fishers" - There was great plenty of fish in Egypt; see Num 11:5. "The Nile," says Diodorus, lib. i., "abounds with incredible numbers of all sorts of fish." And much more the lakes. So Egmont, Pococke, etc.

They that work in fine flax - פשתים שריקות pishtim sericoth, heckled flax, i.e., flax dressed on the heckle, or comb used for that purpose. The Vulgate uses the word pectentes, combing.

They that weave networks shall be confounded - And confounden schul ben that wrogten flax, plattinge and webynge sotel thingis. - Old MS. Bible.

And they shall be broken, etc. "Her stores" - שתתיה shathotheyha, αποθηκαι, granaries. - Aquila.

All that make sluices and ponds for fish "All that make a gain of pools for fish" - This obscure line is rendered by different interpreters in very different manners. Kimchi explains אגמי agmey as if it were the same with אגמה agemah, from Job 30:25, in which he is followed by some of the rabbins, and supported by the Septuagint: and שכר secher, which I translate gain, and which some take for nets or enclosures, the Septuagint render by ζυθον, strong drink or beer, which it is well known was much used in Egypt; and so likewise the Syriac, retaining the Hebrew word שכרא sekra. I submit these very different interpretations to the reader's judgment. The Version of the Septuagint is as follows: Και παντες οἱ ποιουντες τον ζυθον λυπηθησονται, και τας ψυχας πονεσουσι· "And all they that make barley wine shall mourn, and be grieved in soul."

The counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish "Have counseled a brutish counsel" - The sentence as it now stands in the Hebrew, is imperfect: it wants the verb. Archbishop Secker conjectures that the words יועצי פרעה yoatsey pharoh should be transposed; which would in some degree remove the difficulty. But it is to be observed, that the translator of the Vulgate seems to have found in his copy the verb יעצו yaatsu added after פרעה pharoh: Sapientes consiliarii Pharaonis dederunt consilium insipiens, "The wise counsellors of Pharaoh gave unwise counsel." This is probably the true reading: it is perfectly agreeable to the Hebrew idiom, makes the construction of the sentence clear, and renders the transposition of the words above mentioned unnecessary. - L.

"Let them come" - Here too a word seems to have been left out of the text. After חכמיך chochameycha, thy wise men, two MSS., one ancient, add יבאו yibu, let them come; which, if we consider the form and construction of the sentence, has very much the appearance of being genuine: otherwise the connective conjunction at the beginning of the next member is not only superfluous but embarrassing. See also the Version of the Septuagint, in which the same deficiency is manifest.

Let them tell thee now "And let them declare" - For ידעו yidu, let them know, perhaps we ought to read יודיעו yodiu, let them make known. - Secker. The Septuagint and Vulgate favor this reading, ειπατωισαν, let them declare.

Are deceived "They have caused," etc. - The text has וחתעו vehithu, And they have caused to err. Fifty of Kennicott's MSS., fifty-three of De Rossi's, and one of my own, ancient, thirty-two editions, and the Vulgate and Chaldee. omit the ו vau, and.

Stay "Pillars" - פנת pinnath, to be pointed as plural pinnoth, without doubt. So Grotius, and so the Chaldee.

In the midst thereof - בקרבם bekirbam; so the Septuagint, and perhaps more correctly." - Secker. So likewise the Chaldee.

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, etc.

Shall Egypt be "The Egyptians shall be" - יהיו yihyu, they shall be, plural, MS. Bodl. Septuagint, and Chaldee. This is not proposed as an emendation, for either form is proper.

And the land of Judah - The threatening hand of God will be held out and shaken over Egypt, from the side of Judea; through which the Assyrians will march to invade it. It signifies that kind of terror that drives one to his wit's end, that causes him to reel like a drunken man, to be giddy through astonishment. Such is the import of חג chag, and חגה chagah. Five MSS. and two editions have לחגה lechagah.

The city of destruction "The city of the sun" - עיר החרס ir hacheres. This passage is attended with much difficulty and obscurity. First, in regard to the true reading. It is well known that Onias applied it to his own views, either to procure from the king of Egypt permission to build his temple in the Hieropolitan Nome, or to gain credit and authority to it when built; from the notion which he industriously propagated, that Isaiah had in this place prophesied of the building of such a temple. He pretended that the very place where it should be built was expressly named by the prophet, עיר החרס ir hacheres, the city of the sun. This possibly may have been the original reading. The present text has עיר ההרס ir haheres, the city of destruction; which some suppose to have been introduced into the text by the Jews of Palestine afterwards, to express their detestation of the place, being much offended with this schismatical temple in Egypt. Some think the latter to have been the true reading, and that the prophet himself gave this turn to the name out of contempt, and to intimate the demolition of this Hieropolitan temple; which in effect was destroyed by Vespasian's orders, after that of Jerusalem, "Videtur propheta consulto scripsisse הרס heres, pro חרס cheres, ut alibi scribitur בית און beith aven pro בית אל beith El: איש בשת ish bosheth for איש בעל ish baal, etc. Vide Lowth in loc." - Secker. "It seems that the prophet designedly wrote הרס heres, destruction, for חרס cheres, the sun: as elsewhere בית און beith aven, the house of iniquity, is written for בית אל beith El, the house of God; איש בשת ish bosheth for איש בעל ish baal," etc. But on the supposition that עיר ההרס air haheres is the true reading, others understand it differently. The word הרס heres in Arabic signifies a lion; and Conrad Ikenius has written a dissertation (Dissert. Philol. Theol. XVI.) to prove that the place here mentioned is not Heliopolis, as it is commonly supposed to be, but Leontopolis in the Heliopolitan Nome, as it is indeed called in the letter, whether real or pretended, of Onias to Ptolemy, which Josephus has inserted in his Jewish Antiquities, lib. 13 c. 3. And I find that several persons of great learning and judgment think that Ikenius has proved the point beyond contradiction. See Christian. Muller. Satura Observ. Philolog. Michaelis Bibliotheque Oriental, Part v., p. 171. But, after all, I believe that neither Onias, Heliopolis, nor Leontopolis has any thing to do with this subject. The application of this place of Isaiah to Onias's purpose seems to have been a mere invention, and in consequence of it there may perhaps have been some unfair management to accommodate the text to that purpose; which has been carried even farther than the Hebrew text; for the Greek version has here been either translated from a corrupted text, or wilfully mistranslated or corrupted, to serve the same cause. The place is there called πολις Ασεδεκ, the city of righteousness; a name apparently contrived by Onias's party to give credit to their temple, which was to rival that of Jerusalem. Upon the whole, the true reading of the Hebrew text in this place is very uncertain; fifteen MSS. and seven editions have חרס cheres, the city of Hacheres, or, of the sun. So likewise Symmachas, the Vulgate, Arabic, Septuagint, and Complutensian. On the other hand, Aquila, Theodotion, and the Syriac read הרס heres, destruction; the Chaldee paraphrase takes in both readings.

The reading of the text being so uncertain, no one can pretend to determine what the city was that is here mentioned by name; much less to determine what the four other cities were which the prophet does not name. I take the whole passage from the 18th verse to the end of the chapter, to contain a general intimation of the future propagation of the knowledge of the true God in Egypt and Syria, under the successors of Alexander; and, in consequence of this propagation, of the early reception of the Gospel in the same countries, when it should be published to the world. See more on this subject in Prideaux's Connect. An. 145; Dr. Owen's Inquiry into the present state of the Septuagint Version, p. 41; and Bryant's Observations on Ancient History, p. 124. - L.

An altar to the Lord - צבאות tsebaoth, "of hosts," or Yehovah tsebaoth, is added by eight MSS. of good repute, and the Syriac Version.

Shall there be a highway - Under the latter kings of Persia, and under Alexander, Egypt, Judea, and Assyria lived peaceably under the same government, and were on such friendly terms that there was a regular, uninterrupted intercourse between them, so that the Assyrian came into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and Israel became the third, i.e., was in strict union with the other two; and was a blessing to both, as affording them some knowledge of the true God, Isa 19:24.

Blessed be Egypt - Assyria - and Israel - All these countries shall be converted to the Lord. Concerning Egypt, it was said, Isa 18:7, that it should bring gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem. Here it is predicted, Isa 19:19, that there shall be an altar to the Lord in Egypt itself; and that they, with the Assyrians shall become the people of God with the Israelites. This remains partly to be fulfilled. These countries shall be all, and perhaps at no very distant time from this, converted to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rideth - As a general in the head of his army. A swift cloud - This phrase shews that the judgment should come speedily, unexpectedly, and unavoidably. Shall be moved - So far shall they be from helping the Egyptians, that they shall tremble for themselves.

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.

The spirit - Their courage.

A fierce king - Psammetichus, who being at first one of those twelve kings, waged war with the rest, and subdued them, and conquered all the land of Egypt and ruled it with rigour.

The waters - Which may be understood either, Metaphorically, of the taking away of their dominion or commerce, &c. or rather, Properly, as may be gathered from the following words. For as the river Nile, when it had a full stream, and free course, did pour forth a vast quantity of waters by its seven famous mouths into the sea, so when that was dried up, which is expressed in the next clause, those waters did truly and properly fail from the sea. So there is no need of understanding by sea either the river Nile, or the great lake of Maeris, which, after the manner of the Hebrews, might be so called. The river - Nile: upon whose fulness and overflow both the safety and the wealth of the land depended; and therefore this was a very terrible judgment. Dried up - Not totally, but in a very great measure.

Rivers - The rivers (those rivulets by which the waters of Nile were distributed into several parts of the land) shall be turned far away, as they must needs be, when the river which fed them was dried up. Brooks - The several branches of the river Nile, which were a great defence to Egypt. Reeds - Which were useful to them for making their boats. Whither - As they commonly do for want of water.

Paper - reeds - These by a needle, or other fit instrument, were divided into thin and broad leaves, which being dried and fitted, were used at that time for writing; and consequently was a very good commodity. By brooks - And much more what was sown in more dry and unfruitful places.

Mourn - Because they could catch no fish; which was a great loss to the people, whose common diet this was.

They - That make fine linen, which was one of their best commodities.

Thereof - Of Egypt, or of the Egyptians. They shall lose their hopes; for the fishes in them shall die for want of water.

Zoan - The chief city, in which the king and court frequently resided. How - Why do you put such foolish words into Pharaoh's mouth? I am the son - Wisdom is heredity and natural to me.

Noph - Another chief city, and one of the kings seats, called also Moph, and by latter authors, Memphis. The stay - Their chief counsellors. Tribes - Of the provinces, which he calls by a title borrowed from the Hebrews, in whose language he spake and wrote this prophecy.

Mingled - Or, hath poured out or given them to drink. To err - In all their designs and undertakings. Staggereth - When he is so drunk, that he reels to and fro, and vomits up his drink.

Head, &c. - All people, both high and low, shall be at their wits end.

Women - Feeble and fearful. Because - Because they shall perceive that they do not fight with men only, but with the Lord of hosts, who now lifts up his hand against them, as he did against their forefathers.

A terror - Because of their manifold injuries against Judah, for which they now apprehend God is calling them to account. Determined - Because God is now about to execute his appointed judgments. It - Against Egypt.

In that day - After that time. In the times of the gospel. Five - A considerable number of their chief cities: a certain number being put for an uncertain. Speak - Profess the Jewish religion, agree with them in the same mind; which is fitly signified by speaking the same language. Swear - This implies the dedication, and yielding up of a person or thing to the Lord, by a solemn vow, or covenant. One - Not one of the five, but another city, the sixth city. As divers cities shall be converted and saved, so some other cities shall continue in their impenitency, and be destroyed.

An altar - The altar is put for the worship of God, as it is in many places both of the Old and New Testament. And nothing is more common in the prophets than to speak of gospel - worship in the phrases of the law. Pillar - A monument of the true religion. Here also he alludes to the ancient custom of erecting pillars to God. The border - As before, in the midst of it. The meaning is, There shall be evidences of their piety in all places.

It - The altar or pillar last mentioned. A witness - To testify that they own the Lord for their God. Cry - Being sorely distressed, they shall turn unto the true God. A great one - A great or mighty Saviour, even Christ.

Shall sacrifice - Shall worship God spiritually; which yet is signified by typical phrases.

Smite - God will afflict them and by those afflictions will convert and save them.

Assyria - They who were implacable enemies one to another, and both to the church of God, shall now be reconciled and united together in the service of God, and love to his church. Serve - The Lord.

The third - The third party, in that sacred league, whereby all of them oblige themselves to serve God. Egypt - These are named, because they were the most obstinate enemies to God's church, but they are here put for all the Gentiles. A blessing - This is peculiar to Israel, who is not only a third party, but is the most eminent of the three, as being the fountain, by which the blessing is conveyed to the other two; because Christ was to be born of them, and the gospel - church and ordinances were first established among them, and from them derived to the Gentiles. The land - Or, of those lands, Egypt and Assyria, between which Israel lay.

Whom - That is, which people, Israel, Egypt, and Assyria; of whom he speaks as of one people, because they are all united into one church. My people - This title, and those which follow, that were peculiar to the people of Israel, shall now be given to these and all other nations.

THE burden of Egypt : Behold the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud , and shall come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it .

Some Learned men conceive, that what was said more generally and darkly in the foregoing Chapter, is here more particularly and clearly explained to be meant of Egypt; it being usual for the Prophets to mix obscure and plain Passages together, and to clear the one by the other. Others understand that Chapter of Ethiopia, and this of Egypt. But this Controversie must be decided by an exact confideration of all the Passages of the former Chapter.

As a General in the Head of his Army; or, as Judge riding Circuit to execute Judgment.

Which Phrase sheweth, that the Judgment shall come speedily, unexpectedly, and unavoidably. And Clouds being very unusual in Egypt, the Appearance of a Cloud was a kind of Prodigy, and a Prognostick of some grievous Calamity.

From their Seats, and from their former Reputation. Or, shall hake or tremble. So far shall they be from helping the Egypians, as they expect, that they shall tremble for themselves; which divers of the Egyptian Gods, being living Creatures, might properly do.

They shall lose all their ancient Strength and Courage, for which they had been Famous formerly.

Marginal references: Jer. 46. 13. Ezek. 29. & 30.

2 And I will set the Egygtians 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 .

I will raise Civil Wars among them.

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.

Marginal references: Heb. mingle.

3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fall in the midst thereof: and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols , and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

Either, 1. their Courage: But of that he spake v. 1. Or, 2. their Understanding, as it is explained in the next Clause: for the Word spirit is oft put for the Reasonable Soul, as Eccles. 3. 21. & 12. 7. and for the Thoughts of the Mind, as Prov. 29. 11. Ezek. 13. 3.

As not knowing what to do, without the help of an higher Power.

Marginal references: Heb▪ shall be emptied.; Heb. swallow up.

4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the LORD, the LORD of hosts.

Either, 1. of the King of Assyria or Chaldaea; or, 2. of those twelve petty Kings, the Singular Number being put for the Plural; or▪ 3. of Psammetichus, who being at first one of those twelve Kings, waged War with the rest, and subdued them, and conquered all the Land of Egypt, and ruled it with rigour.

Marginal references: Or, shut up.

5 And the waters shall fail from the sea , and the river shall be wasted and dried up .

Which may be understood either, 1. Metaphorically, of the taking away of their Dominion or Commerce, &c. or rather, 2. Properly, as may be gathered from the following Words and Verses. For as the River Nilus, when it had a full Stream, and free Course, did pour forth a vast quantity of Waters by its seven famous Mouths into the Sea, so when that was dried up, which is expressed in the next Clause, those Waters did truly and properly fail from the Sea. So there is no need of understanding by sea either the River Nilus, or the great Lake of Moeris, which, after the manner of the Hebrews, might be so called.

To wit, Nilus, upon whose Fulness and Overflow both the Safety and the Wealth of the Land depended, as all Authors agree; and therefore this was a very terrible Judgment.

Not totally, but in a very great measure, as such Phrases are commonly used.

6 And they shall turn the rivers far away , and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither .

Which is to be taken Impersonally, as such Expressions are very frequently, for, the rivers (those small Rivolets by which the Waters of Nilus were conveyed and distributed into several Parts of the Land) shall be turned far away, as they must needs be, when the great River Nilus, which fed them, was dried up.

The several Branches of the River Nilus, which were a great Defence to Egypt, as is well known.

Which were very useful to them for making their Boats, which were absolutely necessary in that Country, and divers other things.

As they commonly do for want of Water.

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.

Which by a Needle, or other fit Instrument, were divided into thin and broad Leaves, which being dried and fitted, were used at that time for Writing, as our Paper is; and consequently was a very good Commodity.

And much more what was sown in more dry and unfruitful places.

Marginal references: Heb. and shall not be.

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.

Because they could catch few or no Fish, by which Trade they got their Living. Which also was a great Plague to the People, whose common Diet this was, because out of Superstitious Conceits they killed and eat but few Living Creatures, as appears both from Sacred and Profane Writers.

9 Moreover they that work in fine flax , and they that weave net-works shall be confounded.

That make fine Linen, which was one of their best Commodities; of which see 1 Kings 10. 28. Prov. 7. 16. Ezek. 27. 7.

Marginal references: Or, white works.

10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof , all that make sluces and ponds for fish.

i. e. Of Egypt, or of the Egyptians. They shall lose their Ends a[illegible: 1+ letters]d Hopes; for the Fishes in them shall die for want of Water.

Marginal references: Heb. foundations.; Heb. of living things.

11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellers of Pharoah is become brutish : how say ye unto Pharoah , I am the son of the wise , the son of ancient kings ?

The chief City, in which the King and Court frequently resided. See Psal. 78. 12.

Exceeding foolish, and destructive to themselves.

Why do you put such false and foolish Words into Pharaoh's Mouth?

Wisdom is hereditary and natural to me. This vain Opinion of himself they cherished by their Flatteries, although he undid himself and his People by his Folly.

He derides the Vanity of the Egyptians, who used to make great brags of the Antiquity of their Nation, and especially of their Kings, who, as they pretended, had reigned successively for above Ten thousand years. Which number of years they made up by this Craft, by making those Successive Kings, which reigned together at the same time, in their several Nomi, or Provinces.

12 Where are they? where are thy wise men ? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.

Who pretended, that either by their deep Policy, or by their Skill in Astrology or Magick, they could certainly foresee things to come.

13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived, they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.

Another chief City, and one of the King's Seats, so called also Ier. 2. 16. & 44. 1. called also Moph in the Hebrew Text, Hos. 9. 6. and by other and later Authors, Memphis.

Heb. even the corner, or, the Corner-stone, which is the chief Support of the Building. Whereby he may design, either, 1. the King; or, 2. some eminent Statesman of that Age, upon whose Counsels both King and People depended; or, 3. their chief Counsellors, the Singular Number being here put collectively, as it is in many other places.

Of the Provinces, which he calls by a Title borrowed from the Hebrews, in whose Language he spake and wrote this Prophecy.

Marginal references: Or, governors.; Heb. corn.

14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof; and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof , as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit .

Or, hath poured out or given them to drink, as appears from their Drunkenness, expressed in the end of the Verse. Which also suits with the Scripture-phrase, whereby a cup signifies God's Judgments, as Isa. 51. 17, 21, 22. Ier. 25. 15. &c.

Heb. a spirit of perversities or crookednesses; or, as the Seventy and Chaldee render it, of errour or delusion; a Disposition of Mind very apt to mistake, and to mislead them into foolish and crooked Counsels and Courses. Which God could easily effect, partly by laying Occasions of stumbling in their way, and partly by withdrawing or darkning that Wisdom which he had infused, by which alone Men can discern their Way.

In all their Designs and Undertakings.

When he is so excessively drunk, that he reels to and fro, and vomits up his Drink.

Marginal references: Heb. a spirit of perversities

15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt; which the head or tail, branch or rush may do .

All People, both high and low, shall be at their Wits end, not knowing what to do.

Marginal references: Chap. 9. 14.

16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women : and it shall be afraid and fear, because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts , which he shaketh over it.

Feeble and fearful, as it follows.

Because they shall perceive that they do not fight with Men onely, but with the Lord of Hosts, who now lifts up his Hand against them, as he did against their Forefathers, Exod. 14. the very remembrance whereof is very terrible to them.

Marginal references: Jer. 51. 30. [illegible: 1 word]. 3▪ 13.; Zech. 2. 9.

17 And the land of Judah shall be a terrour unto Egypt , every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself; because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined▪ against it .

Either, 1. because of Iudahs Calamities and Desolations: For Iudah was their Bulwark against the Assyrians and Babylonians; and when this Bulwark was removed, the Egyptians, their Neighbours and Confederates, had just cause to fear: Or, 2. because of their manifold both former and later Injuries against Iudah, for which they now apprehend that God is calling them to an account. Which Interpretation seems to be favoured by the following Words; for their fear of mentioning Iudahs Name seems to have proceeded partly from the sence of their Guilt and Miscarriages towards Iudah, and partly from their Apprehension and Experience of the irresistible Power and Justice of the God of Iudah, whom they had provoked, and who was now marching to plead his own and Iudahs Cause against them. Compare Ier. 23. 34, &c.

Because God is now about to execute his appointed Judgments.

Against Egypt.

18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan , and swear to the LORD of hosts ; one shall be called the city of destruction.

After that time, as this Phrase is used Isa. 4. 2. & 18. 7. and oft elsewhere. In the Times of the Gospel, which are oft noted in the Prophets by that very Expression.

A considerable number of their chief Cities, a certain number being put for an uncertain.

Profess the Jewish Religion, agree with them in the same Mind; which is fitly signified by speaking the same Language, because cut of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Thus the changing and purifying of a Peoples Lip, is used to signifie the change of their Hearts and Lives, Zeph. 3. 9. and praising God with one Mouth, to note their Unity or Consent in the Faith, Rom. 15. 6.

It is well observed by some Learned Interpreters, that he doth not say swear by the Lord, which is the most common Phrase, and which, being one eminent Part and Act of Worship, is put for the whole, but swear to the Lord; which Phrase is also used 2 Chron. 15▪ 14▪ Psal. 132. 2. Isa. 45. 23. and it implies the Dedication, or Oblation, and yielding up of a Person or Thing to the Lord, by a solemn Vow, or Covenant, or Oath, as appears by the Places now quoted. In like manner God is said to swear to a Man, Deut. 26. 15. and one Man to another, Gen. 21. 23. when they oblige themselves by Oath to do such or such a thing for them. And therefore what is called swearing to God, Isa. 45. 23. is rendred or expounded bowing the knee (which signifies the subjection of a mans self) to God, and confessing to God, Rom. 14. 11.

Not one of the five, for they are supposed to be saved in the foregoing Clause▪ but one City, or another City, the sixth City. As divers Cities shall be converted and saved, so some other Cities shall continue in their Impenitency, and be destroyed. Others render this Clause thus, One of them shall be called (or, shall be; for, to be called is oft put for to be) the city of the sun; or, as the Graecians call it, Heliopolis; which the Egyptians called On, Gen. 41. 45. which was a very eminent City, and a chief Seat of Idolatry, being a City of Priests, as Strabo reports; and therefore its Conversion to the Faith was more wonderful.

Marginal references: Heb. the lip.; [illegible: 1 word], of Heres, [illegible: 1 word], of the sun.

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 to the LORD.

For God's Worship; not a Levitical, but a Spiritual and Evangelical Altar, as appears from hence, because that was confined to one place, Deut. 12. 13, 14. The altar is put for the Worship of God, as it is in many places both of the Old and New Testament, And nothing is more common in the Prophets than to speak of Gospel-worship in the Phrases of the Law.

A Monument of the True Religion. Here also he alludes to the ancient Custom of erecting Pillars to God; of which see Gen. 12. 7. & 28. 18, &c. Ios. 22. 10. & 24. 26, 27.

As before, in the midst of it. The meaning is, There shall be Evidences of their Piety in all Places.

20 And it shall be for a sign, and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors , and he shall send them a Saviour and a great one , and he shall deliver them.

The Altar or Pillar last mentioned.

To testifie that they own the Lord for their God.

Being sorely distressed, and finding the weakness of their Idols, they shall turn unto the True God.

A great or mighty Saviour, by a common Figure called Hendiaduo, as a cloud and smoke is put for a smokie cloud, Isa. 4. 5. or, a Saviour and a Prince, even Christ, who is so called Act. 5. 31. as is evident from the whole Context, which apparently speaks of Gospeltimes. And the emphatical Phrase here used, directed them to look for an extraordinary Saviour.

Marginal references: See Jos. [illegible: 1+ letters]. 20, 21. & 22. 27.

21 And 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 .

Shall acknowledge, and love, and serve them; for Words of Knowledge in Scripture commonly include Affection and Practice, as hath been often observed.

Shall worship God spiritually; which yet is signified by Typical Phrases, as it is Mal. 1. 11. and in many other Places.

They shall not onely profess and promise Piety, but shall seriously and diligently practice it.

22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt, he shall smite and heal it , and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.

God will afflict them by Oppressours, v. 20. and otherwise; and by those Afflictions he will convert and save them.

23 In that day shall there be a high-way out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Epypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria , and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.

They who were implacable Enemies one to another, and both to the Church and People of God, shall now be reconciled and united together in the Service of God, and Love to his Church.

To wit; the Lord; who is easily understood from v. 21. & 25.

Marginal references: Ch. 11. 16.

24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt, and with Assyria , even a blessing in the midst of the land :

The third Party, to wit, in that sacred League, whereby all of them oblige themselves to God.

These People are named, because they were the most obstinate and malicious Enemies to God's Church, and therefore in a special manner accursed by God; but they are here put Syncchdochically for all the Gentiles.

This is peculiar to Israel, who is not onely a third Party, as the others are, but is the most eminent and blessed of the three, as being the Fountain, or rather the Conduit-pipe, by which the Blessing is conveyed to the other two, because Christ was to be born of them, and the Gospel-Church and Ordinances were first established among them, and from them derived to the Gentiles.

Or, of the earth. Which may be added, to imply, that God's Blessing should be convey'd from and by Israel, not onely to the Egyptians and the Assyrians, but to all the Nations of the Earth, in the midst of which the Land of Israel might well be said to lie. Or, of that land, of which I am here speaking; or, the Singular Number being put for the Plural, of those lands, Egypt and Assyria, between which Israel lay.

25 Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless , saying, Blessed be Egypt my people , and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

Whom. i. e. which People, to wit, Israel, Egypt, and Assyria, expressed both in the foregoing Verse, and in the following Clause of this Verse; of whom he speaks as of one People, in the Singular Number, because they are all united into one Body and Church. Or, For, or Because (as this Particle is taken 1 Sam. 15. 15. and elsewhere) the Lord of hosts shall bless him or them. So this is added as a Reason why he said, Israel should be a Blessing to them all.

This Title, and those which follow, that were peculiar to the People of Israel, shall now be given to these and all other Nations of the World.

Isa 19:1

The oracle opens with a short introduction, condensing the whole of the substance of the first half into a few weighty words - an art in which Isaiah peculiarly excelled. In this the name of Egypt, the land without an equal, occurs no less than three times. “Behold, Jehovah rideth upon a light cloud, and cometh to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt shake before Him, and the heart of Egypt melteth within it.” Jehovah rides upon clouds when He is about to reveal Himself in His judicial majesty (Psa 18:11); and in this instance He rides upon a light cloud, because it will take place rapidly. The word kal signifies both light and swift, because what is light moves swiftly; and even a light cloud, which is light because it is thin, is comparatively עב, i.e., literally dense, opaque, or obscure. The idols of Egypt shake נוּע, as in Isa 6:4; Isa 7:2), because Jehovah comes over them to judgment (cf., Exo 12:12; Jer 46:25; Eze 30:13): they must shake, for they are to be thrown down; and their shaking for fear is a shaking to their fall נוּע, as in Isa 24:20; Isa 29:9). The Vav apodosis in ונעוּ together the cause and effect, as in Isa 6:7. - In what judgments the judgment will be fulfilled, is now declared by the majestic Judge Himself.

Isa 19:2-4 “And I spur Egypt against Egypt: and they go to war, every one with his brother, and every one with his neighbour; city against city, kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt is emptied out within it: and I swallow up its ready counsel; and they go to the idols to inquire, and to the mutterers, and to the oracle-spirits, and to the soothsayers. And I shut up Egypt in the hand of a hard rule; and a fierce king will reign over them, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.” Civil war will rage in Egypt (on sicsēc, see at Isa 9:10). The people once so shrewd are now at their wits’ end; their spirit is quite poured out נבקה, with the reduplication removed, for נבקּה, according to Ges. §68, Anm. 11 - as, for example, in Gen 11:7; Eze 41:7), so that there is nothing left of either intelligence or resolution. Then (and this is also part of the judgment) they turn for help, in counsel and action, where no help is to be found, viz., to their “nothings” of gods, and the manifold demoniacal arts, of which Egypt could boast of being the primary seat. On the names of the practisers of the black art, see Isa 8:19; 'ittim, the mutterers, is from 'âtat, to squeak (used of a camel-saddle, especially when new), or to rumble (used of an empty stomach): see Lane’s Lexicon. But all this is of no avail: Jehovah gives them up (סכּר, syn. הסגּיר, συγκλείειν to be ruled over by a hard-hearted and cruel king. The prophecy does not relate to a foreign conqueror, so as to lead us to think of Sargon (Knobel) or Cambyses (Luzzatto), but to a native despot. In comparing the prophecy with the fulfilment, we must bear in mind that Isa 19:2 relates to the national revolution which broke out in Sais, and resulted in the overthrow of the Ethiopian rule, and to the federal dodekarchy to which the rising of the nation led. “Kingdom against kingdom:” this exactly suits those twelve small kingdoms into which Egypt was split up after the overthrow of the Ethiopian dynasty in the year 695, until Psammetichus, the dodekarch of Sais, succeeded in the year 670 in comprehending these twelve states once more under a single monarchy. This very Psammetichus (and the royal house of Psammetichus generally) is the hard ruler, the reckless despot. He succeeded in gaining the battle at Momemphis, by which he established himself in the monarchy, through having first of all strengthened himself with mercenary troops from Ionia, Caria, and Greece. From his time downwards, the true Egyptian character was destroyed by the admixture of foreign elements;See Leo, Universalgesch. i. 152, and what Brugsch says in his Histoire d'Egypte, i. 250, with regard to the brusques changements that Egypt endured under Psammetichus. and this occasioned the emigration of a large portion of the military caste to Meroe. The Egyptian nation very soon came to feel how oppressive this new dynasty was, when Necho (616-597), the son and successor of Psammetichus, renewed the project of Ramses-Miamun, to construct a Suez canal, and tore away 120,000 of the natives of the land from their homes, sending them to wear out their lives in forced labour of the most wearisome kind. A revolt on the part of the native troops, who had been sent against the rising Cyrene, and driven back into the desert, led to the overthrow of Hophra, the grandson of Necho (570), and put an end to the hateful government of the family of Psammetichus.

Isa 19:5-10

The prophet then proceeds to foretell another misfortune which was coming upon Egypt: the Nile dries up, and with this the fertility of the land disappears. “And the waters will dry up from the sea, and the river is parched and dried. And the arms of the river spread a stench; the channels of Matzor become shallow and parched: reed and rush shrivel up. The meadows by the Nile, on the border of the Nile, and every corn-field of the Nile, dries up, is scattered, and disappears. And the fishermen groan, and all who throw draw-nets into the Nile lament, and they that spread out the net upon the face of the waters languish away. And the workers of fine combed flax are confounded, and the weavers of cotton fabrics. And the pillars of the land are ground to powder; all that work for wages are troubled in mind.” In Isa 19:5 the Nile is called yâm (a sea), just as Homer calls it Oceanus, which, as Diodorus observes, was the name given by the natives to the river (Egypt. oham). The White Nile is called bahr el-abyad (the White Sea), the Blue Nile bahr el-azrak, and the combined waters bahr eṅNil, or, in the language of the Besharîn, as here in Isaiah, yām. And in the account of the creation, in Gen 1, <, yammim is the collective name for great seas and rivers. But the Nile itself is more like an inland sea than a river, from the point at which the great bodies of water brought down by the Blue Nile and the White Nile, which rises a few weeks later, flow together; partly on account of its great breadth, and partly also because of its remaining stagnant throughout the dry season. It is not till the tropical rains commence that the swelling river begins to flow more rapidly, and the yâm becomes a nâhâr. But when, as is here threatened, the Nile sea and Nile river in Upper Egypt sink together and dry up (nisshethu, niphal either of shâthath = nâshattu, to set, to grow shallow; or more probably from nâshath, to dry up, since Isa 41:17 and Jer 51:30 warrant the assumption that there was such a verb), the mouths (or arms) of the Nile (nehâr), which flow through the Delta, and the many canals (ye'orim), by which the benefits of the overflow are conveyed to the Nile valley, are turned into stinking puddles (האזניחוּ, a hiphil, half substantive half verbal, unparalleled elsewhere,It is not unparalleled as a hiph. denom. (compare הצהיר, oil, יצהר, to press, Job 24:11, Talm. התליע, to become worm-eaten, and many others of a similar kind); and as a mixed form (possibly a mixture of two readings, as Gesenius and Böttcher suppose, though it is not necessarily so), the language admitted of much that was strange, more especially in the vulgar tongue, which found its way here and there into written composition. signifying to spread a stench; possibly it may have been used in the place of הזניח, from אזנח or אזנח, stinking, to which a different application was given in ordinary use). In all probability it is not without intention that Isaiah uses the expression Mâtzor, inasmuch as he distinguishes Mâzort from Pathros (Isa 11:11), i.e., Lower from Upper Egypt (Egyp. sa-het, the low land, and sa-res, the higher land), the two together being Mitzrayim. And ye'orim (by the side of nehâroth) we are warranted in regarding as the name given of the Nile canals. The canal system in Egypt and the system of irrigation are older than the invasion of the Hyksos (vid., Lepsius, in Herzog’s Cyclopaedia). On the other hand, ye'ōr in Isa 19:7 (where it is written three times plene, as it is also in Isa 19:8) is the Egyptian name of the Nile generally (yaro).From the fact that aur in old Egyptian means the Nile, we may explain the Φρουορῶ ἤτοι Νεῖλος, with which the Laterculus of Eratosthenes closes.

It is repeated emphatically three times, like Mitzrayim in Isa 19:1. Parallel to mizra‛, but yet different from it, is ערות, from ערה, to be naked or bare, which signifies, like many derivatives of the synonymous word in Arabic, either open spaces, or as here, grassy tracts by the water-side, i.e., meadows. Even the meadows, which lie close to the water-side (pi = ora, as in Psa 133:2, not ostium), and all the fields, become so parched, that they blow away like ashes.

Then the three leading sources from which Egypt derived its maintenance all fail: - viz. the fishing; the linen manufacture, which supplied dresses for the priests and bandages for mummies; and the cotton manufacture, by which all who were not priests were supplied with clothes. The Egyptian fishery was very important. In the Berlin Museum there is an Egyptian micmoreth with lead attached. The mode of working the flax by means of serikâh, pectinatio (compare סרוק, wool-combs, Kelim, 12, 2), is shown on the monuments. In the Berlin Museum there are also Egyptian combs of this description with which the flax was carded. The productions of the Egyptian looms were celebrated in antiquity: chōrây, lit., white cloth (singularet. with the old termination ay), is the general name for cotton fabrics, or the different kinds of byssus that were woven there (compare the βυσσίνων ὀθονίων of the Rosetta inscription). All the castes, from the highest to the lowest, are not thrown into agonies of despair. The shâthōth (an epithet that was probably suggested by the thought of shethi, a warp, Syr. 'ashti, to weave, through the natural association of ideas), i.e., the “pillars” of the land (with a suffix relating to Mitzrayim, see at Isa 3:8, and construed as a masculine as at Psa 11:3), were the highest castes, who were the direct supporters of the state edifice; and שׂכר עשׂי cannot mean the citizens engaged in trade, i.e., the middle classes, but such of the people as hired themselves to the employers of labour, and therefore lived upon wages and not upon their own property (שׂכר is used here as in Pro 11:18, and not as equivalent to סכר, the dammers-up of the water for the purpose of catching the fish, like סכרין, Kelim, 23, 5).

Isa 19:11-13

The prophet now dwells upon the punishment which falls upon the pillars of the land, and describes it in Isa 19:11-13 : “The princes of Zoan become mere fools, the wise counsellors of Pharaoh; readiness in counsel is stupefied. How can ye say to Pharaoh, I am a son of wise men, a son of kings of the olden time? Where are they then, thy wise men? Let them announce to thee, and know what Jehovah of hosts hath determined concerning Egypt. The princes of Zoan have become fools, the princes of Memphis are deceived; and they have led Egypt astray who are the corner-stone of its castes.” The two constructives יעצי חכמי do not stand in a subordinate relation, but in a co-ordinate one (see at Psa 78:9 and Job 20:17; compare also 2Ki 17:13, Keri), viz., “the wise men, counsellors of Pharaoh,”Pharaoh does not mean “the king” (equivalent to the Coptic π-ουρο), but according to Brugsch, “great house” (Upper Egyptian perâa, Lower Egyptian pher-âo; vid.,aus dem Orient, i. 36). Lauth refers in confirmation of this to Horapollo, i. 62, ὄφις καὶ οἶκος μέγας ἐν μέσω αὐτοῦ σημαίνει βασιλέα, and explains this Coptic name for a king from that of the Οὐραῖος (βασιλίσκος) upon the head of the king, which was a specifically regal sign. so that the second noun is the explanatory permutative of the first. Zoan is the Tanis of primeval times (Num 13:22), which was situated on one of the arms through which the Nile flows into the sea (viz., the ostium Taniticum), and was the home from which two dynasties sprang. Noph (per aphaer. = Menoph, contracted into Moph in Hos 9:6) is Memphis, probably the seat of the Pharaohs in the time of Joseph, and raised by Psammetichus into the metropolis of the whole kingdom. The village of Mitrahenni still stands upon its ruins, with the Serapeum to the north-west.What the lexicons say with reference to Zoan and Noph needs rectifying. Zoan (old Egyptian Zane, with the hieroglyphic of striding legs, Copt. 'Gane) points back to the radical idea of pelli or fugere; and according to the latest researches, to which the Turin papyrus No. 112 has led, it is the same as Αὔαρις (Ἄβαρις), which is said to mean the house of flight (Ha-uare), and was the seat of government under the Hykshōs. But Memphis is not equivalent to Ma-m-ptah, as Champollion assumed (although this city is unquestionably sometimes called Ha-ka-ptah, house of the essential being of Ptah); it is rather equivalent to Men-nefer (with the hieroglyphic of the pyramids), place of the good (see Brugsch, Histoire d'Egypte, i. 17). In the later language it is called pa-nuf or ma-nuf, which has the same meaning (Copt. nufi, good). Hence Moph is the contraction of the name commencing with ma, and Noph the abbreviation of the name commencing with ma or pa by the rejection of the local prefix; for we cannot for a moment think of Nup, which is the second district of Upper Egypt (Brugsch, Geogr. i. 66). Noph is undoubtedly Memphis.

Consequently princes of Zoan and Memphis are princes of the chief cities of the land, and of the supposed primeval pedigree; probably priest-princes, since the wisdom of the Egyptian priest was of world-wide renown (Herod. ii. 77, 260), and the oldest kings of Egypt sprang from the priestly caste. Even in the time of Hezekiah, when the military caste had long become the ruling one, the priests once more succeeded in raising one of their own number, namely Sethos, to the throne of Sais. These magnates of Egypt, with their wisdom, would be turned into fools by the history of Egypt of the immediate future; and (this is the meaning of the sarcastic “how can ye say”) they would no longer trust themselves to boast of their hereditary priestly wisdom, or their royal descent, when giving counsel to Pharaoh. They were the corner-stone of the shebâtim, i.e., of the castes of Egypt (not of the districts or provinces, νομοί); but instead of supporting and defending their people, it is now very evident that they only led them astray. התעוּ, as the Masora on Isa 19:15 observes, has no Vav cop.

Isa 19:14-15

In Isa 19:14 and Isa 19:15 this state of confusion is more minutely described: “Jehovah hath poured a spirit of giddiness into the heart of Egypt, so that they have led Egypt astray in all its doing, as a drunken man wandereth about in his vomit. And there does not occur of Egypt any work, which worked, of head and tail, palm-branch and rush.” The spirit which God pours out (as it also said elsewhere) is not only a spirit of salvation, but also a spirit of judgment. The judicial, penal result which He produces is here called עועים, which is formed from עועו (root עו, to curve), and is either contracted from עועוים, or points back to a supposed singular עועה (vid., Ewald, §158,b). The suffix in b'kribâh points to Egypt. The divine spirit of judgment makes use of the imaginary wisdom of the priestly caste, and thereby plunges the people, as it were, into the giddiness of intoxication. The prophet employs the hiphil התעה to denote the carefully considered actions of the leaders of the nation, and the niphal נתעה to denote the constrained actions of a drunken man, who has lost all self-control. The nation has been so perverted by false counsels and hopes, that it lies there like a drunken man in his own vomit, and gropes and rolls about, without being able to find any way of escape. “No work that worked,” i.e., that averted trouble (עשׂה is as emphatic as in Dan 8:24), was successfully carried out by any one, either by the leaders of the nation or by the common people and their flatterers, either by the upper classes or by the mob.

Isa 19:16-17

The result of all these plagues, which were coming upon Egypt, would be fear of Jehovah and of the people of Jehovah. “In that day will the Egyptians become like women, and tremble and be alarmed at the swinging of the hand of Jehovah of hosts, which He sets in motion against it. And the land of Judah becomes a shuddering for Egypt; as often as they mention this against Egypt, it is alarmed, because of the decree of Jehovah of hosts, that He suspendeth over it.” The swinging (tenuphâh) of the hand (Isa 30:32) points back to the foregoing judgments, which have fallen upon Egypt blow after blow. These humiliations make the Egyptians as soft and timid as women (tert. compar., not as in Isa 13:7-8; Isa 21:3-4). And the sacred soil of Judah ('adâmâh, as in Isa 14:1-2; Isa 32:13), which Egypt has so often made the scene of war, throws them into giddiness, into agitation at the sight of terrors, whenever it is mentioned (אשׁר כּל, cf., 1Sa 2:13, lit., “whoever,” equivalent to “as often as any one,” Ewald, §337, 3, f; חגּא is written according to the Aramaean form, with Aleph for He, like זרא) in Num 11:20, קרחא in Ezek. 37:31, compare כּלּא, Eze 36:5, and similar in form to חפה in Isa 4:5).

The author of the plagues is well known to them, their faith in the idols is shaken, and the desire arises in their heart to avert fresh plagues by presents to Jehovah.

Isa 19:18

At first there is only slavish fear; but there is the beginning of a turn to something better. “In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing to Jehovah of hosts: 'Ir ha-Heres will one be called.” Five cities are very few for Egypt, which was completely covered with cities; but this is simply a fragmentary commencement of Egypt’s future and complete conversion. The description given of them, as beginning to speak the language of Canaan, i.e., the sacred language of the worship of Jehovah (comp. Zep 3:9), and to give themselves up to Jehovah with vows made on oath, is simply a periphrastic announcement of the conversion of the five cities. ל נשׁבּע (different from בּ נשׁבּע, Isa 65:16, as Isa 45:23 clearly shows) signifies to swear to a person, to promise him fidelity, to give one’s self up to him. One of these five will be called ‛Ir ha-Heres. As this is evidently intended for a proper name, lâ'echât does not mean unicuique, as in Jdg 8:18 and Eze 1:6, but uni. It is a customary thing with Isaiah to express the nature of anything under the form of some future name (vid., Isa 4:3; Isa 32:5; Isa 61:6; Isa 62:4). The name in this instance, therefore, must have a distinctive and promising meaning.

But what does ‛Ir ha-Heres mean? The Septuagint has changed it into πόλις ἀσεδέκ, equivalent to ‛Ir hazzedek (city of righteousness), possibly in honour of the temple in the Heliopolitan nomos, which was founded under Ptolemaeus Philometor about 160 b.c., during the Syrian reign of terror, by Onias IV, son of the high priest Onias III, who emigrated to Egypt.See Frankel on this Egyptian auxiliary temple, in his Monatschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums, 1852, p. 273ff.; Herzfeld, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, iii. 460ff., 557ff.; and Grätz, Geschichte der Juden, iii. 36ff.

Maurer in his Lexicon imagines that he has found the true meaning, when he renders it “city of rescue;” but the progressive advance from the meaning “to pull off' to that of “setting free” cannot be established in the case of the verb hâras; in fact, hâras does not mean to pull off or pull out, but to pull down. Heres cannot have any other meaning in Hebrew than that of “destruction.” But as this appears unsuitable, it is more natural to read ‛Ir ha-cheres (which is found in some codices, though in opposition to the Masora).But no Greek codex has the reading πόλις ἀχερές (see Holmes-Parsons’ V. T. Graecum c. var. lect. t. iv. on this passage), as the Complutensian has emended it after the Vulgate (see the Vocabluarium Hebr. 37 a, belonging to the Complutensian).

This is now generally rendered “city of protection” (Rosenmüller, Ewald, Knobel, and Meier), as being equivalent to an Arabic word signifying divinitus protecta. But such an appeal to the Arabic is contrary to all Hebrew usage, and is always a very precarious loophole. ‛Ir ha-cheres would mean “city of the sun” (cheres as in Job 9:7 and Jdg 14:18), as the Talmud in the leading passage concerning the Onias temple (in b. Menahoth 110 a) thinks that even the received reading may be understood in accordance with Job 9:7, and says “it is a description of the sun.” “Sun-city” was really the name of one of the most celebrated of the old Egyptian cities, viz., Heliopolis, the city of the sun-god Ra, which was situated to the north-east of Memphis, and is called On in other passages of the Old Testament. Ezekiel (Eze 30:17) alters this into Aven, for the purpose of branding the idolatry of the city.Heliopolis answers to the sacred name Pe - ra, house of the sun-god (like Pe - Ramesses, house of Ramses), which was a name borne by the city that was at other times called On (old Egyptian anu). Cyrill, however, explains even the latter thus, Ὤν δέ ἐστι κατ ̓ αὐτοὺς ὁ ἤλιος (“On, according to their interpretation, is the sun”), which is so far true according to Lauth, that Ain, Oin, Oni, signifies the eye as an emblem of the sun; and from this, the tenth month, which marks the return of the sun to the equinoctial point, derives its name of Pa-oni, Pa-one, Pa-uni. It may possibly be with reference to this that Heliopolis is called Ain es-sems in Arabic (see Arnold, Chrestom. Arab. p. 56 s.). Edrisi (iii. 3) speaks of this Ain es-sems as “the country-seat of Pharaoh, which may God curse;” just as Bin el-Faraun is a common expression of contempt, which the Arabs apply to the Coptic fellahs.

But this alteration of the well-attested text is a mistake; and the true explanation is, that Ir-hahares is simply used with a play upon the name Ir-hacheres. This is the explanation given by the Targum: “Heliopolis, whose future fate will be destruction.” But even if the name is intended to have a distinctive and promising meaning, it is impossible to adopt the explanation given by Luzzatto, “a city restored from the ruins;” for the name points to destruction, not to restoration. Moreover, Heliopolis never has been restored since the time of its destruction, which Strabo dates as far back as the Persian invasion. There is nothing left standing now out of all its monuments but one granite obelisk: they are all either destroyed, or carried away, like the so-called “Cleopatra’s Needle,” or sunk in the soil of the Nile (Parthey on Plutarch, de Iside, p. 162). This destruction cannot be the one intended. But hâras is the word commonly used to signify the throwing down of heathen altars (Jdg 6:25; 1Ki 18:30; 1Ki 19:10, 1Ki 19:14); and the meaning of the prophecy may be, that the city which had hitherto been ‛Ir-ha-cheres, the chief city of the sun-worship, would become the city of the destruction of idolatry, as Jeremiah prophesies in Isa 43:13, “Jehovah will break in pieces the obelisks of the sun-temple in the land of Egypt.” Hence Herzfeld’s interpretation: “City of demolished Idols”. It is true that in this case ha-heres merely announces the breaking up of the old, and does not say what new thing will rise upon the ruins of the old; but the context leaves no doubt as to this new thing, and the one-sided character of the description is to be accounted for from the intentional play upon the actual name of that one city out of the five to which the prophet gives especial prominence. With this interpretation - for which indeed we cannot pretend to find any special confirmation in the actual fulfilment in the history of the church, and, so to speak, the history of missions - the train of thought in the prophet’s mind which led to the following groove of promises is a very obvious one.

Isa 19:19-20

The allusion to the sun-city, which had become the city of destruction, led to the mazzeboth or obelisks (see Jer 43:13), which were standing there on the spot where Ra was worshipped. “In that day there stands an altar consecrated to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and an obelisk near the border of the land consecrated to Jehovah. And a sign and a witness for Jehovah of hosts is this in the land of Egypt: when they cry to Jehovah for oppressors, He will send them a helper and champion, and deliver them.” This is the passage of Isaiah (not v. 18) to which Onias IV appealed, when he sought permission of Ptolemaeus Philometor to build a temple of Jehovah in Egypt. He built such a temple in the nomos of Heliopolis, 180 stadia (22 1/2 miles) to the north-east of Memphis (Josephus, Bell. vii. 10, 3), and on the foundation and soil of the ὀχύρωμα in Leontopolis, which was dedicated to Bubastis (Ant. xiii. 3, 1, 2).We are acquainted with two cities called Leontopolis, viz., the capital of the nomos called by its name, which was situated between the Busiritic and the Tanitic nomoi; and a second between Herōōn-poils and Magdōlon (see Brugsch, Geogr. i. 262). The Leontopolis of Josephus, however, must have been another, or third. It may possibly have derived its name, as Lauth conjectures, from the fact that the goddess Bast (from which comes Boubastos, House of Bast) was called Pacht when regarded in her destructive character (Todtenbuch, 164, 12). The meaning of the name is “lioness,” and, as her many statues show, she was represented with a lion’s head. At the same time, the boundaries of the districts fluctuated, and the Heliopolitan Leontopolis of Josephus may have originally belonged to the Bubastic district.

This temple, which was altogether unlike the temple of Jerusalem in its outward appearance, being built in the form of a castle, and which stood for more than two hundred years (from 160 b.c. to a.d. 71, when it was closed by command of Vespasian), was splendidly furnished and much frequented; but the recognition of it was strongly contested both in Palestine and Egypt. It was really situated “in the midst of the land of Egypt.” But it is out of the question to seek in this temple for the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah, from the simple fact that it was by Jews and for Jews that it was erected. And where, in that case, would the obelisk be, which, as Isaiah prophesies, was to stand on the border of Egypt, i.e., on the side towards the desert and Canaan? The altar was to be “a sign” ('oth) that there were worshippers of Jehovah in Egypt; and the obelisk a “witness” (‛ēd) that Jehovah had proved Himself, to Egypt’s salvation, to be the God of the gods of Egypt. And now, if they who erected this place of worship and this monument cried to Jehovah, He would show Himself ready to help them; and they would no longer cry in vain, as they had formerly done to their own idols (Isa 19:3). Consequently it is the approaching conversion of the native Egyptians that is here spoken of. The fact that from the Grecian epoch Judaism became a power in Egypt, is certainly not unconnected with this. But we should be able to trace this connection more closely, if we had any information as to the extent to which Judaism had then spread among the natives, which we do know to have been by no means small. The therapeutae described by Philo, which were spread through all the nomoi of Egypt, were of a mixed Egypto-Jewish character (vid., Philo, Opp. ii. p. 474, ed. Mangey). It was a victory on the part of the religion of Jehovah, that Egypt was covered with Jewish synagogues and coenobia even in the age before Christ. And Alexandra was the place where the law of Jehovah was translated into Greek, and thus made accessible to the heathen world, and where the religion of Jehovah created for itself those forms of language and thought, under which it was to become, as Christianity, the religion of the world. And after the introduction of Christianity into the world, there were more than one mazzebah (obelisk) that were met with on the way from Palestine to Egypt, even by the end of the first century, and more than one mizbeach (altar) found in the heart of Egypt itself. The importance of Alexandria and of the monasticism and anachoretism of the peninsula of Sinai and also of Egypt, in connection with the history of the spread of Christianity, is very well known.

Isa 19:21-22

When Egypt became the prey of Islam in the year 640, there was already to be seen, at all events in the form of a magnificent prelude, the fulfilment of what the prophet foretells in Isa 19:21, Isa 19:22 : “And Jehovah makes Himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians know Jehovah in that day; and they serve with slain-offerings and meat-offerings, and vow vows to Jehovah, and pay them. And Jehovah smites Egypt, smiting and healing; and if they return to Jehovah, He suffers Himself to be entreated, and heals them.” From that small commencement of five cities, and a solitary altar, and one solitary obelisk, it has now come to this: Jehovah extends the knowledge of Himself to the whole of Egypt ענודע, reflective se cognoscendum dare, or neuter innotescere), and throughout all Egypt there arises the knowledge of God, which soon shows itself in acts of worship. This worship is represented by the prophet, just as we should expect according to the Old Testament view, as consisting in the offering of bleeding and bloodless, or legal and free-will offerings: ועבדוּ, viz., את־יהוה, so that עבד is construed with a double accusative, as in Exo 10:26, cf., Gen 30:29; or it may possibly be used directly in the sense of sacrificing, as in the Phoenician, and like עשׂה in the Thorah; and even if we took it in this sense, it would yield no evidence against Isaiah’s authorship (compare Isa 28:21; Isa 32:17). Egypt, though converted, is still sinful; but Jehovah smites it, “smiting and healing” (nâgoph verâpho', compare 1Ki 20:37), so that in the act of smiting the intention of healing prevails; and healing follows the smiting, since the chastisement of Jehovah leads it to repentance. Thus Egypt is now under the same plan of salvation as Israel (e.g., Lev 26:44; Deu 32:36).

Isa 19:23

Asshur, as we already know from Isa 18:1-7, is equally humbled; so that now the two great powers, which have hitherto only met as enemies, meet in the worship of Jehovah, which unites them together. “In that day a road will run from Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur comes into Egypt, and Egypt to Asshur; and Egypt worships (Jehovah)with Asshur.” את is not a sign of the accusative, for there can be no longer any idea of the subjection of Egypt to Asshur: on the contrary, it is a preposition indicating fellowship; and עבדוּ is used in the sense of worship, as in Isa 19:21. Friendly intercourse is established between Egypt and Assyria by the fact that both nations are now converted to Jehovah. The road of communication runs through Canaan.

Isa 19:24-25

Thus is the way prepared for the highest point of all, which the prophet foretells in Isa 19:24, Isa 19:25 : “In that day will Israel be the third part to Egypt and Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the earth, since Jehovah of hosts blesseth them thus: Blessed be thou, my people Egypt; and thou Asshur, the work of my hands; and thou Israel, mine inheritance.” Israel is added to the covenant between Egypt and Asshur, so that it becomes a tripartite covenant in which Israel forms the “third part” (sheilshiyyâh, tertia pars, like ‛ası̄ryyâh, decima pars, in Isa 6:13). Israel has now reached the great end of its calling - to be a blessing in “the midst of the earth” (b'kereb hâ'âretz, in the whole circuit of the earth), all nations being here represented by Egypt and Assyria. Hitherto it had been only to the disadvantage of Israel to be situated between Egypt and Assyria. The history of the Ephraimitish kingdom, as well as that of Judah, clearly proves this. If Israel relied upon Egypt, it deceived itself, and was deceived; and if it relied on Assyria, it only became the slave of Assyria, and had Egypt for a foe. Thus Israel was in a most painful vise between the two great powers of the earth, the western and the eastern powers. But how will all this be altered now! Egypt and Assyria become one in Jehovah, and Israel the third in the covenant. Israel is lo longer the only nation of God, the creation of God, the heir of God; but all this applies to Egypt and Assyria now, as well as to Israel. To give full expression to this, Israel’s three titles of honour are mixed together, and each of the three nations receives one of the choice names - nachali, “my inheritance,” being reserved for Israel, as pointing back to its earliest history. This essential equalization of the heathen nations and Israel is no degradation to the latter. For although from this time forward there is to be no essential difference between the nations in their relation to God, it is still the God of Israel who obtains this universal recognition, and the nation of Israel that has become, according to the promise, the medium of blessing to the world.

Thus has the second half of the prophecy ascended step by step from salvation to salvation, as the first descended step by step from judgment to judgment. The culminating point in Isa 19:25 answers to the lowest point in Isa 19:15. Every step in the ascending half is indicated by the expression “in that day.” Six times do we find this sign-post to the future within the limits of Isa 19:16-25. This expression is almost as characteristic of Isaiah as the corresponding expression, “Behold, the days come” (hinneh yâm bâ'im), is of Jeremiah (compare, for example, Isa 7:18-25). And it is more particularly in the promising or Messianic portions of the prophecy that it is so favourite an introduction (Isa 11:10-11; Isa 12:1; compare Zech). Nevertheless, the genuineness of Isa 19:16-25 has recently been called in question, more especially by Hitzig. Sometimes this passage has not been found fanatical enough to have emanated from Isaiah, i.e., too free from hatred towards the heathen; whereas, on the other hand, Knobel adduces evidence that the prophet was no fanatic at all. Sometimes it is too fanatical; in reply to which we observe, that there never was a prophet of God in the world who did not appear to a “sound human understanding” to be beside himself, since, even assuming that this human understanding be sound, it is only within the four sides of its own peculiar province that it is so. Again, in Isa 19:18, Isa 19:19, a prophecy has been discovered which is too special to be Isaiah’s, in opposition to which Knobel proves that it is not so special as is supposed. But it is quite special enough; and this can never astonish any one who can discern in the prophecy a revelation of the future communicated by God, whereas in itself it neither proves nor disproves the authorship of Isaiah. So far as the other arguments adduced against the genuineness are concerned, they have been answered exhaustively by Caspari, in a paper which he contributed on the subject to the Lutherische Zeitschrift, 1841, 3. Hävernick, in his Introduction, has not been able to do anything better than appropriate the arguments adduced by Caspari. And we will not repeat for a third time what has been said twice already. The two halves of the prophecy are like the two wings of a bird. And it is only through its second half that the prophecy becomes the significant centre of the Ethiopic and Egyptian trilogy. For chapter 19 predicts the saving effect that will be produced upon Egypt by the destruction of Assyria. And Isa 19:23. announces what will become of Assyria. Assyria will also pass through judgment to salvation. This eschatological conclusion to chapter 19, in which Egypt and Assyria are raised above themselves into representatives of the two halves of the heathen world, is the golden clasp which connects chapters 19 and Isa 20:1-6. We now turn to this third portion of the trilogy, which bears the same relation to chapter 19 as Isa 16:13-14 to Isaiah 15-16:12. In passing to our exposition of the book, the first thing which strikes us is its traditional title - Yeshaiah (Isaiah). In the book itself, and throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, the prophet is called Yeshayahu; and the shorter form is found in the latest books as the name of other persons. It was a common thing in the very earliest times for the shorter forms of such names to be used interchangeably with the longer; but in later times the shorter was the only form employed, and for this reason it was the one adopted in the traditional title. The name is a compound one, and signifies “Jehovah’s salvation.” The prophet was conscious that it was not merely by accident that he bore this name; for ישׁע (he shall save) and ישׁוּעה (salvation) are among his favourite words. It may be said, in fact, that he lived and moved altogether in the coming salvation, which was to proceed from Jehovah, and would be realized hereafter, when Jehovah should come at last to His people as He had never come before. This salvation was the goal of the sacred history (Heilsgeschichte, literally, history of salvation); and Jehovah was the peculiar name of God in relation to that history. It denotes “the existing one,” not however “the always existing,” i.e., eternal, as Bunsen and the Jewish translators render it, but “existing evermore,” i.e., filling all history, and displaying His glory therein in grace and truth. The ultimate goal of this historical process, in which God was ever ruling as the absolutely free One, according to His own self-assertion in Exo 3:14, was true and essential salvation, proceeding outwards from Israel, and eventually embracing all mankind. In the name of the prophet the tetragrammaton יהוה is contracted into יהו (יה) by the dropping of the second ה. We may easily see from this contraction that the name of God was pronounced with an a sound, so that it was either called Yahveh, or rather Yahaveh, or else Yahvâh, or rather Yahavâh. According to Theodoret, it was pronounced ̓Ιαβε (Yahaveh) by the Samaritans; and it is written in the same way in the list of the names of the Deity given in Epiphanius. That the ah sound was also a customary pronunciation, may not only be gathered from such names as Jimnah, Jimrah, Jishvah, Jishpah (compare Jithlah, the name of a place), but is also expressly attested by the ancient variations, Jao, Jeuo, Jo (Jer 23:6, lxx), on the one hand, and on the other hand by the mode of spelling adopted by Origen (Jaoia) and Theodoret (Aia, not only in quaest, in Ex. §15, but also in Fab. haeret. “Aia signifies the existing one; it was pronounced thus by Hebrews, but the Samaritans call it Jabai, overlooking the force of the word”). The dull-sounding long a could be expressed by omega quite as well as by alpha. Isidor follows these and similar testimonies, and says (Orig. vii. 7), “The tetragrammaton consisted of ia written twice (iaia), and with this reduplication it constituted the unutterable and glorious name of God.” The Arabic form adopted by the Samaritans leaves it uncertain whether it is to be pronounced Yahve or Yahva. They wrote to Job Ludolf (in the Epistola Samaritana Sichemitarum tertia, published by Bruns, 1781), in opposition to the statement of Theodoret, that they pronounced the last syllable with damma; that is to say, they pronounced the name Yahavoh (Yahvoh), which was the form in which it was written in the last century by Velthusen, and also by Muffi in his Disegno di lezioni e di ricerche sulla lingua Ebraica (Pavia, 1792). The pronunciation Jehovah (Yehovah) arose out of a combination of the Keri and the chethib, and has only become current since the time of the Reformation. Genebrard denounces it in his Commentary upon the Psalms with the utmost vehemence, in opposition to Beza, as an intolerable innovation. “Ungodly violators of what is most ancient,” he says, “profaning and transforming the unutterable name of God, would read Jova or Jehova - a new, barbarous, fictitious, and irreligious word, that savours strongly of the Jove of the heathen.” Nevertheless his Jehova (Jova) forced its way into general adoption, and we shall therefore retain it, notwithstanding the fact that the o sound is decidedly wrong. To return, then: the prophet’s name signifies “Jehovah’s salvation.” In the Septuagint it is always written ̔Ησαΐ̀ας, with a strong aspirate; in the Vulgate it is written Isaias, and sometimes Esaias.

In turning from the outward to the inward title, which is contained in the book itself, there are two things to be observed at the outset: (1.) The division of the vv. indicated by soph pasuk is an arrangement for which the way was prepared as early as the time of the Talmud, and which was firmly established in the Masoretic schools; and consequently it reaches as far back as the extreme limits of the middle ages - differing in this respect from the division of vv. in the New Testament. The arrangement of the chapters, however, with the indications of the separate sections of the prophetic collection, is of no worth to us, simply because it is not older than the thirteenth century. According to some authorities, it originated with Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury († 1227); whilst others attribute it to Cardinal Hugo of St. Caro († 1262). It is only since the fifteenth century that it has been actually adopted in the text. (2.) The small ring or star at the commencement points to the footnote, which affirms that Isaiah 1:1-28 (where we find the same sign again) was the haphtarah, or concluding pericope, taken from the prophets, which was read on the same Sabbath as the parashah from the Pentateuch, in Deu 1:1. It was, as we shall afterwards see, a very thoughtful principle of selection which led to the combination of precisely these two lessons.

The Doom of Egypt. (b. c. 710.)

1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. 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. 3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. 4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. 5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. 6 And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. 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. 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 in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. 10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish. 11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, 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? 12 Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. 13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. 14 The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. 15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. 16 In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because 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 maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined against it.

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. xxx. 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. xliii. 7. Rabshakeh upbraided Hezekiah with this, ch. xxxvi. 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 anytime 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.

I. The gods of Egypt shall appear to them to be what they always really were, utterly unable to help them, v. 1. "The Lord rides upon a cloud, a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt. As a judge goes in state to the bench to try and condemn the malefactors, or as a general takes the field with his troops to crush the rebels, so shall God come into Egypt with his judgments; and when he comes he will certainly overcome." In all this burden of Egypt here is no mention of any foreign enemy invading them; but God himself will come against them, and raise up the causes of their destruction from among themselves. He comes upon a cloud, above the reach of the opposition or resistance. He comes apace upon a swift cloud; for their judgment lingers not when the time has come. He rides upon the wings of the wind, with a majesty far excelling the greatest pomp and splendour of earthly princes. He makes the clouds his chariots, Ps. xviii. 9; civ. 3. When he comes the idols of Egypt shall be moved, shall be removed at his presence, and perhaps be made to fall as Dagon did before the ark. Isis, Osiris, and Apis, those celebrated idols of Egypt, being found unable to relieve their worshippers, shall be disowned and rejected by them. Idolatry had got deeper rooting in Egypt than in any land besides, even the most absurd idolatries; and yet now the idols shall be moved and they shall be ashamed of them. When the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt he executed judgments upon the gods of the Egyptians (Num. xxxiii. 4); no marvel then if, when he comes, they begin to tremble. The Egyptians shall seek to the idols, when they are at their wits' end, and consult the charmers and wizards (v. 3); but all in vain; they see their ruin hastening on them notwithstanding.

II. The militia of Egypt, that had been famed for their valour, shall be quite dispirited and disheartened. No kingdom in the world was ever in a better method of keeping up a standing army than the Egyptians were; but now their heroes, that used to be celebrated for courage, shall be posted for cowards: The heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it, like wax before the fire (v. 1); the spirit of Egypt shall fail, v. 3. They shall have no inclination, no resolution, to stand up in defence of their country, their liberty, and property; but shall tamely and ingloriously yield all to the invader and oppressor. The Egyptians shall be like women (v. 16); they shall be frightened and put into confusion by the least alarm; even those that dwell in the heart of the country, in the midst of it, and therefore furthest from danger, will be as full of frights as those that are situate on the frontiers. Let not the bold and brave be proud or secure, for God can easily cut off the spirit of princes (Ps. lxxvi. 12) and take away their hearts, Job xii. 24.

III. The Egyptians shall be embroiled in endless dissensions and quarrels among themselves. There shall be no occasion to bring a foreign force upon them to destroy them; they shall destroy one another (v. 2): I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians. As these divisions and animosities are their sin, God is not the author of them, they come from men's lusts; but God, as a Judge, permits them for their punishment, and by their destroying differences corrects them for their sinful agreements. Instead of helping one another, and acting each in his place for the common good, they shall fight every one against his brother and neighbour, whom he ought to love as himself—city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. Egypt was then divided into twelve provinces, or dynasties; but Psammetichus, the governor of one of them, by setting them at variance with one another, at length made himself master of them all. A kingdom thus divided against itself would soon be brought to desolation. En quo discordiâ cives perduxit miseros!—Oh the wretchedness brought upon a people by their disagreements among themselves! It is brought to this by a perverse spirit, a spirit of contradiction, which the Lord would mingle, as an intoxicating draught made up of several ingredients, for the Egyptians, v. 14. One party shall be for a thing for no other reason than because the other is against it; that is a perverse spirit, which, if it mingle with the public counsels, tends directly to the ruin of the public interests.

IV. Their politics shall be all blasted, and turned into foolishness. When God will destroy the nation he will destroy the counsel thereof (v. 3), by taking away wisdom from the statesmen (Job xii. 20), or setting them one against another (as Hushai and Ahithophel), or by his providence breaking their measures even when they seemed well laid; so that the princes of Zoan are fools: they make fools of one another, every one betrays his own folly, and divine Providence makes fools of them all, v. 11. Pharaoh had his wise counsellors. Egypt was famous for such. But their counsel has all become brutish; they have lost all their forecast; one would think they had become idiots, and were bereaved of common sense. Let no man glory then in his own wisdom, nor depend upon that, nor upon the wisdom of those about him; for he that gives understanding can when he please take it away. And from those it is most likely to be taken away that boast of their policy, as Pharaoh's counsellors here did, and, to recommend themselves to places of public trust, boast of their great understanding ("I am the son of the wise, of the God of wisdom, of wisdom itself," says one; "my father was an eminent privy-counsellor of note in his day for wisdom"), or of the antiquity and dignity of their families: "I am," says another, "the son of ancient kings." The nobles of Egypt boasted much of their antiquity, producing fabulous records of their succession for above 10,000 years. This humour prevailed much among them about this time, as appears by Herodotus, their common boast being that Egypt was some thousands of years more ancient than any other nation. "But where are thy wise men? v. 12. Let them now show their wisdom by foreseeing what ruin is coming upon their nation, and preventing it, if they can. Let them with all their skill know what the Lord of hosts has purposed upon Egypt, and arm themselves accordingly. Nay, so far are they from doing this that they themselves are, in effect, contriving the ruin of Egypt, and hastening it on, v. 13. The princes of Noph are not only deceived themselves, but they have seduced Egypt, by putting their kings upon arbitrary proceedings" (by which both themselves and their people were soon undone); "the governors of Egypt, that are the stay and cornerstones of the tribes thereof, are themselves undermining it." It is sad with a people when those that undertake for their safety are helping forward their destruction, and the physicians of the state are her worst disease, when the things that belong to the public peace are so far hidden from the eyes of those that are entrusted with the public counsels that in every thing they blunder and take wrong measures; so here (v. 14): They have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof. Every step they took was a false step. They always mistook either the end or the means, and their counsels were all unsteady and uncertain, like the staggerings and stammerings of a drunken man in his vomit, who knows not what he says nor where he goes. See what reason we have to pray for our privy-counsellors and ministers of state, who are the great supports and blessings of the state if God give them a spirit of wisdom, but quite the contrary if he hide their heart from understanding.

V. The rod of government shall be turned into the serpent of tyranny and oppression (v. 4): "The Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, not a foreigner, but one of their own, one that shall rule over them by an hereditary right, but shall be a fierce king and rule them with rigour," either the twelve tyrants that succeeded Sethon, or rather Psammetichus that recovered the monarchy again; for he speaks of one cruel lord. Now the barbarous usage which the Egyptian task masters gave to God's Israel long ago was remembered against them and they were paid in their own coin by another Pharaoh. It is sad with a people when the powers that should be for edification are for destruction, and they are ruined by those by whom they should be ruled, when such as this is the manner of the king, as it is described (in terrorem—in order to impress alarm), 1 Sam. viii. 11.

VI. Egypt was famous for its river Nile, which was its wealth, and strength, and beauty, and was idolized by them. Now it is here threatened that the waters shall fail from the sea and the river shall be wasted and dried up, v. 5. Nature shall not herein favour them as she has done. Egypt was never watered with the rain of heaven (Zech. xiv. 18), and therefore the fruitfulness of their country depended wholly upon the overflowing of their river; if that therefore be dried up, their fruitful land will soon be turned into barrenness and their harvests cease: Every thing sown by the brooks will wither of course, will be driven away, and be no more, v. 7. If the paper-reeds by the brooks, at the very mouth of them, wither, much more the corn, which lies at a greater distance, but derives its moisture from them. Yet this is not all; the drying up of their rivers is the destruction, 1. Of their fortifications, for they are brooks of defence (v. 6), making the country difficult of access to an enemy. Deep rivers are the strongest lines, and most hardly forced. Pharaoh is said to be a great dragon lying in the midst of his rivers, and guarded by them, bidding defiance to all about him, Ezek. xxix. 3. But these shall be emptied and dried up, not by an enemy, as Sennacherib with the sole of his foot dried up mighty rivers (ch. xxxvii. 25), and as Cyrus, who took Babylon by drawing Euphrates into many streams, but by the providence of God, which sometimes turns water-springs into dry ground, Ps. cvii. 33. 2. It is the destruction of their fish, which in Egypt was much of their food, witness that base reflection which the children of Israel made (Num. xi. 5): We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely. The drying up of the rivers will kill the fish (Ps. cv. 29), and will thereby ruin those who make it their business, (1.) To catch fish, whether by angling or nets (v. 8); they shall lament and languish, for their trade is at an end. There is nothing which the children of this world do more heartily lament than the loss of that which they used to get money by. Ploratur lachrymis amissa pecunia veris—Those are genuine tears which are shed over lost money. (2.) To keep fish, that it may be ready when it is called for. There were those that made sluices and ponds for fish (v. 10), but they shall be broken in the purposes thereof; their business will fail, either for want of water to fill their ponds or for want of fish to replenish their waters. God can find ways to deprive a country even of that which is its staple commodity. The Egyptians may themselves remember the fish they have formerly eaten freely, but now cannot have for money. And that which aggravates the loss of these advantages by the river is that it is their own doing (v. 6): They shall turn the rivers far away. Their kings and great men, to gratify their own fancy, will drain water from the main river to their own houses and grounds at a distance, preferring their private convenience before the public good, and so by degrees the force of the river is sensibly weakened. Thus many do themselves a greater prejudice at last than they think of, [1.] Who pretend to be wiser than nature, and to do better for themselves than nature has done. [2.] Who consult their own particular interest more than the common good. Such may gratify themselves, but surely they can never satisfy themselves, who to serve a turn contribute to a public calamity, which they themselves, in the long run, cannot avoid sharing in. Herodotus tells us that Pharaoh-Necho (who reigned not long after this), projecting to cut a free passage by water from Nilus into the Red Sea, employed a vast number of men to make a ditch or channel for that purpose, in which attempt he impaired the river, lost 120,000 of his people, and yet left the work unaccomplished.

VII. Egypt was famous for the linen manufacture; but that trade shall be ruined. Solomon's merchants traded with Egypt for linen-yarn, 1 Kings x. 28. Their country produced the best flax and the best hands to work it; but those that work in fine flax shall be confounded (v. 9), either for want of flax to work on or for want of a demand for that which they have worked or opportunity to export it. The decay of trade weakens and wastes a nation and by degrees brings it to ruin. The trade of Egypt must needs sink, for (v. 15) there shall not be any work for Egypt to be employed in; and where there is nothing to be done there is nothing to be got. There shall be a universal stop put to business, no work which either head or tail, branch or rush, may do; nothing for high or low, weak or strong, to do; no hire, Zech. viii. 10. Note, The flourishing of a kingdom depends much upon the industry of the people; and then things are likely to do well when all hands are at work, when the head and top-branch do not disdain to labour, and the labour of the tail and rush is not disdained. But when the learned professions are unemployed, the principal merchants have no stocks, and the handicraft tradesmen nothing to do, poverty comes upon a people as one that travaileth and as an armed man.

VIII. A general consternation shall seize the Egyptians; they shall be afraid and fear (v. 16), which will be both an evidence of a universal decay and a means and presage of utter ruin. Two things will put them into this fright:—1. What they hear from the land of Judah; that shall be a terror to Egypt, v. 17. When they hear of the desolations made in Judah by the army of Sennacherib, considering both the near neighbourhood and the strict alliance that was between them and Judah, they will conclude it must be their turn next to become a prey to that victorious army. When their neighbour's house was on fire they could not but see their own in danger; and therefore every one of the Egyptians that makes mention of Judah shall be afraid of himself, expecting the bitter cup shortly to be put into his hands. 2. What they see in their own land. They shall fear (v. 16) because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, and (v. 17) because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which from the shaking of his hand they shall conclude he has determined against Egypt as well as Judah. For, if judgment begin at the house of God, where will it end? If this be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? See here, (1.) How easily God can make those a terror to themselves that have been, not only secure, but a terror to all about them. It is but shaking his hand over them, or laying it upon some of their neighbours, and the stoutest hearts tremble immediately. (2.) How well it becomes us to fear before God when he does but shake his hand over us, and to humble ourselves under his mighty hand when it does but threaten us, especially when we see his counsel determined against us; for who can change his counsel?

Promises to Egypt. (b. c. 710.)

18 In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. 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 to the Lord . 20 And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. 21 And 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 shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord , and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. 23 In that day shall there be a 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. 24 In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: 25 Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

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.

I. They shall speak the language of Canaan, the holy language, the scripture-language; they shall not only understand it, but use it (v. 18); they shall introduce that language among them, and converse freely with the people of God, and not, as they used to do, by an interpreter, Gen. xlii. 23. Note, Converting grace, by changing the heart, changes the language; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Five cities in Egypt shall speak this language; so many Jews shall come to reside in Egypt, and they shall so multiply there, that they shall soon replenish five cities, one of which shall be the city of Heres, or of the sun, Heliopolis, where the sun was worshipped, the most infamous of all the cities of Egypt for idolatry; even there shall be a wonderful reformation, they shall speak the language of Canaan. Or it may be taken thus, as we render it—That for every five cities that shall embrace religion there shall be one (a sixth part of the cities of Egypt) that shall reject it, and that shall be called a city of destruction, because it refuses the methods of salvation.

II. They shall swear to the Lord of hosts, not only swear by him, giving him the honour of appealing to him, as all nations did to the gods they worshipped; but they shall by a solemn oath and vow devote themselves to his honour and bind themselves to his service. They shall swear to cleave to him with purpose of heart, and shall worship him, not occasionally, but constantly. They shall swear allegiance to him as their King, to Christ, to whom all judgment is committed.

III. They shall set up the public worship of God in their land (v. 19): There shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, an altar on which they shall do sacrifice and oblation (v. 21); therefore it must be understood spiritually. Christ, the great altar, who sanctifies every gift, shall be owned there, and the gospel sacrifices of prayer and praise shall be offered up; for by the law of Moses there was to be no altar for sacrifice but that at Jerusalem. In Christ Jesus all distinction of nations is taken away; and a spiritual altar, a gospel church, in the midst of the land of Egypt, is as acceptable to God as one in the midst of the land of Israel; and spiritual sacrifices of faith and love, and a contrite heart, please the Lord better than an ox or bullock.

IV. There shall be a face of religion upon the nation, and an open profession made of it, discernible to all who come among them. Not only in the heart of the country, but even in the borders of it, there shall be a pillar, or pillars, inscribed, To Jehovah, to his honour, as before there had been such pillars set up in honour of false gods. As soon as a stranger entered upon the borders of Egypt he might perceive what god they worshipped. Those that serve God must not be ashamed to own him, but be forward to do any thing that may be for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts. Even in the land of Egypt he had some faithful worshippers, who boasted of their relation to him and made his name their strong tower, or bulwark, on their borders, with which their coasts were fortified against all assailants.

V. Being in distress, they shall seek to God, and he shall be found of them; and this shall be a sign and a witness for the Lord of hosts that he is a God hearing prayer to all flesh that come to him, v. 20. See Ps. lxv. 2. When they cry to God by reason of their oppressors, the cruel lords that shall rule over them (v. 4) he shall be entreated of them (v. 22); whereas he had told his people Israel, who had made it their own choice to have such a king, that they should cry to him by reason of their king, and he would not hear them, 1 Sam. viii. 18.

VI. They shall have an interest in the great Redeemer. When they were under the oppression of cruel lords perhaps God sometimes raised them up mighty deliverers, as he did for Israel in the days of the judges; and by them, though he had smitten the land, he healed it again; and, upon their return to God in a way of duty, he returned to them in a way of mercy, and repaired the breaches of their tottering state. For repenting Egyptians shall find the same favour with God that repenting Ninevites did. But all these deliverances wrought for them, as those for Israel, were but figures of gospel salvation. Doubtless Jesus Christ is the Saviour and the great one here spoken of, whom God will send the glad tidings of to the Egyptians, and by whom he will deliver them out of the hands of their enemies, that they may serve him without fear, Luke i. 74, 75. Jesus Christ delivered the Gentile nations from the service of dumb idols, and did himself both purchase and preach liberty to the captives.

VII. The knowledge of God shall prevail among them, v. 21. 1. They shall have the means of knowledge. For many ages in Judah only was God known, for there only were the lively oracles found; but now the Lord, and his name and will, shall be known to Egypt. Perhaps this may in part refer to the translation of the Old Testament out of Hebrew into Greek by the LXX., which was done at Alexandria in Egypt, by the command of Ptolemy king of Egypt; and it was the first time that the scriptures were translated into any other language. By the help of this (the Grecian monarchy having introduced their language into that country) the Lord was known to Egypt, and a happy omen and means it was of his being further known. 2. They shall have grace to improve those means. It is promised not only that the Lord shall be known to Egypt, but that the Egyptians shall know the Lord; they shall receive and entertain the light granted to them, and shall submit themselves to the power of it. The Lord is known to our nation, and yet I fear there are many of our nation that do not know the Lord. But the promise of the new covenant is that all shall know the Lord, from the least even to the greatest, which promise is sure to all the seed. The effect of this knowledge of God is that they shall vow a vow to the Lord and perform it. For those do not know God aright who either are not willing to come under binding obligations to the Lord or do not make good those obligations.

VIII. They shall come into the communion of saints. Being joined to the Lord, they shall be added to the church, and be incorporated with all the saints. 1. All enmities shall be slain. Mortal feuds there had been between Egypt and Assyria; they often made war upon one another; but now there shall be a highway between Egypt and Assyria (v. 23), a happy correspondence settled between he two nations; they shall trade with one another, and every thing that passes between them shall be friendly. The Egyptians shall serve (shall worship the true God) with the Assyrians; and therefore the Assyrians shall come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria. Note, It becomes those who have communion with the same God, through the same Mediator, to keep up an amicable correspondence with one another. The consideration of our meeting at the same throne of grace, and our serving with each other in the same business of religion, should put an end to all heats and animosities, and knit our hearts to each other in holy love. 2. The Gentile nations shall not only unite with each other in the gospel fold under Christ the great shepherd, but they shall all be united with the Jews. When Egypt and Assyria become partners in serving God Israel shall make a third with them (v. 24); they shall become a three-fold cord, not easily broken. The ceremonial law, which had long been the partition-wall between Jews and Gentiles, shall be taken down, and then they shall become one sheep-fold under one shepherd. Thus united, they shall be a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, v. 24, 25. (1.) Israel shall be a blessing to them all, because of them, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, and they were the natural branches of the good olive, to whom did originally pertain its root and fatness, and the Gentiles were but grafted in among them, Rom. xi. 17. Israel lay between Egypt and Assyria, and was a blessing to them both by bringing them to meet in that word of the Lord which went forth from Jerusalem, and that church which was first set up in the land of Israel. Qui conveniunt in aliquo tertio inter se conveniunt—Those who meet in a third meet in each other. Israel is that third in whom Egypt and Assyria agree, and is therefore a blessing; for those are real and great blessings to their generation who are instrumental to unite those that have been at variance. (2.) They shall all be a blessing to the world: so the Christian church is, made up of Jews and Gentiles; it is the beauty, riches, and support of the world. (3.) They shall all be blessed of the Lord. [1.] They shall all be owned by him as his. Though Egypt was formerly a house of bondage to the people of God, and Assyria an unjust invader of them, all this shall now be forgiven and forgotten, and they shall be as welcome to God as Israel. They are all alike his people whom he takes under his protection. They are formed by him, for they are the work of his hands; not only as a people, but as his people. They are formed for him; for they are his inheritance, precious in his eyes, and dear to him, and from whom he has his rent of honour out of this lower world. [2.] They shall be owned together by him as jointly his, his in concert; they shall all share in one and the same blessing. Note, Those that are united in the love and blessing of God ought, for that reason, to be united to each other in charity.

CHAP. XIX.

Ver. 1. THe burden of Egypt] See chap. 13.1.

Behold the Lord rideth] Heb. riding: ſc. as a Judge, or General of an Army.

Ʋpon a ſwift cloud] i. e. Speedily, ſuddenly, and irreſiſtibly: Clouds are rarely ſeen in Egypt where it raineth not, but Ezek. 30.18. we read of a Cloud that ſhould cover Egypt. By ſwift cloud here ſome underſtand the Virgin Mary, others our Saviours body, or humane nature. And they further tell us that aſſoon as the child Jeſus was brought into Egypt, down fell all the Idols there,Hiſt. Scholaſt. as Dagon did before the Ark. This they ground upon the following words.

And the Idols of Egypt ſhall be moved at his preſence] Whereby I conceive is only meant that rheir gods ſhould not be able to help them, and ſhould therefore loſe their Authority, be diſcredited and decryed.

And the heart of Egypt ſhall melt] As it did firſt when Sennacherib, and then when Nebuchadnezzar came againſt it.

Ver. 2. And I will ſet the Egyptians againſt the Egyptians] Commiſcebo Egyptios inter ſc. I will embroil them in a civil War. This fell out, ſaith Junius, Herod. lib. 2. Diod. Sic. l. 1. under King Pſammeticus after the death of Sethon, about the end of Hezekiahs Raign, or the beginning of Manaſſeh's, whileſt Iſaiah was yet alive.

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 66. ſaith Ortelius.

Ver. 3. And the ſpirit of Egypt ſhall fail] Fail and falter; their wits ſhall not ſerve them, but be drained and emptied, as the Hebrew word here ſignifieth. By ſpirit here underſtand their Wiſdom, Learning and Sharpneſs, for the which they were famous among, and frequented by other Nations. Moſes was skilled in their Learning, Acts 7.23. Pythagoras, Plato, Solon, Anaxagoras, and other Philoſophers gat much by them. Mercurius Triſmegiſt ſaith of Egypt, that it was the Image of Heaven, Aug. de C. D. lib. 8. cap. 14. and the Temple of the whole world. By spirit here, ſome underſtand their familiar ſpirits. See Levit. 19.31.

And they ſhall ſeek to the Idols] Whereof they had great ſtore (ſo that they were derided by other Idolaters) but their chief Deity was Latona, ſaith Herodotus.

And to the charmers] Who have their name in Hebrew from their low or ſlow ſpeaking.

Ver. 4. And the Egyptians will I give over] Heb. ſhut up, ſc. as fiſhes in a pond.

Into the hand of a cruel Lord] Heb. Lords, Herodot. viz. thoſe twelve Tyrants that raigned after Sethon, and were put down by Pſammetichus one of their own number, who afterwards raigned alone, and with rigour.

And a fierce King] viz. Pſammetichus, the Father of that Pharaoh Necho, who ſlew Joſiah, 2 King. 23.29. This fierce King raigned fifty four years: and by his harſhneſs cauſed 200000. of his men of War to leave him, and to go into Ethiopia.

Ver. 5. And the waters ſhall fail from the ſea] i. e. Their Sea-traffick ſhall be taken from them, to their very great loſs. Hiſtorians teſtifie, that by frequent Navigation out of the Bay of Arabia into India and Trogloditice, the revenue of Egypt was ſo encreaſed, that Auletes the father of Cleopatra received thence yearly twelve thouſand and five hundred Talents.

And the River ſhall be waſted and dryed up] i. e. The River Nilus, which watereth Egypt and maketh it fruitful: See Deut. 11.9, 10. Ezek. 29.3, 9.

Creditur Aegyptus caruiſſe juvantibus arvaOvid. Arf; lib. 1. Imbribus, at que annis ſicca fuiſſe novem.

Ver. 6. And they ſhall turn the Rivers far away] The Aſſyrians ſhall: or ſome of their own fond and vain glorious Princes ſhall drain the River Nilus at ſeveral paſſages and in ſeveral places, to the impairing of the River,Herodot. l. 2. and the impeaching of the State.

The reeds and flags ſhall wither] Theſe were of great uſe there: for of flags they made their barks and boats,Plin. lib. 13. cap. 11. matts alſo, wheels, baskets, &c. of reeds they made their Sails, ropes, paper, and a kind of juyce ſerving them for food, &c. As therefore the Palm-tree is to the Indians a Cornu-copia, yielding ſundry commodities, ſo are Reeds and Flags to the Egyptians.

Ver. 7. The paper-reeds by the brooks] i. e. By the ſtreams of Nilus: for where this River arriveth not, is nothing but a whitiſh ſand bearing no graſs, but two little weeds called Suhit and Gazul, which burnt to aſhes maketh the fineſt Chryſtal-glaſſes.

And every thing ſown by the brooks] As far as Nilus ouer-floweth, is a black mould, ſo fruitful as they do but throw in the ſeed, and have four rich Harveſts in leſs then four moneths.

Ver. 8. The Fiſhers alſo ſhall mourn] Becauſe their Trade decayeth, or they take pains to no purpoſe, ver. 10.

Ver. 9. They that work in fine flax—ſhall be confounded] ſc. For want of materials; ſuch as were wont to be ſown by the brooks, ver. 7. See 1 King. 10.28. Prov. 7.16. Ezek. 27.7. Plin. lib. 9. cap. 1.

They that weave net-works] Or, rather white-works, that is, white garments made of the fine-flax of Egypt. Theſe were much worn by Nobles, Eſth. 8.16. Dan. 7.9. Whence alſo in Hebrew they have their name. 1 King. 21.8. Neh. 2.16. Eccl. 10.17, &c.

[non-Latin text not transcribed] Albi ſeu candidati.Ver. 10. And they ſhall be broken in the purpoſes thereof] Heb. In the foundations, as Pſal. 21.3. Purpoſes are the foundation of Practices: but are oft diſappointed.

Berecha. And ponds for fiſh] Heb. ponds of fowl, ſtagna voluptaria (Tremellius) ſtanding pools of deſire. In Hebrew, the word uſed elſwhere for a pond or fiſh-pool, ſignifieth a bleſſing alſo.

Ver. 11. Surely the Princes of Zoan are fools] Otherwiſe they would never have ſo ill-adviſed their King, ſo to drain the River for his pleaſure, to the publick detriment. Zoan was an ancient City in Egypt, Numb. 13.22. The Septuagint and Vulgar verſions call it Tanis. Here it was that Moſes did all his Wonders, Pſalm, 78.12. Exod. 7.8, 9. Here Pharaohs Princes took counſel, but not of God, and covered with a covering, but not of his Spirit, that they might add ſin to ſin, Chap. 30.1.

The counſel of the wiſe Counſellours is become brutiſh] Such as was that of Machiavel the Florentine Secretary, De principe pag. 185. who propoſeth Ceſar Borgia (notwithſtanding all his villanies) as the only Example for a Prince to imitate.

How ſay ye unto Pharaoh?] How can ye for ſhame ſay ſo of your ſelves. Or quomodo dictatis Pharaoni? How can ye dictate or put ſuch words as theſe into your Kings mouth? What groſs flattery is this?

Herod. lib 2. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Luclan. Plato in Timaeo. I am the ſon of the wiſe] Or, a ſon of wiſe ones: as if Wiſdom were proper to you, and hereditary. The Egyptians cracked much of their wiſdom, yet more of their Antiquity, as if they were long before other people, yea before the Moon (as the Arcadians alſo boaſted) and that their Philoſophy was very ancient.

Ver. 12. Where are they? where are thy wiſe men?] q. d. Vile latens virtus: if they have that wiſdom they pretend to, let them predict thy calamities, and help to prevent them. Mihi hominum prudentia ſimilis videtur talparum labori non ſine dexteritate ſub terra fodientium, Gaſp. Ens. ſed ad lumen ſolis coecutienttium. The worlds Wizzards are like children alwayes ſtanding on their heads, and ſhaking their heels againſt Heaven.

Ver. 13. The Princes of Zoan are become fools] Wilful fools: this they are told twice over, becauſe hardly perſwaded to it. See ver. 11.

The Princes of Noph] Called alſo Moph, Hoſ. 9.6. and therehence Memphis, now Grand-Cairo, famous once for the Pyramides and Monuments of the Egyptian Kings.

Even they that are the ſtay of the Tribes thereof] Heb. The corners of the Tribes or Rectories: The free States of Switſerland are called Cantons, l. e. corners. that is, either the King and Chieftaines, as ſome ſenſe it; Or, as others, all the Inhabitants of the Countrey from one corner thereof unto another. How theſe wiſe men of Egypt deceived others, is not expreſſed: but probably they did it by approving and cheriſhing the ſuperſtition, impiety and carnal ſecurity of the Princes and people.

Ver. 14. The Lord hath mingled a perverſe ſpirit] Or, given them to drink a ſpirit of giddineſs. Heb. a ſpirit of extream perverſities: He hath ſtupified and as it were intoxicated them with the efficacy of errour.

And they have cauſed Egypt to err in every work] Pſammetichus their King was twenty eight years in beſieging Azotus, ere he could take it:Herod. Euterp. and other things went on with them accordingly.

Ver. 15. Neither ſhall there be any work] See on ver. 14.

Ver. 16. In that day ſhall Egypt be like unto women] Feeble and faint-hearted, nihil maſculè aut fortiter facturi, ſed mulieribus meticuloſiores. See Prov. 28.1. with the Note.

Becauſe of the ſhaking of the hand of the Lord] When as yet he threateneth only: how much more when he ſtriketh in good earneſt? See Chap. 30.32.

Ver. 17. And the Land of Judah ſtall be a terrour unto Egypt] For how ſhould Egypt hope to ſpeed better then Judea had done? How Sethon King of Egypt was put to hir trumps, as we ſay, when Sennacherib invaded Egypt, imploring the ayd of his God Vulcan, whoſe Prieſt he was, ſee Herodot. lib. 2.

Ver. 18. In that day] When the Goſpel ſhall be there preached, whether by Mark the Evangeliſt or others, as Clement, Origen, Didymus.

Five Cities] A conſiderable number of Aegyptians.

Speak the Language of Canaan] Called the Jews language, chap. 35.11, 13. the Hebrew tongue wherein were written the lively Oracles of God. This Language therefore the Elect Egyptians ſhall learn, and labour for that pure lip, Zeph. 3.9. to ſpeak as the Oracles of God, 1 Pet 4.11. Wholſom words, 2 Tim. 1.13. Right words. Job 6.25. Words of wiſdom, Prov. 1.6. Of truth and ſoberneſs, Act. 26.25. to be Examples to others, not only in faith and converſation, but alſo in words and communication, 1 Tim. 4.12.

And ſwear to the Lord of hoſts] Devote themſelves to his fear and ſervice,Nempe ſuſceptione baptiſmi. Piſcat. taking a corporal oath for that purpoſe as in baptiſme, and other holy covenants: whereupon haply they might be inabled to ſpeak with tongues, the holy tongue eſpecially, as moſt neceſſary for Chriſtians. Here then we have a deſcription of a true Chriſtian, not ſuch as the Jeſuites in their Catechiſme give us, viz. A Chriſtian is he who believeth whatſoever the Church of Rome commandeth to be believed, ſwearing fealty to Her.

One ſhall be called the City of deſtruction] i. e. Nevertheleſs there ſhall be a few cities that ſhall deſpiſe Chriſtian Religion; and ſhall therefore be deſtroyed for neglecting ſo great ſalvation: It ſhall be eaſier for Sodom one day then for ſuch. Others render the text, Heliopolis or the city of the Sun ſhall be accounted one, ſc. of thoſe 5 converted cities; and become conſecrated to the Sun of righteouſneſs. Joſeph. Ant. l[illegible: 1 letter]b. 13. cap. 6.

Ver. 19. In that day ſhall there be an altar to the Lord] A ſpiritual altar for ſpiritual ſacrifices, as ver. 20. Heb. 13.10. Onias the Jewiſh Prieſt who hereupon went and built an altar at Heliopolis in Egypt, and ſacrificed to God there, was as much miſtaken as the Anabaptiſts of Germany were in their Munſter which they termed new Jeruſalem and acted accordingly, ſending forth Apoſtles, caſting out orthodox Miniſters, &c.

And a pillar in the border thereof] that is, ſaith One, the Goſpels and writings of the Apoſtles, that pillar and ground of truth: Or a publike confeſſion of the Chriſtian faith, Rom. 10 9. An alluſion to Joſh. 22.10, 25. See Zech. 14.9 20, 21.

Ver. 20. And it ſhall be for a ſign and for a witneſs] The doctrine of Chriſts death is a clear teſtimony of Gods great love and kindneſs to mankind, Rom. 5. and 8.

For they ſhall cry unto the Lord for their oppreſſours] As the Iſraelites ſometimes had done, under the Egyptian ſervitude, Exod. 3.9.

And he ſhall ſend them a Saviour] not Moſes, but Meſſias, that great Saviour: Servatorem & magnatem, vel magiſtrum. for God hath laid his peoples help on One that is mighty, Pſal. 89.19. See Tit. 2, 13.

Ver. 21. And the Lord ſhall be known to Egypt] They ſhall both know the Lord Chriſt, and be known of him, as Gal. 4.9. See Rom. 10.20.

And ſhall do ſacrifice and oblation] Perform reaſonable ſervice, Rom 12.1. ſuch as whereof they can render a reaſon. Not a Samaritan ſervice, Joh. 4.22. or Athenian, Act. 17.23. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worſhip, &c. God will have no ſuch blind ſacrifices, Mal. 1.8.

Yea they ſhall vow a vow, &c.] That in baptiſme eſpecially.

Facit opus a[illegible: 1 letter]tenum ut faciat proprium. Iſa: 28. Ver. 22. And the Lord ſhall ſmite Egypt] That he may bring it into the bond of the covenant, Ezek. 20.37. Heb. 12.9. Hoſ. 6.1.

He ſhall ſmite and heal it] Heb. ſmiting and healing. Ʋna eademque manus, &c. Ʋna gerit bellum monſtrat manus altera pacew, as it was ſaid of Charles 5.

And ſhall heal them] Pardon their ſins, heal their natures, and make up all breaches in their outward eſtates.

Ver. 23. In that day there ſhall be an highway &c.] All hoſtility ſhall ceaſe, and a bleſſed unanimity be ſettled amongſt Chriſts ſubjects of ſeveral nations: Hereunto way was made by the Roman Empire, reducing both theſe great countries into Provinces.

And the Egyptiant ſhall ſerve] Serve the Lord with one ſhoulder, as Zeph. 3.9.

Ver. 24. In that day ſhall Iſrael be the third with Egypt] The poſterity of Sem, Ham, and Japh[illegible: 1 letter]t, ſhall concur in the communion of Saints; the pale and partition-wall being taken away.

Even a bleſſing in the middeſt of the earth] The Saints are ſo. Abſque ſtationibus non ſtaret mundus. If it were not for them, the world would ſoon ſhatter and fall in pieces.

Jun.Ver. 25. Whom the Lord of hoſtes ſhall bleſs] Or, For the Lord of hoſtes ſhall bleſs, and then he ſhall be bleſſed; as Iſaac ſaid of Jacob, Gen. 27.33.

Bleſſed be Egypt my people] A new title to Egypt, and no leſs honorable. Vide quantum profecerit Aegyptus flagellis, ſaith Oecolampad. here, i e. See how Egypt hath got by her ſufferings: See ver. 22. She who was not a people, but a rabble of rebels conſpiring againſt heaven, is now owned and taken into covenant.

And Aſſyria the work of my hands] For we are his workmanſhip created in Chriſt Jeſus unto good works, Eph. 2.10.

And Iſrael mine Inheritance] This is upon the matter, one and the ſame with the former: every regenerate perſon, whether Jew or Gentile, is all theſe three in conjunction. O the [non-Latin text not transcribed], the heaped up happineſs of all ſuch! Let Iſrael rejoyce in him that made him; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King, Pſalm 149.2. For the Lord her God in the midſt of her is mighty: he will ſave, he will rejoyce over her with joy, he will reſt in his love, he will joy over her with ſinging, Zeph. 3.17.