Old Testament Commentary - Isaiah 19

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 19 The Lord will smite and destory Egypt—Finally he will heal her, and Egypt and Assyria shall be blessed with Israel.
1 THE ^aburden of ^bEgypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift ^ccloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the ^didols 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 ^athem that have ^bfamiliar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of ^aa ^bcruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts. 5 And the waters shall ^afail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and ^bdried 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 ^aangle 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 ^anetworks, shall be confounded. 10 And ^athey shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.
11 ¶ Surely the princes of ^aZoan 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 ^aNoph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the ^bstay of the tribes thereof.
14 The LORD hath mingled a ^aperverse 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 ^athe head or tail, branch or rush, may do.
16 In that day shall ^aEgypt 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 ^aJudah 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.
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 ^adestruction. 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 ^aEgypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a ^bvow unto the LORD, and perform it. 22 And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall ^areturn even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.
23 ¶ In that day^a shall there be a ^ahighway 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 ^athe third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a ^bblessing 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 ^aIsrael mine ^binheritance.	23^a In that day We ought to be reminded that most often such reference as 'in that day' does refer to the events of the latter days unless otherwise specifically stated to specific another specific time before 'that day'. Thus these events concerning Egypt turning to the Lord, being healed and counted with such as righteous Israel and even a righteous Assyria relates to the coming events of these the last days and the coming day of the Lord.