Isaiah 19

THE burden of Egypt 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.: Behold the LORD rideth As a General in the Head of his Army; or, as Judge riding Circuit to execute Judgment. upon a swift cloud Which Phrase shows, 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., and shall come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved 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. at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it They shall lose all their ancient Strength and Courage, for which they had been Famous formerly..

And I will set the Egygtians against the Egyptians I will raise Civil Wars among them.; and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom 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..

And the spirit 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. of Egypt shall fall in the midst thereof: and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols As not knowing what to do, without the help of an higher Power., and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

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

And the waters shall fail from the sea 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., and the river 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. shall be wasted and dried up Not totally, but in a very great measure, as such Phrases are commonly used..

And they shall turn the rivers far away 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., and the brooks of defence The several Branches of the River Nilus, which were a great Defence to Egypt, as is well known. shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags Which were very useful to them for making their Boats, which were absolutely necessary in that Country, and divers other things. shall wither As they commonly do for want of Water..

The paper-reeds 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. by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks And much more what was sown in more dry and unfruitful places. shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.

The fishers also shall mourn 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., and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.

Moreover they that work in fine flax That make fine Linen, which was one of their best Commodities; of which see 1 Kings 10. 28. Prov. 7. 16. Ezek. 27. 7., and they that weave net-works shall be confounded.

And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof i. e. Of Egypt, or of the Egyptians. They shall lose their Ends a... d Hopes; for the Fishes in them shall die for want of Water., all that make sluces and ponds for fish.

Surely the princes of Zoan The chief City, in which the King and Court frequently resided. See Psal. 78. 12. are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellers of Pharoah is become brutish Exceeding foolish, and destructive to themselves.: how say ye unto Pharoah Why do you put such false and foolish Words into Pharaoh's Mouth?, I am the son of the wise 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., the son of ancient kings 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.?

Where are they? where are thy wise men Who pretended, that either by their deep Policy, or by their Skill in Astrology or Magick, they could certainly foresee things to come.? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts has purposed upon Egypt.

The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph 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. are deceived, they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay 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 tribes Of the Provinces, which he calls by a Title borrowed from the Hebrews, in whose Language he spake and wrote this Prophecy. thereof.

The LORD has mingled Or, has 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. a perverse spirit 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 the midst thereof; and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof In all their Designs and Undertakings., as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit When he is so excessively drunk, that he reels to and fro, and vomits up his Drink..

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..

In that day shall Egypt be like unto women Feeble and fearful, as it follows.: and it shall be afraid and fear, because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts 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, Exod. 14. the very remembrance whereof is very terrible to them., which he shaketh over it.

And the land of Judah shall be a terrour unto Egypt 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 sense 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., every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself; because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he has determined Because God is now about to execute his appointed Judgments. against it Against Egypt..

In that day 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. shall five cities A considerable number of their chief Cities, a certain number being put for an uncertain. in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan 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., and swear to the LORD of hosts It is well observed by some Learned Interpreters, that he does 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.; one 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. shall be called the city of destruction.

In that day shall there be an altar 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. to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar 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. at the border thereof As before, in the midst of it. The meaning is, There shall be Evidences of their Piety in all Places. to the LORD.

And The Altar or Pillar last mentioned. it shall be for a sign, and for a witness unto the LORD To testifie that they own the Lord for their God. of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors Being sorely distressed, and finding the weakness of their Idols, they shall turn unto the True God., and he shall send them a Saviour and a great one 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., and he shall deliver them.

And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD Shall acknowledge, and love, and serve them; for Words of Knowledge in Scripture commonly include Affection and Practice, as has been often observed. in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation Shall worship God spiritually; which yet is signified by Typical Phrases, as it is Mal. 1. 11. and in many other Places., yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it They shall not only profess and promise Piety, but shall seriously and diligently practice it..

And the LORD shall smite Egypt, he shall smite and heal it God will afflict them by Oppressours, v. 20. and otherwise; and by those Afflictions he will convert and save them., and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.

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 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., and the Egyptians shall serve To wit; the Lord; who is easily understood from v. 21. & 25. with the Assyrians.

In that day shall Israel be the third The third Party, to wit, in that sacred League, whereby all of them oblige themselves to God. with Egypt, and with Assyria 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., even a blessing This is peculiar to Israel, who is not only 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. in the midst of the land Or, of the earth. Which may be added, to imply, that God's Blessing should be convey'd from and by Israel, not only 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.:

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