Isaiah 30:3

30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,

and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.

Isaiah 30:5

30:5 all will be put to shame ¹ 

because of a nation that cannot help them,

who cannot give them aid or help,

but only shame and disgrace.”

Isaiah 30:7

30:7 Egypt is totally incapable of helping. ² 

For this reason I call her

‘Proud one ³  who is silenced.’” ⁴ 

Isaiah 36:6

36:6 Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him!

Isaiah 36:2

36:2 The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser ⁵  from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, ⁶  along with a large army. The chief adviser ⁷  stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. ⁸ 

Isaiah 18:1

The Lord Will Judge a Distant Land in the South

18:1 The land of buzzing wings is as good as dead, ⁹ 

the one beyond the rivers of Cush,

Ezekiel 29:6-7

29:6 Then all those living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord

because they were a reed staff ¹⁰  for the house of Israel;

29:7 when they grasped you with their hand, ¹¹  you broke and tore ¹²  their shoulders,

and when they leaned on you, you splintered and caused their legs to be unsteady. ¹³ 

¹ tn The present translation follows the marginal (Qere) reading of the Hebrew text; the consonantal text (Kethib) has “made to stink, decay.”

² tn Heb “As for Egypt, with vanity and emptiness they help.”

³ tn Heb “Rahab” (רַהַב, rahav), which also appears as a name for Egypt in Ps 87:4. The epithet is also used in the OT for a mythical sea monster symbolic of chaos. See the note at 51:9. A number of English versions use the name “Rahab” (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) while others attempt some sort of translation (cf. CEV “a helpless monster”; TEV, NLT “the Harmless Dragon”).

⁴ tn The MT reads “Rahab, they, sitting.” The translation above assumes an emendation of הֵם שָׁבֶת (hem shavet) to הַמָּשְׁבָּת (hammashbat), a Hophal participle with prefixed definite article, meaning “the one who is made to cease,” i.e., “destroyed,” or “silenced.” See HALOT 444-45 s.v. ישׁב.

⁵ sn For a discussion of this title see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 229-30.

⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the chief adviser) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “the field of the washer”; traditionally “the fuller’s field” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

⁹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the land of buzzing wings.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

¹⁰ sn Compare Isa 36:6.

¹¹ tn The Hebrew consonantal text (Kethib) has “by your hand,” but the marginal reading (Qere) has simply “by the hand.” The LXX reads “with their hand.”

¹² tn Or perhaps “dislocated.”

¹³ tn Heb “you caused to stand for them all their hips.” An emendation which switches two letters but is supported by the LXX yields the reading “you caused all their hips to shake.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:103. In 2 Kgs 18:21 and Isa 36:6 trusting in the Pharaoh is compared to leaning on a staff. The oracle may reflect Hophra’s attempt to aid Jerusalem (Jer 37:5-8).