Isaiah 18:1--20:6
as good as dead ... one <01945> [A.M. cir. 3290. B.C. cir. 714. Woe.]
Bp. Lowth renders, after Bochart, "Ho! to the land of the winged cymbal;" which he thinks is a periphrasis for the Egyptian sistrum; and consequently, that Egypt, "which borders on the rivers of Cush," is the country to which the prophecy is addressed. If we translate "shadowing with wings," it may allude to the multitude of its vessels, whose sails may be represented under the notion of wings.
land <0776> [the land.]
buzzing <06767> [shadowing.]
beyond <05676> [which.]
sends <07971> [sendeth.]
boats <03627> [vessels.]
It is well known that the Egyptians commonly used on the Nile a light sort of ships or boats made of the papyrus. See note on Ex 2:3.
nation ................. nation <01471> [to a nation.]
tall smooth-skinned <04900 04178> [scattered and peeled. or, outspread and polished.]
Or, as Bp. Lowth renders, "stretched out in length and smoothed." Egypt, which is situated between 24 degrees and 32 degrees N. lat. and 30 degrees and 33 degrees E. long., being bounded on the south by Ethiopia, on the north by the Mediterranean, on the east by the mountains of Arabia, and on the west by those of Lybia, is one long vale, 750 miles in length, (through the middle of which runs the Nile,) in breadth from one to two or three day's journey, and even at the widest part of the Delta, from Pelusium to Alexandria, not above 250 miles broad.
people <05971> [to a people.]
[Heb. Meted out and trodden down. or, that meteth out and treadeth down. Heb. of line, line, and treading under foot.]
This is an allusion to the frequent necessity of having recourse to mensuration in Egypt, in order to determine their boundaries, after the inundation of the Nile had smoothed their land and effaced their landmarks; and to their method of throwing seed upon the mud, when the waters had subsided, and treading it in by turning their cattle into the fields.
divide <0958> [have spoiled. or, despise.]
live <03427> [All ye.]
see ..... raised <07200 05375> [see ye.]
place <04349 05027> [consider in my dwelling place. or, regard my set dwelling.]
scorching <06703> [like a clear.]
<0216> [upon herbs. or, after rain.]
tribute <07862> [shall the.]
tall ... smooth-skinned <04900 04178> [scattered and peeled. or, outspread and polished.]
place <04725> [to the.]
Egypt ............ Egypt ..... Egypt ...... Egyptians <04714> [Egypt.]
rides <07392> [rideth.]
idols <0457> [the idols.]
courage <03824> [the heart.]
provoke <05526> [I will.]
provoke <05526> [set. Heb. mingle.]
panic <07307> [the spirit.]
This is a prophecy of what took place in Egypt about twenty-two years after the destruction of Sennacherib's army; when, upon the death of Tirhakah, (B.C. 688,) not being able to settle about the succession, they continued for two years in a state of anarchy, confusion, and civil wars; which was followed by the tyranny of twelve princes, who, dividing the country among them, governed it for fifteen years; and at last, by the sole dominion of Psammiticus, which he held for fifty-four years.
panic <01238> [fail. Heb. be emptied. and I.]
confuse <01104> [destroy. Heb. swallow up.]
seek guidance <01875> [and they.]
hand <05534> [give over. or, shut up.]
harsh master ............ master <0113 07186> [a cruel lord.]
Rather, "cruel lords," agreeable to the LXX., Syriac, Vulgate, and the original {adonim kasheh.} Nebuchadnezzar, who first conquered and ravaged Egypt, B.C. 573, and the following year; and then, not only his successors, but Cambyses, (who invaded Egypt, B.C. 526,) the son of Cyrus, and the whole succession of Persian kings till the time of Alexander, who were in general hard masters, and grievously oppressed the country.
streams <02975> [and the.]
bulrushes <07070> [the reeds.]
cultivated land <04218> [every.]
[be no more. Heb. shall not be.]
make <05647> [work.]
turn pale <02355> [net works. or, white works.]
cloth <08356> [purposes. Heb. foundations. make.]
depressed <05315> [for fish. or, of living things.]
officials <08269> [the princes.]
Zoan <06814> [Zoan.]
stupid <01197> [brutish.]
one <01121> [I am.]
where oh ..... wise <0335 0645 02450> [where are thy.]
tell ..... find <05046 03045> [let them.]
officials ... Zoan ..... officials <06814 08269> [princes of Zoan.]
Memphis <05297> [Noph.]
rulers <06438> [stay. or, governors. Heb. corners.]
<04537> [hath mingled.]
undiscerning <07307 05773> [perverse spirit. Heb. spirit of perverseness. as a.]
women <0802> [like.]
brandishes <08573> [the shaking.]
land <0127> [the land.]
<06440> [because.]
time <03117> [that day.]
five <02568> [shall five.]
speak <01696> [speak.]
language <08193> [language. Heb. lip.]
swear <07650> [and swear.]
Sun <02041> [destruction. Heb. Heres, or, the sun.]
Instead of {heres,} "destruction," which is also the reading of Aquila, Theodotion, and the Syriac, fifteen MSS. and seven editions have {cheres,} "the sun;" agreeable to Symmachus, the Arabic, and Vulagte; while the Chaldee takes in both readings; and the LXX. reads [polis asedek,] "the city of righteousness," a name apparently contrived by the party of Onias, to give credit to his temple. As, however, {heres} in Arabic signifies a lion, Conrad Ikenius is of opinion that the place here mentioned is not Heliopolis, as is commonly supposed, but Leontopolis in the Heliopolitan nome, as it is termed in the letter of Onias to Ptolemy. The whole passage, from this verse to the end, contains a general intimation of the propagation of the knowledge of the true God in Egypt and Syria, under the successors of Alexander, and the early reception of the gospel in the same countries.
visual reminder <0226 05707> [for a.]
cry out <06817> [they shall.]
send <07971> [he shall send.]
Lord ... reveal ......... acknowledge ... Lord's .................. Lord <03068 03045> [Lord shall.]
authority ....... present ..... they <05647> [and shall.]
make <05087> [shall vow.]
strike ... striking <05062> [he shall smite.]
turn <07725> [they shall.]
Israel <03478> [shall.]
blessing <01293> [a blessing.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
blessing ...... Blessed <01288> [Blessed.]
Israel <03478> [and Israel.]
commanding general <08661> [Tartan.]
Tartan was one of the generals of Sennacherib, who, it is probable, is here called Sargon, and in the book of Tobit, Sacherdonus and Sacherdan, against whom Tirhakah, king of Cush or Ethiopia, was in league with the king of Egypt.
Ashdod <0795> [Ashdod.]
captured <03920> [and took.]
Isaiah <03470> [Isaiah. Heb. the hand of Isaiah. Go.]
sackcloth <08242> [the sackcloth.]
<02502> [put.]
undergarments <06174> [naked.]
three <07969> [three.]
object lesson <0226> [a sign.]
Egypt <04714> [upon Egypt.]
king <04428> [shall.]
Egypt ....................... Egyptians <04714> [Egyptians. Heb. captivity of Egypt. with their.]
publicly humiliated <06172> [shame. Heb. nakedness.]
afraid <02865> [afraid.]
pride <08597> [their glory.]
coast <0339> [isle. or, country.]
fled <05127> [whither.]
escape <04422> [and how.]
