Isaiah 19 · The Lantern

The word about Egypt. See, the Lord is seated on a quick-moving cloud, and is coming to Egypt: and the false gods of Egypt will be troubled at his coming, and the heart of Egypt will be turned to water.

And I will send the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they will be fighting every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; town against town, and kingdom against kingdom.

And the Egyptians rose up against the Egyptians, according to that which the Lord speaks in the Gospel: Think not that I am come to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I am come to divide a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (Matt. X, 34 seqq.).

Daughters of Tyre, daughters of the nations, from species to genus. Through Tyre, neighbor to the land of prophecy, the psalmist signifies all the people who would come to believe in Christ.

Third, as to the dissension of those who resist, as to external contact: and I will set, as to strangers: the Egyptians to fight against the Egyptians; as to kindred, they shall fight brother against brother; as to acquaintances and friends: and friend against friend; as to different peoples, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

And the spirit of Egypt will be troubled in her, and I will make her decisions without effect: and they will be turning to the false gods, and to those who make hollow sounds, and to those who have control of spirits, and to those who are wise in secret arts.

And I will give the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a hard king will be their ruler, says the Lord, the Lord of armies.

And the waters of the sea will be cut off, and the river will become dry and waste:

And the rivers will have an evil smell; the stream of Egypt will become small and dry: all the water-plants will come to nothing.

The grass-lands by the Nile, and everything planted by the Nile, will become dry, or taken away by the wind, and will come to an end.

The fishermen will be sad, and all those who put fishing-lines into the Nile will be full of grief, and those whose nets are stretched out on the waters will have sorrow in their hearts.

And all the workers in linen thread, and those who make cotton cloth, will be put to shame.

And the makers of twisted thread will be crushed, and those who... will be sad in heart.

The chiefs of Zoan are completely foolish; the wisest guides of Pharaoh have become like beasts: how do you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the offspring of early kings?

And the Father says to him: Return to me, calling him from the earth to heaven, whom he had sent for our salvation. Therefore, raising up his only-begotten Son, he frustrated the plan of the slanderers. Hence, Isaiah also says: The futile plan of your spirit.

(Vers. 11-13.) The foolish princes of Tanis, the wise counselors of Pharaoh, gave foolish counsel: How can you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and make known what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.

The princes of Tanis are become fools. Here he sets out the stupidity of their men; and first, as to error in their counsels; second, as to fear in wars, where it says, in that day Egypt shall be like unto women (Isa 19:16). Concerning the first, he does three things.

Where, then, are your wise men? let them make clear to you, let them give you knowledge of the purpose of the Lord of armies for Egypt.

The chiefs of Zoan have become foolish, the chiefs of Noph are tricked, the heads of her tribes are the cause of Egypt's wandering out of the way.

The Lord has sent among them a spirit of error: and by them Egypt is turned out of the right way in all her doings, as a man overcome by wine is uncertain in his steps.

And in Egypt there will be no work for any man, head or tail, high or low, to do.

In that day the Egyptians will be like women: and the land will be shaking with fear because of the waving of the Lord's hand stretched out over it.

And the land of Judah will become a cause of great fear to Egypt; whenever its name comes to mind, Egypt will be in fear before the Lord of armies because of his purpose against it.

In that day there will be five towns in the land of Egypt using the language of Canaan, and making oaths to the Lord of armies; and one of them will be named, The Town of the Sun.

(Verse 18.) On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan and swearing by the Lord of hosts. One city shall be called the City of the Sun. The raised and shaking hand of the Lord over Egypt greatly benefits, so that the land of Judah may be in fear of Him, and everyone who remembers Him may tremble.

The servant is "faithful in very little" who does not defile the word of God but speaks as though he were speaking from God and with God in Christ.

In that day. Here the consequence or the consolation is set out, namely their conversion. And first, the threefold sign of their conversion; the first of which is an oath: swearing, below: he shall swear by God, amen: because the former distresses are forgotten (Isa 65:16); the city of the sun, Heliopolis, the language of Chanaan, which is close to the language of the Jews, so…

In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the middle of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at the edge of the land.

(Verse 19-21) On that day there will be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar near its boundary to the Lord. And it will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressor, and he will send them a Savior and a defender to deliver them, and the Lord will be known by Egypt.

The prophet Isaiah says this about Egypt: "In that day there will be an altar of the Lord in the land of the Egyptians and an inscription to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign forever to the Lord in the land of the Egyptians, for they will cry to the Lord against their assailants, and the Lord will send them a savior who will be determined to save them.

The second sign is a sacred building: an altar of the Lord; and a monument, for they worshipped many gods, as it says in Acts 17. Some say that this was fulfilled in the time of the Maccabees, when many Jews were fleeing into Egypt, and Onias, wishing to fulfill this prophecy, built an altar against the precept of the law.

And it will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of armies in the land of Egypt: when they are crying out to the Lord because of their cruel masters, then he will send them a saviour and a strong one to make them free.

He was called "Christ" from the anointing. Then, that the same one was a human being Jeremiah shows, saying, "And he is man, and who has known him?" And Isaiah, "And the Lord shall send them a man, who shall save them, and judging them he will heal them."

(Verse 20.) And the Egyptians will know the Lord on that day; and they will worship him with sacrifices and offerings, and they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them. And the Lord will strike Egypt with a plague, and he will heal it; and they will return to the Lord, and he will be appeased by them, and he will heal them.

The third sign is that they call on the help of God, they shall cry to the Lord; a Savior, Jesus: he shall cry to me, and I will hear him (Ps 90[91]:15).

And the Lord will give the knowledge of himself to Egypt, and the Egyptians will give honour to the Lord in that day; they will give him worship with offerings and meal offerings, and will take an oath to the Lord and give effect to it.

And the Lord will send punishment on Egypt, and will make them well again; and when they come back to the Lord he will give ear to their prayer and take away their disease.

In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt will come into Assyria; and the Egyptians will give worship to the Lord together with the Assyrians.

In that day Israel will be the third together with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the earth:

Because of the blessing of the Lord of armies which he has given them, saying, A blessing on Egypt my people, and on Assyria the work of my hands, and on Israel my heritage.

Isaiah19