12 Wo to the ''multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of ^mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters:
The twelfth verse commences a new prophecy which has no connection with that which precedes it; and which in itself gives no certain indication of the time when it was uttered, or of the people to which it relates. It is a broken and detached piece, and is evidently the description of some army rushing to conquest, and confident of success, but which was to be overtaken with sudden calamity. The entire description is so applicable to the invasion of the land of Judah by the array of Sennacherib, and his overthrow by the angel of Jehovah, that by the common consent of interpreters it has been regarded as referring to it. See Notes on ch. x. But when it was spoken, or why it was placed here, is unknown. It may be addfd that many commentators, and among the rest Geseniws, have supposed that the following chapter is a part of this prophecy. The general sense of the prophecy is, that numerous hostile nations would overrun Palestine, but that Jehovah would destroy them all.
12. Wo to the multitude, &c. The word " wo," "^"I'"^ lio, maybe either an interjection simply directing the attention to them, or it may be a word indicating approaching calamity and judgment. See Note ch. v. 6. Gesenius supposes that it is rather the language of comoassion on account of the evil which tney threatened to bring upon the people of God, like 1 Kings xiii. 30, " Ah! wo, my brother!" IT The multitude of many people. Or, the turnuit of many nations — u description of the noise attending an invading army made up of many nations mingled togethei, such as was that of Sennacherib. V Which make a noise, &-c. This is a
but ^God shall rebuke them, ana they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the cbalf of the mountains before the wind, and like ^a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
beautiful description of a vast army, and of the shouting, the tumult, the din, which attends its march. The same comparison occurs in Jer. vi. 23. Ps. Ixv. 7. See Ezek. xliii. 2. Rev. i. 15, xiv. 2, xix. 6. IF And to the rushing of nations. The rushing of mighty armies to conquest.
13. God shall rebuke them. The word God is not here in the original, but is evidently to be supplied. The word rebuke means that he would disarrange their plans, prevent their success, and defeat their purposes. It shows the great power of God, that he can thus by a rebuke — a word — arrest mighty nations, and discomfit them when they are tumultuously hastening onward in the confidence of victory This discomfiture refers doubtless vo the overthrow of Sennacherib and his army by the pestilence. 2 Kings xix. 35. See Notes ch. xxxvii.36. "^ And they shall flee far off. The whole army of Sennacherib was not destroyed, but a part with himself returned to Assyria. 2 Kings xix. 36. ir And shall he chased as the chaff, &c. Denoting the ease with which God would do it, and the certain and entire discomfiture of the army. The figure is one that is very striking in describing an army that is routed and that flies in disorder. Comp. Job xxi. 18. Ps. i. 4, xxxv. 5. Isa. xx; x. 5. Hos xiii. 3. Ti And like a rolling thing. Marg. Thistle-down. It meana gdl from ^^^ gdldl to roll. It is applied to chaff, stubble, or any thing that is driven about by a whirlwind. Ps. Ixxxiii. 14.
morning he is not, This is the j and the lot of them that rob us, portion of them^ that spoil us,
IT Before the morning he is not. That is, he is destroyed. This is strikingly descriptive of the destruction of the army of Sennacherib on that fatal night when the angel of the Lord slew one hundred and eighty-five thousand men. See Note on ch. xxxvii. 36. IT This is the portion of them that spoil us. Of those who would plunder us. This is a general declaration in regard to the enemies of the Jewish people. Thia is the lot, the end, the destiny of all who attempt to destroy them. That is, the people of God shall be safe whoever rises up against them; and whatever may be the number, or the power of their foes, they shall be overthrown.
The xviiith chapter of Isaiah," says Bishop Horslej', " is one of the most obscure passagei of the ancient prophets. It has been considered as such by the whole succession of interpreters from Jerome to Bishop Lowth." " The object of it," says Bishop Lowth, " the end and design of it; the people to whom it is addressed; the history to which it belongs; the person who sends the messengers; and the nation to whom they are sent, are all obscure and doubtful Much of the obscurity lies in the highly figurative cast of the language, and in the ambiguity of some of the principal words, arising from the great variety of the senses often comprehended under the primary meaning of a single root."
Lowth supposes that Egypt is the country referred to; that the prophecy was delivered before the return of Sennacherib's expedition to Egypt; and that it was designed to give to the Jews, and perhaps likewise to the Egyptians, an intimation of the destruction of their great and powerful enemy. Taylor, the Editor of Calmet's Dictionary, supposes that it relates to a people lying in southern, or upper Egypt, or the country above the cataracts of the Nile, i. e. Nubia; and that the people to whom the message is sent are those who were situated north on the river Nile, where the various streams which go to form the Nile become a single river; and that the nation re|)resented as " scattered and peeled," or as he renders it, "a people contracted and deprived," i. e. in their persons, refers to the Pigmies as they are described by Homer, Strabo, and others. See this view drawn out in the Fragments appended to Calmet's Die. No. cccxxii. Rosenmuller says of this prophecy, that " it is involved in so many, and so great difficulties, on account of unusual expressions and figurative sentences, and the history of those times, so little known to us, that it is.mpossible to expKiin and unfold it. We seem to be reading mere enigmas, \n explaining which, although many learned interpreters have taken great pains, yet scarcely two can be found who agree." Gesenius connects it with the closing verse of the previous chapter; and so does also Vitringa. Gesenius supposes that it refers to a nation in distant Ethiopia in alliance with Israel. To this, says he, and to all the nations of the earth, the prophet addresses himself, in order to draw their atencion to the sudden overthrow which God would bring upon the enemy, after he has quietly ooked upon their violence for a long time According to this view, the prophecy belongs to the period immediately preceding the I4th year of Hezekiah, when the Assyrian armies had already overrun, or were about to overrun Palestine on thei/ way to Egypt, and the prophet confidently predicts their destruction. At this time, he remarks, Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, with a part of Egypt, had armed himself against the Assyrians; for which purpose he had probably entered into an alliance with the Hebrews. To this friend and ally of Israel, the prophet gives the assurance that God was about to destroy completely the common enemy, the Assyrian. — By some, the land here referred to, has been supposed to be Egypt; by others Ethiopia in Africa-, by others Judea; by others the Roman empire; and others have supposed that it refers to the destruction of Gog and Magog in tha times of the Messiah. Vitringa supposes that the prophecy must be referred either to the Egyptians ot the Assyrians; and as there is no account, he says, of any calamity coming upon the Egyptinns like that which is described in vs. 4—6, and as that description is applictible to the destruction of the Assyrians under Sennacherib, he regards it as referring to him. Calvin says that many have supposed that the Troglodytes of^ upper Egypt are meant here, but that this is improbable, as they were ^ot known to have formed any alliances with other nations. He supposes that some nation is referred to in the vicinity of Egypt and Ethiopia, but what people he does not even conjecture Amidst this diversity of opinion, it may s«sm rash to hazard a conjecture in regard to the situation of the nation who sent the messengers, and the nation to whom they were sent; and it is obviously improper to hazard such a conjecture without a careful examination of the phrases and words wliish occur in the prophecy. When that is done; when the characteristics of the nation liave been fully determined, then perhaps we may be able to arrive at some satisfactory conclusion ii> -rjE'ard to this very difficult portion of the Bible. The prophecy consists of tlie following parts: (1.) The prophet addresses himself to the nation here described as a " land shadowing with wings," and as sendiuj KTcbassailors, in a manner designed to call their attention to the srcut events soon to occur, vs. i t
(2.) He addre8.«es a.l nations), calling upon them also to attend to the same subject, ver. 3. (3.) H« iiay.s that God had revealed to him that destruction should come upon the enemies here referred to, and that the immense host should be left to the beasts of the earth, and to the fowls of the mountains, vs. 4— 6. (4) The consequence, he says, of such events would be, that a present would be brought to Jehovah from the distant nation " scattered and peeled," and whose land the rivers had spoiled, ver. 7.
tzeldtzdl — the same as used here except the points — is applied to locusts, because they appear in such swarms aa to obscure the rays of the sun, and produce an extended shade or shadow over a land as a cloud does; or because they make a rustling with their wings. The word here used, therefore, may mean either shaded, or rvstling, or rattling in the manner of a cymbal or other tinkling instrument. It may be added that the word may mean a double shade, being a doubling of the word ^5t tzel,a. shade or shadow, and it has been supposed by some to apply to Ethiopia as lying between the tropics, having a double shadow; that is, so that the shadow of objects is cast one half of the year on the north side, and the other half on the south. The word wings is applied in the Scriptures to the following things, viz. (1.) The wings of a fowl. This is the Hteral, and common signification. (2.) The skirts, borders, or lower parts of a garment— from the resemblance to wings. 1 Sam. xxiv. 5, 11. Num. xv. 38. Zech. viii. l.i. Also a bed covering. Deut. xxxiii. 1. (3.) The extremities or borders of a country, or of the world. Isa. xxiv. 16. Jobxxxvii. 3. Ezek. xvii. 3, 7. (4.) The wing or extremity of an army — as we use the word wing. Dan. ix. 27. Isa, viii. 8. Jer. xlviii. 40. (5) The expanding rays of the morn* ing — because the light expands or spreads out like wings. Ps. cxx.xix. 9. Mai. iv. 2. (6.) The wind — resembling wings in rapid motion. Hcs iv. 19. Ps. xviii: 10, 21, civ. 3. (7.) The battlement or pinnacle of the temple — or perhaps the porches extended OE
1. ^0 to the land ('^iH). This word, as has been already remarked, (Note ch. xvii. 12), may be a mere interjection or salutation, and would be appropriately rendered by " Ho!" Or it may be a word denouncing judgment, or wrath, as it is often used in this prophecy. Note ch. v. 8. IT Shadowing with wings. ti;;B:3^b:£. This is one of the most difficult expressions in the whole chapter; and one to which as yet, probably, no satisfactory meaning has been applied. The LXX render it, iJvaX ytii ttXoicji' Tzripvyti — Ah! wings of the land of ships. The Chaldee, " Wo to the land in which they come in ships from a distant country, and whose sails are spread out as an eagle which flies upon its wings." Grotius renders it, " the land whose extreme parts are shaded by mountains," The word rendered '* shadowed," 5^522 tziltzdl, occurs only in this place, and in Job xli. 7, where it is translated fish-spears — but as we know nothing of the form of those spears, what place throws no light on the meaning of the word here. The word is derived evidently from 5^X tzdldl, which has three significations. 1, To be shady, dark, obscure; and hence its derivatives are applied to any thing that makes a shade, or shadow — particularly shady trees, Job xl. 21, 22; the shades of night. Cant. ii. 17, iv. 6; or any thing that produces obscurity, or darkness — as a tree, a rock, a wing, ♦t^. 2. It means to tingle, spoken of in* ears (1 Sam. iii. 11, 2 Kings xxi. 13); to 5'Mi«e}, spoken of the lips (Hab. iii. 16); and hence its derivatives are applied to any thing that makes a hound by tinkling — an instrument of music; a cymbal made of two pieces of metal that are struck together. 2 Bam. vi. 5. Ps. cl. 5. Neh. xii. 27. 1 each side of the temple like wings. Dan.ix.27. Comp. Matth. iv. 5. (8.) Protection — as wings are a protection to young bijds in their nest. See Matth. xxiii. 87. Ps. xci. 4, xviii. 8, xxxvi. 7, 1x1. 4, xci. 4 It has been proposed by some to apply this description to ships, or the sails of vessels, as if a land was designated which was covered with sails, or the wings of vessel j. ISo the LXX, and the Chaldee. Br.; there is no instance in which the word wings is so applied in the Scriptures.
The expression here used may therefore be applied to many things; and it (s noi easy to determine its significaliasL The general idea is that of something that abounds in the land that is stretched out or expanded; that, as it were, covers it, and so abounds as to make a shade or shadow every where. And it may be applied (1) to a nation that abounds with birds or fowls, so that they might be said to shade the land; (2) to a nation abounding with locusts, shading the land or making a rustling noise; or (3) to a nation furnishing protection — or stretching out its wings, as it were, for the defence of a feeble people. So Vitringa interprets this place, and supposes that it refers to Egypt, as being the nation where the Hebrews sought protection. Or (4) to a country that is shaded with trees, mountains, or hills. So Grotius supposes it means here, and thinks that it refers to Ethiopia, as being bounded by high hills or mountains. (5) It may mean a people distinguished for navigation — abounding in sails of vessels — as if they were everywhere spread out like wings. So the LXX and the Chaldee understand this; and the interpretation has some plausibility from the fact that light vessels are immediately mentioned. (6) The Editor of Calmet's Dictionary supposes that it refers to the winged Cnephim which are sculptured over the temple gates in upper Egypt. They are emblematic representatives of the god Cnephy to which the temples are dedicated, and abound in upper Egypt. The symbol of the wings is supposed to Jenote the protection which the god extended over the land. (7) Geseniu* (Commentary on Isaiah) renders it, " land rustling with wings," and supposes that the word rendered " shadowing" denotes the rustling sound that is made by the clangour of weapons o'' war. Amidst this variety of interpretation, it is perhaps not possible to determine the meaning of the phrase It has no parallel expression to illus trate it; and its meaning must be iek to conjecture. Almost any one of the above significations wfll suit the connection; and it is not very material which is chosen. The one that, perhaps, best suits the connection is tha( of the LXX and the Chaldee, which refers it to the multitude of ships ihaf expand their sails, and appear to fill all the waters of the land with wings.
IT Which is beyond. "^^.S?^. This does not of necessity mean beyond, though that is its usual signification. It properly means from the passing, the passages, the crossing over, of a river; and may be rendered what is on the other side; or over against. It sometimes means on this side, as if used by one living on the other side, 1 Kings iv. 24. Deut. iv. 49. Josh. xiii. 27, in which places it has not the sense of beyond, but means either on this side, or lying alongside. The sense here is, probably, that this country was situated not far from the rivers of Cush — probably beyond them, but still it is implied that they were not far beyond them, but were rather at their passings over, or crossing-places; that is, near them. IT The rivers of Ethiopia. Heb. Rivers of Cush. On the meaning of the word Cush, see Note ch. xi. ] 1 It is sometimes applicabie to Ethiopia or Nubia — that is, the portion of Egypt above the cataracts of the Nile. Corap. Jer. xiii. 23. * Can the Ethiopian — the Cushite — change his skin V See also Ezek. xxix. 10. This word does not determine with certainty the country to which refH^ence is made — for the country of Cush 7nay mean ihat east of the Euphrates, or southe.rn Arabia, or southern Egypt. Egypt and Cush are, however, sometimes con
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saytngy Go, ye swift messengers, to d nation 'scattered and peeled,
CiUed. Isa. xx. 3. 2 Kings xix. 9. Fa. Ixviii. 31. Isa. xliii. 3. Nah. iii. 9. Camp. Dan. xi. 43. The probability from the use of this word is, that some part of upper Egypt is intended. Ethiopia in part lies beyond the most considerable of the streams that make up the river Nile.
2. That sendeth ambassadors. That is accustomed to send messengers. What was the design of their thus sending ambassadors does not appear. The prophet simply intimates the fact; a fact by which they were well known. It may have been for purposes of commerce, or to seek protection. Bochart renders the word translated ambassadors by imagns, and supposes that it denotes an image of the god Osiris made of the papyrus; but there does not seem to be any reason for this word sea — C|! — is applied to various collections of water, and may be used in reference to a sea, a lake, a pond, and even a large river. It is often applied to the Mediterranean — and where the phrase Great Sea occurs it denotes that. Num. xxxiv. 6, 7. Deut. xi. 24. It is applied to the lake of Gennesareth or the sea of Galilee, Num. xx.xiv. 11; to the Salt Sea, Gen. xiv. 3; to the Red Sea often, Ex. xiii. 10. Num. xiv. 25, xxi. 4, xxxiii. 10, et al. It is also applied to a a large river, as e. g. the i\''27p, Isa. xix. 5 Neh. iii. 8; and to the Euphrates, Jer. li. 36. So far as this word is concerned, therefore, it ffiay denote either the Mediterranean,
to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto: a nation ^meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers *have spoiled!
2 of line line, and treading underfoot, or, thai meteth out and treadeih doion. 3 or, despise the Red Sea, the Nile, or the Euphrates. If the country spoken of is Upper Egypt or Nubia, then we are naturally led to suppose that the prophet refers either to the Nile or the Red Sea. IT Even in vessels of bulrushes. The word rendered bulrushes, NO j^, is derived from the verb K'25 g^ind, to swallow, sip, drink; and is given to a reed or bulrush, from its imbibing water. It is usually applied in the Scriptures to the Egyptian papyrus — a plant which grew on the banks of the Nile, and from which we have derived our word paper. " This plant," says Taylor (Heb. Con.), " grew in moist places near the Nile, and was four or five yards in height. Under the bark it consisted wholly of thin skins, which being separated and spread out were applied to various uses. Of these they made boxes and chests, and even boats, smearing them over with pitch." These laminae or skins also served the purpose of paper, and were used instead of parchment, or plates of lead and copper, for writing on. This plant, the ajperus papyrus of modern botanists, mostly grew in Lower Egypt, in marshy land, or in shallow brooks and ponds formed by the inundation of the Nile. " The papyrus," says Pliny, " grows in the marsh lands of Egypt, or in the stagnant pools left inland by the Nile, after it has returned to its bed, which have not more than two cubits in depth. The root of the plant is the thickness of a man's arm; it has a triangular stalk, growing not higher than ten cubits (fifteen feet), and decreasing in breadth towards the summit, which is crowned with a thyrsus, containing no seeds, and of no use except to deck the statues of the goda. They employ the roots as firewood, and for making various utensils. The?
even construct small boats of the plant; and out of the rind, sails, mats, clothes, bedding, ropes; they eat it either crude or cooked, swallowing only the juice; and when they manufacture paper from it, they ^divide the stem by means of a kind of needle into thhi plates, or laminae, each of which ia as large as the plant will admit. All the paper is woven upon a table, and is continually moistened with Kile water, which being thick and slimy, furnishes an effectual species of glue. In the first place, they form upon a table, perfectly horizontal, a layer the whole length of the papyrus, which is crossed by another placed transversely, and afterwards inclosed within a press. The different sheets are then hung in a situation exposed to the sun, in order to dry, and the process is finally completed by joining them together, beginning with the best. There are seldom more than twenty slips or stripes produced from one stem of the plant." Plin. xiii. 11,12. Wilkinson remarks, that '' the mode of making papyri was this: the interior of the stalks of the plant, after the rind had been removed, was cut into thin slices in the direction of their length, and these being laid on a flat board, in succession, similar slices were placed over them at right angles, and their surfaces being cemented together by a sort of glue, and subjected to the proper degree of pressure, and well dried, the papyrus was completed." Manners and Customs of the Ancient Eyptians, iii. 148. The word here used is translated bulrushes ill Ex. ii. 3, where the little ark is described in which Moses was laid near the Nile; the rush in Job viii. 11; and rushes, Isa. xxxv. 7. It does not elsewhere occur. That the ancients were in the practice of making light boats or vessels from the papyrus is well known. Thus Theophrastus in the History of Plants, 4, 9, says that ** the papyrus is useful for many things. For from this they make vessels," or ships, i:\oia. Thus Pliny, 13, 11, s. 22, says, ex ipso quidem papyro ncvigia texuni — from the papyrus they weave essels.* Agam, 6, 56, s. 57: " Even now," says he, *'in the Britanni€ ocean useful vessels are made of bark; on the Nile from the papyrus, ani from reeds and rushes." Plutarch describes Isis going in search of the body of Osiris, " through tb^ fenny country in a bark made of the papyrus — ev Papt(ii rranvpivT} J where it is supposed that persons using boats of this description— £v TTa-rrpivoii OKaipeen n'K£ouras~— are never attacked by crocodiles out of respect to the goddess." Plut. de Is. s. 18. Moses, also, it will be remembered was exposed on the banks of the Nile in a similar boat or ark. " She took for him an Lrk of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein." Ex. ii 3.
The same word occurs here — ^^^^ which is used by Isaiah, and this fact shows that such boats were known as early as the time of Moses. Lucan also mentions boats made of the papyi*us at Memphis:
" The sculptures of Thebes, Memphis, and other places, abundantly show that they were employed as punts or canoes for fishing, in all parts of Egypt, during the inundation of the Nile," Wilkinson s Planners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, iii. 186. In our own country, also, it will be remem* bered, the natives were accustomed to make canoes, or vessels of the bark of the birch, with which they often adventured on even dangerous navigation. The cirrcumstance here mentioned of the ^^.^, the papyrus, seems to fix the scene of this prophecy to the region of the Nile. This reed grew nowher* else; and it is natural, therefore, to suppose, that some nation living near the Nile is intended. Taylor, the Editor of Calmet, has shown that the inhabitants of the upper regions of the Nile were accustomed to form floats of hollow earthen vessels, and to weave them together with rushes, and thus te convey them to lower Egypt to market. He supposes that by " vessels of bill- nisheH," or rush floats, are meant such Tf ssels. For a description of the floats made in upper Egypt with jars, see Pococke's Travels, vol. i. p. 84, Ed. London, 1743. " I first saw in this voyage [on the Nile] the large floats of earthen ware; they are about thirty feet wide, and sixty long, being a frame of palmboughs tied together about four feet deep, on which they put a layer of large jars with the mouths uppermost; on these they make another floor, and then put on another layer of jars, and so a third, which last are so disposed as to trim the float, and leave room for the men to go between. The float lies across the river, one end being lower down than the other; toward the lower end on each side they have four long poles with which they row and direct the boat, as well as torward the motion down." Mr. Bruce in his Travels mentions vessels made of the papyrus in Abyssinia. IT Upon the waters. The waters of the Nile, or the Red Sea. IT Saying. This word is not in the Hebrew, and the introduction of it Dy the translators gives a peculiar, and probably an incorrect sense to the whole passage. As it stands here, it would seem to be the language of the inhabitants of the land who sent the ambassadors, usually saying to their messengers to go to a distant nation; and this introduces an inquiry into the characteristics of the nation to whom the ambassadors are sent, as if it were a different people from those who are mentioned in ver. 1. But probably the words which follow are to be regarded as the words of the prophet, or of God [ytr, 4), giving commandment to those messengers to return to those who sent them, and deliver the message which follows: ' You send messengers to distant nations in reed-boats upon the rivers. Return, says God, to the land which sent you forth, and announce to them the will of God. Go rapidly in your light vessels, and bear this message, for it shall speedily be executed, and 1 will sit calmly and see it done.' Vs. 4-6. A remarkably similar paslagc, which throws great light on this, occurs in ICzek. xxx. 9: " In that day shall messengers go forth from me (God) in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them as in the day of Egypt; for lo, it cometh." IT Go, ye swift messengers. Keh. light messengers. This is evidently addressed to the boats. Achilles Tatius says that they were frequently so light and small that they would carry but one person. EosenmUller. ^ Ton nation. What nation this was is not known. The obvious import of the passage is, that it was some nation to whom they were accuS' tomed to send ambassadors, and that it is here added merely as descriptive of the people. Two or three characteristics of the nation are mentioned from which we may better learn what people are referred to. IF Scattered. T|^^^^ • This word is derived from T\^^ md' shdkh, to seize, take, hold fast; to draw out, extend, or prolong; to make double or strong; to spread out. The LXX render it, c9vos [icTccopov, *■ a lofty nation.* The Chaldee, " a people suffering violence." The Syriac, " a nation distorted." The Vulgate, " a people convulsed, and lacerated." It may denote a people spread out over a great extent of country; or a people drawn out in length — i. e. extended over a country of considerable length, but of comparatively narrow breadth, as Egpyt is. So Vitringa understands it. Or it may mean a people strong, valiant. So Gesenius understands it. This best suits the connection, as being a people " terrible hitherto." Perhaps all these ideas may be united by the supposition, that the nation was drawn out or extended over a large region, and was therefore a powerful or mighty people. The idea of its being scattered is not in the text. Taylor renders it, " a people of short stature; contracted in height; that is, dwarfs." But the idea in the text is not one that is descriptive of individuals but of the collected nation; the people. ^ And peeled. ^"^^^ from k^"^^ murdt, to make smooth, oi sharpen as a sword, Ezek. xxi. 14-32j then to make smooth the head of any 1 one, to pluck off" his hair, I>.r.-> '*^ 3
Neh. xiii. 25. Isa. 4-6. The LXX render it, (ivov Xadp koI ■yaXe-^Tov, a foreign and wicked people. The VuJgate, " to a people lacerated." The Syriac rentiers the whole verse, " go, swift messengers, to a people perverse and torn; to a people whose strength has been long since taken away; a people defiled and trodden down; whose land the rivers have spoiled." The word here used is capable of two significations. (1.) It may denote a people who are shaved or made smooth by removing the hair from the body. It is known to have been the custom with the Egyptians to make their bodies smooth by shaving off the hair, as Herodotus testifies, 11, 37. Or (2) it may be translated, as Gesenius proposes, a people valiant, fierce, bold, from the sense which the verb has to sharpen a sword, Ezek. xxi. 15, 16. The former is the most obvious interpretation, and agrees best with the proper meaning of the Hebrew word; the latter would, perhaps, better suit the connection. The Editor of Calmet supposes that it is to be taken in the sense of diminished, small, dwarfish, and would apply it to the pigmies of Upper Egypt. ^ To a people terrible. That is, warlike, fierce, cruel. Heb. * A people feared.' If the Egyptians are meant, it may refer to the fact that they had always been an object of terror and alarm to the Israelites from their early oppressions there before their deliverance mider Moses. IT Fromtheirbeginning hitherto. Heb. * From this time, and formerly.' It has been their general character that they were a fierce, harsh, oppressive nation. Gesenius, however, renders this, " to the formidable nation (and) further beyond;" and supposes that two nations are referred to, of which the most remote and formidable one, whose land is washed by streams, is the proper Ethiopian people. By the other he sup- Do^s is meant the Egyptian people. But the scope of the whole prophecy rather requires us to understand it of one people. IT A nation meted out.
religion abounded with ntes and cere% monies, and an infinite multitude of precepts or laws which preijcribed them. Michaelis renders it, " a nation measured by a line;'* that iS; whose land had been divided by victors. Doderlin renders it, " a nation which uses the line;" i. e. as he supposes, which extended its dominion over other provinces. The LXX render it, eOvog di'£\TTi<;Tov — a nation without hope; Aquila, eOvoi vn6n£vop — a nation enduring or patient, Jonathan, the Chaldee, t<b'^5X i<^1f i^'i^yy^ — a nation oppressed and afflicted. A ben Ezra explains it as meaning * a nation like a school-boy learning line after line,* Theodore Hasaeus endeavours to prove that the reference here is to Egypt, and that the language ia taken from the fact that the Egyptians were early distinguished for surveying and mensuration. This science, he supposes, they were led to cultivate from the necessity of ascertaining the height of the Nile at its annual inundation, and from the necessity of an accurate survey of the land in order to preserve the knowledge of the right of property in a country inundated as this was. In support of this, he appeals to Servius (ad Virg. Eel. iii. 41), where he says of the radius mentioned there, " The Radius is the rod of the philosophers by which they denote the lines of geometry. This art was invented in the time when the Nile, rising beyond its usual height, confounded the usual marks of boundaries, to the ascertaining of which they employed philosophers who divided the land by lines, whence the science was called geometry." Comp. Strabo, Geog. Lib. xvii. 787, who says that Egj^'pt was divided into thirty names, and then adds, " that these were again subdivided into othei portions, the smallest of which were farms — ai a^ovpai. But there was a necessity for a very careful and subtle division, on account of the continual confusion of the limits which the Nile produced when it overflowed, adding tc some, taking away from others, changing the forms, obliterating the signs, by which one farm was distinguished from another. Hence it became necessary to re-survey the country; and hence, ihey suppose, originated the science of geometry." See, alsi, Herodotus, Euterpe, c. 109. Hence it is supposed ►nat Egypt came to be distinguished by the use of the line — or for its skill in surveying, or in geometry — or a nation of the line. See the Dissertation of Theodore Hasaeus, de 1p Ip '^lil Gente kao kav, in Ugolin's Thes. Ant. Sac. Tom. vii. pp. 1568-1580. The word
^15 qdv, means properly a cord, a line, particularly a measuring line, Ezek. xlvii. 3. 2 Kings xxi. 13: "I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria," i. e. I will destroy it like Samaria. Hence the phrase here may denote a people accustomed to stretch out such lines over others; that is, to lay them waste. It is applied usually to the line connected with a plummet, which a carpenter uses to mark out his work (comp. Job xxxviii. 5. Isa. xxviii. 17, xxxiv. 11. Zeph. ii. 1); or to a line by which a land or country IS measured by the surveyor. Sometimes it means a precept, or rule^ as Vitringa has rendered it here. Comp. Isa. xxviii. 10 But the phrase to stretch out a 1 nc; or to measure a people by a line, is common iy applied to their destruction, as if a conqueror used a line to mark out what he had to do. See this use of the word in 2 Kings xxi. 13. Isa xxviii 17, xxxiv. 1 1. Lam. ii. 8. Zech. i. 16. Tliis is probably its sense here — a nation terrible in all its history, and which had been distinguished for stretching lines over others; that is, for marking them out for destruction, and dividing them as it pleased. It is therefore a simple description, not of the nation as being itself measured out, but as extending its dominion over others. ^ And trodden down. f^O^S'a. Marg. * And treading under foot, or that meteth out and ireadeth down.' The margin here, as is frequently the case, is the more corect rendering. Here it does not mean that they were trodden down, but that it was a characteristic of their nation that they trod down others; that is, conquered and subdued other nations.
Thus the verb is used in Isa lili. 6 xiv. 25, Jer. xii. 10. Isa. Ixiii. 18. P?. xliv. 6. Some, however, have supposed that it refers to the fact that the land was trodden down by their feet, or that the Egyptians were accustomed to lead the waters of the Nile, when it overflowed, by treading places for it to flow in their fields. But the former is the more correct interpretation. IT Whose land the rivers have spoiled. Margin, Despise. The Hebrew word ^5<t2 occurs nowhere else. The Vulgate renders it dlrijmerunt, carry away. The Chaldee reads it, " whose land the people plunder." The word is probably of the same signification as 773 hdzdz, to plunder, lay waste. So it was read by the Vulgate and the Chaldee; and this reading is found in four MSS. The word is in the presen; tense, and shculd be rendered not '* have spoiled," but spoil. It is probably used to denote a country the banks of whose rivers are washed away by the floods. This description is particularly applicable to Nubia or Abyssinia— the region above the cataracts of the Nile, One has only to remember that these streams continually wash away the banks and bear the earth to deposit it on the lands of lower Egypt, to see that the prophet had this region particularly in his eye. He could not have meant Egypt proper, because instead of Spoiling the lands, or washing them away, the Nile constantly brings down a deposit from the upper regions that constitutes its great fertility. The rivers that are here mentioned are doubtless the various branches of the Nile. See Bruce's Travels, ch. iii., and Burckhardt's Travels in Nubia. The Nile is formed by the junction of many streams or branches rising in Abyssinia — the principal of which are the Atbara; the Astapus or Blue Fliver; and the Astaboras or V/hite River. The principal source of the Nile is the Astapus or Blue River which rises in the Lake Coloe, which Bruce supposes to be the head of the Nile. This liver on the west, and the various branchet of the Atbar& on tba cas^, nftorlf en
3 All ye inhabitants of the fvorld, and dwellers en the earth, see ve, when he lifteth up an ensign*' on the mountains; and
eompass a large region of country called Merge, once supposed to be a large island, and frequently called such. The whole description, therefore, leads us to the conclusion that a region is mentioned in that country called in general Cush; that it was a people living on rivers, and employing reed boats or skiffs; that they were a fierce and warlike people; and that the country was one that was continually washed by streams, and whose soil was carried down by the floods. All these circumstances apply to Nubia or Abyssinia, and there can be little doubt that this is the country intended.
3. All ye inhabitants of the world. These are to be regarded as the words of the prophet summoning all nations S) attend to that which was about to occur. Grolius, however, and some others, suppose that they are the words of the Ethiopians. The meaning is, that the events which are here predicted would be of so public a nature as to attract the attention of all the world. IT When he. Vitringa supposes that this means the Assyrians lifting up a standard on the mountains of Judea. But the better interpretation is that which refers it to the people of Nubia, mustering their forces for war. * All nations behold when that people collects an army; sounds the trumpet for war; and arrays its military forces for battle. See then the judgments that God will inflict on them — their discomfiture (vs. 4-7), and their turning to Jehovah, and sending an oflTering to him (ver. 7).' According to this interpretation it will refer to the people making preparation for battle; and perhaps it may mean that they were preparing to join ihc enemies of Judea — not improbably preparing to join the forces of Sennacherib, and to invade Judea. For this ourpose it may have been that the tiessen;?ors were sent to negociate tho
4 For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will ^consider in my dwellingterms of alliance with Sennacherib; and the object of the prophecy is, ta assure the Jews that this people, as well as Sennacherib, would be discomfited, and that they would yet bring an offering to God. Ver. 7. H Lifteth up an ensign. A military standard. See Note ch. v. 26. 11 And when he bloweth a trumpet. Also a signal for an army to assemble. Note ch. xiii. 2.
4. For so the Lord said unto me. So Jehovah has revealed his purpose, that is, to execute punishment on the people who have been described in the previous verses. Their state as there described is that of a fierce people making ready for war, and probably designing an alliance with the enemies of Judea, and marshalling their armies for that purpose. Jehovah here reveals to the prophet that they shall be discomfited, and shows the manner in which it will be done. He says he will sit calm while these preparations are going on — as the sun shines serenely on the earth while the harvest is growing, and the dew falls gently oil the kprb; — but that before their plans are completed he will interpose and destroy them, as if one should appear suddenly before the harvest is ripe and cut it down. The design, therefore, of this part of the prophecy is to comfort the Jews, and to assure them that there is no danger to them from tho preparations which were made against them — for Jehovah calmly beholds the proud rage of the enemy. H / will take my rest. I will not interpose. I will remain calm — not appearing to oppose them, but keeping as calm, and as still, as if I seemed to favour their plans — as the sun shines on the herb, and the gentle dew falls on the grass, until the proper time for me to interpose and defeat them shall arise. Vs. 5, 6. H / will consider. I will look on; that is, I will not now interpose
place like a clear heat •upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew
and disarrange their plans before they:ire complete. We learn here, (1) that God sees the plans of the wicked; (2) that he sees them mature them without attempting then to interpose to disarrange them; (3) that he is calm *nd still because he designs that those Dlans shall be developed; and (4) that he wicked should not indulge in any dreams of security and success because God does not interpose to thwart their plans while they are forming them. He will do it in the proper time. IT In my dwelling-place. In heaven. I will «it in heaven and contemplate leisurely the plans that are going forward. If Like a clear heat. A serene, calm, and steady sunshine, by which plants and herbs are made to grow. There fieem to be two ideas blended here: the first, that of the stillness with which the sun shines upon the herbs; and the other, that of the fact that the 8un shines that the herbs may grow. IT Upon herbs. Margin, After rain. ^iwX-'^S;. The word "1'ii< usually signifies light, or fire. The plural form nTTlX is used to denote herbs or vegetables in two places, in 2 Kings iv. 39, and Isa. xxvi. 19. For in the Shemilic languages the ideas of sprouting, being grown, growing, &c., are connected with that of the shining of the sun, or of light; that which grows in the light; that is, vegetables. But in the singular form the word is not thus used, unless it be in this place. That it may have this signification cannot be doubted; and this interpretation makes good sense, and suits the connection. The Rabbins generally interpret it as it is in the margin, rain. In proof of this they appeal to Job xxxvi. 30, and xxxvii. 11 — but the word in these passages more properly denotes a cloud of light or of lightning, than rain. The common interpretation is probably correct, which regards the word ^lli^ here as the same «s fT^liX h^rbs. See Vi-
5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour
tringa. The Syriac reads it "^J^"^ ^'^ — upon the river. The parallelism seems to require the sense of herb, or something that shall answer to "harvest" in the corresponding member. IF And like a cloud of dew. Such a dew was still, and promoted the growth of vegetables. The idea is that of stillness and rest: where there is no storm or tempest to dissipate the gently falling dew. This is an emblem of the perfect quietness with which God wc uld regard the preparations for war until the proper time would come for him to interpose. The whole passage is similar to Ps. ii. 4,5:
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; Jehovah shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, And vex them in his hot displeasure.
The idea is, that he would be as calm as the sun is upon the herb, or the dew upon the harvest field, until the time should come when it would be proper for him to interpose, and disconcert their counsels When and how this would be done is stated in the following verses; and the whole passage is a most striking illustration of the manner with which God contemplates the machinations and evil designs of the wicked.
5. For afore the harvest. This verse is evidently figurative, and the image ia drawn from that which is commenced in the previous verse. There, God ia represented as calmly regarding the plans of the people here referred to — as the sun shines serenely on the herb; or the dew falls on the grass. Thai figure supposes that they had formed plans, and that they were advancing to maturity, like a growing harvest, while God surveyed them without interposition. This verse continues the figure, and affirms thai those plans shall not be mature; that God will interpose and defeat them while they are maturing — as if a man should enter the harvest field and cut it down aftei grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. 6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, it had been sown, or go into the vineyard and cut down the vines while the green grape was beginning to ripen. It is, therefore, a most beautiful and expressive figure, intimating that all their plans would be foiled even when they had the prospect of a certain accomplishment. IT When the bud is perfect. The word 6m«Z here, IT^B, denotes either a blossom, or a sprout, shoot, branch. Here it denotes probably the blossom of the grain; or it may be the grain when it is set. Its meaning is, when their plans are maturing, and there is every hnman prospect that they will be successful. IT And the sour grape is ripening. Begins to turn; or is becoming mature. '^ In the flower. S^^3. The blossom. This should be read rather, " and the flower is becoming a ripening grape." The common version does not make sense; but with this translation the idea is clear. The sense is the same as in the former phrase — when their plans are maturing. IT He shall cut off the sprigs. The shoots; the small limbs on which the grape is hanging — as if a man should enter a vineyard, and, while the grape is ripening, should not only cut off the grape, but the small branches that bore It — thus preventing it from bearing again. The idea is, not only that God would disconcert their present plans, but that he would prevent them from forming^ any in future. Before their plans w-re matured, and they obtained the anticipated triumph, he would effectually prevent them from forming Buch plans again.
6. They shall be left together. The figure here is dropped, and the literal narration is resumed. The sense is, *hat the army shall be slain and left jnburied. Perhaps the brunches and
and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
7 In that time shall the present-^ be brought unto the Lord
twigs in the previous verse denoted military leaders, and the captains of the armies, which are now represented as becoming food for beasts of the field and for birds of prey. IT To the fowlr of the mountains. Their dead bodiej shall be unburied, and shall be a pref to the birds that prey upon flesh IT And to the beasts of the earth. Th< wild animals; the beasts of the forest ^ And the fowls shall summer upor them. Shall pass the summer —. e they shall continue to be unburied. II And the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. They shall be unburied through the winter; probably indicating that they would furnish food for the fowls and the wild beasts for a long time. On the multitude of carcases, these animals will find nourishment for a whole year, i. e. they will spend the summer and the winter with them. When this was fulfilled, it is, perhaps, not possible to tell, as we are so little acquainted with the circumstances of the people in relation to whom it was spoken. If it related, as I suppose, to the people of Nubia or Ethiopia forming an alliance with the Assyrians for the purpose of invading Judea, it was fulfilled probably when Sennacherib and his assembled hosts were destroyed. Whenever it was fulfilled, it is quite evident that the design of the prophecy was to give comfort to the Jews — alarmed and agitated as they were at the prospect of the preparations which were made — by the assurance that those plans would fail, and all the efforts of their enemies be foiled and disconcerted.
7. In that time. When their plana shall thus be disconcerted, and their armies be overthrown. II Shall the present be brought, &.c. The word
of hosts of a people scattered'' and peeled, and from a people terrible from iheir beginnins: hitherto; a nation meted out and trod-
found only in the phrase to bring gifts, or presents. Ps. Ixviii. 30, Ixxvi. 11. It means here evidently a tribute, or an offering to Jehovah as the only true God; and possibly may mean that the people would be converted to him, and embrace the true religion. ^ Of a people, &,c. From a people. The description which follows is the same precisely as in ver. 2. Numerous repetitions of this kind will be recollected by the classic reader in the Iliad. IT To the place of the name, &c. The place where Jehovah is worshipped; i. e. Jerusalem. Comp. Notes ch. i. 8, 9. We have no means of knowing with certainty when or how this prophecy was fulfilled. That the Jewish religion spread into Upper Egypt, and that the Christian religion was afterwards established there, there can be no doubt. The Jews were scattered into nearly every nation, and probably many of this people became proselytes, and went with them to Jerusalem to worship. See Acts ii. 10, viii. 27. " The Abyssinian annals represent the country as converted to Judaism several centuries before the Christian era; and it certainly retains many appearances bearing the stamp of that faith. In the den under /oot, wnose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion.
fourth century, the nation was convert* ed to Christianity by the efforts of Frumentius, an Egyptian, who raised himself to high favour at court. Abyssinia remained impenetrable to the arms or the creed of the followers oi Mahomet, and, affording shelter to the refugees from Egypt and Arabia, it became more decidedly Christian." " The Abyssinians profess the same form of Christianity with the Copts of Egypt, and even own the supremacy of the Patriarch at Cairo. They combine with their Christian profession many Judaical observances, such as circumcision, abstinence from meats, and the observance of Saturday as well as Sunday as a Sabbath." Encyclopedia of Geography, vol. ii. pp. 585, 588. In these facts; in the prevalence of the true religion there in former periods, the prophecy may be regarded as having been in part fulfilled. Still, as is the case with a large portion of the prophecies of Isaiah, we must regard this as having reference to a period of greater light and truth than has yet existed there; and as destined to receive a more complete fulfilment when all lands shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.
Th!s piojj^ecy respecting Egypt extends only through this chapter. Its gene al scope nnd desigc I» p'.atii. It is intended to describe the calamities that would come upon Egypt, and the elfect which they would have in turning the people to God. The scene is laid in Egypt; and the following thrng* passed before the mind of the piophet in vision: (1.) He sees Jehovah ccniing in a cloud to Egypt rer. 1, (2.) The effect of this is to produce alarm among the idols of that nation, vcr. 2. (3.) A state of internal commotion and discord is described ns existing in Egyov; a state of calamity so greaj ihat they would seek relief from their idols and necromancers, vs. 2, 3. (4.) The consequence ot these dissensions and internal strifes would be, that they would be subdaed by a foreign and cru^ tfince, ver. 4. (5.) To these political calamitias therfc would be added phjj^ical sufferings, v» » — 10. The Nile would be dried up, and all ttst grow on its banks wouW wither (vs. 5 — 7^; tnoM 15* who had been aocustometl to fish in the Nile would be thrown out of employment (ver. 8); and thoat timt were eiignged in the mnnufacture of linen would as a consequence be driven from employment, vs. 9, 10. (6.) All counsel and wisdom would fail from the nation, and the kings and priests be re. piirded as fools, vs. 11—16. (7.) The land of Judah would become a terror to them, ver. 17. '8.} Vhh would be followed by the conversion of many of the Ejiyptians to the true religion, vs. 18 — 'M\ Jehovah would become their protector and would repair the breaches that had been made, j\nd re. move the evils which they had experienced, vs. 21,22, and R strong alliance would be formed between the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Jews, which should secure the divine ble^ing and favour, vs. 23—25.
This is the outline of the prophecy. In regard to the time when it was delivered^ we have no cer. tain knowledge. Lowth supposes that it refers to times i ucceeding the destruction ol the army of Sen. nacherib. After that event, he says, the affairs of Egypt were thrown into confusion; intestin* broils succeeded: those were followedbyu tyranny of twelve princes who divided the country between them, until the distracted affairs settled down under the dominion <(f Psammetichus. who held tha sceptre forfifty.four years. Not long after this, the country was invaded and conquered by Nebuchadnezzar; and then by the Persians under Cumbyses the son of Cyrus. Alexander the Great subsequently invaded Jind took the country, and made Alexandria the capital of his empire. Many Jews were invited thither by Alexander, and under the favour of the Ptolemies thay flouriihed there; the true religion became prevalent in the land, and multitudes of the Egyptians, it is supposed, werecon- I verted to the Jewish faith. Bishop Newton (Diss. xii. on the Prophecies) supposes, that there was a general reference here to the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, and a particular reference to the con. quest under Cambyses the son of Cyrus. He supposes that the annrchy described in ver. 2, refers to the civil wars which arose between Apries and Amasis in the time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion, and the civil wars between Tachos, Nectanebus, and the Mendesians, a little before the country was subdued by Ochus, The cruel king mentioned in ver. 4, into whose hands they were delivered, he suppose! was Nebuchadnezzar, or more probably Cambyses and Ochus, one of whom put the yoke on the neck of the Egyptians, and the other riveted it there. The Egyptians say that Cambyses, after he killed Apis, a god worshipped jn Egypt, was stricken with madness: but his actions, says Prideaux, show that he was mad long before. Ochus was the most cruel of the kings of Persia. The final deliverance of the nation, and the conversion to the true God, and the alliance between Egypt, Assyria, and Israel (vs. 18 — ^23), he supposes, refers to the deliverance that would be introduced by Alexander the Great, and the protection that would be shown to the Jews \\\ Egypt under the Ptolemies.
Vitringa, Gesenius, Grotius, Rosenmiiller, and others, suppose that the anarchy described in ver. 2, refers to the discord which arose in the time of the ^o)btKap-)(ia Dodekarchy,QX the reign of the twelve kin^s, until Psammetichus prevailed over the rest, and that he is intended by the ''cruel lord** and ** fierce king" described in vef. 4. In other respects their interpretation of the prophecy coincides, in the main, with that proposed by Bishop Newton.
A slight glance at some o/the leading events in the history of Egypt may enable us more clearly to determine the application of the different parts of the prophecy.
Egypt, a well known country in Africa, is, for the most part, a great valley through which the Nile puurs its waters from South to North, and is skirted on the east and west by ranges of moun. tains which approach or recede more or less from the river in different parts. Where the valley terminates towards the North, the Nile divides itself about 40 or 50 miles from the Mediterranean into several parts, enclosing the territory called the Delta — so called because the various streams flowing from the one river diverge as they flow towards the sea, and thus form with the coast a triangle in the shape of the Greek letter A Delta. The southern limit of Egypt proper is Syene (Ezek. xxix. 10, xxx. 6), or Essuan, the border of Ethiooia. Here the Nile issues from the granite rocks of th» cataracts and enters Egypt proper. This is N. lat. 24°.
Egypt was anciently divided into forty-two nom.es or districts, which were little provinces or counties. It was also divided into Upper and Lower Egypt. Upper E^ypt was called Thebais, from Thebes the capital, and extended south to the frontier of Ethiopia. Lower Egypt contained princi pally the Delta and the parts on the Mediterranean. The capital was Cairo.
The most common division, however, was into three parts. Lower, Middle, and Upper Egypt, In Lower Egypt, lying on the Mediterranean, were the cities of Pitlion, Raamses, Heliopolis, &c. In this division also was the land of Goshen. In Middle Egypt was Moph, or Memphis, Hanes, &c. In Upper Egypt was No-Ammon, orThebes, and Syene, the southern limit of Egypt.
The ancient history of Egypt is obscure. It is agreed on all hands, however, that it was the early seat of civilization; and that this civilization was introduced from the South, and especially from Meroe. The country in the earliest times was possessed by several kings or states which were at engih united into one great kingdom. Not long after the death of Joseph, it came into the possession of the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings, probably an Arabian Nomadic tribe. After tliey were driven out, the whole country came again under one sovereign, and enjoyed great prosperity. The first king of the 19th dynasty, as it is called by Manetho, was the celebrated Sesostris, about 1500 years B. C. His successors were all called by the general name of Pharaoh, i. e. kings. The first who is mentioned by his Droper name is Shishak (I Kings xiv. 23, 26), supposed to be the Sesonchosis of Manetho, who reigned about 970 years B. C. Gensenius says, that in the time of the Jewish king Hezekiah, there reigned at the same time in Egypt three Dynasties; an iEthiopic (probably over Upper Egypt), a Baitish, and a Tanitish Dynasty — of which at last sprung the Dodekarchy, and whose dominion ultimately lost itself in the single reign of Psammetichus. The iGthiopic continued forty years, and coneibteti of three kings — Sabaco, Sevechus, and Tarakos or Tearko — of which the two lost are mentioned in the Bible, Sevechus under the name of So, J<iO probably JtIC) Sevechus— as the ally of Ilosea kin"' of Israel (2 Kings xvii. 4), 7S A. C, and Tarakos, the same as'Tirhakah, about the time of the m)\ year of the reign of Hezekiah (714 A. C). Instead of this whole Dynasty, Herodotus (n. Ui, 1^9) and Diodorus (i. 65), give as only one name, that of Sabaco. Contemporary with these were
Intro to ch. xix. Different accounts arc given of the state of things by Herodotus, and by Diodorus. The account by Diodorus, which is the most probable, is, that a state of anarchy prevailed in Egypt
*br two whole years; and that the troubles and commotions suggested to the chief men of the country the exoediency of assuming the reins of government, and restoring order to thestate. With this view, twelve of the most influential men were chosen to preside with regal power. Each had a particulai Drovi nee allotted to him, in which his authority was permanent; arid though independent el on« toother, they bound themselves with mutual oath* to concord and fidelity.
During fifteen years their relations were maintained with entire Juimony: but duri |g that tim« PsnmmetichHS, whose province extended to the Mediterranean, had av^iled himself of his advantaijPi and had maintained extensive commercial intercourse with the Phenicians and Greeks, and na* amassed considerable wealth. Of this his colleasriies became jealoiis, and supposing that he meant io secure the government of tlio whole country, they resolved to deprive him of his province. They therefore prepared to attack him, and he wns thrown upon the necessity of self defence. Apprised of their desiRns, he sent to Anibia, Caria and Ionia, for aid, and having secured a large body of troops, bo put himse'f at their head, iind gave hutt'e to his foes at Momemphis, and completely defeated them, drove them from the kinfedom, and took possession of an undivided throne. Diod. i. 66. Tho account of Herodotus mny be seen in his history, B. ii. 154. Psammetichus turned his attention to the internal administration of the country, and endeavoured to ingratiate himself with the priesthood and the people by erecting splendid monuments, and beautifying the sacred edifices. There was a itrone jealousy, liowever, excited by the fact that he was indebted for his crown to fbreign troops, and from the fact that foreigners were preferred to oflice over the native citizens. Diod. i. 67. A urge part of ids troops — to the number, according to Diodorus, of 240,000 — abandoned his service al {ne time, and moved off in a body to Ethiopia, and entered the service of the monarch of that country Jis reign appears to have been a military despotism, and though liberal in its policy towards foreign governments, yet the severity of his government at home, and the injustice which the Egvotians sup. fc.aed lie showed to them in relying on foreigners, and preferring them, justified the appellation iv *er. 4, that he was a *' cruel lord."
Egypt was afterwards conquered by Cambyses, and became a provmce of the Persian empire about B25 ft. C. Thus it continued until it was conquered by Alexander the Great, 350 B. C, after whose deaih it formed, together with Syria, Palestine, Lybia, &c., the kingdom of the Ptolemies. After the battle of Actium 30 B. C. it became a Roman province. In A. D. 640 it was conquered by the Arabs, and since that time it has passed from the hands of the Caliphs into the hands of the Turks, and since A. D. 1517 it has been regarded as a province of the Turkish empire. This is an outline of the principal events of the Egyptian history. The events predicted in this chapter will be stated in their order in the comments on the particular verses. The two leading points which will guide our interpretation will be, that Psammetichus is intended in ver. 4, and that the effects of Alexander's conquest of Egypt are denoted from ver. 18 to the end of the chapter. Keeping these two points in view the interpretation of the chapter will be easy. On the history of Egypt, and the commotions and revolutions therei tiie reader may consult Wilkinson's ' Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,' vol. i., partio ularly pp. 143—180.
1 The burden of Egypt.* Behold, the Lord rideth^ upon a
1. The burden of Egypt. This is the title to the prophecy. For the meaning of the word burden, see Note ch. xiii. 1. The word Egypt in the original is D*^"]^.^ Mitzrdim; and it was so called after Mizraim the second Bon of Ham, and grandson of Noah. Sometimes it is called Mazor; 2 Kings xix. 24, Isa. xix. 6, xxxvii. 25, Micah vii. 12; where, however, our English version has rendered the word by hesieged-place, or fortress. The ancient name of the country among the inhabitants themselves was Chimi or Chami (X;j/xu). The Egyptian word signified black, and the name was probably given from the black deposit made by the slime of the Nile. " Mizraim, or Misrim, the name given to Egypt in the Scriptu-e&, is in the plural form, and is the Hebrew mode of expressing the*t\iD regions of Egypt' (so commonly met with in the hieroglyphics), or the * two Misr,' a name still used by the Arabs, who call all Egypt, as well «s Cairo, Musr, or Misr." Wilkinson's Mann, and Cust. of Anc, Egypt, i. 2. The origin of the name Egypt is un-
swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt; and the idols*" of Egypt
known. Egyptus is said by some to have been an ancient king of this country. IT Behold, the Lord. This is a bold introduction. Jehovah is seen advancing to Egypt for the purpose of confounding its idols, and inflicting punishment. The leading idea which the prophet wishes probably to present is, that national calamitiesanarchy, commotion, revolution, as well as physical sufferings — are under the government and direction of Jehovah. H Rideth upon a swift cloud. Jehovah is often thus represented as riding on a cloud, especially when he comes for purposes of vengeance cr punishment:
And he rode upon a cherub and did fly, Yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
Who maketh the clouds his chariot. Who walketh upon the wings of the wind.
" I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven." Dan. vii. 13. So the Saviour is represented as coming to judgment in the clouds of heaven. Matth. xxiv. 30. Comp. the sublimt
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
description in Hab. iii 3-10. IT And th& idols of Egypt. It is well known that Egypt was celebrated for its idolatry. They worshipped chiefly the heavenly bodies; but they worshipped also all kinds of animals, probably as living symbols of their gods. IT Shall be moved. That is, shall tremble, be agitated, alarmed; or shall be removed from their place, and overthrown. The word will bear either construction. Vi- Iringa inclines to the latter. IT And the heart of Egypt. The strength; the courage; the vigour. We use the word heart in the same sense now, when we speak of a stout heart; a courageous heart, &-c. ^ Shall melt. The word here used denotes to dissolve; and is applied to the heart when its courage fails — probably from the sensation of weakness or fainting. The fact alluded to here was probably the disheartening circumstances that attended the civil commotions in Egypt, when the people felt themselves oppressed by cruel rulers. See the Analysis of the chapter.
'2. And I will set. it:ir&2t3 • This word, from *]5^, means properly to cover, to spread over; to hide, conceal; to protect. Another signification of the verb is to weave; to intermingle. It may mean here, " I v/ill arm the Egyptians against each other" (Gesenius); or, as in our version, * I v/ill mingle, confound, or throw them into discord and strife.' The LXX render it, iireyepOfiiToi/Tat, * They shall be excited; raised up.' Symmachus, fft)/i/?aXa>. <.yriac and Chaldee, ' I will excite,' The sense is, that there would be distord and civil war, and this is traced to the agency or overruling providence of God — ^meaning that he would permit, and overrule it. Comp. Notes on Isa. |lIv. 7: " I make pear^^, and I create
his brother, a:iia 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
evil; I, Jehovah, do all these things." Amos iii. 6: " Shall there be evil in a city and Jehovah hath not done it?" The civil war here referred to waa probably that which arose between the twelve kings in the time of the Dodekarchy (see the Analysis to the chapter), and which resulted in the single dominion of Psammetichus. Bishop Newton (on the Prophecies xii.) supposes, however, that the prophet refers to the civil wars between Apries and Amasis at the time of the invasion by Nebuchadnezzar. But it agrees much better with the former discord than with this. The description which follows is that of anarchy or civil strife, v/here many parties are formed, and would naturally lead to the supposition that there were more than two engaged. IT And kingdom against kingdom. Septuagint, vo//of i-rX vdjxcjv — nome against names. Egypc was formerly divided into fortytwo names or districts. The version by the LXX was made in Egypt, and the translators would naturally employ the terms which were in common use. Still the event referred to was probably not that of one nome contending agahist another, but a civil war in which one dynasty would be excited against another (Geseuius) or when there would be anarchy and strife amongst the different members of the Dodekarchy. See the Analysis of the chapter.
3. And. the spirit of Egypt. See ver. 1. They shall be exhausted with their long internal contentions and strifes; and seeing no prospect of deliverance, and anxious that the turmoil? should end, they shall seek counsel and refuge in their gods and necromancers — but in vain. TI Shall fail,?^pa3
Marg. " Be emptied." The word means literally to pour out, empty, depopulate. Here it means that they would beconio
thereof; and they shall seek? to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
disheartened and discouraged. ^ And 1 will destroy. Marg. as the Heb. *' I will swallow up." So the word is used in Ps. evil. 27, " all their wisdom is destroyed," Heb, swallowed up. 1i And they shall seek to the idols. According to Plerodotus (ii. 152), Psammetichus had consulted the oracle 01 Latona at Butos, and received for answer that the sea should avenge his cause by producing brazen men. Some time after, a body of lonians and Carians were compelled by stress of weather to touch at Egypt, and landed there, clad in brazen armour. Some Egyptians, alarmed at their appearance, came to Psammetichus, and described them as brazen men who had risen from the sea and were plundering the country. He instantly supposed that this was the accomplishment of the oracle, and entered into an alliance with the strangers, and by their aid was enabled to obtain the victory over his foes. Comp. the different account of Diodorus in the Analysis of this chapter. The whole history of Egypt shows how much they were accustomed to consult their idols. See Herodotus, ii, 54, Beq.,82, 83, 139, 152. Herodotus says (ii. 83), that the art of divination in Egypt was confined to certain of their deities. There were in that country the oracles of Hercules, of Apollo, of r*Iars, of Diana, and of Jupiter; but the oracle of Latona in Butos was held in greater veneration than any of the rest. IT And to the charmers. 13''^ X. This word occurs nowhere else. The root i^^J^ in Arabic means to mutter, to make a gentle noise; and this word probably denotes conjurers, diviners. See Note on ch. viii. 19. The LXX render it," their idols." IT And to them that have familiar spirits. Note ch. viii. 19. The LXX render this " those who speak from the ground." IT And to the wizard^. LXX, Ventriloquists — £yyajr/)t^v9ovf. The Hebrew word
4 And the Egyptians will I *orive over into the hand of a cruel lord;^ and a fierce king shall
means a wise man; a soothsayer, a magician — 0"'33>'n'^ from 5'!'^ to know. See Lev. xix. 31, xx. 6. Deut. xviii. 11. ■ This false science abounded in Egypt, and in most oriental countries. 4. And the Egyptians. The Egyptian nation; the entire people, though divided into factions and contending with each other, IT Will 1 give over. Marg. Shut up. The Hebrew word 130 usually has the sense of shutting up, or closing. Here it means that these contentions w. uld be closed or concluded by their being delivered to the dominion of a single master. The LXX render it napaSaxrw^ I will surrendcr. IT Into the hands of a cruel lord. Heb. lords of cruelty, or severity. The word rendered " lord," meaning master, is in the Hebrew in the plural number, ^'^•'^^. It is, however, generally supposed that it is pluralis excellentia — denoting majesty and dignity, and applicable to a single monarch. The connection requires this, for the state here described would be different from that where 7nany rule, and it seems to suppose that one should succeed to the many who had been contending. In the parallel member, also, a name in the singular number is used, " a fierce king;" — and as this evidently denotes the same, it follows that the word here is used to denote a single monarch. The plural form is often thus used in the Hebrew. See Ps. vii. 10. Hos. xii. 1. Ezek. xxix. 3. God here claims jurisdiction over the nation, and says that he will do it — a most striking illustration of the power which he asserts over contending people to deliver them to whomsoever he will. Bishop Newton supposes that this was Nebuchadnezzar, or more properly Cambyses, by whom Egypt was made subject to the authority of Persia, and who was eminently a cruel v>an, a madman. But the more probaoie interpretation is that which r«
rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of liosts.
5 And the waters shall fail
fers it to Fsammetichus. Twelve kings were in contention, of whom he was cne. He called in the aid of the Arabians, and the pirates of Caria and Ionia. Herod, ii. 152. See the Analysis of the chapter. Diod. i. 66. This was in the twentieth year of the reign of Manasseh. Fsammetichus reigned fiftyfour years and was succeeded by Nechus his son, called in Scripture Pharaoh Necho, and often mentioned under that name. Fsammetichus during a considerable part of his reign was engaged in wars with Assyria and Falestine. He it here called a " cruel lord;" that is, an oppressive monarch, probably because he secured the kingdom by bringing in to his aid foreign mercenaries— robbers and pirates — and because his wars made his government oppressive and burdensome. IT A fierce king. Heb. A king of strength; — a description particularly applicable to one who, like Fsammetichus, had subdued eleven rivals, and who had obtained the kingdom by conquest.
5. And the waters shall fail. Here commences a description of the physical calamities that would come upon the land, which continues to ver. 10. The previous verses contained an account of the national calamities by civil wars. It may be observed that discord, anarchy, and civil wars, are often connected with physical calamities; as famine, drought, pestilence. God has the elements, as well as the hearts of men, under his control; and when he chastises a nation, he often mingles anarchy, famine, discord, and the pestilence together. Often, too, civil wars have a tendency to produce these calamities. They annihilate industry; arrest enterprise; break up plans of commerce; and divert the attention of men from the cultivation of.he soil. This might have been in part the case in Egypt; but it would seem also that God, by direct agency, intended to afflic /hem by drying up their streams in a remarkable manner. II From the sea. Tho parallelism here, as well as the whole scope of the passage, requires us to understand this of the Nile. The word C^ is sometimes used to denote a large river See Notes ch. xi. 15, xviii. 2. The NJe is often called a sea. Thus Pliny, Nat. His. ii. 35, says, " The water of the Nile resembles the sea." Thus Seneca, Quasst. Nat. v. 2, says, " By continued accessions of water, it stagnates (stagnat) into the appearance of a broad and turbid sea." Comp. Herod, ii. 97. Diod. i. 12, 96. " To this day in Egypt, the Nile is named el-Bakr, ' the sea,' as its most common appellation." " Our Egyptian servant," says Dr. Robinson, " who spoke English, always called it ' the sea.' " Biblical Researches, i. 542. IT And the river. The Nile. IF Shall be wasted. This does not mean entirely, but its v.'aters would fail so as to injure the country. It would not overflow in its accustomed manner, and the consequence would be, that the land would be desolate. It is well known that Egypt derives its great fertility entirely from the overflowing of the Nile. So important is this, that a public record is made at Cairo of the daily rise of the water. When the Nile rises to a less height than twelve cubits, a famine is the inevitable consequence, for then the water does not overflow the land. When it rises to a greater height than si.xteen cubits a famine is almost as certain — for then the superabundant waters are not drained off soon enough to allow them to sow the seed. The height of the inundation, therefore, that is necessarj in order to ensure a harvest, is from twelve to sixteen cubits. The annual overflow is in the month of August. The prophet here means that the Nile would not ri.se to the height th.it waa desirable — or the waters should fail — and that the consequence would be n famine.
6 And they shall turn the rivers riir away, and the brooks* of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags jhall wither.
7 The paper reeds by the
6. And they shall turn the rivers far away. "^'^StStil — probably from n3T to have an offensive smell; to be rancid, or putrid. The word in this form occurs nowhere else. It is in the Hiphil conjugation, and is probably a form made from a mixture with the Chaldee. The sense is not doubtful. It means * the rivers shall become putrid — or have an offensive smell;' — that is, shall become stagnant, and send forth unwholesome miasmata producing sickness— as stagnant watere often do. The Vulgate renders it, " and the rivers shall fail." The LXX, " and the Egyptians shall drink the waters from the sea, but the river shall fail, and be dried up, and the rivers shall fail, and the streams (Jiuipvxti) of the river and all the assembling {(rwayoiyri) of waters shall be dried up." IT And the brooks of defence. Heb. * The rivers of Ti:!^ mdtzor." The word *112[^ often means straitness, affliction; then a siege, a wall, a bulwark, a fortification. But probably it here means Egypt, or the same as Q'^'l^ia Mitzrdim. Comp. ch. xxxvii. 25. 2 Kings XXX. 24. Mark vii. 12. Perhaps the Hebrews may have thought of Egypt as a strongly fortified place, and thus have given the name to it; or possibly this may have been a modification of the name Mitzraim. IT The reeds and flags. Which grew on the banks of the Nile — the papyrus, &c. See Note ch. xviii. 2.
7. The paper reeds. m*l5 droth. This is not the word which occurs in ch. xviii. 2, and which it is supposed means there the papyrus. See Note ©n that pi ice. Interpreters have been divided in regard to the meaning of the word here. Gesenius derives it from f^"^? dra, to bj naked, open, bare j and
brooks, by the mouth ot th« brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driv en away, and *be no more. 8 The fishers also shall mourn,
supposes that it means an open place, a place naked of wood, and that it here denotes the pastures on the banks of the Nile. So Rosenmuller interpreti it of the green pastures on the banks of the Nile; and the Hebrew commentators generally so understand it. The Vulgate renders it, " and the bed (alvew5),ofthe river shall be dried up from the fountain." So the Chaldee, " and their streams shall be desolate." It probably denotes, not paper-reeds, but the green pastures that were beside the brooks or along the banks of the Nile. IT By the brooks. By the " brooks" here in the plural number (Heb. rivers ''tl'^'?) the prophet probably means the artificial canals which were cut in every direction from the Nile for the purpose of conveying the waters to various parts of the land. IT JBy the mouth of the brooks. At the mouth of the canals; or where they emptied into the Nile. Such meadows, being near the Nile, and most sure of a supply of water, would be more valuable than those which were remote, and are therefore particularly specified. IT Shall wither, &c. That is, there shall be utter and entire desolation. If the Nile ceased to overflow; if the streams, reservoirs, and canals, could not be filled, this would follow as a matter of course. Every thing would dry up.
8. The fishers also. In this verse, and the two following, the prophet describes the calamities that would come upon various classed of the inhabitants, as the consequence of the failing of the waters of the Nile. The first class which he mentions are the fishermen. Egypt is mentioned (Num. xi. 5), as producing great quantities of fish. " We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely." " The Nile," says Diodorus (Lib. i.)," aboundf
and all they that cast angle into liiie brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters
with incredible numbers of all sorts of fish." The same was true of the artificial canals, and lakes, and reservoirs of water. Ver. 10. Herodotus (ii. 93) says that large quantities of fish were produced in the Nile. " At the season of spawning," says he, " they move in vast multitudes towards the sea. — As soon as that season is over they leave the sea, return up the river, and endeavour to regain their accustomed haunts." — As a specimen of his ereduliiy, however, and also of the attention which he bestowed on natural history, the reader may consult the passage here referred to in regard to the mode of their propagation. — He also says that it is observed of the fish that are taken in their passage to the sea, that they have " the left part of their heads depressed." Of those that are taken on their return the right side of the head is found to be depressed. This he accounts for by observing, that •' the cause of this is obvious: as they pass to the sea they rub themselves on the banks on the left side; aS they return they keep closely to the same bank, and in both instances press against it, that they may not be obliged to deviate from their course by the current of the stream." Speaking of the Lake Moeris, Herodotus says that " for six months the lake empties itself into the Nile, and the remaining six, the Nile supplies the lake. During the six months in which the waters ebb, the fishing which is here carried on furnishes the royal treasury with a talent of silver (about ^856,) every day." B. ii. 149. " The silver which the fishery of this lake produced was appropriated to find the queen with clothes and perfumes." Diodor. i. 52. The lake Moeris is now farmed for 30 purses (about $900) annually. Michaud says that the lake Menzaleh now yields an annual revenue of 800 purses," »bout $25,000. " The great abundance
9 Moreover they that work ir fine*'' flax, and they that weave ''net-works, shall be confounded,
offish produced in the Nile was an iii« valuable provision of nature, in a country which had neither extended pastura grounds, nor large herds of cattle, and where corn was the principal production. When the Nile inundated the country, and filled the lakes and canals with its overflowing waters, these precious gifts were extended to the most remote villages in the interior of the valley, and the plentiful supply of fish which they obtained was an additional benefit conferred upon them at this season of the year." Wilkinson's Man. and Cus. of An. Egypt, vol. iii. 62, 63. Hence the greatness of the calamity here referred to by the prophet when the lakes and canals should be dried up. The whole country would feel it. IT And all they that cast angle. Two kinds of fishermen are mentioned — those who used a hook, and those who used the net. The former would fish mainly in the brooks or canals that were cut from the Nile to water their lands. For the various methods of fishing, illustrated by drawings, the reader may consult Wilkinson's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii. 21, iii. p. 53, seq.
9. Moreover. In addition to the calamities that will come upon the fishermen, the drying up of the river will affect all who are supported by that which the overflowing of its waters produced. IT They that work in fine flax. Egypt was celebrated anciently for producing flax in large quantities, and of a superior quality. See 1 Kings X. 28. Ex. ix. 31. The fine linen of Egypt which was manufactured from this is celebrated in Scripture. Prov, vii. 16. Ezek. xxvii. 7. The Egyptians had early carried the art of manufacturing linen to a great degree of perfection. As early as the exode of the Hebrews, we find that the art was known by which stuffs made of linen or othei materials were curiously worked vnQ embroidered. " And thou ehalt make an hanging for the door of the tent of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and Jinetwined linen, wrought with needlework." Ex. xxvi. 36. Comp. ch. xxvii. 16. xxxvi. 37. So Ezekiel xxvii. 7: " Fine linen, with broidered work from Kgypt." So also Martial refers to embroidery with the needle in Egypt:
Ilaec tibi Memphitis tellus dat munera; victa
est Pectine Niliaco jam Babylonis acus.
In regard to the fineness of the linen which was produced and wrought in Egypt, we may introduce a statement made by Pliny when speaking of the nets which were made there. " So delicate," says he, " were some of them, that they would pass through a man's ring, and a single person could carry a sufficient number of them to surround a whole wood. Julius Lupus, who died while governor of Egypt, had some of those nets, each string of which consisted of J 50 threads; a fact perfectly surprising to those who are not aware that the Rhodians preserve to this day, in the temple of Minerva, the remains of a linen corslet, presented to them by Amasis, king of Egypt, whose threads are composed each of 365 fibres." Pliny xix. 1. Herodotus also mentions this corslet (B. iii. 47), and also another presented by Amasis to the Lacedemonians, which had been carried off by the Samians. " It was of linen, ornamented with numerous figures of animals, worked in gold and cotton. Each thread of the corslet was worthy of admiration. For though very fine, every one was composed of 360 other threads, all distinct; the quality being similar to that dedicated to Minerva at Lindus,by the same monarch." Pliny (xix. c. 1) mentions four kinds of linen that were particularly celebrated in Egypt — the Tanitic,the Pelusiac, Ciie Butine, and the Tentyritic. He also says that the quantity of flax cultivated in Egypt was accounted for, by their exporting linen to Arabia and India. — It is now known, also, that the cloth used for enveloping the dead, and which is now found in abundance on the mummies, was linen. This fac! was long doubted, and it was until recently supposed by many that the cloth was made of cotton. This fact that it is linen was settled beyond dispute by some accurate experiments made by Dr. Ure, Mr. Bauer, and Mr. Thompson, with the aid of powerful microscopes. It was found that linen fibres uniformly present a cylindrical form, transparent, and articulated, or jointed like a cane, while the fibres of cotton have the appearance of a flat ribbon, with a hem or border at the edge. In the mummy cloths it was found without exception that the fibres were linen. Vast quantities of linen must, therefore, have been used.— The linen of the mummy cloths is generally coarse. The warp usually contains about 90 threads in the inch; the woof about 44. — Occasionally, however, very fine linen cloth is found, showing the skill with which the manufacture was executed. Mr. Wilkinson observes, that a piece of linen in his possession from Egypt had 540 (or 270 double) threads in one inch in the warp. Some of the cambric which is now manufactured has but 160 threads in the inch in the warp, and 140 in the woof. It is to be remembered, also, that the linen in Egypt was spun by hand, and without the aid of machinery. See on this whole subject, Wilkinson's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. pp. 113-142. Ed. Lond. 1837. The word rendered "Jine" here denotes, according to Gesenius, combed, or hatchelled. The word fine, however expresses the idea with sufficient accuracy. Fine linen was used for clothing; but was so expensive that it was worn chiefly by the rich and by princes. Luke xvi. 19. IT They that weave net' works. Marg. White-works. According to Gesenius the word "^"^in means white linen — that which is fully bleached. The word "iin means a hole, or cavein; but is not applied to cloth. The parallelism seems rather to require that the word should mean " white'* ol that which would correspond to " fine/ or valuable; and it is not knov/D tha;
10 And they shall be broken in the purposes^ thereof, all that
the Egyptians had the art of working lace from linen. Saadias supposes that nets are meant, as being made with holes or meshes; but it is evident that a finer work is intended than that. ^ Shall be confounded. Heb. Shall be ashamed. That is, they shall be thrown out of employment, and not know what to do.
10. And they shall be broken. There has been a great variety of opinion in regard to the interpretation of this verse, and much difficulty in the construction of the Hebrew words. The Vulgate renders it, " and its wet places Bhall ^il; all who make ponds to take fish.' The LXX, " and all who make beer (^vdov) shall lament, and shall afflict their souls " This ^vOov was a sort of i;^.a!t liquor made of fruits by fermentatioi!, and v/as used in Egypt in the place of wine, as the grape did not flourish there. Jerome on this place says, that this was much used also in Dalmatia and Pannonia, and was commonly called Sabaiuni. The Chaldee renders this, " and the place where they weave cloth shall be trodden down, and the place where they make fish-ponds, and where they collect waters, each one for his own life." This variety of reading arises chiefly from the different modes of pointing the Hebrew words. The word rendered " broken" D'^&??'1^ means trodden down, from t^^'H to tread, >r trample down, and agrees in the Hebrew with the word rendered " purposes," — * the purposes shall be trodden down.' The word " purposes,"
jl"'r)riU3 is found only in the plural, and \s translated in Ps. xi. 3, foundations, from ri"^^ foundation or pillar. According to this, it would mean that all the jjillars or foundations, i. e. probably all the nobles of Egypt, would be trodden down. But this does not well suit the connection. Others derive it from J^r^^ shdthd, to drink: and suppose that it means that which 18 prepared for drink shall be trodden down or destroyed. Others suppose that it is derived from "^^1^13 shdthd^ to weave, and tha* it refers to the places where they vove the cloth, i. e. their looms; or to the places where they made their nets. And others suppose that it is not the places where they wove which are intended, but the weavers themselves. Forerius supposes it to be derived from ^^J^^ shdthdth, to place, lay, and that it refers to the banks, or dykes that were made to retain the waters in the canals, and that these would be trodden down. This, it seems to me, is the most probable interpretation, as it suits the connection and agrees with the derivation of the word. But the meaning cannot be certainly ascertained. "iT All that make sluices. There has been quite as great a variety in the interpretation of this passage as in the former. The word rendered sluices, '^r'.''^.i our translators understand in the sense of places where the water would be retained for fish ponds — made by artificial banks confining the wateis that overflow from the Nile. This sense they have given to the word, as if it were derived from 13 D sdkhdr, to shut up, to enclose. The LXX read it as if it meant the Hebrew 13'iJ shekhdr, or strong drink; and so also the Syriac renders it — as if from "^S^ shdkhdr, to drink. There is no doubt that by a diflference of pointing it may have this signification. But the most probable interpretation, perhaps, is that which derives it from *l3'ty sdkhdr, to hire, and means that they made those places for reward, or for gain. They thus toiled for hire; and the prophet says, that they who thus made enclosures for fish in order to make a livelihood, would be trodden down — that is, they would fail of their purposes. IT Fonds for fish. The word rendered fish, ^33 niphesh, denotes properly any living thing (see the margin), but if the usual interpretation ia given of this verse, it is evident that fish
11 Surely the princes of Zoan* 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 /
are intended. The description, therefore, in this entire passage, from verse fifth to verse tenth, is designed to denote the calamities which would come upon Egypt from the failure of the waters of the Nile; and the slightest knowledge of the importance of the Nile to that country will show that all these calamities would follow from such a failure.
1 1. Surely the princes. The following verses to ver. 16 are designed to describe further the calamities that were coming upon Egypt by a want of wisdom in their rulers. They would be unable to devise means to meet the impending calamities, and would actually increase the national misery by their unwise counsels. The word "princes" here is taken eviaently for the rulers or counsellors of state. II Of Zoan. The Vulgate, LXX, and Chaldee, render this Tunis. Zoan was doubtless the Tanis of the Greeks (Herod, ii. 166), and was a city of Lower Egypt, built according to Moses (Num. xiii. 22) seven years after Hebron. It is mentioned in Ps. Ixxviii. 12. Isa. xix. 11, 13, XXX. 4. Ezek. xxx. 14. It was at the entrance of the Tanitic mouth of the Nile, and gave name to it. Its ruins still exist, and there are seen there at present numerous blocks of granite, seven obelisks of granite, and a statue of Isis. It was the capital of the Dynasty of the Tanitish kings until the time of Psammetichus; it was at this place principally that the miracles wrought by Moses were performed. " Marvellous things did he in the sight of fheir fathers in the land of Egypt; in the field of 2oan." Ps. Ixxviii. 12. Its ruins are still called San, a slight change of the word Zoan. The Ostium Tanititum is now the 0mm. Faredje. IT Are
are thy wise men? ami 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 Noph* are deceived; they have
fools. They are unable to meet by their counsels the impending calamities. Perhaps their folly was evinced by their flattering their sovereign, and by exciting him to plans that tended to the ruin, rather than the welfare of the kingdom. IF The wise counsellors of Pharaoh. Pharaoh was the common name of the kings of Egypt in the same way as Ccesar became afterwards the common name of the Roman emperors— and the king who is here intended by Pharaoh is probably Psammetichus. See Note on ver. 4. IT How say ye, &c. Why do you flatter the monarch? Why remind him of his ancestry 1 Why attempt to inflate him with the conception of his own wisdom? This was, and is, the common practice of courtiers; and in this way kings are often led to measures most ruinous to their subjects.
12. Where are they? This whole verse is an appeal by the prophet to the king of Egypt respecting the counsellors and soothsayers of his kingdom. The sense is, * a time of distress and danger is evidently coming upon Egypt. They pretend to be wise; and there id now occasion for all their wisdom, and opportunity to evince it. Let them show it. Let them declare what ia coming upon the nation, and take proper measures to meet and remove it; and they will then demonstrate that it would be proper for Pharaoh to repose confidence in them.' But i^ they could not do this, then he should not suflfer himself to be deluded, and his kingdom ruined, by their counsels.
13. The princes of Zoan. Note ver, ll. This repetition is i itensive and emphatic, and shows the deep conviction of the prophet of their folly. Th« desiscn is to show that all the counsel*
14 The '^LoRD hath mingled a ''perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and t^iey have caused
lors on which the F.gyptians depended were fools. IF The princes of Noph. The Vulgate, the LXX, and the Chaldee, render this Memphis, dindi there is no doubt that this is tlie city intended. 1'he name Memphis may have easily arisen from Noph. It m as written also Moph, and hence Memphis. It is called Menouf by the Copts ard Arabians. According to Plutarch, the flame Memphis means the port of the good. The situation of Memphis has bren a subject of considerable dispute, and has afforded matter for long and laborious investigation. Sicard and Shaiv fix its site at Djezeh or Ghizeh, opposite to old Cairo. Pococke, D'Anville, Niebuhr, and other writers and travellers, place Memphis more in the direction of Mitraheny, about fifteen miles further south, on the banks of the Nile, at the entrance of the plain of the mummies at the north of which the pyramids arr placed. It was the residence of the f ancient kings of Egypt until the tim6 \ of the Ptolemies, who commonly resided at Alexandria. Memphis retained its splendour until it was conquered by the Arabians, about A. D. 641. At the supposed site of Memphis south of Ghizeh, there are large mounds of rubbish, a colossal statue sunk in the ground, and a few fragments of granite, which remain to test the existence of this renowned capital. In Strabo's time, although partly in ruins, it was yet a populous city, second only to Alexandria. The total disappearance of the ancient edifices of Memphis is tasily accounted for by the circumfitance, that the materials were employed for the building of adjacent cities. Fostal rose out of the ruins, and when that city was again deserted, thesrt ruins migrated again to the more Blodtrn Cairo. See Robinson's Bibli.
15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.
Research, i. 40. H They have «Z.«a seduced Egypt. That is, they have by their counsels caused it to err, and have led it into its present embarrassment. IT The stay, &c. Heb. HS5 pinna — the corner; i. e. those who should have been the support. So the word is used to denote the head or leader of a people in Ps. cxviii. 22, Isa. xxviii. 16, Zech. x. 4, 1 Sam. xiv. 38, Judges xx. 2, 14.
14. 2^he Lord hath mingled. The word *]013 indsdkh, to mingle, is used commonly to denote the act of mixing spices with wine to make it more intoxicating. Prov. ix. 2, 5. Isa. v. 22. Here it means, that Jehovah has poured out into the midst of them a spirit of giddiness; that is, has produced consternation among them. National commotions and calamities are often thus traced to the overruling providence of God. See Note ver. 2. Comp. ch. X. 5, 6. IT ^ perverse spirit. Heb. A spirit of perverseness. The word rendered perverse is derived from
*^y^, to be crooked or perverted. Here it rat ms, that their counsels were unwise^ and such as tended to error and ruin. IF To err as a drunken man &,c. This is a very striking figure. The whole nation was reeling to and fro, and unsettled in their counsels, as a man is who is so intoxicated as to reel and to vomit. Nothing could more strikingly express (I) the fact of their perverted counsels and plans, and (2) God's deep abhorrence of the course which they were pursuing.
15. Neither shall there be any work. The sense is, that there shall be such discord that no man, wheiuer a prince a politician, or a priest, shall be able to give any advice, or form nrj' >Nn for the national safety and secr^-t" rhi^b
16 In that day shall Egypt 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 Judah
shall be successful. T Which the head or tail. High or low; strong pr weak; those in office and those out of office; all shall be dispirited and confounded. RosenmQller understands by the head here, the political orders of the nation, and by the tail the sacerdotal ranks. But the meaning more probably is, the highest and the lowest ranks — all the pciilicians, and priests, and princes, on the one hand, as the prophet had just stated (vs. 11-15); and all the artificers, fishermen, &c., on the other, as he had stated (vs. 8-10). This verse, therefore, is a summing vp of all he had said about the calamities that were coming upon them. IF Branch or rush. See these words explained in the Note on ch. ix. 14.
16. /« that day shall Egypt he like unto women. Timid; fearful; alarmed. The Hebrews often, by this comparison, express great fear and consternation. Jer. li. 30. Nahum iii. 13. IT Because of the shaking of the hand. The shaking of the hand is an indication of threatening or punishment. Note ch. x. 32, xi. 15.
17. And the land of Judah. The fear and consternation of Egypt shall be increased when they learn what events are occurring there, and what Jehovah has purposed in regard to it. t Shall be a terror. This cannot be understood to mean that they were in danger from an invasion by the Jews, for at that time they were not at war, and Judah had no power to overrun Egypt. Jarchi and Kimchi suppose that the passage mtans that the Egyptians would hear what had occurred to the army ol Sennacherib on its overthrow, and that they would bo alarmed tis if a similar fate was about to come upon them. But the more probable