Isaiah 19:2 Komentář

As Assyria was a breaking rod to Judah, with which it was smitten, so Egypt was a broken reed, with which it was cheated; and therefore God had a quarrel with them both. We have before read the doom of the Assyrians; now here we have the burden of Egypt, a prophecy concerning that nation, I. That it should be greatly weakened and brought low, and should be as contemptible among the nations as now it was considerable, rendered so by a complication of judgments which God would bring upon them (v. 1-17). II. That at length God's holy religion should be brought into Egypt, and set up there, in part by the Jews that should flee thither for refuge, but more fully by the preachers of the gospel of Christ, through whose ministry churches should be planted in Egypt in the says of the Messiah (Isa 19:18-25), which would abundantly balance all the calamities here threatened.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 19 This chapter contains prophecies of various calamities that should come upon Egypt in a short time, and of the conversion of many of them to Christ in Gospel times. The calamities are many; the Lord's coming unto them, which their gods cannot prevent, nor stand before, nor save them, and at which the hearts of the Egyptians are dispirited, Isa 19:1 civil wars among themselves, Isa 19:2 want of counsel, which sends them to idols and wizards, but in vain, Isa 19:3 subjection to a cruel lord, Isa 19:4 drying up of their rivers and waters, so that the paper reeds wither, and fishes die; and hence no business for fishermen, nor for workers in flax, or weavers of nets, Isa 19:5 the stupidity of their princes and wise counsellors, given up by the Lord to a perverse spirit, so that they concerted wrong measures, and deceived the people, Isa 19:11 a general consternation among them, because of the hand and counsel of the Lord; and because of the Lord's people, the Jews, who were a terror to them, Isa 19:16 and then follows the prophecy of their conversion in later times, which is signified by their speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing to the Lord, Isa 19:18 by their erecting an altar, and a pillar to the Lord, which should be a sign and witness to him; and by their crying to him, and his sending them a Saviour, and a great one, Isa 19:19 by his being known unto them, by their offering sacrifice to him, and by his smiting and healing them Isa 19:21 and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy of that harmony, and agreement, and fellowship, that shall be between Jew and Gentile, between Egypt, Assyria, and Israel; and that the blessing of God should be upon them all, Isa 19:23.

And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians,.... Or mingle and confound them together; in which confusion they should fall upon and destroy one another, as the Midianites did: the phrase is expressive of rebellions and civil wars, as the following words explain it; and which show, that the calamities of Egypt should be brought upon them, not by means of a foreign invasion, but by internal quarrels, and other means, which the Lord would in judgment send among them: and they shall fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbour; and destroy one another: city against city; of which there were great numbers in Egypt; in the times of Amasis, it is said (s), there were twenty thousand: and kingdom against kingdom; for though Egypt was but originally one kingdom, yet upon the death of Sethon, one of its kings, who had been a priest of Vulcan, there being no successor, twelve of the nobility started up, and set up themselves as kings, and divided the kingdom into twelve parts (t), and reigned in confederacy, for the space of fifteen years; when, falling out among themselves, they excluded Psammiticus, one of the twelve, from any share of government; who gathering an army together, fought with and conquered the other eleven, and seized the whole kingdom to himself, and who seems afterwards regarded in this prophecy; all this happened in the times of Manasseh king of Judah, and so in or quickly after Isaiah's time: though some understand this of the civil wars between Apries and Amasis, in the times of Nebuchadnezzar. The Septuagint version renders the phrase here, "nome against nome"; for the whole land of Egypt, by Sesostris, one of its kings, was divided into thirty six (u) nomes, districts, or provinces, whose names are given by Herodotus (w), Pliny (x), and others; for so the words of that version should be rendered, and not as they are by the Latin interpreter, and in the Arabic version, which follows it, "law upon law". (s) Herodot. l. 2. c. 177. (t) Ib. c. 147. (u) There were ten of them in Thebais, the same number in Delta, and sixteen between them. (w) Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 164, 165, 166. (x) Nat. Hist. I. 5. c. 9. Ptolem. Geograph. l. 4. c. 4. Strabo Geogr. l. 17. P. 541.

(Version 2.) And I will make the Egyptians fight against the Egyptians, and one man will fight against his brother, and one man against his friend, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. When the Lord enters Egypt and destroys the most powerful nation with his presence, the first victory will be for the Egyptians to turn against each other and fight in rebellion against themselves: which happened during the times of the Assyrians and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, with some sitting while others resisted. But what he predicts about the Babylonian captivity, Jeremiah is a witness, saying: The elegant and beautiful heifer Egypt, the stimulator from the North will come to her. And again: The daughter of Egypt is confused and handed over to the hand of the people of the North (Jeremiah 46:20, 24). Ezekiel also, by the authority of the same prophecy, agrees: And I will make the multitude of Egypt cease in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. And again: I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and I will put my sword in his hand, and I will break the arms of Pharaoh. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt, and I will scatter Egypt among the nations (Ezek. XXX, 10, 24, et seq.). But if we refer to the times of the Savior, let us take that example from the Gospel: Think not that I am come to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law, and the enemies of a man shall be they of his own household (Matt. X, 34, et seq.). And again in another place: There will be divided two into three, and three into two: father against son, and mother against daughter, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law (Luke XII, 52, 58).

And the Egyptians rose up against the Egyptians, according to that which the Lord speaks in the Gospel: Think not that I am come to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I am come to divide a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (Matt. X, 34 seqq.). At that time also this was fulfilled: The enemies of a man are they of his own household (Micah VII, 6). And a man will fight against his brother, and a man against his friend. For they were separated in one house, two against three, and three against two, and the father was divided against the Son, and the son against the father, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom, those who did not believe against those who believed, or certainly those who believed, desiring to save their closest ones.

Daughters of Tyre, daughters of the nations, from species to genus. Through Tyre, neighbor to the land of prophecy, the psalmist signifies all the people who would come to believe in Christ. Rightly, therefore, does he continue: “The wealthy of the earth will all seek your face.” The Lord also threatens Assyria through the prophet Isaiah, saying, “I will destroy the Assyrian in my land, and I will crush him on my mountains"; "and the Lord will destroy Babylon, glorious and famous among the kingdoms, as he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.” It is possible that the Lord began to admonish only the city of Babylon at the beginning of Isaiah, but as he spoke against it, he crossed from species to genus and turned to address his word generally toward all the earth. Surely, if he were not speaking against the entire world, he would not have added later: “I will destroy the whole earth, and I will visit evil upon the world,” and other such statements that pertain to the eradication of the corrupted world. Consequently, he also adds, “This is the decision that I have made concerning the whole earth and this is its hand extended over all the peoples.” … He was addressing the entire world under the figure of Babylon, saying, “I will destroy the whole earth, and I will visit evil upon the world,” along with similar declarations pertaining to the world’s extermination. [But] he also turned his attention back toward Babylon, as though from genus to species, and made remarks that relate specifically to that city: “Behold, I am raising Media up against them.” For during Balthasar’s reign, Babylon was taken by Media. So also, the “oracle of Egypt” intends for Egypt to be understood as a personification of the entire world when it says, “And I will cause Egyptians to fight against Egyptians, kingdom against kingdom,” since it is written that Egypt possessed only one kingdom, not many.The fifth rule of time is that the greater part can be implied through the lesser or the lesser through the greater. With regard to the three days of the Lord’s burial, for instance, the whole is taken from the part, since he lay in the tomb neither for three full days nor for three full nights. And the part can be taken from the whole, for after the Lord had established that “the length of a man’s life will be one hundred and twenty years,” only one hundred years passed before the great flood. Also, whereas God predicted that the children of Israel would be slaves in Egypt for four hundred years and would then depart, they were not enslaved for four hundred years, since they had escaped slavery under Joseph’s rule. Yet again, the whole is also here subjoined from the part, since they did not depart Egypt immediately after the four hundred years, as promised, but did so after four hundred and thirty years had transpired. Events that are still in the future but are narrated as though they have already occurred also belong to this rule of time. For example, “They pierced my hands and feet and counted all of my bones,” and “they divided my clothing among themselves,” and similar passages in which what has yet to occur is related as a historical event. Anything predicated of the future, however, is spoken from our perspective. But when the future is said to have happened, it must be understood from the perspective of God’s eternity, since what is still in the future for us has already been accomplished according to God’s predestination, for whom everything in the future has been accomplished. The sixth rule of time is that of recapitulation, which consists in Scripture returning to what it had already narrated. For instance, when it discussed the sons of the sons of Noah, Scripture said that they had their own language among their own people. Afterwards, however, as though subsequent in time, we read, “And all the earth was of one language, and everyone spoke with one voice.” How, therefore, could the sons of Noah have had their own language if there were only one language for everyone, unless the narrative regressed in order to recapitulate what had already transpired?

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

By the significant type of breaking a potter's vessel, Jeremiah is directed to predict the utter desolation of Judah and Jerusalem, Jer 19:1-15. The prophets taught frequently by symbolic actions as well as by words.

(Isa. 19:1-25) burden--(See on Isa 13:1). upon . . . cloud-- (Psa 104:3; Psa 18:10). come into Egypt--to inflict vengeance. "Egypt," in Hebrew, Misraim, plural form, to express the two regions of Egypt. BUNSEN observes, The title of their kings runs thus: "Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt." idols--the bull, crocodile, &c. The idols poetically are said to be "moved" with fear at the presence of one mightier than even they were supposed to be (Exo 12:12; Jer 43:12).

set--stir up. GESENIUS translates, "arm." Egyptians against the Egyptians--Lower against Upper: and Saitic against both. (See Isa 3:10). NEWTON refers it to the civil wars between Apries and Amasis at the time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion; also between Tachos, Nectanebus, and the Mendesians, just before Ochus subdued Egypt. kingdom against kingdom--The Septuagint has "nome against nome"; Egypt was divided into forty-two nomes or districts.

"And I spur Egypt against Egypt: and they go to war, every one with his brother, and every one with his neighbour; city against city, kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt is emptied out within it: and I swallow up its ready counsel; and they go to the idols to inquire, and to the mutterers, and to the oracle-spirits, and to the soothsayers. And I shut up Egypt in the hand of a hard rule; and a fierce king will reign over them, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts." Civil war will rage in Egypt (on sicsēc, see at Isa 9:10). The people once so shrewd are now at their wits' end; their spirit is quite poured out נבקה, with the reduplication removed, for נבקּה, according to Ges. 68, Anm. 11 - as, for example, in Gen 11:7; Eze 41:7), so that there is nothing left of either intelligence or resolution. Then (and this is also part of the judgment) they turn for help, in counsel and action, where no help is to be found, viz., to their "nothings" of gods, and the manifold demoniacal arts, of which Egypt could boast of being the primary seat. On the names of the practisers of the black art, see Isa 8:19; 'ittim, the mutterers, is from 'âtat, to squeak (used of a camel-saddle, especially when new), or to rumble (used of an empty stomach): see Lane's Lexicon. But all this is of no avail: Jehovah gives them up (סכּר, syn. הסגּיר, συγκλείειν to be ruled over by a hard-hearted and cruel king. The prophecy does not relate to a foreign conqueror, so as to lead us to think of Sargon (Knobel) or Cambyses (Luzzatto), but to a native despot. In comparing the prophecy with the fulfilment, we must bear in mind that Isa 19:2 relates to the national revolution which broke out in Sais, and resulted in the overthrow of the Ethiopian rule, and to the federal dodekarchy to which the rising of the nation led. "Kingdom against kingdom:" this exactly suits those twelve small kingdoms into which Egypt was split up after the overthrow of the Ethiopian dynasty in the year 695, until Psammetichus, the dodekarch of Sais, succeeded in the year 670 in comprehending these twelve states once more under a single monarchy. This very Psammetichus (and the royal house of Psammetichus generally) is the hard ruler, the reckless despot. He succeeded in gaining the battle at Momemphis, by which he established himself in the monarchy, through having first of all strengthened himself with mercenary troops from Ionia, Caria, and Greece. From his time downwards, the true Egyptian character was destroyed by the admixture of foreign elements; (Note: See Leo, Universalgesch. i. 152, and what Brugsch says in his Histoire d'Egypte, i. 250, with regard to the brusques changements that Egypt endured under Psammetichus.) and this occasioned the emigration of a large portion of the military caste to Meroe. The Egyptian nation very soon came to feel how oppressive this new dynasty was, when Necho (616-597), the son and successor of Psammetichus, renewed the project of Ramses-Miamun, to construct a Suez canal, and tore away 120,000 of the natives of the land from their homes, sending them to wear out their lives in forced labour of the most wearisome kind. A revolt on the part of the native troops, who had been sent against the rising Cyrene, and driven back into the desert, led to the overthrow of Hophra, the grandson of Necho (570), and put an end to the hateful government of the family of Psammetichus.