Isaiah 19:9 Kommentar

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.

Moreover they that work in fine flax,.... Of which they made fine linen cloth, and yarn, and was much wore by the Egyptians, and was the commodity of the country, and for which other nations traded with them, Kg1 10:28 but now would have no flax to work, that being withered and gone which was sown by the sides of the brooks, Isa 19:7 and no linen cloth or yarn to sell, and consequently in great confusion and distress, as they are here represented (l). The Targum renders the whole verse thus, "they shall be confounded which work flax, which they comb, and of it weave nets;'' and so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it, not of persons that wrought in flax, to make yarn or linen of it; but who combed it, to make nets of it, as follows: and they that weave networks shall be confounded: because they would have no sale for their nets, the fishermen having no use for them, the rivers being dried up. The word for "networks" signifies "holes", because nets are made with holes large enough to let the water through, and so small that the fishes may not get out. Some render the word "white works" (m), white linen, white cloth, of which white garments are made, such as nobles and princes formerly wore; hence, in the Hebrew language, they are called by a name of the same root and signification; but the former sense seems best. (l) is by us rendered "fine"; and so, Ben Melech says, in the Arabic language the best and finest linen is called and so says Kimchi in Sepher Shorash.; with which Schindler agrees, Arab. sericum or "muslin"; but it is a question whether this is of so early a date, and especially not fit to make nets of. De Dieu and Bochart think it denotes the colour of the linen, which was yellow, that being the best; but others render it "combed". (m) "et textores alborum operum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

(Verset 5 et suiv.) And the sea water will dry up, and the river will be deserted and dried up, and the rivers will fail, and the streams of the embankments will be thin and dry up. The reed and the rush will wither, the bed of the river will be exposed from its source, and all irrigated crops will dry up. It will dry up and cease to exist. And the fishermen will mourn, and all those who cast a hook into the river and spread a net over the surface of the water, and they will dry up. And those who work with linen will be confused, weaving and creating delicate fabrics, and their irrigated fields will become dry, all those who make ponds to catch fish. Foolish princes of Tanis, wise counselors gave Pharaoh foolish advice. When a strong and harsh king shall have dominion over Egypt, all learning and beauty of secular eloquence shall wither, and the very source of all rivers, the devil from whom all lies originate, shall cause devastation: so that other rivers and streams, which were filled by the turbid waters of the Nile, shall fail. Even the reed and the rush shall dry up from excessive drought. They made paper from the papyrus reed, which grows in the Greek language, and added their own green ink, which is not found in Hebrew. When I asked the scholars what this meant, I heard that in the Egyptian language, this word refers to everything that grows in the green marsh. The reed, according to metaphor, is a hollow speech, having nothing solid in itself. And the papyrus, while it appears to have a core and is not hollow, is still fragile and quickly withers. Moreover, all the rivers, when the source of the rivers dries up, will also dry up, and whatever was previously irrigated by the waters of Egypt will be dried up, so that the fishermen of Egypt, who are strongly opposed to the fishermen of the Lord, may mourn, and those who cast a hook into the river and spread a net over the surface of the water may lament. They deceive each individual by casting a hook into the muddy waters. But those who deceive many together, so that they speak openly in the synagogues of Satan and lead away the flocks of the people, they cast a net over the Egyptian waters. Even those who worked with linen to make the priests' garments will be confused; twisting and weaving it, which properly belongs to the art of dialectics. For 'subtilibus', the Septuagint translates it as 'byssus', which is also used for the priests' garments. And what follows: 'And its ponds will be stagnant, all those who made fish traps, this signifies that all the traps of the Egyptian fishermen will be destroyed and perish. For the gaps that were made to catch fish, as we have interpreted according to sense, both in Hebrew and in all the interpreters, in the place of the fish, souls are placed, so that we are drawn from the history to the tropology, namely that these fishermen, who made the gaps and pits, did so in order to deceive souls in them. It should be noted that for the gaps the LXX translated ζύθον, which is a type of drink made from grains and water, and is commonly called sabaium in the provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia in both the native and barbaric language. The Egyptians use this mainly so that they do not attribute pure water to those who drink, but rather turbid water, and similar to mixed feces, so that through this kind of potion the doctrine of heretical depravity is shown. Then the princes of Taneos will be fools, which is interpreted as a humble command. For all heretics teach humility contrary to exaltation, and they bring down to the depths, and they are the princes of humble and abject command. Also, the counselors of Pharaoh, who is the king of Egypt, and rightly a scatterer, and divided, and separated into various parts, are described as foolish for giving counsel when the Lord has scattered the wisdom of the wise, and has rejected the understanding of the prudent (1 Corinthians 1).

(v. 8-10) And the fishermen shall mourn, and all those who cast the hook into the river shall lament, and those who spread the net over the face of the water shall wither away. And those who work with flax, twisting and weaving fine fabrics, shall be put to shame; and its pools shall be dried up, and all those who make fishing-gear for catching fish shall mourn. And consider this in two ways: that when Egypt is devastated and the entire province is dried up by drought, the fishermen shall mourn, and those who cast the hook into the river and those who work with nets and traps and weave various types of baskets made from reeds, that is, princes and those of royal blood, and rulers. And also, when Christ comes, all the wicked fishermen of different kinds, who against Apostolic discipline capture men for destruction and weave nets and traps with foolish wisdom to ensnare the condemned, shall be confused, and in the land of Egypt there shall be no such fisherman, or if there is, they shall be rare. In this work we see fulfilled what the triumphs of the Churches rise, and idols have fallen in all of Egypt.

Third, the ruin of various craftsmen, they shall be confounded that wrought in flax, which is raised in wet places. Flaccid, that is, parched, pools, fish ponds.

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.

They that work in fine flax - פשתים שריקות pishtim sericoth, heckled flax, i.e., flax dressed on the heckle, or comb used for that purpose. The Vulgate uses the word pectentes, combing. They that weave networks shall be confounded - And confounden schul ben that wrogten flax, plattinge and webynge sotel thingis. - Old MS. Bible.

(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).

fine flax--GESENIUS, for "fine," translates, "combed"; fine "linen" was worn by the rich only (Luk 16:19). Egypt was famous for it (Exo 9:31; Kg1 10:28; Pro 7:16; Eze 27:7). The processes of its manufacture are represented on the Egyptian tombs. Israel learned the art in Egypt (Exo 26:36). The cloth now found on the mummies was linen, as is shown by the microscope. WILKINSON mentions linen from Egypt which has five hundred forty (or two hundred seventy double) threads in one inch in the warp; whereas some modern cambric has but a hundred sixty [BARNES]. networks--rather, white cloth (Est 1:6; Est 8:16).