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 burden of Egypt; &c.] Or a prophecy concerning Egypt, as the Arabic version; a very grievous one, declaring many calamities that should come upon them.

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…

And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof, &c.] Meaning not the spirit of valour and courage, that is expressed before, but of wisdom, prudence, and understanding; the wisdom of Egypt, in which Moses is said to be brought up, was famous all the world over; hither men of learning, as…

And the Egyptians will I give over into the hands of a cruel lord Not of Sennacherib king of Assyria, which way go many interpreters, both Christian and Jewish, as Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi; nor of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, as in (Jer. 46:25, Jer.

And the waters shall fail from the sea Which Kimchi understands figuratively of the destruction of the Egyptians by the king of Assyria, compared to the drying up of the waters of the Nile; and others think that the failure of their trade by sea is meant, which brought great revenues into the…

And they shall turn the rivers far away The river Nile, called “rivers”, the plural for the singular, because of the abundance of water in it; or its seven streams, with other rivulets, derived from it.

The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, &c.] Not at the fountain or origin of the Nile and its streams, but by the sides thereof; on the banks of which grew a reed or rush, called by the Greeks “papyrus” and “biblus”; from whence come the words “paper” and “bible”, or book, of…

The fishers also shall mourn Because there will be no fish to catch, the waters of the river being dried up, and so will have none to sell, and nothing to support themselves and families with; and this must also affect the people in general, fish being the common food they lived upon, see , not…

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, but now would have no flax to work, that being withered and gone which was sown by the sides of…

And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof Meaning either the persons that work in flax, or in making nets; who shall be disappointed in their views, expectations, and designs, in bringing them to a good market, since there will be no buyers.

Surely the princes of Zoan are fools Zoan was a very ancient city of Egypt, it was built within seven years of Hebron in the land of Judah, here it was that the Lord did those miracles, by the hands of Moses and Aaron, before Pharaoh and his people, in order to oblige him to let Israel go, (Ps.

Where are they? where are thy wise men? &c.] The magicians and soothsayers, the diviners and astrologers, who pretended, by their magic art and skill in judicial astrology, to foretell things to come: this is an address to the king of Egypt, who had such persons about him, and encouraged them, by…

The princes of Zoan are become fools Or infatuated, in their counsels to Pharaoh, and by giving heed to the magicians and diviners; (See Gill on Isa. 19:11): the princes of Noph are deceived; called Moph, in where our translation renders it Memphis; and so do the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin…

The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof A spirit of error, as the Targum, Septuagint, and Arabic versions; or of giddiness, as the Vulgate Latin: this he mingled in a cup for them, and poured it out, and gave them it to drink; and an intoxicating cup it was, such as men are…

Neither shall there be any work for Egypt No trade or business to carry on; their rivers being dried up, there was no flax to work with, and fine linen was a principal commodity of Egypt; nor any fish to catch, or rushes to make paper of, as before observed: or it would not be in the power of their…

In that day shall Egypt be like unto women Weak and feeble, as the Targum; fearful and timorous, even their military force; and devoid of wisdom, even their princes and nobles: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh over it: which…

And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt Not by reason of war breaking out between them, they being in strict alliance with each other at this time; but on account of what they should hear had befallen the land of Judea, and the cities of it, by the invasion of Sennacherib’s army, which…

In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt Here opens a scene of mercy, a prophecy of good things to the Egyptians in future times; for this is not to be understood of the selfsame time, that the former calamities would come upon them; but of some time after that; and not of Egypt,…

In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt Josephus [[2]], and other Jewish writers [[3]], suppose this to be fulfilled when Onias, the son of Simeon the just, fled into Egypt, and obtained leave of Ptolemy king of Egypt, and Queen Cleopatra, to build a temple…

And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt This refers either to what goes before, that the altar and pillar were signs and witnesses that the Lord was believed in, professed, and worshipped there; or to what follows after, that the Lord’s hearing the…

And the Lord shall be known to Egypt The means of knowing him would be granted them; which were partly through the Bible being translated into the Greek language, at the request of Ptolemy king of Egypt, which was then understood in that country, and this was a considerable time before the coming…

And the Lord shall smite Egypt By one afflictive providence or another, which shall awaken them to a sense of sin and duty; or smite their consciences with convictions of sin, through the ministry of the word by his spirits: he shall smite and heal it; or “smiting and healing” [[5]]; as he smites…

In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria It signifies that there should be peace between them, all hostilities should cease, free trade and commerce with each other should be opened, and nothing should hinder communion with one another; which some think had some show of…

In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria There shall be a triple alliance between them; Jew and Gentile shall be made one, the middle wall of partition being broken down; yea, Israel, or the Jews, shall be the third, or the Mediator between them both, or the means of…

Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless Not only Israel, but Egypt and Assyria, even all his chosen ones, whether among Jews or Gentiles: saying, blessed be Egypt my people; as they must needs be blessed who are the Lord’s covenant people; for he being their covenant God, his blessing is upon them, even…