The previous chapter focused on Cush, an empire intermingled with Egypt. Now the prophecy focuses on Egypt explicitly.
Isaiah 19:1-3, Coming on a swift cloud
A prophecy against Egypt:
See, the LORD rides on a swift cloud
and is coming to Egypt.
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.
“I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian—
brother will fight against brother,
neighbor against neighbor,
city against city,
kingdom against kingdom.
The Egyptians will lose heart,
and I will bring their plans to nothing;
they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead,
the mediums and the spiritists.
YHWH is returning to focus on Egypt, riding on the clouds. Among the calamities coming to Egypt is civil war.
The Hebrew word translated idol in verse 1 is elil. Motyer translates that as "no gods", a mocking term by Isaiah.
Isaiah 19:4, Cruel master
I will hand the Egyptians over
to the power of a cruel master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,”
declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
Egypt will be controlled by a cruel master, possibly the Assyrian Esarhaddon.
Isaiah 19:5-10, Drought
The waters of the river will dry up,
and the riverbed will be parched and dry.
The canals will stink;
the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up.
The reeds and rushes will wither,
also the plants along the Nile,
at the mouth of the river.
Every sown field along the Nile
will become parched, will blow away and be no more.
The fishermen will groan and lament,
all who cast hooks into the Nile;
those who throw nets on the water
will pine away.
Those who work with combed flax will despair,
the weavers of fine linen will lose hope.
The workers in cloth will be dejected,
and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.
The disaster described here is environmental: a severe drought, devastating the Nile, the fishermen and weavers and garment workers. The ecology and economy of Egypt relied on the Nile; if the Nile dries up, Egypt is destroyed. The Hebrew word yə·’ō·rê, translated "streams of Egypt" in verse 5, is a form of yeor, the word for the Nile River. Motyer translates the word as "little Niles," that is, small streams or irrigation canals carrying the Nile waters to nearby fields.
Isaiah 19:11-15, Fools of Zoan
The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools;
the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
“I am one of the wise men,
a disciple of the ancient kings”?
Where are your wise men now?
Let them show you and make known
what the LORD Almighty
has planned against Egypt.
The officials of Zoan have become fools,
the leaders of Memphis are deceived;
the cornerstones of her peoples
have led Egypt astray.
The LORD has poured into them
a spirit of dizziness;
they make Egypt stagger in all that she does,
as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.
There is nothing Egypt can do—
head or tail, palm branch or reed.
The "officials of Zoan" are apparently advisors to the Pharaoh. Zoan was a city on the eastern Nile delta, the capital of Rameses II. In Psalm 78:12,43 Zoan is given as the place where Moses did miracles before Pharaoh. (See also Numbers 13:22 and Ezekiel 30:13-19.) Echoing the events of the Exodus, here we see Pharaoh's confused advisors confounded; their wisdom turns into a "spirit of dizziness" that makes Egypt stagger like a drunkard.
Memphis (verse 13) was a capital of ancient Egypt, near modern day Cairo and the pyramids of Giza.
Isaiah 19:16-17, Weaklings
In that day the Egyptians will become weaklings. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the LORD Almighty raises against them. And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the LORD Almighty is planning against them.
The prophetic destruction will lead to weakness and humiliation for Egypt, as Judah dominates. The phrase "will become weaklings" (kan·nā·šîm wə·ḥā·raḏ) is literally "like women tremble".
Isaiah 19:18-22, Five cities turning to YHWH
In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.
In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them.
So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and keep them. The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.
Now the mood of the passage turns. Egypt turns to YHWH and worships Him! Grogan says that Athanasius of Alexandria loved this passage as its described his nation turning to God.
"There is probably something like a play on the name of the Egyptian city On, the Greek Heliopolis, the City of the Sun (Heb., Ir-ha-kheres), and the word which the prophet actually uses (Ir-ha-cheres), the 'city of destruction.' "
There are echoes of Exodus in this passage, with oppressors, YHWH being "made known" to the Egyptians, even a plague is mentioned. It is possible (says Grogran) that the five cities in verse 19 fit into the allusions to the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan. The conquest of Canaan required the conquest of five cities, five kings, in Joshua 10. and so the submission of Egypt might begin with five cities swearing allegiance to YHWH.
Isaiah 19:23-25, A highway
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.
In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”
Isaiah (says Grogan) uses the expression "in that day" forty-two times. "In that [far off] day", a highway will run from Egypt on the southwest of Israel, to Assyria on the northeast. The Egyptians and Assyrians and Israelites will all worship YHWH! The three warring nations of Egypt, Assyria and Israel will now be called "my people", "my handiwork" and "my inheritance". This is a remarkable prediction of peace, possibly even a global peace, "in that day."
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