Isaiah 19 · Verse 1

Isaiah 19:1

The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
Isaiah 19:1, King James Version

Isaiah 19:1 in other translations

BSBThis is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.
WEBThe burden of Egypt. “Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt will melt within it.
ASVThe burden of Egypt. Behold, Jehovah rideth upon a swift cloud, and cometh unto Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall tremble at his presence; and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
YLTThe burden of Egypt. Lo, Jehovah is riding on a swift thick cloud, And He hath entered Egypt, And moved have been the idols of Egypt at His presence, And the heart of Egypt melteth in its midst.
DARBYThe burden of Egypt. Behold, Jehovah rideth upon a swift cloud, and cometh to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt are moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt melteth in the midst of it.
BBEThe word about Egypt. See, the Lord is seated on a quick-moving cloud, and is coming to Egypt: and the false gods of Egypt will be troubled at his coming, and the heart of Egypt will be turned to water.
WebsterThe burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and will come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

What does Isaiah 19:1 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Is 19:1-25. The nineteenth and twentieth chapters are connected, but with an interval between. Egypt had been held by an Ethiopian dynasty, Sabacho, Sevechus, or Sabacho II, and Tirhakah, for forty or fifty years. Sevechus (called So, the ally of Hoshea, 2Ki 17:4), retired from Lower Egypt on account of the resistance of the priests; and perhaps also, as the Assyrians threatened Lower Egypt. On his withdrawal, Sethos, one of the priestly caste, became supreme, having Tanis ("Zoan") or else Memphis as his capital, 718 B.C.; while the Ethiopians retained Upper Egypt, with Thebes as its capital, under Tirhakah. A third native dynasty was at Sais, in the west of Lower Egypt; to this at a later period belonged Psammetichus, the first who admitted Greeks into Egypt and its armies; he was one of the dodecarchy, a number of petty kings between whom Egypt was divided, and by aid of foreign auxiliaries overcame the rest, 670 B.C. To the divisions at this last time, Gesenius refers Is 19:2; and Psammetichus, Is 19:4, "a cruel lord." The dissensions of the ruling castes are certainly referred to. But the time referred to is much earlier than that of Psammetichus. In Is 19:1, the invasion of Egypt is represented as caused by "the Lord"; and in Is 19:17, "Judah" is spoken of as "a terror to Egypt," which it could hardly have been by itself. Probably, therefore, the Assyrian invasion of Egypt under Sargon, when Judah was the ally of Assyria, and Hezekiah had not yet refused tribute as he did in the beginning of Sennacherib's reign, is meant. That Assyria was in Isaiah's mind appears from the way in which it is joined with Israel and Egypt in the worship of Jehovah (Is 19:24, 25). Thus the dissensions referred to (Is 19:2) allude to the time of the withdrawal of the Ethiopians from Lower Egypt, probably not without a struggle, especially with the priestly caste; also to the time when Sethos usurped the throne and entered on the contest with the military caste, by the aid of the town populations: when the Saitic dynasty was another cause of division. Sargon's reign was between 722-715 B.C. answering to 718 B.C., when Sethos usurped his throne [G. V. Smith]. 1. burden--(See on Is 13:1). upon ... cloud--(Psa 104:3; 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 (Ex 12:12; Jr 43:12).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Introduction

Prophecy concerning Egypt, in which her lamentable condition under the Babylonians, Persians, etc., Is forcibly pointed out, vv. 1-17. The true religion shall be propagated in Egypt; referring primarily to the great spread of Judaism in that country in the reign of the Ptolemies, and ultimately to its reception of the Gospel in the latter days, Isa 19:18-22. Profound peace between Egypt, Assyria, and Israel, and their blessed condition under the Gospel, Isa 19:23-25. Not many years after the destruction of Sennacherib's army before Jerusalem, by which the Egyptians were freed from the yoke with which they were threatened by so powerful an enemy, who had carried on a successful war of three years' continuance against them; the affairs of Egypt were again thrown into confusion by intestine broils among themselves, which ended in a perfect anarchy, that lasted some few years. This was followed by an aristocracy, or rather tyranny, of twelve princes, who divided the country between them, and at last by the sole dominion of Psammitichus, which he held for fifty-four years. Not long after that followed the invasion and conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, and then by the Persians under Cambyses, the son of Cyrus. The yoke of the Persians was so grievous, that the conquest of the Persians by Alexander may well be considered as a deliverance to Egypt; especially as he and his successors greatly favored the people and improved the country. To all these events the prophet seems to have had a view in this chapter; and in particular, from Isa 19:18, the prophecy of the propagation of the true religion in Egypt seems to point to the flourishing state of Judaism in that country, in consequence of the great favor shown to the Jews by the Ptolemies. Alexander himself settled a great many Jews in his new city Alexandria, granting them privileges equal to those of the Macedonians. The first Ptolemy, called Soter, carried great numbers of them thither, and gave them such encouragement that still more of them were collected there from different parts; so that Philo reckons that in his time there were a million of Jews in that country. These worshipped the God of their fathers; and their example and influence must have had a great effect in spreading the knowledge and worship of the true God through the whole country. See Bp. Newton on the Prophecies, Dissert. xii. Verse 1 The burden of Egypt - That is, the prophet's declaration concerning Egypt.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 19:1-17
Judgments upon Egypt. (Is. 19:1-17) Its deliverance, and the conversion of the people. (Is. 19:18-25) Verses 1-17 God shall come into Egypt with his judgments. He will raise up the causes of their destruction from among themselves. When ungodly men escape danger, they are apt to think themselves secure; but evil pursues sinners, and will speedily overtake them, except they repent. The Egyptians will be given over into the hand of one who shall rule them with rigour, as was shortly after fulfilled. The Egyptians were renowned for wisdom and science; yet the Lord would give them up to their own perverse schemes, and to quarrel, till their land would be brought by their contests to become an object of contempt and pity. He renders sinners afraid of those whom they have despised and oppressed; and the Lord of hosts will make the workers of iniquity a terror to themselves, and to each other; and every object around a terror to them.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Isaiah 19:1 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

מַשָּׂ֖אma.Sa'[the] oracle ofH4853
מִצְרָ֑יִםmitz.Ra.yimEgyptH4714
הִנֵּ֨הhi.Nehthere!H2009
יְהוָ֜הYah.wehYahwehH3068
רֹכֵ֨בro.Khev[is] ridingH7392
עַל\־'al-onH5921
עָ֥ב'ava cloudH5645
קַל֙kalswiftH7031
וּבָ֣אu.Va'and [is] comingH935
מִצְרַ֔יִםmitz.Ra.yimEgyptH4714
וְנָע֞וּve.na.'Uand they will trembleH5128
אֱלִילֵ֤י'e.li.Lei[the] idols ofH457
מִצְרַ֙יִם֙mitz.Ra.yimEgyptH4714
מִפָּנָ֔יוmi.pa.Navfrom before himH6440
וּלְבַ֥בu.le.Vavand [the] heart ofH3824
מִצְרַ֖יִםmitz.Ra.yimEgyptH4714
יִמַּ֥סyi.Masit will meltH4549
בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ\׃be.kir.Bo<in> within itH7130

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 19:1

  • Exodus 12:12

    For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.

  • Revelation 1:7

    Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

  • Joshua 2:11

    And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

  • Joel 3:19

    Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

  • Ezekiel 30:13

    Thus saith the Lord God; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.

  • Jeremiah 51:44

    And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

  • Psalms 104:3

    Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

  • Isaiah 13:1

    The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

  • Deuteronomy 33:26

    There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.

  • Jeremiah 50:2

    Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.

  • Ezekiel 29:1-21

    In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt: Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales. …

  • Isaiah 13:7

    Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1 The confusion of Egypt.
11 The foolishness of their princes.
18 The calling of Egypt into the church.
23 The covenant of Egypt, Assyria, and Israel.

Egypt.
Jer 25:19; 43:8-13; 44:29,30; 46:1-28; Eze 29:1-32:32; Joe 3:19
Zec 10:11; 14:18
rideth.
De 33:26; Ps 18:10-12; 68:4,33,34; 104:34; Mt 26:64,65; Re 1:7
the idols.
21:9; 46:1,2; Ex 12:12; 1Sa 5:2-4; Jer 43:12; 46:25; 50:2; 51:44
Eze 30:13
the heart.
16; Ex 15:14-16; Jos 2:9,11,24; Jer 46:5,15,16

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 19:1

    The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

  • Isaiah 19:2

    And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

Read all of Isaiah 19

Isaiah 19:1 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		CARGA de Egipto. He aquí que Jehová monta sobre una ligera nube, y entrará en Egipto; y los ídolos de Egipto se moverán delante de él, y desleiráse el corazón de los Egipcios en medio de ellos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		*L’oracle touchant l’Égypte. Voici, l’ Éternel, porté sur une nuée rapide, vient en Égypte, et les idoles de l’Égypte sont agitées à cause de sa présence, et le cœur de l’Égypte se fond au-dedans d’elle.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ausspruch über Ägypten. Siehe, Jehova fährt auf schneller Wolke und kommt nach Ägypten. Und die Götzen Ägyptens beben vor ihm, und das Herz Ägyptens zerschmilzt in seinem Innern.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Onus Ægypti. Ecce Dominus ascendet super nubem levem, et ingredietur Ægyptum, et commovebuntur simulacra Ægypti a facie ejus, et cor Ægypti tabescet in medio ejus,