Isaiah 19 · Verse 5

Isaiah 19:5

And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
Isaiah 19:5, King James Version

Isaiah 19:5 in other translations

BSBThe waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.
WEBThe waters will fail from the sea, and the river will be wasted and become dry.
ASVAnd the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and become dry.
YLTAnd failed have waters from the sea, And a river is wasted and dried up.
DARBYAnd the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up;
BBEAnd the waters of the sea will be cut off, and the river will become dry and waste:
WebsterAnd the waters shall fail from the sea, and the rivers shall be wasted and dried up.

What does Isaiah 19:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. the sea--the Nile. Physical calamities, it is observed in history, often accompany political convulsions (Eze 30:12). The Nile shall "fail" to rise to its wonted height, the result of which will be barrenness and famine. Its "waters" at the time of the overflow resemble "a sea" [Pliny, Natural History, 85.11]; and it is still called El-Bahr," "the sea," by the Egyptians (Is 18:2; Jr 51:36). A public record is kept at Cairo of the daily rise of the water at the proper time of overflow, namely, August: if it rises to a less height than twelve cubits, it will not overflow the land, and famine must be the result. So, also, when it rises higher than sixteen; for the waters are not drained off in time sufficient to sow the seed.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 The river shall be wasted and dried up - The Nile shall not overflow its banks; and if no inundation, the land must become barren. For, as there is little or no rain in Egypt, its fertility depends on the overflowing of the Nile.

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…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 19:1-17 →

Isaiah 19:5 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.

וְנִשְּׁתוּ\־ve.ni.she.tu-and they will be dried upH5405
מַ֖יִםMa.yimwatersH4325
מֵֽהַיָּ֑םme.hai.Yamfrom the seaH3220
וְנָהָ֖רve.na.Harand a riverH5104
יֶחֱרַ֥בye.che.Ravit will become dryH2717
וְיָבֵֽשׁ\׃ve.ya.Veshand it will be dryH3001

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

Cross references for Isaiah 19:5

  • Ezekiel 30:12

    And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the land into the hand of the wicked: and I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I the Lord have spoken it.

  • Jeremiah 51:36

    Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.

  • Zechariah 14:18

    And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

  • Zechariah 10:11

    And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 51:36; Eze 30:12; Zec 10:11; 14:18

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

Context

  • Isaiah 19:4

    And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts.

  • Isaiah 19:5

    And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.

  • Isaiah 19:6

    And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.

Read all of Isaiah 19

Isaiah 19:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y las aguas de la mar faltarán, y el río se agotará y secará.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et les eaux manqueront à la mer, et la rivière tarira et se desséchera,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und die Wasser werden sich aus dem Meere verlaufen, und der Strom wird versiegen und austrocknen, und die Ströme werden stinken;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et arescet aqua de mari, et fluvius desolabitur atque siccabitur.