Isaiah 19 · Verse 6

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.
Isaiah 19:6, King James Version

Isaiah 19:6 in other translations

BSBThe canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither.
WEBThe rivers will become foul. The streams of Egypt will be diminished and dried up. The reeds and flags will wither away.
ASVAnd the rivers shall become foul; the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and dried up; the reeds and flags shall wither away.
YLTAnd they have turned away the flowings, Weak and dried up have been brooks of the bulwark, Reed and flag have withered.
DARBYand the rivers shall stink, and the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and drain away: the reeds and sedges shall wither.
BBEAnd the rivers will have an evil smell; the stream of Egypt will become small and dry: all the water-plants will come to nothing.
WebsterAnd they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defense shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.

What does Isaiah 19:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. they shall turn the rivers--rather, "the streams shall become putrid"; that is, the artificial streams made for irrigation shall become stagnant and offensive when the waters fail [Maurer]. Horsley, with the Septuagint, translates, "And waters from the sea shall be drunk"; by the failure of the river water they shall be reduced to sea water. brooks of defence--rather, "canals of Egypt"; "canals," literally, "Niles," Nile canals, the plural of the Egyptian term for the great river. The same Hebrew word, Matzor, whence comes Mitzraim, expresses Egypt, and a place of "defense." Horsley, as English Version translates it, "embanked canals," reeds ... flags--the papyrus. "Reed and rush"; utter withering.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 6 Shall turn the rivers far away "Shall become putrid" - האזניחו heeznichu. This sense of the word, which Simonis gives in his Lexicon, from the meaning of it in Arabic, suits the place much better than any other interpretation hitherto given; and that the word in Hebrew had some such signification, is probable from 2Chr 29:19, where the Vulgate renders it by polluit, polluted, and the Targum, by profaned, and made abominable, which the context in that place seems plainly to require. The form of the verb here is very irregular; and the rabbins and grammarians seem to give no probable account of it.

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 19:6 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.

וְהֶאֶזְנִ֣יחוּve.he.'ez.Ni.chuand they will stinkH2186
נְהָר֔וֹתne.ha.Rot[the] riversH5104
דָּלֲל֥וּda.la.Luthey will be lowH1809
וְחָרְב֖וּve.cha.re.Vuand they will become dryH2717
יְאֹרֵ֣יye.'o.Rei[the] canals ofH2975
מָצ֑וֹרma.TzorEgyptH4693
קָנֶ֥הka.Nehreed[s]H7070
וָס֖וּףva.Sufand rush[es]H5488
קָמֵֽלוּ\׃ka.Me.luthey will witherH7060

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

Cross references for Isaiah 19:6

  • Isaiah 37:25

    I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.

  • Exodus 7:18

    And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.

  • Job 8:11

    Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?

  • 2 Kings 19:24

    I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.

  • Exodus 2:3

    And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.

  • Isaiah 15:6

    For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.

  • Isaiah 18:2

    That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
and the.
37:25; 2Ki 19:24
the reeds.
18:2; Ex 2:3; Job 8:11

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

Context

  • 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.

  • Isaiah 19:7

    The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.

Read all of Isaiah 19

Isaiah 19:6 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y alejaránse los ríos, se agotarán y secarán las corrientes de los fosos: la caña y el carrizo serán cortados.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		et les rivières deviendront puantes; les fleuves de l’Égypte seront diminués et tariront, les roseaux et les joncs se flétriront.
German
Elberfelder 1871		die Kanäle Mazors nehmen ab und versiegen, Rohr und Schilf verwelken.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et deficient flumina, attenuabuntur et siccabuntur rivi aggerum, calamus et juncus marcescet.