1358 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Isaiah 18 This chapter is a prophecy of the desolation of a land or country, described by the wings with which it was shaded, and by the rivers by which it was situated, Isaiah 18:1 by its messengers and message to another nation, which is also described, Isaiah 18:2 all the nations of the world are called upon to observe the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Woe to the land shadowing with wings,.... Or, "O land", as calling to it; so Aben Ezra and Kimchi. It is very difficult to determine what land is here meant: some think the land of Assyria is here designed, as Aben Ezra and others, and so it is a continuation of the prophecy concerning the destruction of the Assyrians, in the three last verses of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
That sendeth ambassadors by the sea,.... The Red Sea, which washed the coasts of Egypt and Ethiopia, and which were united into one kingdom under Sabacus, or So the Ethiopian, called king of Egypt, 2 Kings 17:4 and this kingdom, or rather the king of it, is here described as sending ambassadors by sea to foreign courts, to make leagues and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth,.... All the men of the world are here called upon, either by the Lord, or rather by the prophet, to be eye and ear witnesses of the judgment that should be inflicted upon the above nation, and of the salvation of his own people; which should be so manifest, that all should see it as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For so the Lord said unto me,.... The prophet Isaiah, both what goes before, and follows after: I will take my rest; these are not the words of the prophet, as some think, like those of Habakkuk, Habakkuk 2:1 but of the Lord himself, signifying that he would, as he always did, enjoy himself, amidst all the commotions that were in the world; or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For afore the harvest,.... Or vintage: the above metaphor is carried on; before the designs and schemes of the people above described are ripe for execution, who promised themselves a large harvest of their neighbours: when the bud is perfect; when the bud of the vine is become a perfect grape, though unripe; when the scheme was fully laid, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They shall be left, together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth,.... That is, both sprigs and branches; with the fruit of them, which being unripe, are disregarded by men, but fed upon by birds and beasts; the fruits by the former, and the tender sprigs and green branches by the latter; signifying the destruction of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
In that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts,.... Not exactly at the time when this destruction should be, but some time after, even in Gospel times; for to them this part of the prophecy refers: of a people scattered and peeled; this explains what the present is, that shall be brought to the Lord; it is a people, and therefore...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Isaiah 19 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 calamities are many; the Lord's coming unto them, which their gods cannot prevent, nor stand before, nor save them, and at which the hearts of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The burden of Egypt;.... Or a prophecy concerning Egypt, as the Arabic version; a very grievous one, declaring many calamities that should come upon them. The Targum is, "the burden of the cup of cursing, to make the Egyptians drink.'' The people of the Jews reposed great confidence in the Egyptians their allies; wherefore, in order to break this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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 calamities of Egypt should be brought upon them,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof,.... 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, Acts 7:22 was famous all the world over; hither men of learning, as the ancient philosophers, Pythagoras,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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 Jeremiah 46:25 but either of the twelve tyrants that rose up after the death of Sethon above mentioned;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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 kingdom: but, by what follows, it seems best to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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. Some make the "they" here to refer to the kings of Egypt, and interpret the words of some projects of theirs, by which the course of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks,.... 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 which paper was anciently made; even as early as the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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 Numbers 11:5, not only because of the great plenty...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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, 1 Kings 10:28 but now would have no flax to work, that being withered and gone which was sown by the sides of the brooks, Isaiah 19:7 and no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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. The word for "purposes" signifies foundations, as in Psalms 11:3 and may design dams and banks,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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, Numbers 13:22 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, Psalms 78:12 by which it appears that...