the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Isaiah 18:2
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That land sends people down the Nile River in reed boats. Fast messengers, go to the people who are tall and smooth, who are feared far and wide. Go to that powerful nation that defeats other countries and whose land is divided by rivers. Go warn them!
that sends ambassadors in swift boats down the river. Go, swift messengers! Take a message to a tall, smooth-skinned people, who are feared far and wide for their conquests and destruction, and whose land is divided by rivers.
that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus on the waters, [saying], Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that metes out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide!
That land sends messengers across the sea; they go on the water in boats made of reeds. Go, quick messengers, to a people who are tall and smooth-skinned, who are feared everywhere. They are a powerful nation that defeats other nations. Their land is divided by rivers.
that sends messengers by sea, who glide over the water's surface in boats made of papyrus. Go, you swift messengers, to a nation of tall, smooth-skinned people, to a people that are feared far and wide, to a nation strong and victorious, whose land rivers divide.
That sendeth embassadors 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 measured by line and trodden down, whose land the rivers have laid waste.
that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus on the waters, [saying], Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide!
Which sends ambassadors by the sea, Even in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation [of people] tall and smooth (clean shaven), To a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide.
and in vessels of papirus on watris. Go, ye messangeris, to the folk drawun up and to-rent; to a ferdful puple, aftir which is noon other; to the folk abidynge and defoulid, whos lond the flodis han rauyschid; to the hil of the name of the Lord of oostis, to the hil of Sion.
that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people terrible from their beginning onward; a nation that meteth out and treadeth down, whose land the rivers divide!
which sends couriers by sea, in papyrus vessels on the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people widely feared, to a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.
Egypt sends messengers up the Nile River on ships made of reeds. Send them fast to Ethiopia, whose people are tall and have smooth skin. Their land is divided by rivers; they are strong and brutal, feared all over the world.
that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people terrible from their beginning onward, a nation that meteth out and treadeth down, whose land the rivers divide!
Which sends its representatives by the sea, even in ships of papyrus on the waters. Go back quickly, O representatives, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people causing fear through all their history; a strong nation, crushing down its haters, whose land is cut through by rivers.
they send ambassadors by sea, across the water in papyrus-reed boats! Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and bronzed, to a people feared far and near, to a strong and conquering nation whose land is divided by rivers!
that sendest ambassadors over the sea, and in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, [saying,] Go, swift messengers, to a nation scattered and ravaged, to a people terrible from their existence and thenceforth; to a nation of continued waiting and of treading down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters! Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation tall and of glossy skin, to a people terrible from their beginning onward; a nation that is sturdy and treadeth down, whose land the rivers divide!
That sendeth ambassadours by the sea, euen in vessels of bulrushes vpon the waters, saying; Goe yee swift messengers to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto, a nation meted out and troden downe; whose land the riuers haue spoiled.
From that land men are sent by the sea in boats made from tall river-grass. Go, you fast men, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people who fill others with fear both near and far. Go to the powerful nation that rules over those who hate it, whose land is divided by rivers.
sending ambassadors by the Nile in vessels of papyrus on the waters! Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide.
Sending ambassadours by the Sea, euen in vessels of reedes vpon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation that is scattered abroade, and spoyled, vnto a terrible people from their beginning euen hitherto: a nation by litle and litle, euen troden vnder foote, whose land the floods haue spoyled.
That sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, saying, Go, you swift messengers, to a nation who will be plundered and uprooted, to a nation whose strength was within it hitherto; to a people who will be dishonored and trodden down, whose land the rivers have ruined!
That sendeth by the sea, ambassadors Even in vessels of paper-reed, upon the face of the waters, - Go ye swift messengers Unto a nation drawn out and polished, Unto a people terrible from their beginning and onwards, - A nation most mighty and subduing, Whose land rivers have cut through.
That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, and in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters. Go, ye swift angels, to a nation rent and torn in pieces: to a terrible people, after which there is no other: to a nation expecting and trodden underfoot, whose land the rivers have spoiled.
which sends ambassadors by the Nile, in vessels of papyrus upon the waters! Go, you swift messengers, to a nation, tall and smooth, to a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide.
Sendyng messengers by the sea, euen in vessels of reedes ouer the water, Get you hence ye speedy messengers to a nation that is scattered abrode, and robbed of that they had, a fearefull people from their begynnyng hytherto, a nation troden downe by litle and litle, whose lande the fluddes haue spoyled.
He sends messengers by the sea, and paper letters on the water: for swift messengers shall go to a lofty nation, and to a strange and harsh people. Who is beyond it? a nation not looked for, and trodden down.
From that land ambassadors come down the Nile in boats made of reeds. Go back home, swift messengers! Take a message back to your land divided by rivers, to your strong and powerful nation, to your tall and smooth-skinned people, who are feared all over the world.
which sends envoys by sea,in reed vessels over the water.Go, swift messengers,to a nation tall and smooth-skinned,to a people feared far and near,a powerful nation with a strange language,whose land is divided by rivers.
that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus on the waters, [saying], Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide!
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!
that sends messengers by the sea and in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters! Go, swift messengers, to a tall and smooth nation, to a people feared near and far, a mighty, mighty and trampling nation, whose land rivers divide.
which sends envoys by the sea, even in ships of papyrus on the face of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a dreadful people from it and onwards; and a nation mighty and trampling down, whose land the rivers havedivided!
That is sending by sea ambassadors, Even with implements of reed on the face of the waters, -- Go, ye light messengers, Unto a nation drawn out and peeled, Unto a people fearful from its beginning and onwards, A nation meeting out by line, and treading down, Whose land floods have spoiled.
which sendeth hir message ouer the see in shippes of redes vpo ye water, and sayeth: go soone, and do yor message vnto a straunge and harde folke: to a fearful people, & to a people yt is further then this: to a desperate and pylled folke, whose londe is deuyded from vs with ryuers of water.
Which sends messengers by the sea, Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, To a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide.
Which sends ambassadors by sea, Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying, "Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin, To a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, Whose land the rivers divide."
Which sends envoys by the sea, Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, To a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide.
Which sends envoys by the sea,Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters.Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth,To a people feared far and wide,A powerful and oppressive nationWhose land the rivers divide.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
sendeth: Isaiah 30:2-4, Ezekiel 30:9
vessels: It is well known that the Egyptians commonly used on the Nile a light sort of ships or boats made of the papyrus. See note on Exodus 2:3.
to a nation: Isaiah 18:7
scattered and peeled: or, outspread and polished, Or, as Bp. Lowth renders, "stretched out in length and smoothed." Egypt, which is situated between 24 degrees and 32 degrees n lat. and 30 degrees and 33 degrees e long., being bounded on the south by Ethiopia, on the north by the Mediterranean, on the east by the mountains of Arabia, and on the west by those of Lybia, is one long vale, 750 miles in length - through the middle of which runs the Nile in breadth from one to two or three day's journey, and even at the widest part of the Delta, from Pelusium to Alexandria, not above 250 miles broad.
to a people: Genesis 10:8, Genesis 10:9, 2 Chronicles 12:2-4, 2 Chronicles 14:9, 2 Chronicles 16:8, Heb
Meted out and trodden down: or, that meteth out and treadeth down, Heb. of line, line, and treading under foot, This is an allusion to the frequent necessity of having recourse to mensuration in Egypt, in order to determine their boundaries, after the inundation of the Nile had smoothed their land and effaced their landmarks; and to their method of throwing seed upon the mud, when the waters had subsided, and treading it in by turning their cattle into the fields.
have spoiled: or, despise, Isaiah 19:5-7
Reciprocal: Isaiah 19:6 - the reeds Isaiah 42:22 - a people Jeremiah 49:14 - an ambassador Obadiah 1:1 - and an
Cross-References
and said, "O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.
And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, "Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes."
And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.
Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way.
The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth
Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.
And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed down to him to the ground.
They said, "Your servant our father is well; he is still alive." And they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
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 alliances, and thereby strengthen himself against attempts made on him; though some understand it of one part of Ethiopia, on one side of the Red Sea, sending to that on the other side; and some of Tirhakah the Ethiopian sending messengers to the king of Assyria to bid him defiance, and let him know he intended to fight him; and at the same time sent to the Jews, that they might depend upon his protection and help, Isaiah 37:9 some understand this of the Egyptians sending to the Ethiopians, to let them know of the Assyrian expedition; and others, of their sending to the Jews, with the promise of a supply; and the word for "ambassadors" signifying "images", Isaiah 45:16 some have thought it is to be understood of carrying the head of Osiris, and the image of Isis, from place to place, in proper vessels:
even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters; or, "upon the face of the waters" i; where these light vessels floated without sinking, not drawing the quantity of waters as vessels of wood did. Both the Egyptians and Ethiopians had ships made of the "papyrus" k, or "biblus" l, a sort of rush, that grew upon the banks of the Nile, and which were light, and moved swiftly, and were also safest; there was no danger of their being broken to pieces, as other vessels, on shelves, and rocks, and in waterfalls: yea, Pliny m says, that the Ethiopian ships were so made, as to fold up and be carried on their shoulders, when they came to the cataracts.
[Saying], go, ye swift messengers; the word "saying" is not in the text, nor is it to be supplied; for these are not the words of the nation before described, sending its messengers to another nation after described, either the Jews or the Assyrians; but they are the words of God to his messengers, angels or men, who were swift to do his will, whom he sends to denounce or inflict judgment upon the same nation that is before mentioned, with which agrees Ezekiel 30:9:
to a nation scattered; that dwelt in towns, villages, and houses, scattered about here and there; or who would be scattered and dissipated by their enemies: or, "drawn out", and spread over a large tract of ground, as Ethiopia was:
and peeled; of their hair, as the word signifies; the Ethiopians, living in a hot country, had very little hair upon their bodies. Schultens n, from the use of the word in the Arabic language, renders it,
"a nation strong and inaccessible:''
to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; for their black colour and grim looks, especially in some parts; and for the vast armies they brought into the field, as never were by any other people; see
2 Chronicles 12:3 and they might well be said to be so from the beginning, since Nimrod, the mighty hunter, was the son of Cush, from whence the Ethiopians have the name of Cushites, and is the name Ethiopia is called by in the preceding verse Isaiah 18:1:
a nation meted out, and trodden down: to whom punishment was measured by line, in proportion to their sins, and who in a little time would be trodden under foot by their enemies:
whose land the rivers have spoiled: which must not be understood literally of Niger and Nilus, of Astapus and Astaboras, which were so far from spoiling the land, that it was much more pleasant and fruitful for them; but figuratively, of powerful princes and armies, that should come into it, and spoil and plunder it; see Isaiah 8:7. Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it of the kings of the nations of the world; and so the Targum,
"whose land the people spoil.''
Some understand all this of the Assyrians, whose army was now scattered, and its soldiers exhausted, who had been from the beginning of their monarchy very terrible to their neighbours, but now marked for destruction; and whom the Ethiopians, who dwelt by the rivers, despised, as some render the words: and others interpret them of the Jews, as overrun by the Assyrian army like a mighty river, by whom they were scattered, and peeled, and spoiled, and plundered; who from their beginning had been very terrible, because of the wonderful things wrought for them at the Red Sea, in the wilderness, and in the times of Joshua and the judges; and because of the dreadful punishments inflicted on them; but the first sense is best. Vitringa interprets all this of the Egyptians, whose country was drawn out or long, their bodies peeled or shaved; a people terrible to their neighbours, and very superstitious; a nation of line and line, or of precept and precept.
i על פני מים "super facies aquarurum", Montanus. k Hence παπυρινα σκαφη, paper skiffs, in Plutarch, de Is. et Osir. and πλοια καλαμινα, ships of reeds which the Indians made and used, as Herodotus relates, l. 3. sive Thalia, c. 98. and so Diodorus Siculus speaks of ships made of a reed in India, of excellent use, because they are not liable to be eaten by worms, Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 104. to the Egyptian vessels of this kind Lucan has respect when he says, "-----Sic cum tenet omnia Nilus, Conficitur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro. Pharsal. l. 4.
l Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 22. & l. 13. 11. Heliodor. l. 10. c. 4. p. 460. m Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 9. n Animadv, Philol. in Job, p, 108.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
That sendeth ambassadors - That is, “accustomed” to send messengers. What was the design of their thus sending ambassadors does not appear. The prophet simply intimates the fact; a fact by which they were well known. It may have been for purposes of commerce, or to seek protection. Bochart renders the word translated ‘ambassadors’ by “images,” and supposes that it denotes an image of the god Osiris made of the papyrus; but there does not seem to be any reason for this opinion. The word ציר tsı̂yr may mean an idol or image, as in Isaiah 45:16; Psalms 49:15. But it usually denotes ambassadors, or messengers Joshua 9:4; Proverbs 25:13; Proverbs 13:17; Isaiah 57:9; Jeremiah 49:14; Obadiah 1:1.
By the sea - What “sea” is here meant cannot be accurately determined. The word ‘sea’ (ים yâm) is applied to various collections of water, and may be used in reference to a sea, a lake, a pond, and even a large river. It is often applied to the Mediterranean; and where the phrase “Great Sea” occurs, it denotes that Numbers 34:6-7; Deuteronomy 11:24. It is applied to the Lake of Gennesareth or the Sea of Galilee Numbers 34:11; to the Salt Sea Genesis 14:3; to the Red Sea often (Exodus 13:10; Numbers 14:25; Numbers 21:4; Numbers 33:10, “et al.”) It is also applied to “a large river,” as, “e. g., the Nile” Isaiah 19:5; Nehemiah 3:8; and to the Euphrates Jeremiah 51:36. So far as this “word” is concerned, therefore, it may denote either the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Nile, or the Euphrates. If the country spoken of is Upper Egypt or Nubia, then we are naturally led to suppose that the prophet refers either to the Nile or the Red Sea.
Even in vessels of bulrushes - The word rendered ‘bulrushes’ (גמא gôme') is derived from the verb גמא gâmâ', “to swallow, sip, drink;” and is given to a reed or bulrush, from its “imbibing” water. It is usually applied in the Scriptures to the Egyptian “papyrus” - a plant which grew on the banks of the Nile, and from which we have derived our word “paper.” ‘This plant,’ says Taylor (“Heb. Con.”), ‘grew in moist places near the Nile, and was four or five yards in height. Under the bark it consisted wholly of thin skins, which being separated and spread out, were applied to various uses. Of these they made boxes and chests, and even boats, smearing them over with pitch.’ These laminoe, or skins, also served the purpose of paper, and were used instead of parchment, or plates of lead and copper, for writing on. This plant, the Cyperus Papyrus of modern botanists, mostly grew in Lower Egypt, in marshy land, or in shallow brooks and ponds, formed by the inundation of the Nile. ‘The papyrus,’ says Pliny, ‘grows in the marsh lands of Egypt, or in the stagnant pools left inland by the Nile, after it has returned to its bed, which have not more than two cubits in depth.
The root of the plant is the thickness of a man’s arm; it has a triangular stalk, growing not higher than ten cubits (fifteen feet), and decreasing in breadth toward the summit, which is crowned with a thyrsus, containing no seeds, and of no use except to deck the statues of the gods. They employ the roots as firewood, and for making various utensils. They even construct small boats of the plant; and out of the rind, sails, mats, clothes, bedding, ropes; they eat it either crude or cooked, swallowing only the juice; and when they manufacture paper from it, they divide the stem by means of a kind of needle into thin plates, or laminae, each of which is as large as the plant will admit. All the paper is woven upon a table, and is continually moistened with Nile water, which being thick and slimy, furnishes an effectual species of glue. In the first place, they form upon a table, pefectly horizontal, a layer the whole length of the papyrus, which is crossed by another placed transversely, and afterward enclosed within a press.
The different sheets are then hung in a situation exposed to the sun, in order to dry, and the process is finally completed by joining them together, beginning with the best. There are seldom more than twenty slips or stripes produced from one stem of the plant.’ (Pliny, xiii. 11, 12.) Wilkinson remarks, that ‘the mode of making papyri was this: the interior of the stalks of the plant, after the rind had been removed, was cut into thin slices in the direction of their length, and these being laid on a flat board, in succession, similar slices were placed over them at right angles, and their surfaces being cemented together by a sort of glue, and subjected to the proper deuce of pressure, and well dried, the papyrus was completed.’ (“Ancient Egyptians,” vol. iii. p. 148.) The word used here is translated ‘bulrushes’ in Exodus 2:3, where the little ark is described in which Moses was laid near the Nile; the ‘rush’ in Job 8:11; and ‘rushes,’ in Isaiah 35:7.
It does not elsewhere occur. That the ancients were in the practice of making light boats or vessels from the papyrus is well known. Thus Theophrastus (in the “History of Plants,” iv. 9) says, that ‘the papyrus is useful for many things, for from this they make vessels,’ or ships (πλοῖα ploia). Thus, Pliny (xiii. 11, 22) says, ex ipso quidem papyro navigia texunt - ‘from the papyrus they weave vessels.’ Again, (vi. 56, 57): ‘Even now,’ says he, ‘in the Britannic Ocean useful vessels are made of bark; on the Nile from the papyrus, and from reeds and rushes.’ Plutarch describes Isis going in search of the body of Osiris, ‘through the fenny country in a bark made of the papyrus (ἐν βαριδι παπυοινη en baridi papnoinē) where it is supposed that persons using boats of this description (ἐν παπυρινοις ὀκαφεσι πλωοντας en papurinois okaphisi pleontas) are never attacked by crocodiles out of respect to the goddess,’ (De Isaiah 18:1-7.) Moses, also, it will be remembered, was exposed on the banks of the Nile in a similar boat or ark. ‘She took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it With slime and with pitch, and put the child therein’ Exodus 2:3. The same word occurs here (גמא gôme') which is used by Isaiah, and this fact shows that such boats were known as early as the time of Moses. Lucan also mentions boats made of the papyrus at Memphis:
Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro.
- Phar. iv: 136.
At Memphis boats are woven together from the marshy papyrus
The sculptures of Thebes, Memphis, and other places, abundantly show that they were employed as punts, or canoes for fishing, in all parts of Egypt, during the inundation of the Nile.’ (Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. p. 186.) In our own country, also, it will be remembered, the natives were accustomed to make canoes, or vessels, of the bark of the birch, with which they often adventured on even dangerous navigation. The circumstance here mentioned of the גמא gôme' (the papyrus), seems to fix the scene of this prophecy to the region of the Nile. This reed grew nowhere else; and it is natural, therefore, to suppose, that some nation living near the Nile is intended. Taylor, the editor of Calmet, has shown that the inhabitants of the upper regions of the Nile were accustomed to form floats of hollow earthen vessels, and to weave them together with rushes, and thus to convey them to Lower Egypt to market. He supposes that by ‘vessels of bulrushes,’ or rush floats, are meant such vessels. (For a description of the “floats” made in Upper Egypt with “jars,” see Pococke’s “Travels,” vol. i. p. 84, Ed. London, 1743.) ‘I first saw in this voyage (on the Nile) the large floats of earthen-ware; they are about thirty feet wide, and sixty feet long, being a frame of palm boughs tied together about four feet deep, on which they put a layer of large jars with the mouths uppermost; on these they make another floor, and then put on another layer of jars, and so a third, which last are so disposed as to trim the float, and leave room for the men to go between. The float lies across the river, one end being lower down than the other; toward the lower end on each side they have four long poles with which they row and direct the boat, as well as forward the motion down.’ Mr. Bruce, in his “Travels,” mentions vessels made of the papyrus in Abyssinia.
Upon the waters - The waters of the Nile, or the Red Sea.
Saying - This word is not in the Hebrew, and the introduction of it by the translators gives a peculiar, and probably an incorrect, sense to the whole passage. As it stands here, it would seem to be the language of the inhabitants of the land who sent the ambassadors, usually saying to their messengers to go to a distant nation; and this introduces an inquiry into the characteristics of the nation to “whom” the ambassadors are sent, as if it were a “different” people from those who are mentioned in Isaiah 17:1. But probably the words which follow are to be regarded as the words of the prophet, or of God Isaiah 17:4, giving commandment to those messengers to “return” to those who sent them, and deliver the message which follows: ‘You send messengers to distant nations in reed boats upon the rivers. Return, says God, to the land which sent you foth, and announce to them the will of God. Go rapidly in your light vessels, and bear this message, for it shall speedily be executed, and I will sit calmly and see it done’ Isaiah 17:4-6. A remarkably similar passage, which throws great light on this, occurs in Ezekiel 30:9 : ‘In that day shall messengers go forth from me (God) in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt, for lo, it cometh.’
Go, ye swift messengers - Hebrew, ‘Light messengers.’ This is evidently addressed to the boats. Achilles Tatius says that they were frequently so light and small, that they would carry but one person (Rosenmuller).
To a nation - What nation this was is not known. The “obvious” import of the passge is, that it was some nation to whom they were “accustomed” to send ambassadors, and that it is here added merely as “descriptive” of the people. Two or three characterstics of the nation are mentioned, from which we may better learn what people are referred to.
Scattered - (ממשׁך memushāk). This word is derived from משׁך mâshak, “to seize, take, hold fast;” to draw out, extend, or prolong; to make double or strong; to spread out. The Septuagint renders it, Ἔθνος μετέωρον Ethnos meteōron - ‘A lofty nation.’ Chaldee, ‘A people suffering violence.’ Syraic, ‘A nation distorted.’ Vulgate, ‘A people convulsed, and lacerated.’ It “may” denote a people “spread out” over a great extent of country; or a people “drawn out in length” - that is, extended over a country of considerable length, but of comparatively narrow breadth, as Egypt is; so Vitringa understands it. Or it may mean a people “strong, valiant;” so Gesenius understands it. This best suits the connection, as being a people ‘terrible hitherto.’ Perhaps all these ideas may be united by the supposition, that the nation was drawn out or extended over a large region, and was, “therefore,” a powerful or mighty people. The idea of its being “scattered” is not in the text. Taylor renders it, ‘A people of short stature; contracted in height; that is, dwarfs.’ But the idea in the text is not one that is descriptive of “individuals,” but of the “collected” nation; the people.
And peeled - (מרט môraṭ, from מרט mâraṭ) to make smooth, or sharpen, as a sword,” Ezekiel 21:14-32; then, to make smooth the head of any one, to pluck off his hair, Ezra 9:3; Nehemiah 13:25; Isaiah 50:6). The Septuagint renders it, Ξένον λαὸν καὶ χαλεπόν Cenon laon kai chalepon - ‘A foreign and wicked people.’ Vulgate, ‘To a people lacerated.’ The Syriac renders the whole verse, ‘Go, swift messengers, to a people perverse and torn; to a people whose strength has been long since taken away; a people defiled and trodden down; whose land the rivers have spoiled.’ The word used here is capable of two significations:
(1) It may denote a people who are shaved or made smooth by removing the hair from the body. It is known to have been the custom with the Egyptians to make their bodies smooth by shaving off the hair, as Herodotus testifies (xi. 37). Or,
(2) It may be translated, as Gesenius proposes, a people valiant, fierce, bold, from the sense which the verb has “to sharpen” a sword Ezekiel 21:15-16.
The former is the most obvious interpretation, and agrees best with the proper meaning of the Hebrew word; the latter would, perhaps, better suit the connection. The editor of Calmer supposes that it is to be taken in the sense of “diminished, small, dwarfish,” and would apply it to the “pigmies” of Upper Egypt.
To a people terrible - That is, warlike, fierce, cruel. Hebrew, ‘A people feared.’ If the Egyptians are meant, it may refer to the fact that they had always been an object of terror and alarm to the Israelites from their early oppressions there before their deliverance under Moses.
From their beginning hitherto - Hebrew, ‘From this time, and formerly.’ It has been their general character that they were a fierce, harsh, oppressive nation. Gesenius, however, renders this, ‘To the formidable nation (and) further beyond;’ and supposes that two nations are referred to, of which the most remote and formidable one, whose land is washed by streams, is the proper Ethiopian people. By the other he supposes is meant the Egyptian people. But the scope of the whole prophecy rather requires us to understand it of one people.
A nation meted out - Hebrew, ‘Of line line’ (קו־קו qav-qav). Vitringa renders this, ‘A nation of precept and precept;’ that is, whose religion abounded with rites and ceremonies, and an infinite multitude of “precepts or laws” which prescribed them. Michaelis renders it, ‘A nation measured by a line;’ that is, whose land had been divided by victors. Doderlin renders it, ‘A nation which uses the line;’ that is, as he supposes, which extended its dominion over other provinces. The Septuagint renders it, Ἔθνος ἀνέλπιστον ethnos anelpiston - ‘A nation without hope.’ Aquila, Ἔθνος ὑπόμενον ethnos hupomenon - ‘A nation enduring or patient.’ Jonathan, the Chaldee, אגיסא עמא ובויזא - ‘A nation oppressed and afflicted.’ Aben Ezra explains it as meaning ‘A nation like a school-boy learning line after line.’ Theodore Hasaeus endeavors to prove that the reference here is to Egypt, and that the language is taken from the fact that the Egyptians were early distinguished for surveying and mensuration.
This science, he supposes, they were led to cultivate from the necessity of ascertaining the height of the Nile at its annual inundation, and from the necessity of an accurate survey of the land in order to preserve the knowledge of the right of property in a country inundated as this was. In support of this, he appeals to Servius (“ad” Virg. “Ecl.” iii. 41), where he says of the “radius” mentioned there, ‘The Radius is the rod of the philosophers, by which they denote the lines of geometry. This art was invented in the time when the Nile, rising beyond its usual height, confounded the usual marks of boundaries, to the ascertaining of which they employed philosophers who divided the land by “lines,” whence the science was called geometry.’ Compare Strabo (“Geo.” xvii. 787), who says that Egypt was divided into thirty “nomes,” and then adds, ‘that these were again subdivided into other portions, the smallest of which were farms αἱ ἄρουραι hai arourai.
But there was a necessity for a very careful and subtle division, on account of the continual confusion of the limits which the Nile produced when it overflowed, adding, to some, taking away from others, changing the forms, obliterating the signs by which one farm was distinguished from another. Hence, it became necessary to re-survey the country; and hence, they suppose, originated the science of geometry’ (see also Herodot. “Euterpe,” c. 109). Hence, it is supposed that Egypt came to be distinguished by the use of “the line” - or for its skill in surveying, or in geometry - or a nation “of the line” (see the Dissertation of Theodore Hasaeus, קו קו גוי - “De Gente kau kau,” in Ugolin’s “Thes. Ant. Sac.” vii. 1568-1580). The word (קו qav) means, properly, “a cord, a line,” particularly a measuring line Ezekiel 47:3; 2 Kings 21:13 : ‘I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria’ that is, I will destroy it like Samaria. Hence, the phrase here may denote a people accustomed “to stretch out such lines” over others; that is, to lay them waste.
It is applied usually to the line connected with a plummet, which a carpenter uses to mark out his work (compare Job 38:5; Isaiah 28:17; Isaiah 34:11; Zephaniah 2:1); or to a line by which a land or country is measured by the surveyor. Sometimes it means “a precept, or rule,” as Vitringa has rendered it here (compare Isaiah 28:10). But the phrase ‘to stretch out a line,’ or ‘to measure a people by a line,’ is commonly applied to their destruction, as if a conqueror used a line to mark out what he had to do (see this use of the word in 2 Kings 21:13 : Isaiah 28:17; Isaiah 34:11; Lamentations 2:8; Zechariah 1:16). This is probably its sense here - a nation terrible in all its history, and which had been distinguished for stretching lines over others; that is, for marking them out for destruction, and dividing them as it pleased. It is, therefore, a simple description, not of the nation as “being itself” measured out, but as extending its dominion over others.
And trodden down - (מבוסה mebûsâh). Margin, ‘And treading under foot,’ or, ‘that meteth out and treadeth down.’ The margin here, as is frequently the case, is the more correct rendering. Here it does not mean that “they were trodden down,” but that it was a characteristic of their nation that “they trod down others;” that is, conquered and subdued other nations. Thus the verb is used in Psalms 44:6; Isaiah 14:25; Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 63:18; Jeremiah 12:10. Some, however, have supposed that it refers to the fact that the land was trodden down by their feet, or that the Egyptians were accustomed to lead the waters of the Nile, when it overflowed, by “treading” places for it to flow in their fields. But the former is the more correct interpretation.
Whose land the rivers have spoiled - Margin, ‘Despise.’ The Hebrew word (בּזאוּ bâz'eû) occurs nowhere else. The Vulgate renders it, Diripuerunt - ‘Carry away.’ The Chaldee reads it, ‘Whose land the people plunder.’ The word is probably of the same signification as בזז bâzaz, “to plunder, lay waste.” So it was read by the Vulgate and the Chaldee; and this reading is found in four manuscripts. The word is in the present tense, and should be rendered not ‘have spoiled,’ but ‘spoil.’ It is probably used to denote a country the banks of whose rivers are washed away by the floods. This description is particularly applicable to Nubia or Abyssinia - the region above the cataracts of the Nile. One has only to remember that these streams continually wash away the banks and bear the earth to deposit it “on” the lands of Lower Egypt, to see that the prophet had this region particularly in his eye.
He could not have meant Egypt proper, because instead of “spoiling” the lands, or washing them away, the Nile constantly brings down a deposit from the upper regions that constitutes its great fertility. The “rivers” that are mentioned here are doubtless the various branches of the Nile (see Bruce’s “Travels,” ch. iii., and Burckhardt’s “Travels in Nubia.” The Nile is formed by the junction of many streams or branches rising in Abyssinia, the principal of which are the Atbara; the Astapus or Blue River; and the Astaboras or White River. The principal source of the Nile is the Astapus or Blue River, which rises in the Lake Coloe, which Bruce supposes to be the head of the Nile. This river on the west, and the various branches of the Atbara on the east, nearly encompass a large region of country called Meroe, once supposed to be a large island, and frequently called such. The whole description, therefore, leads us to the conclusion that a region is mentioned in that country called in general “Cush;” that it was a people living on rivers, and employing reed boats or skiffs; that they were a fierce and warlike people; and that the country was one that was continually washed by streams, and whose soil was carried down by the floods. All these circumstances apply to Nubia or Abyssinia, and there can be little doubt that this is the country intended.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Isaiah 18:2. In vessels of bulrushes - "In vessels of papyrus"] This circumstance agrees perfectly well with Egypt. It is well known that the Egyptians commonly used on the Nile a light sort of ships, or boats, made of the reed papyrus. Ex ipso quidem papyro navigia texunt. PLINY, xlii. 11.
Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro.
LUCAN, iv. 136.
Go, ye swift messengers — To this nation before mentioned, who, by the Nile, and by their numerous canals, have the means of spreading the report in the most expeditious manner through the whole country: go, ye swift messengers, and carry this notice of God's designs in regard to them. By the swift messengers are meant, not any particular persons specially appointed to this office, but any of the usual conveyers of news whatsoever, travellers, merchants, and the like, the instruments and agents of common fame. These are ordered to publish this declaration made by the prophet throughout Egypt, and to all the world; and to excite their attention to the promised visible interposition of God.
Scattered - "Stretched out in length"] Egypt, that is, the fruitful part, exclusive of the deserts on each side, is one long vale, through the middle of which runs the Nile, bounded on each side to the east and west by a chain of mountains seven hundred and fifty miles in length; in breadth from one to two or three days' journey: even at the widest part of the Delta, from Pelusium to Alexandria, not above two hundred and fifty miles broad. Egmont and Hayman, and Pococke.
Peeled - "Smoothed"] Either relating to the practice of the Egyptian priests, who made their bodies smooth by shaving off their hair, (see Herod. ii. 37;) or rather to their country's being made smooth, perfectly plain and level, by the overflowing of the Nile.
Meted out - "Meted out by line"] It is generally referred to the frequent necessity of having recourse to mensuration in Egypt, in order to determine the boundaries after the inundations of the Nile; to which even the origin of the science of geometry is by some ascribed. Strabo, lib. xvii. sub init.
Trodden down — Supposed to allude to a peculiar method of tillage in use among the Egyptians. Both Herodotus, (lib. ii.,) and Diodorus, (lib. i.,) say that when the Nile had retired within its banks, and the ground became somewhat dry, they sowed their land, and then sent in their cattle, (their hogs, says the former,) to tread in the seed; and without any farther care expected the harvest.
The rivers have spoiled - "The rivers have nourished"] The word בזאו bazeu is generally taken to be an irregular form for בזזו bazezu, "have spoiled," as four MSS. have it in this place; and so most of the Versions, both ancient and modern, understand it. On which Schultens, Gram. Heb. p. 491, has the following remark: - "Ne minimam quidem speciem veri habet בזאו bazau, Esai. xviii. 2, elatum pro בזזו bazazu, deripiunt. Haec esset anomalia, cui nihil simile in toto linguae ambitu. In talibus nil finire, vel fateri ex mera agi conjectura, tutius justiusque. Radicem בזא baza olim extare potuisse, quis neget? Si cognatum quid sectandum erat, ad בזה bazah, contemsit, potius decurrendum fuisset; ut בזאו bazeu, pro בזו bazu, sit enuntiatum, vel baziv. Digna phrasis, flumina contemmunt terram, i.e., inundant." "בזא baza, Arab. extulit se superbius, item subjecit sibi: unde praet. pl. בזאו bazeu, subjecerunt sibi, i.e., inundarunt." - Simonis' Lexic. Heb.
A learned friend has suggested to me another explanation of the word. בזא baza, Syr., and ביזא beiza, Chald., signifies uber, "a dug," mamma, "a breast;" agreeably to which the verb signifies to nourish. This would perfectly well suit with the Nile: whereas nothing can be more discordant than the idea of spoiling and plundering; for to the inundation of the Nile Egypt owed every thing; the fertility of the soil, and the very soil itself. Besides, the overflowing of the Nile came on by gentle degrees, covering with out laying waste the country: "Mira aeque natura fluminis, quod cum caeteri omnes abluant terras et eviscerent, Nilus tanto caeteris major adeo nihil exedit, nec abradit, ut contra adjiciat vires; minimumque in eo sit, quod solum temperet. Illato enim limo arenas saturat ac jungit; debetque illi AEgyptus non tantum fertilitatem terrarum, sed ipsas. - Seneca, Nat. Quaest., iv. 2. I take the liberty, therefore, which Schultens seems to think allowable in this place, of hazarding a conjectural interpretation. It is a fact that the Ganges changes its course, and overruns and lays barren whole districts, from which it was a few years back several miles distant. Such changes do not nourish but spoil the ground.
