the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
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Isaiah 11:15
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And Yahweh will devote to destructionThe tongue of the Sea of Egypt;And He will wave His hand over the RiverWith His scorching wind;And He will strike it into seven streamsAnd make men walk over dry‑shod.
And the LORD will utterly destroy The tongue of the Sea of Egypt; And He will wave His hand over the River With His scorching wind; And He will strike it into seven streams And make men walk over dry-shod.
The Lord also shal cleaue the tongues of the Egyptians sea, and with his mightie winde shall he lyft vp his hand ouer Nilus, and shall smyte his seuen streames, and make men go ouer drye shod.
And Jehovah will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind will he shake his hand over the river, and will smite it into seven streams, and make [men] go over dryshod.
The Lord will utterly destroy [fn] the tongue of the Sea of Egypt;With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, [fn] And strike it in the seven streams,And make men cross over dry-shod.
And Jehovah shall utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt; and with His scorching wind He shall wave His hand over the River, and shall strike it into seven torrents, and make one tread it with shoes.
Just as the Lord divided the Red Sea near Egypt, he will raise his arm in anger over the Euphrates River and hit it. It will divide into seven small rivers. They will be so small that the people can walk across with their sandals on.
Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind will he wave his hand over the River, and will strike it into seven streams, and cause men to march over in sandals.
And the Lord shall vtterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and with his mighty wind shall hee shake his hand ouer the riuer, and shall smite it in the seuen streames, and make men goe ouer dry-shod.
And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
The LORDE also shal cleue the tunges of the Egipcias see, and with a mightie wynde shal he lift vp his honde ouer Nilus, and shal smyte his seue streames and make men go ouer drye shod.
And the LORD will utterly destroy The tongue of the Sea of Egypt; And with His scorching wind He will wave His hand over the River; He will strike and divide it into seven channels And make [it possible for] people [to] walk over in sandals.
And Jehovah will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind will he wave his hand over the River, and will smite it into seven streams, and cause men to march over dryshod.
And the Lord will make the tongue of the Egyptian sea completely dry; and with his burning wind his hand will be stretched out over the River, and it will be parted into seven streams, so that men may go over it with dry feet.
And the LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind will he shake his hand over the river, and will smite it in the seven streams, and make [men] go over dry shod.
The Lord will divide the gulf of the Egyptian Sea; he will wave his hand over the Euphrates River and send a strong wind, he will turn it into seven dried-up streams, and enable them to walk across in their sandals.
The Lord will dry up the arm of the Red Sea near Egypt, and he will send a scorching wind to divide the Euphrates River into seven streams that anyone can step across.
Adonai will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian Sea. He will shake his hand over the [Euphrates] River to bring a scorching wind, dividing it into seven streams and enabling people to cross dryshod.
The Lorde also shall vtterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptians sea, and with his mightie winde shall lift vp his hand ouer the riuer, and shall smite him in his seuen streames, and cause men to walke therein with shooes.
And the LORD shall utterly dry up the sea of Egypt; and with his mighty wind he shall stretch his hand over the river, and shall smite it into seven streams, so that men may cross through it dryshod.
The LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Mitzrian sea; and with his scorching wind will he wave his hand over the River, and will strike it into seven streams, and cause men to march over in sandals.
And the LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with His scorching wind will He shake His hand over the River, and will smite it into seven streams, and cause men to march over dry-shod.
The Lord will make a dry path through the gulf of the Red Sea. He will wave his hand over the Euphrates River, sending a mighty wind to divide it into seven streams so it can easily be crossed on foot.
The Lord will dry up all the tongue of the Sea of Egypt. He will wave His hand over the Euphrates River with His burning wind, and will break it into seven rivers. Men will be able to walk over it with dry feet.
And the Lord shall make desolate the sea of Egypt; and he shall lay his hand on the river with a strong wind, and he shall smite the seven channels, so that men shall pass through it dry-shod.
And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind shall he shake his hand over the River, and shall smite it into seven streams, and cause men to march over dryshod.
The LORD will devote to destruction the gulf of the Egyptian Sea; with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates. He will split it into seven streams, for men to cross with dry sandals.
And the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt; and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching wind; and will split it into seven channels, and make a way to cross on foot;
And Yahweh, will devote to destruction, the gulf of the Egyptian sea, And will brandish his hand against the River, in the full force of his spirit, - And will smite it in the seven streams And cause a marching through in sandals,
And the Lord shall lay waste the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and shall lift up his hand over the river in the strength of his spirit: and he shall strike it in the seven streams, so that men may pass through it in their shoes.
And Yahweh will divide the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and he will wave his hand over the river with his scorching wind; and he will strike it into seven streams, and he will make it passable by foot.
And the Lord will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching breath, and strike it into seven channels, and he will lead people across in sandals.
And the LORD will utterly destroy The tongue of the Sea of Egypt; And He will wave His hand over the Euphrates River With His scorching wind; And He will strike it into seven streams And make people walk over in dry sandals.
The Lord will dry up the Red Sea of Egypt. He will wave his arm over the Euphrates River and dry it up with a scorching wind. He will divide it into seven small rivers so that people can walk across them with their sandals on.
The Lord will dry up the Gulf of Suez, and he will bring a hot wind to dry up the Euphrates, leaving only seven tiny streams, so that anyone can walk across.
The Lord will divide the Gulf of Suez. He will wave His hand over the Euphrates with His mighty wind and will split it into seven streams, letting people walk through on foot.
And the Lord schal make desolat the tunge of the see of Egipt, and he schal reise his hond on the flood in the strengthe of his spirit; and he schal smyte, ethir departe, it in seuene ryueris, so that schood men passe bi it.
And the LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt; and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching wind, and smite it into seven channels that men may cross dryshod.
And Jehovah hath devoted to destruction The tongue of the sea of Egypt, And hath waved His hand over the river, In the terror of his wind, And hath smitten it at the seven streams, And hath caused [men] to tread [it] with shoes.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
utterly: Isaiah 50:2, Isaiah 51:9, Isaiah 51:10, Zechariah 10:11
with his mighty: Exodus 14:21
he shake: Isaiah 19:16
shall smite: Isaiah 19:5-10, Exodus 7:19-21, Psalms 74:13-15, Ezekiel 29:10, Ezekiel 30:12, Revelation 16:12
dryshod: Heb. in shoes
Reciprocal: Exodus 15:10 - blow Joshua 4:22 - General Joshua 15:2 - bay Joshua 18:19 - bay 2 Kings 2:8 - were Isaiah 10:32 - shake Isaiah 13:2 - shake Isaiah 30:32 - shaking Isaiah 40:3 - make Isaiah 42:15 - General Isaiah 43:2 - passest Isaiah 43:16 - maketh Isaiah 44:27 - Be dry Hosea 9:3 - but Joel 3:19 - Egypt Habakkuk 3:10 - the overflowing Zechariah 2:9 - I will Hebrews 11:29 - General
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea,.... Which Kimchi and Abarbinel interpret of the Egyptian river Sichor, or the Nile; others of a bay of the Egyptian sea, so called because in the form of a tongue; the destroying of it designs the drying of it up, so that people might pass over it dry shod; the allusion is to the drying up of the Red Sea, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, and passed through it, as on dry land; and it intends the destruction of Egypt itself, not literally by the Romans, in the times of Augustus Caesar, as Jerom thinks, who interprets the "strong wind", in the following clause, of them; but figuratively, the destruction of Rome, which is spiritually called Egypt, Revelation 11:8 and the utter destruction of it, by an anathema, and with a curse, from the Lord himself; as the word החרים here used signifies; and which will take place upon the battle at Armageddon, Revelation 16:16 which has its name from the word in the text:
and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river; in allusion to Moses's stretching out his hand over the Red sea, and the Lord's causing it to go back with a strong east wind, Exodus 14:21. Some understand this of the river Nile as before, and that because of what follows; but Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it of the river Euphrates, which is commonly understood in Scripture when "the river", without any explication, is made mention of; and so the Targum,
"and the Lord shall dry up the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and shall lift up the stroke of his strength upon Euphrates, by the word of his prophets;''
and this designs the destruction of the Turks, or the Ottoman empire, which is signified by the drying up of the river Euphrates,
Revelation 16:12 where it is thought by some there is an allusion to the words here:
and shall smite it in the seven streams; which have made some think the river Nile is meant, because that had its seven streams, or gates, as Juvenal calls o them, or mouths, by which the sea issued into it; which are called p the Canopic or Heracleotic, the Bolbitine or Bolbitic, the Sebennitic, the Phatnitic, the Mendesian, the Tanitic or Saitic, and the Pelusian or Bubastic, from the cities Canopus and Heracleum, Bolbitine, Sebennytus, Phatnus, Mendes, Tanis or Sais, Pelusium, and Bubastus, built on the shore of these entrances; but it may be observed, that the river Euphrates was drained by seven ditches or rivulets by Cyrus, when Babylon was taken, by which means his soldiers entered the city dry shod, to which the allusion may be here; and it may denote the entire destruction of the Turkish empire, in all its branches; for "seven", as Kimchi observes, may signify a multitude, even the many kingdoms, people, and nations, under that jurisdiction:
and make [men] go over dryshod; or "with shoes", with them on, there being no need to pluck them off, the river and its streams being dried up; by the "men" are, meant the "kings of the east", of which
Revelation 16:12- : all these phrases denote the removal of all impediments out of the way of God's people in those parts, in coming over to the Christian religion, and their embracing and professing that.
o Satyr. 13. p Vid. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 10.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
And the Lord - The prophet goes on with the description of the effect which shall follow the return of the scattered Jews to God. The language is figurative, and is here drawn from that which was the great storehouse of all the imagery of the Jews - the deliverance of their fathers from the bondage of Egypt. The general sense is, that all the embarrassments which would tend to impede them would be removed; and that God would make their return as easy and as safe, as would have been the journey of their fathers to the land of Canaan, if the ‘Egyptian Sea’ had been removed entirely, and if the ‘river,’ with its ‘seven streams,’ by nature so formidable a barrier, had been dried up, and a path had been made to occupy its former place. Figuratively, the passage means, that all the obstructions to the peace and safety of the people of God would be removed, and that their way would be easy and safe.
The tongue - The Hebrews applied the word ‘tongue’ to anything that resembled a tongue - to a bar of gold Joshua 7:21, Joshua 7:24; to a flame of fire (note, Isaiah 5:24; compare Acts 2:3); to a bay of the sea, or a gulf, from its shape Joshua 15:5; Joshua 18:19. So we speak of a tongue of land. When it is said that the Lord would ‘utterly destroy’ it, it is equivalent to saying that it would be entirely dried up; that is, so as to present no obstruction.
Of the Egyptian Sea - Some interpreters, among whom is Vitringa, have supposed that by the tongue of the Egyptian Sea mentioned here, is meant the river Nile, which flows into the Mediterranean, here called, as they suppose, the Egyptian Sea. Vitringa observes that the Nile, before it flows into the Mediterranean, is divided into two streams or rivers, which form the Delta or the triangular territory lying between these two rivers, and bounded on the north by the Mediterranean. The eastern branch of the Nile being the largest, he supposes is called the tongue or “bay” of the Egyptian Sea. But to this interpretation there are obvious objections:
(1) It is not known that the Mediterranean is elsewhere called the Egyptian Sea.
(2) This whole description pertains to the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt The imagery is all drawn from that. But, in their departure, the Nile constituted no obstruction. Their place of residence, in Goshen, was east of the Nile. All the obstruction that they met with, from any sea or river, was from the Red Sea.
(3) The Red Sea is divided, at its northern extremity, into two bays, or forks, which may be called the “tongues” of the sea, and across one of which the Israelites passed in going from Egypt. Of these branches, the western one was called the Heroopolite branch, and the eastern, the Elanitic branch. It was across the western branch that they passed. When it is said that Yahweh would ‘destroy’ this, it means that he would dry it up so that it would be no obstruction; in other words, he would take the most formidable obstructions to the progress of his people out of the way.
And with his mighty wind - With a strong and powerful wind. Michaelis supposes that by this is meant a tempest. But there is, more probably, a reference to a strong and steady hot wind, such as blows over burning deserts, and such as would have a tendency to dry up even mighty waters. The illustration is, probably, derived from the fact that a strong east wind was employed to make a way through the Red Sea Exodus 14:21. If the allusion here be rather to a mighty wind or a tempest, than to one that is hot, and that tends to evaporate the waters even of the rivers, then it means that the wind would be so mighty as to part the waters, and make a path through the river, as was done in the Red Sea and at the Jordan. The “idea” is, that God would remove the obstructions to the rapid and complete deliverance and conversion of people.
Shall he shake his hand - This is to indicate that the mighty wind will be sent from God, and that it is designed to effect this passage through the rivers. The shaking of the band, in the Scripture, is usually an indication of anger, or of strong and settled purpose (see Isaiah 10:32; Isaiah 13:2; Zechariah 2:9).
Over the river - Many have understood this as referring to the Nile; but two considerations show that the Euphrates is rather intended:
(1) The term ‘the river’ (הנהר hanâhâr) is usually applied to the Euphrates, called the river, by way of eminence; and when the term is used without any qualification, that river is commonly intended (see the notes at Isaiah 7:20; Isaiah 8:7; compare Genesis 31:21; Gen 36:37; 1 Kings 4:21; Ezra 4:10, Ezra 4:16; Ezra 5:3).
(2) the effect of this smiting of the river is said to be Isaiah 11:16 that there would be a highway for the people “from Assyria,” which could be caused only by removing the obstruction which is produced by the Euphrates lying between Judea and some parts of Assyria.
And shall smite it - That is to dry it up, or to make it pasable.
In the seven streams - The word ‘streams’ here (נחלים nechâlı̂ym) denotes streams of much less dimensions than a river. It is applied to a “valley” with a brook running through it Genesis 26:19; and then to any small brook or stream, or rivulet Genesis 32:24; Psalms 74:15. Here it denotes brooks or streams that would be fordable. When it is said that the river should be smitten ‘in the seven streams,’ the Hebrew does not mean that it was “already” divided into seven streams, and that God would smite “them,” but it means, that God would smite it “into” seven streams or rivulets; that is, into “many” such rivulets (for the number seven is often used to denote a large indefinite number, Note, Isaiah 4:1); and the expression denotes, that though the river presented an obstruction, in its natural size, which they could not overcome, yet God would make new channels for it, and scatter it into innumerable rivulets or small streams, so that they could pass ever it dry-shod.
A remarkable illustration of this occurs in Herodotus (i. 189): ‘Cyrus, in his march to Babylon, arrived at the river Gyndes, which, rising in the mountains of Matiene, and passing through the country of the Darneans, loses itself in the Tigris; and this, after flowing by Opis, is finally discharged into the Red Sea. While Cyrus was endeavoring to pass this river, which could not be perfomed without boats, one of the white consecrated horses boldly entering the stream, in his attempts to cross it, was borne away by the rapidity of the current, and totally lost. Cyrus, exasperated by the accident, made a vow that he would render this stream so very insignificant, that women should hereafter be able to cross it without so much as wetting their feet. He accordingly suspended his designs on Babylon, and divided his forces into two parts; he then marked out with a line on each side of the river, one hundred and eighty trenches; these were dug according to his orders, and so great a number of people were employed that he accomplished his purpose; but he thus wasted the whole of that summer’ (see also Seneca, “De Ira.” iii. 21).
Go over dry-shod - Hebrew, ‘In shoes, or sandals.’ The waters in the innumerable rivulets to which the great river should be reduced, would be so shallow, that they could even pass them in their sandals without wetting their feet - a strong figurative expression, denoting that the obstruction would be completely removed. ‘The prophet, under these metaphors, intends nothing else than that there would be no impediment to God when he wished to deliver his people from captivity.’ - (Calvin.)
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Isaiah 11:15. The Lord - shall smite it in the seven streams - "Smite with a drought"] The Chaldee reads החריב hecherib; and so perhaps the Septuagint, who have ερημωσει, the word by which they commonly render it. Vulg. desolabit; "shall desolate." The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Chaldee read הדריכהו hidrichahu, "shall make it passable," adding the pronoun, which is necessary: but this reading is not confirmed by any MS.
Here is a plain allusion to the passage of the Red Sea. And the Lord's shaking his hand over the river with his vehement wind, refers to a particular circumstance of the same miracle: for "he caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land," Exodus 14:21. The tongue; a very apposite and descriptive expression for a bay such as that of the Red Sea. It is used in the same sense, Joshua 15:2; Joshua 15:5; Joshua 18:19. The Latins gave the same name to a narrow strip of land running into the sea: tenuem producit in aequora linguam. LUCAN. ii. 613. He shall smite the river to its seven streams. This has been supposed to refer to the Nile, because it falls into the Mediterranean Sea by seven mouths: but R. Kimchi understands it of the Euphrates, which is the opinion of some good judges. See the Targum. See below.
Herodotus, lib. i, 189, tells a story of his Cyrus, (a very different character from that of the Cyrus of the Scriptures and Xenophon,) which may somewhat illustrate this passage, in which it is said that God would inflict a kind of punishment and judgment on the Euphrates, and render it fordable by dividing it into seven streams. "Cyrus, being impeded in his march to Babylon by the Gyndes, a deep and rapid river which falls into the Tigris, and having lost one of his sacred white horses that attempted to pass it, was so enraged against the river that he threatened to reduce it, and make it so shallow that it should be easily fordable even by women, who should not be up to their knees in passing it. Accordingly he set his whole army to work, and cutting three hundred and sixty trenches, from both sides of the river, turned the waters into them, and drained them off."
