Isaiah 18:1
ESV
Ah, land of whirring wings that is beyond the rivers of Cush,
NIV
Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush,
NASB
Woe, land of whirring wings Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush,
CSB
Woe to the land of buzzing insect wings beyond the rivers of Cush,
NLT
Listen, Ethiopia — land of fluttering sails that lies at the headwaters of the Nile,
KJV
Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
NKJV
Woe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings, Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,
What does Isaiah 18:1 mean?
The seven verses in this short chapter seem not to contain an oracle "against" another nation, as do others. This may simply be setting up the following chapter which contains a specific prediction against Egypt (Isaiah 19:1).Commentators are not resolved on the meaning of "whirring wings" in this verse. Isaiah says "ah"—perhaps meaning something like "woe"—to the "land of whirring wings." Those wings might refer to the many insects in that region or it may be speaking of the sails of the swift-moving boats that travel the rivers there.
Scholars suggest that the area Isaiah describes as being "beyond the rivers of Cush" might have been located along the Nile River south of Egypt. This would have been in a region sometimes called Ethiopia, which is different from the modern nation of Ethiopia. During this time, Ethiopian kings were in the process of trying to unite all of Egypt under their rule.
